Fall 2008 - Issue 7

TUFTS OBSERVER

NOVEMBER 10, 2008

OF A THE

TUFTS’ STUDENT MAGAZINE

VALUE TUFTS

DEGREE

Featured Articles

212 Hill Hall Medford, MA 02155 Phone: 4104408178 E-Mail: joseph.student@tufts.edu

Education Tufts

2005-2009

In case you don’t know what Tufts is, here is a brief description from its website. Founded in 1852, Tufts University is one of the premier universities in the United States. Have you ever heard of it? Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence. Is Tufts on par with the ivies? Tufts prepares students as leaders in a wide range of professions. But do they get good jobs afterwards?

2

Work Experience

JumboDrop. Summer of 2008. Medford, MA 02155. Helped pick up leftover items from students’ dorms to save the planet. Worked

FEATURE EATURE |Y |You went wher where? h e?? W Wh What’s hat’s ’ aT Tufts? uffts??

NEWS

Calamity at the Campus Center

ARTS

The future of television

5

OPINION

Forget “In the Sack,” here’s the real deal

20

POETRY AND PROSE

17 25

“Across the Aisle,” a story by Michael Goetzman

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.

O

O

Contents

Editors tors and Leadership

November 10, 2008 Volume CXVII, Issue 7 The Observer, Since 1895 www.TuftsObserver.org

EDITOR R-IN-CHIEF

Patrickk Roath

MANAGING GING EDITORS

Daniell Rosen Mike Snyder

NEWS EDITORS DITORS

Brendan an Johannsen Marysaa Lin

2

OPINION EDITOR

William Ramsdell

5 7 8

ARTS EDITOR

Michael Tucker

Feature

Tufts: The Meaning of a Jumbo Education, by Marysa Lin

News

Disaster Strikes: Crisis Simulation at Tufts, by Caitlin Schwartz News Briefs, by Anna Majeski America Behind Bars: Prison Rates in America, by Julia Ivanova

EXCURSIONS EDITOR

Opinion

Eliza Walters CAMPUS EDITOR AND ART DIRECTOR

Ryan Stolp POETRY AND PROSE EDITOR

Lauren Mazel PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS

Santiago Gasca Campbell Kliefoth

10 Ukiyo-e, or Pictures of the Floating World, by Kathryn Myers 17 Sex Under the Influence: Some Common Misconceptions, by Jen Reece 19 20 22 23

Arts

Yeasayer/Paradise, by Katie Christiansen Sleek, Sexy, Stylized, by Thomas Sutherland Joke Dry Like Desert: A Humor Interruption, by Michael Tucker Potiquette, by “Reggie Hubbard”

Poetry and Prose

25 Across the Aisle, by Michael Goetzman WEBMASTER

Matthew Koulouris

12 24 24 28

COPY EDITOR

Jonathan Dinerstein

Extras

Editorial: Ring Around the Tree Ticker Tape, by Anna Majeski The Adventures of Petey & Chuck: A Comic Strip, by Ryan Stolp Campus, by Ryan Stolp

LAYOUT DIRECTOR

Joshua Aschheim BUSINESS MANAGERS

Nathaniel Jonnes Marcelo Norsworthy COVER PHOTO BY CAMPBELL KLIEFOTH

Staff Karen Andres Kristen Barone Crystal Bui Hannah Freeman Lauren Herstik Julia Ivanova Lauren Lee Ian MacLellan Anna Majeski

Contributors Brian McLoone Sophia Pack Emily Roitman Michael Schecht Sam Sherman Alexandra Siegel Thomas Sutherland Caitlin Schwartz Rachel Zar

Kimberley Chaung Matthew Coats Katie Christiansen Michael Goetzman “Reggie Hubbard” Sage McAllister Kathryn Myers Jen Reece Seth Rau

Molly Rubin Natalie Selzer Lorrayne Shen

Since

1895

FEATURE

What’s it worth?

The changing value of a Tufts degree BY

MARYSA LIN

E

very year, thousands of students pass through Tufts University with an infinitely wide spectrum of expectations, goals, and plans. All students have the same basic experience—classes, dorm life, extracurriculars—but ultimately, what is the end value of a Tufts education and experience?

The University Vision Statement of 2007–2008 emphasizes lifelong learning, active citizenship, and a well-rounded exposure to academics, ethical issues, and classic liberal arts values as essential to a Tufts experience. Administrators and faculty alike highlight the value of a rich student environment, an extensive alumni network, undergraduate research opportunities, and rigorous academics.

However, aside from this top-down university sanctioned outlook on the “value” of a Tufts education, there is little discourse about the true benefits of four years spent at this university. Quantifying the worth of the Tufts experience with a critical eye is neither obvious nor easy: in a setting as diverse and vibrant as a major, respected university, the value of one’s experience will undoubtedly be more than what meets the eye.

Traditionally Speaking At the risk of sounding like a Tufts brochure for prospective students, one can’t ignore the stated official missions of the university. Regardless of what impact a couple sentences scribbled on the inside of a Pachyderm or an admissions pamphlet can have on the day-to-day learning and living styles of current students and alumni, a school’s image and declared values have an enormous effect on the types of individuals it attracts and the long-term ideological development of an institution. The existing environment surrounding Tufts is a direct result of the university’s projected image, and those attracted by that message rein2

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

force the mission and make it increasingly prominent.

Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser described the ethos of Tufts as one committed to active citizenship.

There is “a lot of emphasis put on making a difference, changing the world, [and] using your education for good,” said Glaser.

He believes that this outward educational “ethos” is relatively unique to Tufts and pervasive throughout the university up to President Larry Bacow. According to Dean of Engineering Linda Abriola, the Engineering curriculum and mission reflect the same value. She believes that Tufts engineers ultimately walk away with a unique educational product because the faculty “is seeking to give our engineers not only the technical foundation but also the appreciation for the role of science and technology in society.” It is this effort to ground the value of technical knowledge within a greater context of technology’s place in society that Abriola believes makes a Tufts experience different from experiences elsewhere.

The attitude of the administration and the nature of Tufts’ academic programs reflects, reinforces, and is reinforced by the type of students matriculating at Tufts. Kirk Lange, Assistant Director of the Tufts International Relations Program (one of Tufts’ largest majors), makes the observation that Tufts students “have impressed [him] more than any other university…in terms of the spirit of social entrepreneurship.” Lange sees the IR program as an enabling vehicle for qualities of active citizenship valued by the University at large. In a similar vein, Dr. George Scarlett, Deputy Chair of the EliotPearson Department of Child Development (one of Tufts’ fastest growing majors), is proud of the way the department embodies “the spirit of citizenship and public service.” Jean Papalia, Director of Tufts Career Services, believes that a signature aspect of a Tufts education is the school’s “emphasis

tuition

alumni

clubs

KIMBERLEY CHAUNG

liberal arts

pride

citizenship

“

“

on the application of scholarship to civic engagement and active citizenship,” which then makes a Tufts degree more valuable to job seekers. Clearly, it is a dual effort that shapes the value of our time here.

Active citizenship sounds appealing on the surface but its applicability to a university setting is outside the scope of this article. Regardcareers less, it is misleading to conclude that th the value of a Tuft Tufts education lie lies in its missio mission to promote a United Na Nations-seque tions-sequ tendency fo for human rights, right

The most important and valuable aspect of a Tufts education is the gift of perspective. e e.

service, and general morality among its students. After all, Tufts is a very highly regarded center for higher learning, not just a forum for personal ideals. Perhaps public sentiment at this moment in history guides the university towards such a goal, but ultimately, more basic liberal arts values underlie any popular movement because change is inherent in topics addressed in academia while fundamental values and priorities are static.

Parts of a Whole “Liberal arts” is classically defined as a curriculum designed to facilitate learning in a variety of areas. With an emphasis on capacity and general knowledge, liberal arts students are expected to develop flexible life skills through various intellectual pursuits so that they have a complete and easily adaptable skill set exportable to almost any profession or field.

The Tufts mission fits well with this definition of a “liberal arts” education.

Professor Enrico Spolaore, Chair of the Department of Economics, quantifies “analytical ways of thinking and conceptual tools that can be applied to every aspect of one’s life” as the “improvement in [Tufts students’] human capital.” In his opinion, this increase in the value of human capital is one that will ultimately be translated as higher pay for Tufts graduates, thus being a major advantage to spending four years at this institution.

Job prospects are one compelling way to assess the value of a Tufts education.

Jean Papalia, Director of Career Services, makes the case that “a liberal arts education has long been recognized in the workplace for its value and versatility.” Thus, a Tufts degree is “highly marketable” in the professional world due to the university emphasis on communication skills, problem-solving skills, analytical skills, and student initiative.

All of these are conveniently listed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers as the traits wanted in entry level employees, but anything more than a pass-

ing consideration of these virtues begs the question: what do these even mean?

In the 2007 Senior Survey, a survey of students that graduated in the Class of 2007, about 93% of respondents believed that Tufts either greatly or moderately helped enhance their ability to think analytically and logically. Aside from this a large percentage of Tufts graduates felt that their education contributed greatly or moderately in acquiring new skills and knowledge, gaining in-depth knowledge in a field, formulating creative and original ideas and solutions, writing effectively, leadership skills, and social awareness in descending order.

It is clear that soft skills, general knowledge, and overall capacity for learning and working are heavily emphasized in the American higher education environment.

As much as these liberal arts values promote flexibility and creativity among the intellectual elite, the true value of a Tufts education remains unclear. It is not obvious or universally inherent that the added value of a university experience is comprised of character developments. Other systems of higher learning around the world emphasize highly focused academic tracks or advanced technical skills that translate into a professional skill set as the true added value of a university education.

Creating Value Student activism was repeatedly mentioned in these interviews as a major component of how worth-while the ultimate Tufts experience is. Glaser was clear that in order for any “value” to come out of a Tufts education, student activism must accompany any administrative efforts. “I think that Tufts offers undergraduates enormous opportunities for growth and development… [but] “students have to grab them, take advantage of them.”

The irony is that as Tufts students are blessed with talented, driven peers and intimate, small classes with interesting professors, it becomes less necessary to put in extra effort to increase the “value” of their November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

3

education. When gratifying lectures and intellectual enlightenment are so easily accessible, the expected added utility of additional efforts is decreased. Nevertheless, this “base value” of a Tufts education should be aggressively maintained because an overreliance on student activism can dangerously hurt the prospects of an overall rise in the quality of a Tufts degree.

The university itself may be rhetorically committed to promoting active citizenship and character development, but it is absolutely essential that amidst the promotion of the Tufts image, student priorities are not forgotten. It isn’t nearly as fashionable for a student to express worries over job prospects as it is to be concerned about Darfur or organic food. While no one is denying the importance and severity of these issues, it is again not obvious that an appreciation for these causes should ultimately define the value of a Tufts education.

So, What’s the Point?

Maybe another way to quantify benefits of a Tufts education is to look at the end result. What position are Tufts alums in after graduation? Every year, seniors complete a survey as graduation nears about their experiences over their undergraduate years and their plans for the future. Unfortunately, the university does not release the full results, which is perplexing considering how eyeopening the opinion of a senior can be, especially for current students. Nevertheless, a few useful results were found on the Tufts Institutional Research website (needless to say, they were overwhelmingly positive).

According to the Class of 2007 Senior Survey results, 21% of graduates planned on attending Graduate School while almost 60% planned on finding employment. Of the remaining graduates, 8% were in the

Undecided/Other category, 5% had plans for an internship or fellowship, and the rest planned on additional undergraduate coursework, volunteer work, travel, or military service. 47% of the Class of 2007 graduated with a Social Science degree, 12% with an Engineering degree, 12% in a Math/Science degree, and 11% with degree in Humanities.

In an August 2008 survey, almost 60% of respondents from the Class of 2008 were employed full-time.

So, statistically speaking, around 80% of Tufts graduates were satisfied to some degree with their experiences, earned a degree in Social Sciences, Engineering, Math, Science, or the Humanities, and felt that Tufts enhanced their ability to think analytically and logically as well as their ability to acquire new skills and knowledge independently.

This conclusion is frustratingly useless.

The numbers seem to indicate that Tufts students can think analytically and logically, they’re interested in a wide spectrum of academic areas, and they hope to either get a job or pursue another academic degree. It indicates only that Tufts happens to attract intelligent people who will probably be successful regardless of their undergraduate education. If it is used to indicate the value of a Tufts education, then a Tufts experience seems underwhelming because there is no room in these statistics for distinctive virtues of one’s time here to shine through.

Accumulating Information While it’s tempting to say that the value of a Tufts education lies in the moral and personal development of a person, we should be more cautious and demand more from our education. Learning about right and wrong, progressive and conservative, or the newest popular movement in the so-

cial consciousness of young America can happen anywhere. The underlying values of a liberal arts education- a well rounded knowledge base- has a meaning external to both academia and “soft” career skills.

The most important and valuable aspect of a Tufts education is the gift of perspective. The ability to excel academically, to give back to a community meaningfully, to approach social situations successfully, to solve problems creatively, and to advance professionally are infinitely enhanced by the ability to employ perspective.

The true value of a Tufts degree lies in something that is even more basic than social awareness or liberal arts values. While this is not explicitly stated anywhere, there should be optimism because it is unconsciously embodied everywhere. Tufts’ emphasis on training students to be well rounded, diverse, and willing to give back to the world reflects an expectation that students explore many areas and through broader understanding, translate knowledge into action. Unfortunately for students, there is no easy way to absorb their experiences in a way that promotes expanded perspective, not just a lengthier resume. Attributing the value of a Tufts education to academic success or moral character development is misleading: regurgitation achieves neither goal.

The end worth is exhibited in expansion of thought, expansion of mind, and expansion of capacity to think analytically. It is naïve to think that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, accumulation of information will be valuable. After all, we have decades left to learn and there’s a good chance that today’s information will be irrelevant and arcane in future years. The key element of a Tufts education is developing a framework within which to accumulate and critically process knowledge. O

“The end worth is exhibited in expansion of thought, expansion of mind, and expansion of capactity to think analytically.”

4

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

CAMPBELL KLIEFOTH

NEWS

PHOTOS BY

Disaster Strikes

Well, theoretically. The Observer examines a recent student simulation on the intricacies of national disaster response strategy.

BY

W

CAITLIN SCHWARTZ

hat’s the best way to respond to a major international crisis? On Tuesday October 28, members of the 56th Air Operations Squadron at Hickham Air Force Base were informed by the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan that a earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale had hit Taiwan about three kilometers southwest of downtown Taipei. After being briefed on the recent crisis, the Squadron was asked to prepare an initial response plan within one hour and ten minutes. Given the estimate that the death toll could already be greater than 22,000 people and the knowledge that the region was currently in the midst of typhoon season and should expect a larger typhoon in 36 hours, the Squadron had a lot to keep in mind.

On this particular Tuesday, the 56th Air Operations Squadron was gathered together in the Mayer Campus Center of Tufts University. It was comprised of Tufts students and the cadets of the Air Force Reserve Of-

ficer Training Corps (ROTC) Detachment 365, which includes students from MIT, Tufts, Harvard, Wellesley, Gordon, and Salem State. The cadets and civilian students came together for a crisis simulation during which they worked together to develop a response plan to this international crisis. The participants were not aware of the details of the crisis until they arrived at the Campus Center, although the civilian students had been assigned roles beforehand. These students were divided equally to represent the State Department, the Department of Defense and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

To launch the simulation, Nancy Henry, a cadet and the Tufts senior who coordinated the event, directed the students to their smaller groups. Each group had an equal number of cadets and civilian students. A Military Fellow—either from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, or the MIT Security Studies program—was present among each group to facilitate, but allowed the students to

come up with the actual ideas and plans. The Detachment partakes in weekly Leadership Labs, but this one presented a rare opportunity for cadets to work with civilian students.

Brittany Trimble, a Tufts freshman and cadet, notes “it was definitely the first hands-on activity that we had coordinating ROTC with the civilians, which was a unique experience.

We’ve had a lot of Leadership Labs so far freshman year, but this was the first time that we brought civilians from the school into it, which was really neat.”

Each group looked to the memorandum they were given at the start of the simulation for important information about the disaster and the inventory of the military assets that they would have at their disposal.

They used this information to develop stepby-step plans of how they would approach the crisis. Sometimes the civilians and cadets tackled the task in different ways. Lumay Wang, a civilian sophomore who participated in the simulation describes, “I thought that the main difference between the civilians and the ROTC people was that the civilians were November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

5

much more ideological in our thinking, like let’s think about long term and short term and the things we can do to mitigate long term effects. The cadets were much more structured in a way, like we need to get A, B, C done with X, Y, Z tools and we can talk about the long-term after that.”

Trimble acknowledges that “only having an hour and 10 minutes to plan a response to such a situation really forced us to deal with time management and problem solving…

There was definitely a lot of stressing how to address the problem and how to go about solving it, which the ROTC people seemed to bring out, but there wasn’t any conflict, like the students didn’t say, ‘no, that’s not the right way to do it,’ so it worked out pretty well.” In many cases, the cadets worked to streamline the discussion to manage the time crunch. Some of the cadets even introduced their typical problem solving sequence, which consists of recognizing the problem, gathering the data, listing the solutions, theoretically testing the solutions, selecting the solutions, and then implementing them.

for Global Leadership, (IGL). The Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES), which Henry co-chairs, ran the simulation. ALLIES describes itself as “an undergraduate led initiative that creates a bridge for shared understanding between future civilian and military leaders.” Wang, who is involved with Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship, (EPIIC), another IGL program, notes, “from this crisis simulation, you could really see ALLIES’ goal is very well-founded. The need for interagency collaboration is truly a need that needs to be confronted and it’s a good thing that we’re starting in college because those people that we were put in a room with are the people we’re going to have to work with in the future.”

It is interesting to consider how the United States response to a crisis similar to the one presented in the simulation would go about.

The memorandum used in the simulation explained that the President had designated the crisis to the Department of Defense, which had delegated planning responsibility to the

jective to consistently update assessments of the situation in order to identify and adjust concerns, needs, and goals.

PACOM would respond instantaneously with medical personnel and equipment to introduce humanitarian relief efforts. The specific requests of the local government would be accommodated as best as possible. The memorandum informed the 56th Air Operations Squadron that President Ma Yingjeou of Taiwan had asked for assistance with search and rescue, immediate humanitarian aid, and monitoring the stability of critical transport and government infrastructure. PACOM would make an effort to utilize whatever infrastructure and utilities were available to them. Simulation participants were also informed that Taiwan had authorized the United States to use all military and civilian airfields and port facilities when planning a response. During the planning session, the suggestion of using existing Chinese communications systems came up, which would be helpful because of the extensive Taipei power outages described by the memoran-

The need for interagency collaboration truly needs to be addressed. In the event of an actual disaster, communication and coordination is essential.

Trimble believes that the combination of cadets and civilians yielded superior results. She says, “I felt like it was even. A lot of the civilians had great problem-solving skills as well as the people in ROTC. We learned to collaborate and both sides came into play, using all the information instead of from just one side.”

At the culmination of the simulation, the entire group reconvened in Braker Hall so that representatives of each smaller group could present their plans to their peers.

Although Tuesday was the first time Detachment 365 has run a crisis simulation at Tufts of this format, it was a success. After the event, Henry told the Observer, “I was really pleased with how it went. We started planning it back in July. There was so much that could have gone wrong so it was good we started in advance to take care of it all.”

Henry appreciated the unexpected enthusiasm from civilian Tufts students. “I was surprised by how many Tufts students wanted to come out and do that in the middle of a Tuesday.”

Many of the students who attended are involved in various programs of the Institute 6

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

United States Pacific Command (PACOM).

PACOM, working with other US agencies and regional military partners, “promotes security and peaceful development in the Asia-Pacific region by deterring aggression, advancing regional security cooperation, responding to crises, and fighting to win.”

In addition, the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (COE) reports directly to PACOM to guide their response to crises. The COE serves “to promote effective civil-military management in international humanitarian assistance, disaster response, and peacekeeping through education, training, research, and information programs.”

In the event of a foreign natural disaster, PACOM responds quickly to accommodate the more extensive relief efforts that will come later. Initial priorities include establishing effective transportation and communication while always striving to minimize loss of life. Many of the participants’ timelines began with founding important lines of communication with essential groups like local officials, military efforts, and relief efforts.

Gathering intelligence was another initial ob-

dum.

Among the military assets at the 56th Air Operation Squadron’s disposal were Seabee Battalions and two REDHORSE Squadrons. Seabees are Construction Battalions of the United States Navy that would provide valued assistance with repairing roadways, airstrips and other infrastructure. The Air Force’s Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) would also provide a critical engineering response along with food supply and medical equipment. These squadrons would be sent in early on to get repairs underway to promote the safety and effectiveness of relief efforts.

The cadets’ deeper understanding of the enumerated military assets and planning these kinds of responses was vital for maximizing the civilian students’ ability to generate a plan.

The detailed preparations and strategies presented in Braker demonstrated the students’ ambitious and estimable ideologies and their aim to provide help and aid as efficiently as possible. The simulation illustrated that this combination, cultivated by a military-civilian alliance, generates the best results. O

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… BY

ANNA MAJESKI

Around-the-World

News Tidbits You Should Know

Alaskan Al k Senator S Ted T d Stevens S F Found dG Guilty il Prominent Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens (R) was found guilty of seven counts of felony for violating federal ethics. Stevens knowingly failed to report $250,000 worth of gifts and services received from friends, which he used to renovate his home in Girdwood, Alaska.

Stevens, who is running for his seventh term in the Senate, refused to pull out of the race and insisted the ruling was unjust, citing poor conduct by federal prosecutors as accounting for the unfavorable ruling. Despite Stevens’ insistence on his innocence, it is expected to have a negative effect on his campaign. Stevens, who was an advocate for Alaskan statehood during the Eisenhower administration, has been as Alaskan senator for 40 years and a prominent force in Alaskan politics for his entire career. Stevens is still banking on his past strong support in the state and remains confident in his ability to achieve a win in next week’s election. But more is hinging on Stevens’ reelection than his own political career. If Stevens loses his seat to his Democratic rival, Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, it will bring the Democrats one step closer to a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate—something considered by many to be quite feasible. Even if Stevens does win the election, his seat is not indisputable; a two-thirds majority in the Senate could force him to resign. O

Zambia Votes on Next President

Spanish Judge Indicts For mer Dictator

Zambian voters cast their ballots on October 30 in an election which could determine whether the country’s run of peaceable power transitions will continue. Although four candidates will be on the ballot, the two likely candidates are Vice President Rupiah Banda and Populist Michael Sata. The election comes just two years after the last presidential election due to the death of President Levy Mwanawasa in August. Zambia, one of the world’s major copper producers, is at present one of southern Africa’s most politically sound nations, but the present election threatens to derail this stability. Many are worried about the current ruling party, Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), manipulating the results of the election. This has the potential to plunge the country into political chaos. A feeble European Union presence—which normally oversees elections—is increasing this anxiety, despite the fact that additional precautions, such as posting results outside of polling stations, have been employed to prevent corruption. The important political implications of the election have called a great deal of attention to the contest, but no matter who is elected as the next president, the impending economic woes of the country will present a great challenge to the leader in the shortened three-year term. O

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón is breaking new judicial grounds with allegations against infamous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco despite the fact that the dictator has been dead for almost 25 years.

Garzón has proposed investigating the killings of 114,000 individuals under Franco, and in so doing accuse the dead dictator of crimes against humanity, along with 34 of Franco’s former generals and ministers, all of whom are deceased. Opponents of Garzón’s efforts cite a 1977 amnesty law, in which crimes committed under Franco were agreed to be laid to rest. Yet Garzón insists that since many of Franco’s victims were never returned to their families, their cases constitute ongoing kidnapping cases, making the 1977 law irrelevant. Garzón case has been strengthened by the recent discovery of mass graves in which thousands of bodies were uncovered, and Garzón has ordered the excavation of 19 more. Although Garzón has not yet proceeded with his plans, he continues to assert his authority to do so despite considerable objections. Spain’s Attorney General has expressed concerns that the case could turn into an “inquisition” in which many living individuals connected with Franco’s administration would be brought to trial, consequently completely unraveling the 1977 amnesty pact. O

Afghan Government Engages in Peace Talks with Taliban Afghan government officials have opened up the possibility of peace negotiations with the Taliban. Afghanistan is presently emerging from an extremely bloody year, and government officials are beginning to question whether the war against the Taliban can be won merely through militaristic means. Government officials in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have turned to the idea of peace negotiations as a more effective method to stem violence in the region. Despite some concerns about the lack of leverage which the weak Afghan government would have in such talks, the idea is growing in popularity. Many government officials are also convinced that the time to commence such talks is prime, due to emerging fractures in the Taliban system. Although officials stress that this does not mean that the Taliban is falling apart as an entity, it does provide for a better environment in which to conduct peace negotiations. Officials emphasize that the talks would not be entered into without a great deal of caution, and officials also wish to separate members of the Taliban with members of Al Qaeda, who they consider “irreconcilable,” before entering into any negotiations. O …and PS…Obama won.

November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

7

AMERICA Behind

Bars?

Most have watched shows such as CSI or Law & Order and have seen the procedure of finding and incarcerating criminals. These shows, however, never truly expose their audiences to prisoners’ worlds. The United States’ incarceration system, once known as the most civilized and mild of its kind, has now become known for its sheer number of prisoners and deteriorating establishments. Due to the overpopulation in prisons, consequences such as human rights violations have become an issue among many state and nongovernmental organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch.

The United States currently has the largest incarceration rate among all nations; according to the New York Times, for every 100,000 people in the U.S. population, 751 are in prison. Russia, coming in with the third highest incarceration rate has 627 prisoners per 100,000 people.

New studies from Britain suggest that 1 in 36 of adult Hispanics and 1 in 15 of adult African-Americans are incarcerated—with 1 in 9 AfricanAmericans between the ages of 20 and 36 in prison. These astronomically high numbers, however, do not answer the bigger question of why so many people are found in jail. The US judicial system is partly to blame, as well as many state and federal laws.

According to the US Department of Justice, in 1980, of the 294,000 individuals under incarceration, 6.5% of incarcerations were drug-related. As of 2004, of the 1,276,600 incarcerated, 20% were due to drug-related incidences. Due to the crackdown on 8

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

LORRAYNE SHEN

BY JULIA IVANOVA

drugs by various federal and state agencies, drug policy has become vigorously enforced, often landing the perpetrator in prison.

The US also has longer sentencing for crimes, as well as harsher sentencing for minor crimes. Marc Mauer, an advocate of criminal justice policy reform and executive director of the Sentencing Project, a non-profit agency, notes that an American burglar or thief generally receives a sentence more than twice the length of a Briton or Canadian who committed a similar crime. Conversely, while the US has a larger prisoner population, the number of new prisoners is actually lower than many European countries’. Laws that require a minimum sentence contribute greatly to the ever-growing number of prisoners in the United States.

Professor Amahl Bishara of the Tufts’ Anthropology Department notes that the “restrictive parole laws” often are the cause of reincarceration of people due to “quite minor violations.”

She also noted that the “three strikes and you’re out” system also plays an important role in putting people behind bars for long, mandatory sentences due to repeated but sometimes relatively minor crimes. Thus, American prisons not only collect criminals who have committed egregious crimes as well as misdemeanors, but the sentencing keeps those people in prison for a far longer time than in other countries.

Lately, human rights organizations have voiced valid concerns with the US prison system over the often-dismal conditions of its facilities. From anthropologists to human rights activists, people have written and documented many transgressions of human rights and prisoner rights laws. Professor

According to a recent survey, the United States has the world’s highest incarceration rate. The Observer takes a closer look...

Bishara helped to educate her students on the issue through anthropological ethnographies: Loïc Wacquant, a French ethnographer, wrote about the conditions in the Los Angles County Jail, “the largest detention facility in the ‘Free World.’ ” Anthropologists have certainly taken an interest in the prison environment, as it has become a culture in and of itself: Wacquant’s work increased talk about prisoners’ rights and culture. Conditions such as crammed quarters and improper ventilation—some cells do not even have windows that are required by law—galvanize human rights organizations into initiating new legislation attempting to improve prisoners’ situations.

Anthropologists are not the only critics of the maltreatment of prisoners.

Popular media have bolstered the uprising protests through music, film, and television. A popular rock group, System of a Down, took up the cause in their popular album Toxicity with their “Prison Song;” the song notes that the penal system has begun to outgrow all logical limits, while also stating the solutions to the mounting problem such as “abolishing mandatory minimum sentences.”

Mainstream movies tend not to focus so much on the actual problems of the system, but rather to indirectly infer that corruption or neglect is often at work in prisons: the film Death Race, though essentially an action movie, clearly describes that the hierarchical scale of priority has profits topping humane treatment of prisoners. Through numerous sources, people are becoming better informed on issues of the penal system: activism on the subject has become increasingly popular over the years,especially as the US finds itself facing harsher domestic and international criticism over the state of its criminal system.

Prisons were originally meant for punishment and for rehabilitation of the offending individuals; today some argue

that penitentiaries have become less involved in teaching prisoners how to live a responsible and respectable life after prison, and more interested in creating profits. According to Wacquant, Los Angeles County Jail installed pay phones inside many of its cells, charging inmates exorbinant prices for phone calls to churn out profits from the prisoners.

The privatization of prisons sets up potential problems as well: private citizens in charge of running a facility for inmates—who are unable to walk away from abuse—simply do not have to be as accountable as federal or state governments. Because of privatization of the prisons and the dearth of financial support, the environment inmates have to live in is often far below standards. The importance of creating communication and treatment within the penal system is one that cannot be discarded.

Through media and activism, the issues that plague the penal system, including human rights violations and overpopulation in the prisons, have spurred action in various fields such as anthropology and journalism. While many obstacles to reform remain, there is nevertheless a silver lining on this dark cloud over the american penal system.

These advancements put activists in a better position to encourage communities to stop crimes from reoccurring, which is doubtless the most important step that we as a nation can take in reforming the criminal justice system. Through increased advocacy however, our society can still allow ex-prisoners the chance to escape the cyclical pattern of reincarceration that plauges America. A renewed interest in the rehabilitation of former convicts will allow our society to once more take up that idealistic concept as ‘the land of the free.’ Currently, India has the lowest incarceration rate in the world. Such a realization gives pause to the question: How hard are we really trying? O

Top Ten Prison Population Rates (per 100,000)

United States

762

Russia

630

St. Kitts and Nevis evi

588

US Virgin g Islands

549

Cuba

531

Turkmenistan an n

489

UK Virgin g Islands

488

Palau

478

Belize

468

Belarus

426

SOURCE:

THE SENTENCING PROJECT

November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

9

OPINIONS

T HE S HINOHARA S TORY HOW A LEFTHANDED PHYSICS STUDENT BECAME A MASTER AND INNOVATOR OF UKIYO-E TRADITIONAL JAPANESE PRINTMAKING

BY

KATHRYN MYERS

L

ast Thursday, I literally popped in on a master at his craft. My split second decision to attend a once in a lifetime demonstration resulted in a soaking wet, 15-minute late arrival. Luckily, my conspicuous arrival won me a front row seat next to Master Printmaker of the ukiyo-e style, Keiji Shinohara. I am sure you have seen the simple, graceful prints done in that beautiful Japanese style, in which the ultimate sign of a master is the vitality and deftness of his line. Well, those prints are created using ukiyo-e, the Japanese wood block printing technique developed around 600 AD. This technique, like so many other crafts and artisan professions, is slowly dwindling to a few lonely masters. Only 50 still remain in Kyoto today, and it is growing extremely difficult to obtain apprentices for a trade that some think a machine can do just as well as the human hand (not true). It is even harder still to find ukiyo-e woodblock carvers, for, in Japan, a carver is necessary to a process that has traditionally been divied up among many guilds.

Unlike the Western tradition, where the artistic expression of one person is carried throughout the process, in Japan, one print contains the work of many people, working in an assembly line of several

guilds. The Western tradition is to go to a museum and see a piece of art that represents one person’s genius and the message they want to impress upon a viewer when they go home at night. The piece of art is intrinsically linked to the artist. When I ask you as you walk in your front door, ‘Did you enjoy seeing Les Mademoiselles d’Avignon?’ you might be a bit confounded, yet if I asked you, “Oh, did you see the Picasso?” everything would be kosher.

Most Western artists are thematic; they build on a career where they have an iconic identity, a super-persona. Recall Michelangelo and his temper tantrums while painting the Sistine Chapel, insisting on painting the entire ceiling in complete isolation.

The artist as a self-involved narcissist, a la Andy Warhol, has been an integral part of Western art for a long time.

Alternatively, in ukiyo-e, the artist who does the line drawing of the print is credited, but many others are integral to the final product. The original artist’s intent is not diluted though. Take Hokusai’s infamous The Wave—that image is forever linked with its artist, though a whole line of craftsmen made the image possible.

But back to the master at hand, Shinohara is an anomaly because of his experience with both Eastern and Western

In Japan, one print contains the work of many people, working in an assembly line of several guilds.

10

THE OBSER OBSERVER SE VER

Nov November vemb ember e 10, 2008

approaches to printmaking. Shinohara’s path has followed an unorthodox course.

In the fourth grade, while cutting a wooden block in art class, he cut his hand instead.

Consequently he vowed to never again cut a block (yes, he still has the scar to prove it). So, how is it that he found himself currently teaching students at Wesleyan University to cut wooden blocks, treading the same, scar ridden path he once swore off ?

Well, Shinohara’s father wanted him to become an architect—the perfect job for the son of a man involved in construction. So when young Keiji found himself plopped into architecture school, he decided the only way to dodge his preordained destiny was to go in the completely opposite direction—nuclear physics.

When that harebrained scheme didn’t work out so well, he was in dire need of a trade.

He searched and searched amongst trade schools, of which there were conveniently very many in 1950’s Kyoto, Japan. One day he witnessed the process of ukiyo-e in action. At that moment, he knew that this revered tradition would be his lifelong passion.

Or maybe not—Shinohara, you see, is a lefty. In an ukiyo-e workshop, time efficiency=the name of game, and righties are the players. For example, Shinohara showed us three different ways just to flip a piece of paper from the printing block.

One you use both hands, the other you use one hand, the third you use one hand while flipping the paper right side up at the same time. Frighteningly, using the first technique (the slowest) adds three whole days to a process that can otherwise churn out 200 prints in six days. On the cherrywood blocks you print from, the all-important registration tabs are all orientated for the majority—the lucky right-handed. Shinohara was out of luck in an industry where the added time it takes to reach across your body makes you obsolete.

It took him about one month to convince his potential teacher to make

Shinohara his apprentice. It took two more months of added persuasion after his teacher discovered he was left-handed.

Perhaps his “lameness” was a blessing in disguise. His master had lost two apprentices already because they were too efficient and found the printing process monotonous. The two remaining apprentices were Shinohara and a fellow who was unable to distinguish between different shades of blue. And Shinohara’s solution to the potential time loss of his left hand? Simple— he learned to be ambidextrous.

After ten years of printing under his master and obtaining the title of Master Printmaker, Shinohara decided to move to the US to pursue his own artistic ambitions. For a year he toiled as a mansitter/ cook for a young man unable to cook for himself. After two years, printing work finally started to trickle in.

But, Shinohara did not just move to the US to be a cog in the assembly line,

like those of the traditional, Japanese printing process. Instead, he started making and carving his own designs—a skill he was never officially taught. Finally, he began printing. Shinohara broke the mold by individually performing every step of the highly involved process. In so doing, he achieved the Western singularity of artistic vision without compromising the traditional Eastern processes. Shinohara took two different worlds, one that utilizes practically an entire village, and one that idolizes distinctive vision of one artist, to create one print.

At first he produced abstract images.

After ten years of traditionalism, Shinohara had grown weary of landscape after landscape—the archetypal Japanese subject matter for prints. Thus, Shinohara was eager to explore his field, adding innovative touches such as Krazy Glue to texture the final print. He also pioneered a technique for creating a metallic sheen by putting

water-based ink on top of oil-based ink.

Representing a melding of both Eastern and Western approach the art of printmaking, Shinohara accomplished alone what had once required the work of many guilds. Ultimately, he returned to printing landscapes. His recent return to traditional Japanese landscapes made him a man of two contradictions: Shinohara is one man utilizing a multi-man process, while portraying traditional Japanese landscapes using innovative, non-traditional techniques. O Kathryn Myers is a freshman SMFA dual degree student who has not declared a major.

For more information on Keiji Shinohara and his work, or for a video guide to his process, please visit http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/blockprinting/

Some Important Steps When Making your own ukiyo-e print —

1) Make a line drawing and decide on how many colors you want. Don’t let appearances deceive you, our audience guesstimated a traditional Japanese print would require six colors. The answer? Sixteen.

2) Obtain a piece of cherrywood. This will prove difficult to near impossible*, since large cherrywoods are dwindling in Japan.

In order to avoid warping, you need to find a large tree with a diameter twice the size of your print. Why?—you cannot use a piece that contains the core of a tree. Once you carve your piece of rare cherrywood, leave it outside for about five years (allowing it to warp on its own accord,) then you are ready.

Oh, and repeat this process for however many colors you need.

3) Carving— A serious carver will grip the knife with two hands, using their thumb against the handle to stop the motion of the knife. Be sure to remember you are handling a knife after long hours of carving. The only

instances in which Shinohara cut himself was when he forgot he was holding a knife, and accidently stabbed himself in the leg while resting.

4) Next, print it— Using a brush, apply ink to the raised surfaces. Now brush the color evenly using a horsehair brush.

Shinohara prefers dark horse hair, because it has more action than light horse hair. Preferably, you should obtain this hair from the horse during autumn. This is when the hair is freshest-grown for the onset of winter.

5) Rub it—Use a baren, a disk-like device with a flat bottom and knotted handle.

Ideally, you would have one like Keiji Shinohara’s baren, which was bequeathed to him by his master, Uesugi. Inside the baren, knotted bamboo spirals keep it springy for generations and require a true artisan to make.

A baren like his would fetch $600 a pop nowa-days, so you may have to compromise with a modern version. It is imperative to

rub the baren on your cheek prior to burnishing. This is to take advantage of good, ol’fashioned human facial oil.

6) Finally, admire your work, especially since it usually takes a small army to create one print. Also, if you feel overwhelmed, remember the Shinohara spent several years working only on paper chopstick holders, then several years on simple stationary before advancing to several more years on postcards. So, you’re doing just great.

*Don’t despair, you can either use both sides of the block or use a modern alternative, such as magnolia wood. You may also go the recycling route and adopt the Japanese custom of taking worn down blocks (after 200 images the print is considerably less crisp) and cutting them down into fresh, ready to carve blocks. O

November 10,, 2008 2008

THE OBSE O OBSERVER BSERVE RVER R

11

EDITORIAL

The Tree that was Saved

F

ear not, the tree is saved. We’re referring, of course, to the giant tree on the President’s lawn, just behind Gifford House. But who saved it? And from what was it saved? Both are very good questions.

At noon on October 22, about 30 students gathered in front of the tree in an apparent rally to prevent the planned axing of the tree. Yet, inscrutably, there were no plans for the tree’s removal. Administrators were frustrated and confused at the protestors’ aims and swore that no plans for removing the tree were on the table. The protestors themselves were apparently spurred by a poster campaign organized by a mysterious man named “Michael Canton.” Eventually, it became clear that the protest was over a fictitious issue and was organized by a Tufts student as a practical joke targeting another Tufts undergraduate.

In an email message, the student who masterminded the prank offered a commentary on what he had intended with the ruse. The message was sent to the editors of the Tufts Daily, who covered the story as it developed, and to other students complicit in the fake protest.

“In the end, this was just a prank.

There were no underlying motives or points to be proven,” wrote “Canton.” (The Observer has learned of the individual’s identity but will refrain from referring to him by his real name.) He stressed that the fake protest was not meant to be taken seriously and lamented the negative attention the protest had drawn, mostly from members of the administration. But he had drawn some lessons from the episode. “We also noticed that many students did not question, nor research the rumor to see if it was true,” he reflected.

It’s tempting to draw a bigger picture here and, with a little imagination, the fake tree incident can be read as a critique of social activism at Tufts. Though most of 12

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

the protestors were “in” on the joke, the fake tree protest quickly attracted attention around campus. A “Social Movements” class in the Sociology Department even considered focusing on the tree protestors as part of its coursework. “It is amazing how fast a rumor can spread around campus,” “Canton” noted.

Idealists, by nature, are susceptible to manipulation by people with agendas. If there’s any “message” to take away from this incident, it is that students ought to think twice before signing on to any of the well-meaning and progressive-sounding initiatives that populate campus. As college students, many of us are especially drawn to benevolent missions taken on by fellow Tufts students.

In fact, many of the issues that attract student involvement on campus are highly managed, organized affairs, that are often directed by professionals off campus. With political campaigns, the external hand is clearest, but even those movements that seem organic and student-driven are more often than not arms of a larger organization.

A case in point is the “Think Outside the Bottle” anti-bottled water campaign that was a persistent presence on campus in 2007. Though most stu-

dents assumed that the campaign was led by Tufts students, there was in fact a resident GreenCorps member at Tufts whose professional responsibility was to organize the Tufts campaign.

The fake tree incident was a joke (and perhaps a mean one at that) but it touched more than a few nerves among students and administrators. Tufts students have strong sentiments about their causes but, if nothing else, the protest will hopefully teach a lesson about blindly following causes. O

PHOTO COURTESY LULU.

Photos by Campbell Kliefoth

Photos by Santiago Gasca

Campbell Kliefoth

SEX UNDER THE INFLUENCE: SOME FACTS AND FALLACIES

BY JEN

Y

REECE

ou get a call from your best girl friend at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday.

You are cranky at first and start to ask her to call back at a reasonable hour, but then you notice that she is crying. She is upset because she knows that she slept with someone and she was too drunk to remember it. You flashback to freshman year In The Sack—lawyer sex and something about “only one drink!”

The reality is that many people harbor misconceptions about the right of people to drink and have sex. Here is a hint: one drink does not necessarily spell r.a.p.e.

But your friend was blacking out.

What does that mean? Does the fact that the guy was drunk excuse his involvement? Around Tufts, we hear many misconceptions about sexual assault, from a cavalier attitude that “it’s funny when people make poor choices when they’re drunk” to a belief that any sexual activity combined with drug use is rape. The reality is somewhere in the middle, just as complicated and subjective as all human relations.

Contrary to popular opinion at Tufts, using a substance does not automatically turn sexual activity into rape. Sex that involves alcohol can be completely consensual and healthy. With substances, sexual contact is only defined as rape when the victim is at the point of incapacitation, a legally fuzzy term.

The hardest thing about the legal definition of rape is that it is subjective. Every person has a different tolerance for substances, and that tolerance can change daily.

Sometimes it is hard to tell what will incapacitate someone. Generally, if a reasonable person would be able to perceive that a victim is incapacitated, then the perpetrator is culpable. If you know that you are not reasonable when you are drunk, consider this: drunkenness does not change the responsi-

bility of the perpetrator or make it “mutual rape.” Often, the moral line is in a different place than the legal one. Someone can take advantage without meeting the definition of rape, and this can feel like a violation and be very traumatic, only increasing the feelings of self-blame. Because of this, many

tem, because it is often one person’s word against another’s, and it is not always possible to obtain physical evidence.

Victims tend to blame themselves for being raped, and, surprisingly, society is often inclined to blame the victim for putting her/himself in a dangerous position.

Contrary to popular opinion, most victims do not want to ruin someone’s life with that severe of an accusation, particularly if they blame themselves for being attacked.

2. “ONE DRINK MEANS NO GO” The widely held misconception among college students that one drink supposedly means “no go” is a dangerous one. This is because of the perceived over-severity of such a law. This invalidates rape in the minds of people who refuse to believe that their harmless interactions could constitute sexual assault. For better for worse, the actual law is infinitely more subjective.

RYAN STOLP

3. “THERE AREN’T ANY RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL AS-

victims of less-than-technical rape may feel the violation and trauma of rape, and these emotions are made worse by the feeling that they have no right to their emotions.

A FEW COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS . . .

1. “PEOPLE LIE ABOUT BEING RAPED” Yes, it is a widely-held belief that many instances of rape are false reports.

The misconception about false reporting comes from statistics that declare a failure to convict or withdrawal from prosecution as a “falsely reported” rape. This definition of false reporting is far too simplistic and doesn’t reflect the nature of the crime.

Rape is difficult to prosecute because it is intimately tied up in the personal relations of two people who usually know each other.

Rape does not fit neatly into the legal sys-

TUFTS” You should know this one.

To report rape, or to get confidential help from the on-call counselor, call the non-emergency TUPD number: (617-627-3030) Call for yourself or for a friend.

SAULT AT

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center 24-hour confidential assistance: (617-492-7273) Questions? Interested in becoming involved in sexual assault prevention or awareness at Tufts? Interested in health education at Tufts? Call Elaine Theodore, the Sexual Violence Resource Coordinator: (617-627-3752) O

Jen Reece is a junior majoring in biology and community health.

November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

17

MAN, THESE TUFTS JOKERS AIN’T WRITIN’ SHIT. I

MAN, I KNOW THE O IS THE PERFECT OUTLET FOR OPINIONS, BEIN’ THE VOICE OF THE STUDENT BODY ‘N SHIT. I HAPPEN TO BE

THOUGHT THEY WANTED T’SAVE THE WORLD OR WHATEVER.

OF THE PARTICULAR OPINION THAT THESE CATS NEED TO

SPEAK UP...

O FICTION

THE GRITTY, REAL-ASS STORY OF HOW AN ACTIVE STUDENT BODY NEGLECTED TO VOICE THEMSELVES VES SCREEN SLAY SY: You DIRECTED BY: I <3 Natty Light LET

YOUR VOICE BE HEARD—IN THE SOBSERVER! EMAIL: OBSERVER@TUFTS.EDU

Short story by Michael Goetzman continued from page 27...

Lecia, that mischievous girl, cutting the heads from flowers and placing them about the pool. But I can recall now the day she left as if it were replayed here on the clouds in front of me. I can still sense the sweat that coated my neck as their eyes met across the aisle and as she told me with conviction in her voice, “Trev, I’m getting off at this stop and you have to stay behind.”

It’s strange to think that these motionless hands floating next to me are the same hands I desperately grasped for, the same hands pressed against my door frame as she told me we were running 18

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

away. I blame myself. And it’s silly, I know, because there was no stopping her, not the Lecia I knew.

I can still see his handwriting on the note, and recall standing in front of his boat, sure she was inside. How I was so certain is a mystery even to me. Call it instinct, a sudden impulse, like a flash of lightning clarity revealing a hidden landscape. Perhaps it was that the boat bore a certain resemblance to him—austere, still—much like a pet can bare resemblance to its owner. She was in that boat, tied, in the cabin, just as he had said.

“It’s not your fault,” were her first trembling words, “It’s not your fault,” she said as if she’d been repeating the phrase over and over in her head.

It’s not my fault. The words resurface— buoyant in my mind. They impress upon me the same feeling they had when I first heard them—momentary solace and nothing more. If it’s not my fault it’s hers, and I’d much rather take the blame. Treading water towards that placid island, I whisper in her ear, “It’s not your fault.” Maybe this was really the only thing I ever wanted to say to anyone, and be told.

Her quavering eyes open wide hearing these words, but she doesn’t say anything.

Only a single tear falls in hesitant sprints down her cheek and into the pool.

‘You have a second chance,’ his note had read. How like me to think that a second chance would wipe clear all that had happened. O

ARTS

BY

KATIE CHRISTIANSEN MATT COATS

Yeasayer/Paradise T

he great thing about Yeasayer is that when I try to make a witty, applicable comparison to another indie band, I can’t. What they create isn’t new and unprecedented by any stretch of the imagination, but they manage to twist things and add flourishes that set them apart from any of their musical peers.

The quartet hails from Brooklyn (what indie band doesn’t) and consists of four members: Ira Wolf Tuton on bass, Luke Fasano on drums, Anand Wilder on guitar, and Chris Keating on keyboard and vocals.

The four seem to work together rather independently: not much interaction goes on between the four onstage, but it is very clear that what they produce is the product of individual ideas cut and pasted together through lots of collaboration. The result is at first confusing, but in the end totally riveting.

Before even gracing us with their presence, four different trees with about ten white balls each were placed onstage. A

giant, über beach ball-sized white ball was hung from the ceiling directly above the drum kit. I was surprised, expecting more of a trippy backdrop projected onto a screen that would convulse with the beat and swells of the music or cause some convulsions in the audience (of which there were some: whether alcohol or Ecstasy induced is unclear).

Once onstage, the foursome rarely moved outside of their respective areas on the tiny stage but managed to produce perfect unison in everything they did. While their two singles “2080” and “Sunrise” made appearances, perhaps the best song they performed was “Wait for the Summer.” Its harmonies were richer, more pronounced, and even more chilling than they are on the record; whether or not it’s a function of live energy is debatable, but I definitely came back to the record with a newfound appreciation of Tuton’s and Keating’s vocal ranges.

And that’s one of the things that make some listen to Yeasayer with a different ear

than I would with, say, Wolf Parade or any other comparable band. The harmonies on their first and only EP, All Hour Cymbals, are piercing, soothing, abrasive, and riveting all at the same time. These harmonies are not thrown in helter-skelter in a few select tracks throughout the album; they literally take over every song to the point that it sounds like the normal vocals for Yeasayer just have two parts. As annoying as it sounds, their intricate vocalizations could easily be the tracks in and of themselves sans guitar, drums, or synth. It is for that reason that the addition of these instruments makes their breed of indie rock richer and more chilling than the average MGMT-esque track.

To be honest, I didn’t go to this concert with the highest expectations. I went because I liked their music enough to spend $16 at Paradise, figuring it would be a fun way to further procrastinate homework and midterms. I left, however, with a newfound appreciation for the artistry and musical intricacy that is Yeasayer. O November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

19

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHOWTIME

SLEEK, SEXY, STYLIZED Why television is the future of the visual arts

THOMAS SUTHERLAND

Chuck (He’s a spy! He’s a loser! He’s obnoxious! He’s endearing! He’s the new Zach Braff!) show The Peacock is intent on ovies have always been the proheading back towards mediocrity. verbial king of the visual meIt’s not entirely the networks’ fault. dia hill. From the silent picture The Federal Communications Commisshows almost 100 years ago to the quartersion, whose first commissioner (I have it on billion dollar blockbusters of today, the good authority) sailed over on the Mayflowfilm industry has always been seen as the er, has been given the power to decide what premier medium of visual arts. But that’s Americans can and cannot watch on public changing, and doing so right in front of our channels. In doing so, the FCC eyes.

“Where the premium channels do the leg has gutted any possibility for Television shows are growing in every aspect. There are work of creating three dimensional central genuine artistic success. is impossible for the more programs and channels characters and layering in thematic explora- majorIt networks to mirror the than ever before; their audienctions within their plot constructions, the ma- realistic dialogues of their baes are the biggest in history and jor networks settle for loose strings and dry sic and premium cable counstill growing; their budgets are terparts without being able skyrocketing, and genuine artnarrative hand jobs.” to use the language that real istry is increasingly being used thought NBC was permanently moving to- people use. This simple fact is basically as bait for higher ratings.

Of course, a full and overarching wards a different path with winners like 30 what did in NBC’s crime drama The Black television revolution is still primarily in its Rock and The Office. It’s now clear though Donnellys. That show was primed for sucbeginning stages. Nothing short of scripts that they must have just gotten distracted cess with solid actors, an excellent executive commercially guaranteed for profit by God by something shiny. New high budgeted, scribe (Crash’s Paul Haggis), and a good, could get ABC, CBS, and FOX to do more bottom-feeder Crusoe and the godawful down home violent plot. Then everything BY

M

20

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

than marginally shake up their tradition of packaging vapid programming. CBS deserves extra venom for luring wonderful actors Laurence Fisbourne and Rufus Sewell into their smash cut-drenched, crime solving clutches.

The company left out of that list above is NBC, but rest assured, I’m still watching the Ben Silverman-chaired corporation fiercely. Mere months ago I actually

fell apart because no one could believe a one hour crime saga that had Irish mobsters using the word “heck” and all the violence shown in silhouette. The people may not always know when something is false, but they always know when something is true.

That said, while the FCC certainly stacks the deck against the broadcast stations, the writing on major network shows deserves a lot of the blame. Where the premium channels do the leg work of creating three dimensional central characters and layering in thematic explorations within their plot constructions, the major networks settle for loose strings and dry narrative hand jobs.

Take, for instance, Lost. The show was wildly successful, garnering huge ratings and becoming a water cooler gossip topic in offices and classrooms all over America. There is no continuity from show to show, aside from a poorly strung-together plot about a cadre of people stranded on an island. Mediocre biblical and literary references may give the impression that the show is a well-crafted allegory towards some greater social commentary. But it’s not. It’s garbage.

All of which leads me to the central point of the discussion here and that is the blessed dawning of premium channel entertainment. Today, the further you get away from the network TV channels the proportionally better the programming becomes.

Moving away from the major networks and the heavy-hitter shows, basic cable has recently come of age. AMC’s Mad Men and FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are two good examples of shows that have driven out the bilious 90’s sitcoms.

Mad Men is simply brilliant. In the midst of a financial crisis and a weasely presidential administration, what could be better than a show about a class of socials elites who have become wealthy solely from manufacturing and altering the perceptions of the American people? The amoral, profit-driven protagonists are always chasing the almighty dollar, an image a lot of Tufts students might see staring back at them in the mirror.

On the outskirts of television, far away from mainstream networks, lay the gems of the airwaves. Home Box Office (HBO) and Showtime, almost completely unrestricted

by the heavy hand of the FCC and funded well with big budgets, have been producing shows as entertaining as they are artistic. Long time mainstays such as Oz, The Sopranos, The Wire, and Six Feet Under, established the premium channels as artistic powerhouses, but the looming question re-

mographic glued to the tube.

Weeds, starring movie actress-turned television hot-mom Mary Louise Parker, was just green-lighted for a fifth season.

The show started off as a case study of a widower and her two sons, down on their luck in California and in dire need of cash.

Throughout the first two seasons, the show moved somewhat slowly, but that was when it was at its best.

The premise was startlingly simple: a mother selling dime bags to college students to pay the heating bills and put groceries in the fridge.

Over the third and fourth seasons, the

“Today, the further you get away from the network T.V. channels, the proportionally better the programming becomes.” mained: could they continue it?

It is hard to recapture the intricate storyline and amazingly detailed character construction of The Sopranos, or the behindthe-bars tension of Oz, but both stations have ushered in a new era of programs that, although not as good as the originals, are still amazing.

This transformation has drastically improved the overall quality of television and will continue to do so. Success breeds further success.

Take, for example, HBO’s miniseries Band of Brothers. Adapted from a Stephen Ambrose book of the same title, it detailed the horrid fighting of WWII, as seen by the 101st Airborne. The eight hourlong shows were brutally realistic in their depiction of the war’s violence, but didn’t use the gore as a crutch. Throughout the series, an emotional bond amongst the characters was developed, but never deteriorated into sentimental dribble.

From this history-book adaptation spawned a miniseries of the same length about the tribulations of our founding fathers and the crafting of our country, as originally written over ten years by famed historian David McCullough. Paul Giamatti delivers a subtle yet captivating performance as the revolutionary-turned-president John Adams. The cinematography and scenery are visually arresting, and the series captures the inner division amongst America’s first heroes.

Somber, realistic epics about history are not the only thing these premium channels are doing right. Showtime, taking a less academic and sophisticated approach, has three shows that are keeping viewers from every de-

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHOWTIME November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

21

plot became more absurd: her brother-inlaw became a coyote; sneaking people over the border; her friend is caught in an embezzlement scandal; she starts dating the mayor of Tijuana—but all of these seemingly chaotic twists are used as a vehicle to comment on border security, corporate greed, race relations, and a slew of other topics that confront Americans.

Moving away from socio-political critiques, Showtime’s Californication follows apathetic sex fiend Hank Moody, as played by David Duchovny. Looking past the comically less-than-subtle personification of the BY

MICHAEL TUCKER

A heated confrontation on a playground erupts. Two teenagers begin hurling insults.

One then opines: “Yo mama is so fat, she has diabetes. Which, I guess, makes her condition a serious one, and greatly reduces the humor of my insult. I apologize.” The fight dissipates, and everyone leaves slightly troubled.

How many Polish people does it take to change a light bulb?

One. Just one Polish person.

A man walks into a doctor’s office and says, “Doc, I think I broke a rib. I need an X-ray.” He didn’t have insurance. He didn’t get an X-ray.

Why do undertakers wear ties?

Because their profession is very serious, and it is important that their appearance has a degree of gravitas.

A priest, a rabbi, and a cleric walk into a strip club. They quickly realize it is one, and they exit promptly.

Why is there not a single Dairy Queen ice cream shop in the Sahara?

It would be financially irresponsible to start a franchise ice cream shop in an unpopulated desert.

What do you call an Asian man flying a plane?

A pilot, you racist.

What did the apple say to the orange?

Nothing, neither can talk. That being said, I am comfortable in speculating that he said, “I hate you because you’re different, and one day I will end you. Fuckin’ end you!”

22

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

main protagonist’s last name, the show as a whole subtly captures the glib day-to-day existence most people endure in this disastrous decade. Fueled by little more than an insatiable sex drive and a lust for illegal substances, the characters hollowly interact with one another in a sort of emotional limbo, never completely detached but never fully involved.

A writer trying to recapture his creativity and overcome his mental block, Moody is at war with himself. He is a man searching for moderation, trying to admonish his over indulgences, or at least live with them.

The lynch pin of both Weeds and Californication is the unbridled realism. Watching, it seems, as if neither show could function without the rampant sex, nudity, and drug use. Sure, such topics don’t need to be displayed as explicitly, and it’s not entirely necessary to have indecency in such great volume, but that’s what drives the shows.

America is Hank Moody. A self-loathing mess, bound by our own self-imposed restrictions, we struggle to extinguish our superfluous lifestyle and reignite our productivity. Halfway through the second season, he’s a mess. Where are we? O

‘JOKE DRY LIKE DESERT’

A black man, a Mexican man, and a white man are walking together through a forest.

Underneath a log they find a genie lamp and rub it. The genie pours forth into the air, granting each of the men a wish. The black man asks first: “My people have been oppressed for too long in America—I wish for all of my people to return to the motherland of Africa.” His wish is granted.

The Mexican man then wishes: “My people have been exploited for too long—I wish for all of us to return to Mexico.” His wish is granted, and the white man wishes.

“Well, if the blacks and Mexicans are gone, I guess I’ll have a Coke... and with that Coke I’d like an open, civil forum in which people of all races can discuss bias and inequality in America.”

Why did the chicken cross the road?

The cage in which he was held was carried across it.

Why did the second chicken cross the road?

He was also in the cage.

Why did the third chicken cross the road?

It was on its way home from work, and his two-story colonial was within walking distance from his office.

What do you call two black guys standing in line?

Their names. If you don’t know what their names are, politely ask, or just say “excuse me” to get their attention.

It is a sunny Sunday afternoon after a splendid church service. A priest and a young boy are left alone in a church back room for a few hours. The priest is courteous and respectful... at least the boy would claim that for the next twenty years.

For the next twenty years...

Did you hear the one about the guy who ate nothing but bacon?

He died recently, which was not surprising to either his doctors or family. His lifestyle had been unhealthy for some time, and he drank a lot. A diet high in saturated fat and low in essential vitamins and nutrients only worsened his already weakened system.

That is the one about the guy who ate nothing but bacon.

Why can’t women vote?

Actually, due to the women’s suffrage movement of the twentieth century, and the patriotic activism of women like Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott, women have been able to vote since 1920.

What do you call a black guy in a pool?

Swimming.

My grandfather was deported.

Did you hear about the Pope who smoked crack?

You didn’t? Well that makes sense. The chief pontiff is a man of great piety and responsibility, and it doesn’t surprise me that he doesn’t smoke crack.

A neutron walks into a store and picks out a jacket. He walks to the cashier and jokes, “I know it’s $10, but you can’t charge a neutron.” The two laugh, and the neutron pays before leaving.

My grandmother was deported, too. O

POTIQUETTE

BY

T

oday’s article is about potiquette, the etiquette behind marijuana smoking.

This is quite the massive topic, but I’ll break down potiqutte into three categories: tradition, discretion, and technique.

I’d love to give an entire article on pot traditions, but, for the most part, traditions are dependent on those who create them, so I’m sure to miss out on some of the more obscure ones only honored by small groups.

Furthermore, one man’s tradition can irk another smoker, so it’s tough to gauge fully which are legit, and which are niche.

Passing to the left is of course the gold standard, but many more exist, like when doing a bong rip thanking Poseidon for taking the ash or honoring Larry Bacow for providing an atmosphere where hundreds of cool pot smokers get stoned daily.

When it comes to potiquette, discretion is key. While it is true that a lot of people puff, it is still (as we are constantly reminded) an illegal activity that can get people in serious trouble. When invited into a smoking circle, you are privy to special information. Everyone smoking there is, obviously, letting you know that they smoke. Amongst the hundreds I’ve toked with and the hundreds more who know me as a pot smoker, I’d be offended if I knew they were talking about it with others.

This brings up what I talked about in a previous article, the marijuana pariah. A pariah will go through a party and loudly shout “REGGIE! You’re a pothead, come smoke!” While an invitation is always nice, being outed in front of a crowd (or maybe a girl I was hitting on, for all you cock-blocking clowns) is awful. The only thing worse then blatantly outing someone else as a smoker when asking them to come and puff is then

G

SAGE MCALLISTER

G

OING REEN asking them to bring their weed. It’s a slappable offense.

An Alternative Culture Column The importance of discretion

by Reggie Hubbard* is especially true when discussing marijuana-providers (or dealers, a villifying and stigmatized term). I accused reason the bowl went out was because he most of our campus of being dope-slingers argued for 20 seconds. Of course, they will in my last article, so most people have a then torch the bowl, incinerating all plant vested interest in maintaining a certain level matter and making it so that there are fewer of discretion. remaining hits and all that remain will taste First, never tell anyone who your deal- ashy. (Note: the proper way to hit a bowl is er is unless they have approved of it; that to light the corner, then once cherried let it especially means that you don’t bring friends burn, tapping the unlit part into the burnt with you when you go pick up weed without part.) first checking if it is OK. Failure to conPlease don’t be a n00b: n00bs don’t form to these simple guidelines could leave get invited back to smoking sessions unyou without anyone to get weed from (and less, of course, they’re smoking everyone most of the bigger dealers all know each up, and even then it’s doubtful. If you are other, so it’s not like you can bounce from in a smoking circle and are unsure of what one to another). to do, just ask. Everyone should be grateFinally there is technique, a simple but ful you’re learning to do things and should important aspect of potiquette. I like to de- happily explain and instruct. It’s the only scribe this using the video game terms n00b real way to go from being a newb to being and newb (something that will give my edi- competent. tor a heart attack).

Summing it all up, these rules are really For those who don’t know, a newb (or about respect. Reefer-smokers are just like newbie) is an entry level player who doesn’t any other group with a common hobby or know what’s going on but isn’t afraid to ask activity. Their activity requires some level of for help. A n00b also has no idea what’s go- discretion and understanding, but ultimately ing on but, unlike the newb, is convinced by conforming to some simple guidelines that not only does he know what’s going on, and listening to what the more experienced but he knows better than the expert. tokers have to say, you should be welcomed Doing bong hits is a prime example of into any friendly session. n00bish behavior. When hitting a bowl, it is Now, it’s probably not long until I next often unnecessary to re-light it after a hit as puff, so come join me for a smoke, reading the bowl is “cherried.” A n00b will argue this whole article was a lot of work and you for 20 seconds about the need for a lighter deserve a nice bong rip. O despite assurances it’s still lit, then take a toke but not get a hit. He will then try to Reggie Hubbard is a pseudonym but you can still claim that he was correct—that he needed reach him at reggiehubbard@gmail.com. Go ahead the lighter—but will not realize that the only and email him. He could use it.

November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

23

Bite-sized news you might have missed since our last issue.

Massachusetts Voters Pass Question 2 On Tuesday voters in Massachusetts passed ballot Question 2. This initiative included on the November 4th ticket laid out a plan to decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts. The new law would makes possession of one ounce or less of marijuana more comparable to receiving a speeding ticket. Individuals who are found possessing marijuana and who are 18 or older will have to hand over the marijuana to police and pay a $100 fine. If the offender is 18, the offense will also be reported to their parents or guardians. Any minor possessing mari-

24

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

juana will have to enroll in a minimum of four hours of a drug awareness course , and complete ten hours of community service.

The law may alleviate costs associated with the jailing of individuals who are convicted for the possession of marijuana.

Kerry at Tufts Senator John Kerry, visited Tufts on October 22, delivering a speech to a filled Cabot Auditorium. Kerry’s speech focused primarily on foreign policy, energy, and the environment. Although the speech’s focus was not the presidential campaign, Kerry did not hesitate to compliment Barack Obama on his foreign policy plans, and criticized those laid out by John McCain. O —Compiled from numerous sources, including the Tufts Daily, by Anna Majeski

MICHAEL SCHECHT

POETRY AND PROSE

Across the Aisle BY

I. She plucks the heads off of flowers picked on the way to the park and places them about the public pool, dozens of them, creating the semblance of a lagoon we swim beneath. With goggled-eyes, we look up through water and through flowers,—towards a turquoise sky.

For weeks now I’ve been getting thrown into these episodic remembrances of Lecia. They’re triggered by the slightest things, this one hitting me as I stand in the shower. Each time, for the slightest most minute portion of a second, before I realize I’m alone going about the mundanities of my life, my heart, failing to keep the pulse that my utter joy demands of it, resigns, and I lose my breath along with my balance.

That is the effect she still has on me, and yet it’s been so long since I’ve seen her that I can barely recall her scent.

Today is my last day at the Partridge foster home, the rickety old building in which I spent most of my formative years barely eeking out an existence until Lecia came and breathed her vitality into my lungs. As it begins to sink in that I’m leaving, the flashbacks have intensified becoming more vivid with each passing day. I can’t step into the shower or even pull my sheets snuggly over myself without getting a surge of her electricity through my bones.

In a way, it’s comforting; it gives me the sense that she’s still with me, somehow. It’s strange to be leaving Partridge without her in my eighteenth year, the age at which all residents move out to work low skill jobs or fulfill their scholarship opportunities. Lecia and I had promised one another to get out way before our eighteenth. And I guess she did.

I received a scholarship to Providence Community College in the mail a few months ago and tacked it to the inside of my door, where it still hangs slightly crooked today. I figure I could enroll at PCC and try to make a second go at things, leave everything I’ve known and create something entirely new, try a new slash and burn approach to life.

But college just doesn’t feel right, and if there was anything Lecia taught me, it was to go with my gut.

MICHAEL GOETZMAN

Removing my eyes from the scholarship letter, I throw my suitcase on the bed and begin to place my tired clothes within.

Finding Lecia’s old Irish hat, I taking it to my face and breathe in hard.

She stands in my doorway, silhouetted, so I can’t quite tell if she’s unclothed.

“I’m leaving, Trev. I want you to come with me.”

“Hah, about time we got out of here. Hey, are you naked or am I dreaming?”

“Why does it have to be one or the other?”

Lecia in my doorway. This memory reoccurs most often and each time she utters something different, something barely comprehensible that keeps me awake struggling to decipher. I can hardly remember what was actually said when she actually stood in my doorway that night one year ago. It was the night before we ran away, planning on taking refuge in the world

doesn’t make mistakes, Trev. If I don’t go now I might lose this chance.” Impassioned and impulsive, that was Lecia. With her sort of unconventional beauty, of the kind I most admired: large-eyed and fair-skinned, a quality that, since I hadn’t it myself, I always envied—an air of abandonment.

She would end up writing to me, a week after she left downtrodden and dumbfounded at Rothmore station, describing her lucid dream in some effort to win my understanding.

Trev, I know you’re not happy with me right now. We both expected we’d get away together, but it was so vivid, so real. He came across the aisle and knew everything about me. He told me he loved me...

I remember putting down the letter after those words, because I couldn’t endure reading what I knew was coming next. That she loved him too. It was just the type of thing Lecia would let herself fall for. Let envelope her. It was just the thing to light a coaxing flame under her reckless heart— just the thing that made her so painfully beautiful.

I had a hunch that Lecia was drawn to older men after she lent me Lolita and told me it was her favorite book. What I didn’t know was that old Humbert Humbert snoring his ass off in the seat next to us would be the man of her dreams—in her dreams—ready and more than willing to wisp her away.

II.

“ ” I had a hunch that Lecia was drawn to older men after she lent me Lolita and told me it was her favorite book. outside Partridge’s stolid walls. Little did I know that, our escape, our fledgling life together, would be so short lived.

Had I known what a little cat nap would lead to, I guess I could’ve just woken her.

“Hey, Lecia. Psst... Lecia! Wake up.

Look out the window. Isn’t it fantastic?” It could’ve been that easy.

But my intuition was probably hindered by the thrill of our expedition, of new beginnings and the rest of the naive garbage I’d amassed in my head. Even if I did get some sense that she needed to be woken, I doubt it’d be potent enough to muster such a response in me that I’d actually wake her.

She looks so calm when she sleeps, her eyes quivering under their lids. I’d loath having to shake her up. But she’s gone now, probably for good.

She had said, before she left me on the train, that because it all happened while she was sleeping that it was true, unadulterated love. “The subconscious

The whole thing started when we boarded the midnight train at Providence, three miles from Partridge, a place I was sure we were leaving behind for good. The ticket man zig-zagged his way up the aisle, punching holes in each passenger’s ticket, sending bits of paper that fell like snow flakes onto their winter jackets. Seeing as he was pretty far off, Lecia wanted to sneak off to another seat on the lower deck of the train in hopes of avoiding payment for two tickets we didn’t have.

I hesitated, a bit nervous, “He’ll catch us, Lecia. It’s his job—punching tickets and punching people without tickets.” She wasn’t phased, so I went on. “You think kids don’t November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

25

seat hop all the time? They do. And they get caught for it! Booted off, if not arrested.” She smiled that mischievous smile with its uncanny luster and looked at me with her fiery green eyes, so condescending, as if to say, “Live a little, Trev.” The next thing I knew I was taken by the hand, ripped from my seat and running down the aisle, passing row upon row of perturbed passengers.

Tripping, skipping, dodging, we dived headlong into our new hideout.

“I’ll sit in the aisle and keep a look out,” she said calmly, perhaps too calmly, since she was asleep within minutes.

Looking up from the window moments later the ticket man loomed, dominant.

Broad shouldered and in uniform, for a split second I thought his ticket puncher was a gun. “Uh, Lecia. Wake up. Wake up, Lecia,” I stammered. She woke in a start to find that apparition of a man hovering over her. He stood, a wall, one hand extended. “Tickets—please.”

His deep voice echoed in my chest, and the pause between his two words was enough for me to hand over my whole wallet, my favorite jacket, and my lucky rabbit’s foot. “It’s all I have,” I’d tell him. But before I could say anything Lecia, very seriously, told the man that our tickets had been taken by hostile fugitive runaways that hid amongst the passengers aboard his very train.

“Time’s a-wasting, sir! You must go after them! We couldn’t do anything, being two kids n’ all. But you! A big, strong, imposing figure—you could intimidate those thieves to justice with one look! Yes, exactly—that look right there.”

At that, he looked hard at Lecia.

And she looked right back, feigning seriousness.

“You two, off at the next stop,” was his only reply.

And thats when he appeared; the man from across the aisle.

“Pardon me, sir. I know this isn’t any of my business, but I’d be happy to pay for their tickets.”

What a guy! What a godsend! A perfect gentleman aboard a midnight train. I remember thanking him at long length while drying the sweat from my eyebrows.

Looking at him from across the isle, Lecia didn’t offer the man a single word of appreciation, not even a look 26

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

of gratitude. I should have known then that she yearned for him.

The train hastened forward on its rusty tracks, and from my window spanned miles of industrial landscape that seemed on a conveyor belt leading to a sinister end that never came. A little crestfallen by the endless scene, I tried, instead, to think more uplifting thoughts; I tried to think of all the places we may go, of all the strange people we’d continue to meet, of the mischievous life we would lead.

I remember a sudden chill smarting my neck as I turned to a placid-faced Lecia who slept, smelling of vanilla, breathing warm against my shoulder. I recall the man across the aisle, too, acquiescing, cajoled by his tired eyes into what would be a memorable slumber.

“It’s okay, because he loves me. He’ll do anything as long as it makes me happy.”

“But you’re his favorite person.”

“He’ll be sad but won’t stop us. He loves me.”

“Will you live with me on my boat?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Will you love me more than him?”

“I already do.”

“Even though I’m old?”

“What are you talking about you perfect thing?”

“You think I’m perfect?

“Perfect.”

“I love you.”

“Old man, I thought I would have to wait until I died for happiness like this.”

“I know everything that will make you happy.”

Using the details from Lecia’s letter, I often create the semblance of the dream she shared with the strange man that was seated beside us.

In it, he comes across the aisle standing still, smirking as he looks down on her lustrous black hair and fluent white skin.

“What took you so damn long,” she asks, rising and taking his hand, not interested in an answer.

Together, walking an infinite expanse of aisle, the man burns for her. He does not show it, but somehow she knows, for this was their dream, and in dreams one often knows things that one should not.

“What about Trevor,” he asks.

Slipping his hand up the back of her shirt, he fells her goosebumps percolating like rain atop a still lake.

“Rothmore Station!” boomed the conductor, waking Lecia from her slumber with a start.

She looked on edge, I remember, upright and wide-eyed. Turning her head slowly away from me, she gazed across the aisle, her eyes meeting with the his. Peppered hair receding, tie loosened, he too, was upright, looking upon her as if she were the sublime incarnate. I recall thinking it strange at the time, their simultaneous waking and exchange of curious looks but thought little of it as I returned to daydreaming about wandering the world with the girl I loved.

“Rothmore Station!” the conductor called once more.

With her hand on my knee, Lecia turned to me, anxious but resolved, “Trev, I’m about to do something and you’re going to try to convince me that I shouldn’t. I’m getting off at this stop, and you have to stay behind.”

“Wait. What?! Where are you going?”

“Trev, please don’t. It won’t make any sense to you now, but the man who bought our tickets is waiting for me outside the train. He invited me to join him on his boat, and I’m going to stay with him for a while.

I’ll write you once I’m settled, so we can meet back up.”

“Wait! Wait!” I pleaded, grabbing at her beautiful hands. “You’re scaring the shit out of me. This is too soon! You’re making a

and she needed no justification really, not like someone of sounder mind might. Even so, her exchange with that man struck me as a foreboding of some evil beyond the scope of Lecia’s regular mischief. As long as I knew Lecia, she wanted so badly to blur the lines between dreams and reality, and had, in many ways, succeeded. She even shared her precious knowledge of preternatural with me; she showed me how it could be real, and she crafted her life around it to cope with an existence that was never given any shape by family, never framed by love or belonging. For Lecia, reality was a mess. It was in her dreams that she found purpose. But I always saw that quality of abandonment, of trust in the supernatural, the numinous, as a gift and a curse; it was both what made her so strong, so striking OBSERVER PHOTO ARCHIVES

would realize her silly mistake, become bored, and would need me to pick her up at Rothmore, where we could resume our escape together. But her note doused any hope I had to muster, and the fog has been thickening to this day.

Zipping my suitcase closed, Mrs. Moor’s heavy, deliberate steps disturb the old wood floor before as she slides a letter under my door. Lifting it, I loose my balance and stumble against the door.

She stands mesmerizing in my doorway, silhouetted, so I can’t quite tell if she’s unclothed.

“Trev, wake me up! Wake me up!”

Crouched with my back to my door, my trembling hands try to open the envelope. Unfolding the letter, I read its words scrawled in unfamiliar, masculine handwriting: I’ve left her in my boat. I’ve bound her hands, her legs, and body. She told me she loved me. She doesn’t—she loves you. I told her, ‘When the man of your dreams is under your nose, you don’t look across the aisle.’ You let her go once. You have a second chance.

IV.

mistake!”

“The subconscious doesn’t make mistakes, Trev,” she said, advancing towards the door. “If I don’t go now, I’ll miss this stop. Don’t worry, I’ll be all right. We’ll see each other as soon.” And with those words she walked from the train and towards that man, taking his hand.

What else could I say to her?

I just stood. I stood at the door of the train and watched as he took her hand to his fat lips.

III. Looking back upon it now, I really don’t know why I was so surprised; she was the most impulsive person I’ve ever known,

and yet so vulnerable.

Disillusioned, I took the train back to Partridge. About a week after I saw her take his hand at Rothmore station, a letter came from her reiterating the importance of that moment on the train, between her and the man across the isle—that the strange bond they shared wasn’t limited to dim reality, but transcended it; “He can share in my dreams,” she wrote. “I can learn so much from him.”

Burning the letter on a dinner plate in my room, I entered a world of fog, a depression that I’m still struggling to find my way through. Before receiving her letter, my hope was that the man would prove innocuous and uninteresting, that Lecia

Lecia and I float on our backs in the public pool. My chest, stomach, knees, and toes lie above the water appearing disconnected from one another, like a chain of islands.

“The pool hasn’t changed one bit,” I say to her. “Still cold as hell, still too much chlorine.”

But it had changed, everything had changed. The flowers no longer float about us; we float solitary, each an island.

She’s so still, I think, her palms facing upwards, gesturing towards the sky for some thing to just seize her from where she lies. I force my gaze at the clouds, but catch her in the corner of my eye. She looks cadaverous, a pale green. That lustrous black hair, which used to spread out, incandescent atop the water, now wallows, flat, dull.

The years have stacked themselves to create an implacable wall that obscures my view of the past. I hold on tight to my tenuous memories of This story is continued on page 18…

November 10, 2008

THE OBSERVER

27

CAMPUS Strike Back at the Empire Art exhibit, “Empire and its Discontents” Exhibitions by 10 international artists November 13, 11 a.m. Aidekman Arts Center

Fall-themed food, games, music , and performances, all for FREE November 13, 8-10 p.m. Hotung Cafe

police

blotter

Saturday, November 1

Freshman Fall Fest

It seems that computers left to their own devices are finding their devices under new ownership. Casual mingling at a function in Gordon Hall ended in heartbreak when one of two computers used for a presentation had disappeared when the minglers disbanded.

Saturday, November 1

On Saturday night, a friendly Latin Way resident reported being shafted by a most ungracious guest. The guest, a non-Tufts student, was invited to the suite after telling the residents that he was from Washington, DC and was interested in attending grad school at Tufts.

However, when students returned to the suite after leaving the visitor alone for a period of time, not only had the visitor vanished, but one of the resident’s computer and iPod had similarly disappeared.

Macbooks have been going like hotcakes!

Sunday, November 2 In Lewis Hall, a Resident Director grew curious when they heard the phrase “I’ll bet I can reach that,” further down the hall. Following their instincts, the RD investigated the situation.

They observed an exit sign, hanging broken and dejected from the ceiling and was fortunately observant enough to identify the culprit as the one wearing the Scooby Doo costume.

—Illustrated and compiled by Ryan Stolp 288

THE OBSERVER

November 10, 2008

PARTING SHOT

Natalie Selzer

Tufts Observer Since 1895

www.tuftsobserver.org Tufts University P.O. Box 5302, Medford, MA, 02155 Please Recycle