Spring 2010 - Issue 5

TUFTS OBSERVER APRIL 19, 2010

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VOLUME CXX / ISSUE 5

INSIDE THE After graduation: professors’ paths (page 2)

Five shows you should have seen (page 17)

The secret to happiness? (page 24)

FEATURED ARTICLES

2

feature Professors’ post graduation endeavours

6

national Health care: reviewing the facts

arts

17

The Observer reviews the latest performances

off campus Relaxing spots for nature-filled eating

opinions The secret to happiness

The Observer has been Tufts’ 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, creative writing and lively reviews of current arts, entertainment and culture. Through poignant writing and artistic elegance, we aim to entertain, inform and above all challenge the Tufts community to effect positive change.

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CONTENTS

EDITORS editor-in-chief Daniel Rosen managing editors Zachary Foulk Eliza Mills section editors Katie Boland Meg Boland Katie Christiansen Zachary Laub Marysa Lin Cara Paley Molly Rubin Natalie Selzer Ariana Siegel Seth Stein

April 19, 2010 Tufts Observer, Since 1895

Volume CXX, Issue 5 Tufts’ Student Magazine www.tuftsobserver.org

production director David Schwartz art director Alyce Currier photography editor Elizabeth Herman lead artist Ruth Tam layout director Daniel Weinstein copy editor Kristen Barone assistant copy editors Danielle Carbonneau Kate Griffiths Carly Machlis Daniela Ramirez Isobel Redelmeier Elisha Sum Brian Wolf Zara Fishkin

2 feature Postgrad Perspectives, by Marysa Lin 5 international Micro Finance, Macro Impact, by Madeline Christensen 6 national Health Care Cram Session: Ensuring You Know the Facts, by Will Ehrenfeld 8 national Racing the Wind..., by Katherine Sawyer life 10 campus Glamorous Gay Clubs, by Michael Cob life 11 campus Picnic Perfect, by Rihanna Jones & culture 12 arts The Art of the Soundtrack, by Eliza Mills 17 concerts The Observer Presents: The Concert Review, by Various 21 opinions Psychobabble: Profit From Your Period, by Sophia Boudoir 22 opinions Freethought, by Xavier Malina 24 opinions Good Day, Sunshine, by Ariana Siegel & prose 26 poetry Somewhere Without Fences, by Eric Archibald poetry & prose 27 Forbidden, , by Eva Parish afety campus safety 28 Police Blotter, ter, by Ruth Tam

BUSINESS & WEB

CONTRIBUTORS ORS

web director Will Ramsdell assistant web director Charlotte Burger webmaster Jonathan Evans business manager Andrew McGowan

Eric Archibald Madeline Christensen Michael Cob Will Ehrenfeld Rihanna Jones Xavier Malina Catherine Nakajima Eva Parish Katherine Sawyer

PRODUCTION

STAFF Michael Bendetson Chelsea Brown Nicole Abi-Esber Katherine Sawyer Lauren Herstik Elaine Kim Rebecca Plante Suzi Grossman

Since

1895

CAMPUS

POSTGRAD PERSPECTIVES INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY MARYSA LIN JONATHAN WILSON University of Essex, 1973 I graduated from college in England, from University of Essex, summer 1973. So, it must have been in June 1973. And that was the second school I had been to. I actually started a college in 1968, did one year at the University of Nottingham, then I left shortly before they were about to ask me to leave. (Laughs) But I left, they didn’t get the chance.

Then, in October of 1973, the Yom Kippur war broke out in the Middle East, and I went from England as a volunteer to work on a kibbutz. And I arrived in Israel on the day of—I think it was the largest tank battle since Stalingrad…Nixon had just rearmed the Israeli army, and there were all of these huge American transport planes unloading tanks that looked like they were rolling out huge eggs onto the tarmac.

I remember when the Yom Kippur war broke out, I was in a pub with a friend of mine, and, this I do remember: I was in a pub called “The Station.” And we were quite drunk, and the next day, we went down to London…and then [my friend and I] volunteered to be workers in the kibbutz. And then there was a delay while a lot of the fighting was going on. But in the middle of the war, we did go out, and we did arrive at night in Tel Aviv. It was a blackout.

CONSUELO CRUZ Georgetown University When I graduated from college, from Georgetown, I was very, very young. I was 20…I didn’t know anything about anything. So I went to Georgetown, to the School of Foreign Service…I was all set.

I liked it very much. But when I graduated, I really felt like I didn’t know anything about myself and what I wanted to do with my life.

So I decided to go back to my country and take a look. And I went into private banking (in those days it was mostly commercial banking).

I had to start from scratch, and I had to teach myself how to do financial analysis and how to be a banker, and, um, I remember that we had to be at our desks by eight in the morning…and, that there was this sort of ethos—a competition almost as to who was the one that left last…it was this idea that you had to almost kill yourself working so I proceeded to lose something like 20 pounds in the first six months, I used to chain smoke, you know, like two packs a day.

Lots of coffee.

But, what was most interesting was that I was extremely young, and yet I soon found myself being promoted, and I ended up supervising a team of something like 15 people who were much older than myself and who had been at the bank for a long time…first, 2

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I stayed there for three months working on the kibbutz where I was in charge of chickens. And I had a little red tractor of my own, and I inoculated them against Newcastle’s disease. And I incinerated the dead chickens. And I fed them. And once, I fell over and bashed my head on a feeder and was unconscious in the chicken hut for a while. Anyway, I know I was there for at least 3 months. And then I went back to England. And here’s the confusion…because I have no idea. (Laughs) Like January through the following September is a total blank! And, I started a postgraduate degree at Oxford, I’m pretty sure in October 1974.

That being the case, I must have done something between January and August of 1974. But it’s gone. It’s completely gone.

So um, (laughs)—maybe the something I was doing was something that induced a state of amnesia. I was back there on that kibbutz summer of ’74. So there’s still a few months missing. The “lost months.” You can fill them in however you like.

Make something up. Habitat for Humanity…

COURTESY OF CONSUELO CRUZ they thought that I was a privileged, US educated, very young woman. Why should I be above them, why should I be telling them what to do?

So I had to learn to earn their respect.

Not only did I have to learn about finance and financial analysis, but I also had to learn how to respect people, how to treat people well, how to give people their due, and how to understand where they’re coming from. That it wasn’t just about being polite to them, that it was also about putting myself in their shoes. And that changed my life. It made me a better human being, and it made me a better student at the Masters level, and it made me a better political scientist.

And in the end, I fit in just right in terms of the culture. I was going back to rediscover my culture in my country, that came back very quickly, it was the universal lesson of actually putting yourself in other peoples shoes that really turned out to be the goldmine.

CAMPUS In a series of interviews, Tufts professors across disciplines and age provided their insight on the postgraduate experience. The Observer asked them the question, “What did you do right after graduation?” and they gave us the following stories. Rest assured, dear seniors. Even professors went through job hunting, relocation, volunteering, and temporary amnesia. The transcripts have been edited for clarity and length.

GERARD GASARIAN La Sorbonne, 1969 It was tremendously tumultuous in 1968…Everybody followed the students’ example, and everybody went on strike for a month!

The whole month of May…La Sorbonne was occupied! It was occupied for the first time in its history. Students were occupying La Sorbonne, no one could enter and teach, or study. It had become a stronghold of, of the mini revolution. Of the May Revolution.

I wanted to study French literature, which I did. [I continued to work towards my MA] at the Sorbonne in Paris, and when I passed my MA exams, I had to comply with one civic duty which had to do with the military service because it was compulsory in France at the time… So I had deferred doing this because I was a student, and students were allowed a deferment. I sort of waited as long as I could.

I was fortunate that at the time, General deGaulle had decided that it would benefit the French nation to strengthen the LAUREN HERSTIK

BEATRICE MANZ Harvard University, 1970

I was not very organized.

I graduated from Harvard in 1970. And, that was a confusing time: we’d been on strike, there was the Vietnam war, and so on and so forth…I wanted to move out to the West coast for a while. I sort of wanted adventure, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn’t worried about that terribly.

So, I was talking with people and one of my older cousins said, “Oh you’ve got to move to Seattle, Seattle’s great, go to Seattle.” He now lives there. Um, neither he nor I had noticed that Boeing had laid off…half their people. But we weren’t practically oriented so we hadn’t noticed that little fact.

I very quickly discovered I’d not made a very good choice in terms of jobs. But I was open and so I just started looking for anything I could find. And I spent about two months. Pretty much nine-to-five or more job hunting. I just didn’t do anything

presence of the French language wherever it is spoken. So, he actually offered MA students in French literature an option other than serving in the military service. He offered them the chance to teach in any third-world country where French was being spoken still, at the time. And that meant Vietnam, that meant Africa…and one more option was Quebec. (Laughs) I didn’t want to go to Vietnam because you know, the war was going on, and I just didn’t want to have anything to do with that. The French had gotten out of it, I didn’t see why I should be sent back there. So fortunately my first choice was accepted and I taught in a ghetto of Montreal because as a linguistic soldier, they could send me anywhere battle was raging. And there were some dismal schools in East Montreal.

In the summer between the two years when I taught, I decided to tour the United States. I spent two months traveling anywhere, anytime, with Greyhound buses for 100 dollars a month. I decided to apply to a graduate school in the United States…I accepted an offer from Berkeley to work towards a Ph.d…And that was a life-changing experience for me because I discovered a new system of education, which I ended up preferring…the French system is free, but there is absolutely no supervision. You are left alone in some sort of wilderness. And it’s swim or sink, no one will come to your rescue. So, freedom comes at a cost. else. I was very systematic, I was totally shameless. (Laughs) When I look back I mean, it was really funny. You know, I asked anyone. I looked into banks, I looked into sort of nonprofit. I went around the university. I looked into teaching, I looked into journalism.

My skills didn’t exactly match what they were looking for.

All my studies were Russian, European. I knew French and German well, I knew some Russian, I knew some Persian. No one could care less about those languages in Seattle.

One thing I did discover quite early on was the one thing you could always do in an interview was to get some sort of further information. And I became very, very skilled at politely keeping the conversation going until people were so desperate to get me to move on, they’d give me something. Not a job, but a name.

I started going around to these people who bowled together at lunchtime that passed me on…and actually got hired for a job before it was advertised…And I held that for about seven months. And then, my serious boyfriend had gone in the Peace Corps partly to get away from the draft because he had a bad number, and so after about nine months in Seattle I left for the Philippines and I taught history there at a couple of different colleges.

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CAMPUS

I was graduated from Hunter College, in New York. In what year? God…I’m lousy on that. I wanna say 1960, I think it’s ’60. I’m not good in years…I used to call up my mother when I needed that.

“Ma? When did I get out of Hunter?” (Laughs) Right afterwards, the summer, I probably did what I always did in the summer which was stay home, we lived in the Bronx. I got a Fulbright student grant to Germany, I studied at the University of Bonn…it was my first time away from home, first time really away from home, I never even went to summer camp or anything. Nothing. My mother always said, “She never even wanted to go to camp, but now she goes to Germany,” you know? I do things big, dramatic. (Laughs) But that was a great opportunity for me because it was my first time on my own…Germany was my growing up. I turned 21 over there.

We had to type up the application in quadruplicate or something like that. God forbid.

We didn’t even have a typewriter. I borrowed my Uncle Maurice’s…I was doing the thing, you know, in the middle of the night the day before it was due and the ribbon ran out! So I CHRIS ROGERS Stanford, 1984 I sort of knew I was going to be a professor before I went to college. So I went straight through, all three degrees, same institution, graduated, and came straight here to teach.

I did a couple summer jobs along the way.

There was one right after my last year undergraduate, I worked at Lockheed Martin.

They had a testing plant up in the mountains in San Mateo, California, and we fired off rockets!

It was really cool. You had this big rocket engine, and you just fire stuff off, and you stick something in the back of it…we had these little things that shot pebbles so it was like you hit ice, [to see] what would happen to the front of the bomb, in their case. But that was a lot of fun.

We also had a cryo facility where we’d do stuff that was really cold. Best part about that was one day there was a rattlesnake right outside our place so they took some liquid nitrogen from the cryo facility and instantly froze the snake. Then we cooked it up and ate it. It was pretty good!

thought, well, it still makes an indentation, so I did the whole thing then I went over it with pencil, believe it or not, every single thing.

That’s why I think they were sorry for me. They said hey, she wants that Fulbright! And am I glad I got the Fulbright! [My world]—it was very sheltered. I wasn’t allowed to do too much. But in Germany, it was like wow! Gonna go dancing, gonna conquer the world.

And I did!

The experience in Germany was important for me also from a personal point of view. I really grew up, and I knew I could make it on my own. I knew I could make it without mommy and daddy… but, I had also wonderful friends. She just called me for my birthday last week, my German girlfriend who now is a grandmother for the first time…I had such experiences through her because she had a farm, and I’d never been on a farm! And they let me collect the eggs and everything, they thought, “Oh good, free labor!” So I had that wonderful experience of a real German farm. Germany was really, as I said, my growing up place. My place where I came into my own.

I didn’t take a break, I know a lot of students now take breaks after their graduation, and I think it’s not a bad idea, I was always thinking, “What do you do now?” And I’m still like that.

OTHER PHOTOS BY MARYSA LIN

GLORIA ASCHER Hunter College, 1960

But I already knew I wanted to become a professor…I stuck with teaching. I actually taught a lot in my life. In 8th grade I was a substitute teacher in my local high school, and, (laughs) I was a TA in a bunch of different classes. I taught a course at Stanford before I graduated. I’ve just always loved to teach. My father is a professor as well.

Since becoming a professor, there’s a number of things that I’ve done that have made my life different…I did do Fulbright in New Zealand with the whole family…learned to drive on the wrong side of the road. We spent a year in Switzerland, I went on sabbatical.

For me, the big decision was coming out of high school whether to go to Northwestern School of Music or Stanford Engineering. (Laughs) And so, after looking at starting salaries, it became evident that engineering might be the safer bet. But I’ve always tried to keep the music part alive [in my work now].

We’ve done research in music instruments…I offer a class in music instrument design. We started the Music Engineering minor [here at Tufts]. O

Despite achieving similar professional positions that stem from a relatively stable series of necessary preconditions (grad school, academic research, etc.), professors nonetheless exhibit a wide array of experiences. In their interviews, each one stresses the benefits of their own path—however meandering it was.

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INTERNATIONAL

Micro Finance, Macro Impact

BY MADELINE CHRISTENSEN

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ou may have heard of microfinancing, but you may not know what it is or how it could involve the average college student. Microfinance is the provision of financial services to people whose income and collateral are too small to secure a loan from a traditional bank. The idea gained momentum in 2006, when Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for the concept’s’s development. Recently, this nationwide trend rend came to Tufts, thanks to sophomore Brooke rooke Evans, who brought Kiva, an online microfinance initiative, to campus.

“I was having one of those moments where I was like, ‘What at should I be doing with my life?’” said Evans. “I thought, ‘What is the number one thing that that Tufts didn’t have but needed?’”

So Evans created the Tufts University Kiva Initiative, or TUKI. Founded as a non-profit in 2005, Kiva.org allows anyone with $25 to make a loan to strug-gling entrepreneurs in 52 countries. es.

With over 600,000 users, Kiva has lent almost $130 million to 182,000 causes.

The organization boasts a 98.48% repayment epayment rate.

Evans decided to introduce Kiva tto campus partly because student lenders are likely to be repaid. “It’s about doing good with what you have,” Evans said. “It’s like, here’s $25 dollars, and you can lend it, and then it comes back to you.”

Tufts Economics Professor Edward Kutsoati sees the value and the risks of microloans. “Everywhere, there are success stories, but there are also examples of families whose lives have been ruined by debt,” wrote Kutsoati. “Small loans are not for all.”

The cost of microloans is one of the main obstacles to their success. Due to high demand, which often outstrips their supply, many microloans have with high interest

rates. Kutsoati also notes structural difficulties for entrepreneurs. “Recall that these loans are made to folks who live in poor communities, which means they often lack the basic infrastructures to enhance productivity of their small businesses,” he said.

Another obstacle to its success is the tendency of microloans to fade over time.

“As more loans are injected in this community, returns fall, profits shrink, and default rates

of self-employment, overall output of development, and the likelihood to use earnings to improve their living situations and educate their children. Centner is more skeptical.

“I’m worried about anything that’s billed as a panacea, that’s going to just fix everything everywhere,” he said.

Centner also said that the communitystyle lending of programs like the Grameen Bank could provoke unforeseen consequences. “There can be lots of serious peer pressure pressure, sometimes deadly peer pressure, applied to people in this group,” said Centner. “S “So that if a person is delinquent in repay paying her loan, then she faces the wrath of her peers.”

But giving loans to those in need cannot solve the problems of an already disadvantaged community.

Many women targeted by microlending live in societies where they lack social power and opportunity for upward social mobility. It’s dangerous to change the fundamental parts of a social dynamic in places w where financially independent women could clash with men who feel they deserve loans as well. des M Kiva and other microlending initiaK TA TH RU tives are also problematic in that lenders are BY given very v little information about whom RT A L loan to to.

Superfi cial factors such as geograL A b e i tto rise, i ” ph gin phy, gender, and the borrower’s picture are said Kutsoati. Consequently, when lending used frequently by users to decide who gets institutions follow “the herd” into a commu- a loan. Likewise, loans that have interesting nity, each often fails to realize the total credit anecdotes or feature the borrower in a colburdening their clients. Defaults often cre- orful photo tend to attract more sponsors. ate “social tensions within the community, Adds Kiva, “African loans that have not been since loans are usually guaranteed by peers funded tend to have ‘boring’ names.” in joint-liability scheme.”

Said Centner, “It lets the process of deSociology Professor Ryan Centner, has ciding who is deserving and who’s not to concerns about microfinance beyond eco- people who don’t really have any idea.” nomics. Centner is especially leery of lendThough a perfect model is yet to be ing programs that target specific groups, found, microfinance has changed lives for such as the poor women from rural areas the better. On campus, it has the potential to that dominate the focus of programs like the impact many more. While microloans aren’t Grameen Bank. The organization concen- necessarily a fix-all, they certainly merit a trates on women because of the opportunity closer look. O APRIL 19, 2010

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NATIONAL

Health Care Cram Session: Ensuri

BY WILL EHRENFELD

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innesota Governor and potential 2012 presidential nominee Tim Pawlenty called it an “unprecedented overreach by the federal government.” Georgian Congressman Paul Broun called it “a war of Yankee aggression” (really). But Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma put it in terms everyone can understand: “To our seniors, I have a message for you: you’re going to die sooner.”

What are these Republicans responding to so angrily—and some might say outrageously? The recently passed health care bill, of course. Few pieces of legislation in recent memory have been so divisive, caused such national furor, or fueled so many protests and rallies on both sides of the political spectrum. Likewise, rarely has legislation brought with it such a dramatic change.

For all the discussion and debate regarding the health bill, knowledge of its

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key provisions is sorely lacking.

The news media has focused on sound bites and all the outrageous rhetoric flowing from competing sides of the senate floor. For some, it has be difficult to find out how we may actually be affected by the bill, signed into law by President Obama on March 23.

Senior Andrea Lowe, president of the Tufts Democrats, highlighted the primary effect of the bill on college students nationwide—including, of course, the impact here at Tufts. Until age 26, young adults will be able to remain on their parents’ health insurance, which she said “will have a profound impact on young adults.”

Previously, individual states regulated the age of maturity when children were no longer covered by their parents’ policies, generally age 18 or, in some cases, upon the completion of an undergrad- u a t e degree. Now, a universal cutoff age for health care coverage under family plans has been set, ensuring care for most undergraduates.

The reform’s impact on college students is enormous. While salvaging draining funds, undergrads will no longer need to worry about establishing an independent insurance plan apart from that of their parents until the ripe age of 26—a time when (hopefully) carefree college kids have transformed into responsible and financially secure adults. With the passing of the health care bill, a heavy burden has

certainly been lifted across college campuses nationwide.

Beyond its effects on college students, the health care reform will help millions of other Americans.

Insurance coverage will be extended to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured. The bill also mandates that individuals cannot be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions, a provision that will be put into effect immediately for children and in 2014 for adults.

“This increased access to health care will be very beneficial. Health care reform is a big event, very comprehensive, but it begins with expanding coverage,” said Albert Ma, a BU professor who is a guest lecturer in the Tufts Economics Department.

The response from Tufts’ Right, unsurprisingly, was less positive. “They are just reinforcing the status quo system of heavily regulated, private insurance,” according to senior Xander Zebrose, a member of the Tufts Republicans. The primary effect of the bill, he said, is “just forcing more people into a system that doesn’t work particularly well.”

Like the new ban on restricting coverage based on preexisting conditions, many of the bill’s more audacious reforms will not be implemented until 2014. The individual mandate to enroll in an insurance plan— the lynchpin of Massachusetts’ health regime, which was in large part echoed in

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ring You Know the Facts the federal program—will also be delayed until 2014, along with the ban on lifetime caps for insurance coverage. These caps, which limit the amount of money a patient can receive regardless of need, often leave families with huge debts after loved ones pass away.

A point of contention surrounding the bill is how it will affect prices for consumers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan body that reviews legislation for its financial impact, said that by 2016, it expects little increase in premiums for those with employer-sponsored plans. While individuals and families enrolled in unsponsored plans may see rises in cost, according to the CBO, more than half of these people will qualify for federal subsidies—reducing costs by 60%.

Generally, these reforms will benefit middle-class families, while upper-class individuals and large corporations are likely to see increased costs and higher taxes in

order to cover the cost of the new changes.

Yet President Obama has taken pains to highlight the bill’s positive effects on small businesses: “This year, millions of smallbusiness owners will be eligible for tax credits that will help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees,” he remarked in a speech in Iowa a few weeks ago.

Many commentators and pundits argue that the bill’s biggest impact will be seen in November, when mid-term elections roll around. What effect will healthcare reform have on the prospects for both parties in the 2010 elections?

The health reform bill “gives the Democrats a platform to run on,” in the words of sophomore Seth Rau, the Speakers Coordinator for the Tufts Democrats.

“Once people start to know that they will be saving [money] from the bill, some more popular support will come about,” he predicts, forecasting that the Democratic Party will retain control of both chambers of Congress.

Professor Ma believes that while the bill’s largest effects won’t surface by election, its impact will certainly be resonant.

“Nothing will be felt so soon as election season (November), but the most immediate effects are regarding non-inclusion,” he said. “That change says that you cant reject someone based on preexisting conditions, and it takes effect more or less immediately.”

Xander Zebrose of the Tufts Republicans agreed. “I don’t think the Democrats ELAINE KIM are going to be any worse off

because they passed it,” he said. The reason for this, he explained, is timing. “All the costs are delayed…the real effects will probably be farther down the road, once the bill has a real impact.”

Professor Ma stresses how the overhaul of the health system will leave a legacy on the Democratic party and United States politics. “Politically, this has been a success for the Democratic party, “he said. “This is a big event, expanding coverage to people who are less well off and those who work for small businesses, it is a huge part of the country. This is on the level of the creation of Medicare in the 1960s, and it will probably be a positive legacy for Democrats.”

No matter the political ramifications, it is clear that the passage of health care reform marks a dramatic shift in US social policy. It seems almost inevitable that this bill will indeed extend coverage to millions and make health insurance available and affordable to all Americans—a change that is long overdue. And, if anything, this health care reform will guarantee us Tufts students at least a couple more years of free health insurance, courtesy of mom and dad. O APRIL 19, 2010

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NATIONAL

Racing the Wind...

Massachusetts and Rhode Island race to becomee the first state wit Who will win this envi environmental ironmental showd

BY KATHERINE SAWYER

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s the United States’ oil supply dwindles and our carbon footprint grows exponentially, many look to the wind as the ultimate answer to our energy problems. Rhode Island and Massachusetts can now count themselves among the growing number of wind energy proponents as they compete to be the first state with a large-scale offshore wind farm.

Tufts Professor and Associate Dean of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Lewis Edgers sees wind energy as a smart solution to our energy problems and understands why states are jumping at the opportunity to harness the wind’s power.

“My view is that we’re living in a time where energy is increasing in high demand, and we’re feeling the effects of using fossil fuels, coal, and oil, to generate energy,” he said. “We have to develop more diverse sources in energy, in particular sources that don’t rely on fossil fuels. We need renewable sources, so [windfarms] can be very viable sources of energy in places of the world with wind.”

Massachusetts has secured state permits for the proposed farm but has encountered many difficulties in garnering popular support and is currently awaiting final permits. The developer, Cape Wind,

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has clashed with coastal Indian tribes, homeowners, and businesses in its quest to create the first-ever offshore farm in the United States, and the ensuing delays have given Rhode Island the chance to compete.

Rhode Island has approached the project from a different angle, beginning its journey with offshore wind energy through a three-year scientific study set to conclude this August. The study—which cost over $8 million—researched the ecosystems, fish distribution, bird migration patterns, fisherman priorities, and areas of importance for Indian tribes along the state’s 30-mile coastline.

Although the research has not yet finished, Rhode Island has proposed two possible sites—an eight-turbine farm off Block Island for $200 million and a much larger project in the eastern Rhode Island Sound for $1.5 billion. The state has also chosen Deepwater Wind as its developer.

Both developers have faced similar challenges in designing the offshore wind farms. According to Edgers, constructing and choosing locations for the wind turbines is a complicated science.

“The technical challenges are in first of all assessing the suitability—you need to determine if a place is windy enough and then to decide how to place a group

of wind turbines on a foundation,” said Edgers. “You have to explore the sea floor, figure out the wind and sea and currents to determine how much energy can be produced, and how much pressure is put on the structures.”

Clearly, this complicated process can create real problems in the actual construction and completion of a wind farm.

Rhode Island appeared to be secure in its wind energy plans, but a fallout with the utility company set to buy the energy the farm will generate has been a major setback. With both states currently lacking these “power purchases,” offshore wind energy is still just a dream.

Edgers does not see the race as a contest but as a large-scale push for renewable energy.

“I don’t see it as a competition. Each of these projects is being brought forward by developers, and there are some technical challenges in each,” he said. “The thing that makes this take so long is the need for regulatory approval.”

This approval could come straight from the White House, as stalled progress in both states has prompted national action. The interior secretary for the Obama administration, Ken Salazar, has been

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with a fully functioning windfarm. owdown? tasked with the decision to approve or deny the Massachusetts’ Cape Wind project. Salazar will make his decision about the future of the project by the end of the month. He can either respect the native tribes of the area with concerns that the farm will damage a natural ocean habitat, or he can recognize that solar wind energy is an environmentally crucial part of Massachusetts’ future.

While officials believe that the wind farms will prove worthwhile in providing clean energy and jobs, they also understand that the farms have become an issue of state pride—a competitive race to be the first state with an offshore farm. Consequently, some environmentalists have voiced concerns that this competition could overshadow the protection of wildlife.

Edgers said that the site assessments take these environmental factors into account. “There are environmental issues associated with wind turbines, there are noise issues, shadow issues, and they must deal with birds,” he said. “What that means is that someone has to conduct an assessment of what those environmental effects may be.”

Although Tufts’ energy does not come from the Massachusetts’ grid—but rather a smaller, greener energy producer—individuals at Tufts’ Office of Sustainability would be happy to see the state producing more energy from renewable sources.

The office used to run a joint initiative with the Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) organization called Get Clean! Power It Green!—an endeavor that allowed students to offset their carbon emissions by purchasing clean energy credits, which support wind energy in part. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative had decided to discontinue the program, however.

Since then, students have pushed to add a student fee for wind energy but to no avail, according to Project Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, Tina Woolston.

“There was a large scale effort by students several years ago to get a fee attached to [student bills] for wind power,” she said.

“So, it passed the student referendum, but then the administration didn’t want to implement it, so the students did a big push to have people buy recs voluntarily. How-

ever, without a champion, very few people know about it or do it.”

Many other members of the Tufts community would be happy to see the state win the race for wind energy. Among these groups is the Tufts Energy Security Initiative, which supports research into energy security aimed to understand the political, social, and environmental consequences of our energy choices.

Edgers has high hopes for the future of wind energy in the Northeast and hopes that Massachusetts and Rhode Island will not lose sight of the true importance of wind energy. “In Europe, wind energy makes a significant contribution to their energy supply, and we could be doing the same thing in New England,” he said. “I don’t think of it as a state resource; to me it’s a renewable resource.” O

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NATIONAL

BY REBECCA PLANTE

Glamorous gay clubs

BY MICHAEL COB It is often said that you either love Boston or New York, but never both. When considering the merits of the gay scenes in each city, however, I have to say it’s a tough call. While I am a New Yorker at heart, and New York is considered to have the ultimate gay nightlife scene of any city in the country (followed by San Francisco), Boston is not far behind.

Rather than generalizing about the vibrant gay community in Boston, I have decided to highlight the spots that I enjoy most. These are just some of the many gay options out there. While these are some of the most popular, they are not necessarily the best. Readers beware: if you’re not into young, glam gays, you may not enjoy these places as much as I do. Luckily, Boston is a fairly small city so if you aren’t happy the next bar won’t be far away. There are a host of other gay bars and clubs that cater to the many different gay crowds out there (i.e.: “bears,” drag queens, lesbians, etc.). The bars and clubs listed above are my personal favorites, but for a more general overview of gay night ife in Boston, check out boston.gaycities.com or edgeboston.com.

Club café 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, (617) 536-0966

Epic saturdays @ house of blues 15 Lansdowne St., Boston, (888) 693-2583

This centrally located bar was just remodeled after 27 years of wear and tear by gays from Boston and beyond. The place is divided into three sections: a main bar and lounge, a back room with a bar and dance area, and the Napoleon Room piano bar. The crowd is mostly men of a more glamorous affectation, but the average age is often higher than at the larger clubs. It is sometimes said that Club Café is Boston’s “S&M” bar (Sneakers and Mascara, or Stand and Model). Whereas most gay clubs are only gay one night per week, Club Café is gay every day, so it’s the best weeknight option.

PROS: Attractive employees and customers, classy environment, good DJ CONS: $5 cover on weekends, expensive drinks, older crowd.

Glamlife thursdays @ etstate 1 Boylston Pl., Boston, (617) 351-7000

This weekly event, also produced by Chris Harris, attracts what appears to be the entire gay population in Boston. The venue, which is straight every other night, lives by the motto: “carpe noctum” (“seize the night”). It never disappoints. The club is centrally located at the Commons near numerous universities, so the crowd is typically young. If you get there before 11 p.m. to beat the cover and the place seems empty, don’t be discouraged.

For some unknown reason, the crowds arrive en masse right after 11 p.m., just in time to pay the $10 cover.

PROS: No cover before 11 p.m., good music, young crowd, classy atmosphere CONS: $10 cover after 11 p.m.

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Promoter Chris Harris hosts this event at a commercial (read: chain), straight venue directly across the street from Fenway Park.

The space is huge and has plenty of space for dancing the night away. There is a stage up front littered with scantily clad male dancers who will gladly accept stripper-style “donations.” Because of its touristy location, HOB feels a bit commercial, but it makes up for this in atmosphere. This is a great place to bring a big crowd for a birthday or any other special occasion.

PROS: No cover before 11 p.m., numerous bars, good DJs, geographically mixed crowd CONS: $15 cover after 11 p.m., need a group, gets crowded late, and closes early (2 a.m.).

Hot mess! sundays @ under bar 275 Tremont St., Boston, (617) 292-0080

Promoters Rafael Sanchez and Chris Harris bring us Hot Mess!

Sundays, where the music is a mashup of hit songs from the ’80s to the present. The DJ rotates, so the vibe is different every Sunday.

The venue is typically frequented by the straight mainstream, but it has a whole different vibe at the end of every weekend when the gays take the place by storm.

PROS: No cover before 11 p.m., great bartenders, unusual underground venue CONS: $10 cover after 11 p.m., sometimes cruise-y, awkward lighting, lacks typical “gay club” identity. O

NATIONAL

I

’m not a stats whiz, but I do know that there is an inverse relationship between sunshine and productivity.

Though I like to think that the President’s Lawn’s proximity to Tisch somehow benefits my ability to do work, sprawling on the grass invariably leads to two things: chatting with friends and/or napping. So why don’t we all just give up the charade?

Instead of lugging our MacBooks to a grassy knoll on campus, bring a basket of ambrosial snacks to a park and spread out.

That’s right: ‘tis the season for picnics!

When the next resplendent Sunday afternoon rolls around, take your trick-

cent to the Mystic River and has kind of a derelict charm to it. If the ground is soggy from spring rains, you can enjoy your picnic victuals on the stage of the public amphitheater.

Just south of Davis Square lies Danehy Park, a gem of a spot for a picnics and general frolicking. A child of the Big Dig, this 50-acre park used to be a landfill but was converted to a lush green space in the late 1980s. Expect to come across soccer games, public art installations, wetlands, and a myriad of little tykes running around.

You know that grassy docklands area

picnic

get off at Maverick Square. In a few minutes’ walk, you will come across the stunningly beautiful Piers Park. As its website proudly claims, “Piers Park provides direct access to the waterfront along with spectacular views of downtown Boston across the inner harbor.” On scorching summer days, you can lay out your picnics in the shade of one of the park’s pavilions and luxuriate in the bay breeze.

Finally, I feel I cannot extemporize about choice picnic spots in Boston without mentioning the Boston Common. After all, it boasts of being the oldest park in the country, and at 50 acres, one of the big-

perfect

PHOTOS BY RIHANA JONES

BY CHELSEA BROWN turned, Dewick-thieved, or store-bought picnic victuals to any number of splendid picnic areas around Boston. In the Tufts vicinity, you can head to the Powderhouse Magazine Park next to the rotary. The noise from that godforsaken traffic circle quiets down just past the crest of the hill.

To up your picnic’s deliciousness quotient, grab a breakfast sandwich from the Broken Yolk and plop down in a shady spot to enjoy.

Another lesser-known grassy area nearby is the Veterans’ Memorial Park, which you can find if you walk down about five blocks past the Danish Pastry House on Winthrop. The park lies adja-

you can see from the T when you cross the Charles that always looks so terribly pleasant? What you are looking at is called “The Esplanade,” (from the French “promenade by the river”), which features six miles of walkways and bike paths, boathouses, playgrounds, wading pools, statues, and various other outdoor amenities. Spread out your picnic blanket on the lawn in front of the Hatch Shell performance stage (where there are frequent summer concerts) or on the banks of the river overlooking Cambridge.

If you are feeling super adventurous, follow the Blue Line out towards Wonderland (how fabulous does that sound?) and

gest in the city. In days of old, you would have had to share your picnic space with grazing cattle and the occasional crowds gathered there to view public hangings.

Now, however, you can savor your PB&Js (or whatever you improvised to snack on) in peace.

So, the next time you look out your window and decide that you absolutely cannot stay indoors, try varying up your routine. Instead of moving to the yard outside your door, grab a friend and some food and head to one of these lovely, convenient outdoor spots. You may find that the grass is in fact greener on the other side. O APRIL 19, 2010

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ARTS & CULTURE

THE Art of THE SOUNDTRACK

BY ELIZA MILLS

As television shows begin to heavily feature music, the soundtrack gets as much attention in the credits as the actors and crew do. So, does the show make the artist? Or does the artist make the show?

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T

he technology of music is always evolving. Not just in the obvious ways either—the synthesized beats and computer noises that are so prevalent in modern music aren’t the only contribution technology has made. Software that allows programs like iTunes Genius and Pandora to choose complementary music has revolutionized the way we listen.

Even before our computers could make us the perfect playlist in a matter of moments, there was a premium put on choosing the right song, especially when it came to soundtracking movies and television. Is technology making a great soundtrack irrelevant or more important to the production of a successful show or film?

Picking the right song for the moment is not only an art form, it’s a career.

The minds behind the music on many shows have become famous in their own right. Alexandra Patsvas, who works as the music supervisor on many popular TV series, including The OC, Grey’s Anatomy, and Gossip Girl, has been recognized as especially influential in the trend of music promotion through television. A great music supervisor is an incredible asset to a TV show or film; not everyone has Zach Braff ’s famously good taste or Patsavas’ notoriety. And music choice is important: bands have become famous after being featured on popular shows, and the shows have become better known based on their musical choices. Imogen Heap’s feature song in the season two finale of The OC immensely popularized the band and became one of the best-known moments on the show, one that has been both com-

mended and parodied. In Garden State, The Shins’ well-known song “New Slang” plays a prominent role; the film put the band on the map and became famous for its well-chosen soundtrack. Many other artists have skyrocketed to success after having a song used as a theme or after being prominently featured in a movie or TV episode.

As television shows begin to heavily feature music, the soundtrack gets as much attention in the credits as the actors and crew do. Many shows put the songs featured in every episode on display after the credits roll, letting you know the song name, artist, and where to buy the tune. Most shows have a section of their website devoted to the soundtrack of the series; some even let you in on the logic behind their music choices. Most recently, MTV has begun to feature the music as a key player in the very scene it plays in— on most of the network’s reality shows, you can find out what song is playing the moment in comes on, as it appears in subtitle form. Perhaps more obvious is the choice to feature the actual band in a movie or TV show—many shows chose to put musicians front and center, playing fictionalized live shows onscreen. In other cases, music takes the lead in plot form; films like Almost Famous (2000) and Pirate Radio (2009) have put music in the spotlight.

So, is a soundtrack a more personalized version of product placement? Is it an art form? Is it a star in its own right? One thing is certain: music is no longer just a backdrop for acting. As technology enables us to be both increasingly fickle and more diverse in our musical preferences, film and television adapt to accommodate the modern mindset. Television shows and films are paying as much attention to their soundtracks as the viewers are, whether for a show whose music can be described as a perfect blend of complementary beats per minute and instrumental compatibility, or a movie that chooses to have one band produce their entire score. Even as technology makes it possible for a computer to compile an outstanding playlist, music supervisors’ jobs become more crucial; picking the right songs for a well-scripted moment is just as important as choosing pieces that go well together; music supervisors need both the eyes and the ears for the job. O

APRIL 5, 2010

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13

Tufts

at

ROTC

Text and images by Louise Blavet and Kelsea Carlson

Students join ROTC as undergraduates for a variety of reasons. The choice to serve their country exemplifies the community values they hold dear. Tufts ROTC participants often face prejudice from their peers, not only because the campus is so liberal, but also because the program is not recognized nor publicized. Students wear their uniforms on Tuesdays, but apart from this small display, ROTC has no campus visibility. Exposure photographers we were able to meet ROTC students from Tufts, MIT, Harvard and Wellesley and witness their dress inspections, physical trainings and simulations. All of these activities build strong leadership skills and also require a great deal of perseverance. The ROTC demands strong commitment and professionalism because although it is primarily a source of education, it始s also a military program.

Louis Blavet

Tomo Takaki, pictured above (third from right) is a Tufts junior and a ROTC Army cadet. On leadership in the army, Takaki says, “at first all of the duties were a little daunting, but Iʼm really glad I had the opportunity for leadership opportunity...Youʼre a student but at the same time youʼre also building leadership and getting used to the army. I think its the perfect trade-off.”

D d A

Louis Blavet

Ke

(left) Ranks inspection for ROTC Army students early one morning at the MIT Henry Steinbrenner Stadium & Track. Before a dining event, students are inspected head to toe to make sure uniforms are well worn and spotless.

(right) ROTC Air Force students at a mock oil crises event at Harvard.

The students assumed the roles of government and international officials to negotiate decisions during the simulation.

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i e ”

Kelsea Carlson

Daniel Darlington (above, center), a Tufts junior and a ROTC Air Force student, says of being a ROTC student at Tufts, “People do see me in uniform, and they see me walking around on campus, and a lot of people just relate me to being that ROTC guy.

A lot of people take that even further and say, ʻThatʼs how the military trains people.ʼ So I have to watch how I carry myself.”

Kelsea Carlson

Kelsea Carlson

n uny m ne o e s.

e il d. e d ls ns n.

APRIL 5, 2010

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TUFTS OBSERVER

Amidst the many personalities that join ROTC for diverse reasons, there is a common understanding that ROTC provides a platform to advance a military career while still gaining a liberal arts education and college experience. Although students involved are sometimes viewed with prejudice, they are still students like all the rest of us, eager and prepared for life after college.

Louis Blavet

APRIL 5, 2010

CONCERTS S

PRESENTS THE OBSERVER

THE

CONCERT ISSUE LIVE REVIEWS OF...

FREELANCE WHALES

BEACH HOUSE

THE HOOD INTERNET MIDLAKE

BEST COAST

LITTLE DRAGON

APRIL 19, 2010

TUFTS OBSERVER

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C CONCERTS

FREELANCE WHALES

by Katie Christiansen

W

ant to go to a fun concert? Go see Freelance Whales. It’s pop, it’s danceable, it’s an unabashed good time, and when they inevitably get famous you can say, “I saw them first.”

To be honest, though, the first listen-through I gave to Weatherwaves, the freshman effort from the Queens-based quintet was less than thrilling. It was February, my Vitamin D intake was severely limited, and the music that Freelance Whales was spitting out of my speakers was clearly meant for warmer climes, happier days. So when late March rolled around and we were graced with a few sweet days of sun, I decided to give the album another spin. Thirteen well-crafted, electro-pop tunes sent me humming and toe-tapping across the President’s Lawn, the perfect album for the beginning of spring. I was hooked.

Their live show at The Middle East on April 8th was energetic and likeably rough around the edges—sure the mics squeaked here and there, yeah, a couple of harmonies were off key. But the sheer enthusiasm that each band member showed for their music was endearing and infectious. I wanted to party with these people.

After kicking off the evening with “Generator ^ Second Floor,” one of the more upbeat tracks, the set continued with “Hannah,” an Owl City sound-alike (for better or for worse) whose lyrics playfully recount, “Hannah takes the stairs and I usually take the elevator/Every now and then she offers me a lemon/Now and Later.” The sole female member of the group, Doris Cellar, alternated between bass and a vintage accordion while frontman Judah Dadone busted out a metal watering can for percussive diversity. Hey, why not?

After “Kilojoules,” the set transitioned into the heavier “Broken Horse” as well as an expressive Soy Un Caballo cover. That’s the great thing about Freelance Whales—sure, they sound poppy and radio-ready, but there’s a grittier side that adds dimension to what is an impressively lengthy debut effort. Both the record and the live show are energetic with appropriate troughs for decompression and variation. Good stuff.

THE HOOD INTERNET

by Eliza Mills

A

t most of the concerts I’ve been to, the stage has been cluttered with guitar stands and electric pianos and drums. Not so at this show; transitioning between artists was a simple process of rewiring computers and turntables. Going to a concert where someone stands and mixes two songs by other artists together may seem odd, but the result is actually really fun. The dancefloor floods with people, some moving to the beat and others singing along with the mashed-up versions of their favorite tunes. Listening to The Hood Internet live feels a lot like listening to them on an iPod, only much louder—at first. When the first beats of Ratatat’s “Wildcat” blended with Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” change everything. The mood becomes electric, and the audience is suddenly completely rapt and excited by whatever DJ STV SLV is doing behind the computer screen, and the dancing turns from party to concert immediately.

Sure, you might get a remarkably similar experience from a fantastic speaker system and a rocking basement party, but watching the DJs behind a mashup band is definitely a worthwhile venture.

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CONCERTS S

BEACH HOUSE & LITTLE DRAGON

by Luke Pyenson & Catherine Nakajima

T

he first time I saw Beach House, I fell asleep. It was at the MFA, I was sitting down, I was pretty tired, and their lush, droney, dreamy slide guitars and keyboards washed over me like a tidal wave of NyQuil. Left in a semi-conscious state, I experienced one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. It’s perfect music to fall asleep to, so I was apprehensive about having to stand up to see them at the Paradise. Their new album, Teen Dream, is a little more upbeat than their last two releases, so that helped. It’s also one of my favorite releases in the past ten years, so I was hanging onto their every note.

I’d met them the night before at another concert, and I was hoping with every fiber of my soul that they’d somehow acknowledge me from the stage. Well, the night unfolded perfectly—they played every song from Teen Dream as well as my favorites from their older catalogue, and during a climactic moment of my favorite song, “Norway,” Victoria Legrand, their beautiful, majestic singer, waved at me. Needless to say, I stayed very awake and had the unique experience of having an orgasm while standing up in a public place listening to live music. -Luke Pyenson

I

’d always thought of Beach House as the band that opened for other better bands. After listening to them non-stop over winter break, however, I realized that they’re the perfect band. On sunny days, they make sun’s rays infinitely warmer and gentler, and when it’s raining, they make reclusion desirable. Coming back to face Boston’s cold weather would’ve been depressing after an 80-degree spring break, so I decided to see Beach House play the night before classes resumed.

Best ticket ever bought. The set resembled a sort of flashy yet dreary ’80s prom, with shiny strands of string and colorfully lit diamond-shaped piñatas. During “Norway,” the Legrand’s voice was flawlessly soothing, and the bizarre pitch-bends were played perfectly off-tune. Then, alas, two minutes and 20 seconds later, SHE WAVED AT MY FRIEND. She really did! It was awesome, my heart melted with happiness…for him. It was a great show. -Catherine Nakajima SHOUT OUT: We also got to see Little Dragon play at Great Scott in Allston that same night. Kind of catchy, in the best way possible. It’s music that’s good for head-bopping and prancing around. It was an amazing show: Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano rocked the stage with her enthusiastic, dance-y performance, while the synth beats sounded like jumping rabbits (again, in the best way possible). Amazing music—I encourage everyone to give it a listen.

BEST COAST

by Natalie Selzer

B

est Coast, with its fizzy, hazy, happy pop-rock, was a great almost-summertime show. It didn’t hurt, either, that I saw them on a warm Sunday evening in the Crane Room with the windows flung wide on an audience of less than a hundred kids. True to lead-singer Bethany Cosentino’s California roots, the music has a beachy, sun-drenched feel to it, with lazy, droning vocals sung alongside catchy drums and guitars. Bobb Bruno, a middle-aged guy with long, straight black hair that might look more at home in a hard-core band plays bass with Cosentino, and they have Ali Koehler of Vivian Girls playing drums along with them for their live tour. The trio was mellow and quiet—they didn’t say much between each of their lo-fi tunes but kept up a steady flow of dream-like ambience.

Their live performance was pretty much what you might expect from their recordings (a little grungy, a little catchy), and not much else, but they kept the audience dancing and swaying in a contented cloud the whole way through—and there’s not much more you could ask for as winter starts to melt into spring.

APRIL 19, 2010

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C CONCERTS

MIDLAKE

by Katie Boland

M

idlake, best known for their critically-acclaimed debut album The Trials of Van Occupanther, is a guitar-heavy band of light folk rock with a bit of a surreal edge. I was a big fan of this first album, especially their hits “Roscoe” and “Young Bride,” but Midlake’s latest (The Courage of Others) was about as lame as its name; filled with redundant flute-heavy trance music, it had none of the strange introverted spark that carried their debut. Needless to say, I wasn’t too optimistic about their live show. However, I was caught impressed by the presence of—count ‘em—five guitars, drums, and a flute/keyboard/tamborine combination that seemed to be working off of one another quite well. That is, I was impressed until about 30 seconds in, when it became apparent that Midlake had fallen into some sort of funk. Yes, their rendition of “Young Bride” was interesting and enjoyable; unfortuantely, their lackluster stage presence and uninteresting set list didn’t make for the best Friday night. There were plenty of balding hip dads really enjoying the drawl of lead singer Tim Smith, but I was not among them. It was clear from the crowd that Midlake speak to a bit of an older demographic; the show was completely full, but we seemed to be the youngest in attendance (we were basically the only ones with X’d-off hands).

Keep an eye out for: THE LOW ANTHEM 4/20, Paradise BASSNECTAR 4/22, House of Blues HARLEM 4/25, Great Scott WHITE RABBITS with Here We Go Magic 5/1, Paradise YEASAYER with Sleigh Bells 5/3, Paradise MASSIVE ATTACK 5/13, House of Blues 20PHOTOS TUFTS OBSERVER 19, 2010 ALL CATHERINEAPRIL NAKAJIMA

OPINIONS

Profit from Your Period

by Sophia Boudoir

Men in relationships always complain about their girlfriends PMSing. And yes, there comes a time of the month when we are a little whinier, needier, and bitchier than usual. But what guys don’t know is that our PMSing is offset by a short window of time exactly between our periods, when we’re more receptive to sexual advances and more likely to initiate them ourselves.

T

he word “e s t r u s ” refers to a state of heightened sexual arousal and activity during the ovulation period of the menstrual cycle in certain nonhuman mammals.

During this period, female animals are especially attractive to males and receptive to mating. They will often exhibit the “lordosis reflex”—where they spontaneously elevate their hindquarters in the presence of a male to signal their sexual availability. In some species, mating only occurs during the estrus period. For example, in a study conducted by S. Matteo and E.F. Rissman (1984), it was found that “captive troops of rhesus monkeys… copulate nearly exclusively during the females’ ovulatory phases of the menstrual cycle.”

Up until recently, it was believed that only nonhuman mammals experience an estrus period. However, recent studies documenting the fluctuations in the sexual interest of women throughout their menstrual cycles have suggested that human females exhibit similar (albeit less pronounced) estrus symptoms.

It is difficult to get exact information due to the complications that arise from couples using contraception (women on the pill typically don’t ovulate, and thus exhibit little variation in sexual behavior throughout their cycles), and due to the influence of the male sexual partner (since sex can be initiated by either part-

ner, recording the mere number of sexual encounters is misleading).

These problems are rectified by gathering data from the women who occupy much of our fantasies: strippers and lesbians. In Matteo and Rissman’s study, lesbian couples recorded the frequency and nature of their sexual interactions throughout a complete menstrual cycle and found “significant peaks in sexual encounters and orgasms during the midcycle portion.” Because their research was based on lesbian couples, they could examine sexual behavior “without the confounds caused by contraceptive method and male influence on female sexual interest and initiative.” And although we don’t go around sticking our asses out and batting our eyelashes at anyone who crosses our path, this study suggests that human females do indeed show midcycle increases in sexual behavior, like most other female mammals.

What makes women more prone to masturbate, fantasize, and initiate sexual encounters in the middle of their menstrual cycle? To stimulate ovulation, a woman’s pituitary gland releases an increased amount of LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). These hormones influence estrogen synthesis and release, and some studies suggest that this increase causes increased sexual activity in ovulating women. Another study, conducted by Van Goozen, Wiegant, et al (1997) suggests that there is a significant peak in the

levels of testosterone in women who are ovulating and that this is what is responsible for women’s increased horniness.

Whatever the cause of the increase in sexuality in the middle of women’s cycles, the implications of a “human estrus period” are abundant. Professors Geoffrey Miller and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico managed to quantify the midcycle increase in a woman’s sexuality by researching strippers. They gathered data via an anonymous web site where strippers provided information about their earnings, productivity, and menstrual cycles, and were able to get information on 296 work shifts—or 5,300 lap dances. According to this study, strippers who were ovulating made an average of $30 per hour more than women who were menstruating and $15 per hour more than women who were not in the middle of their cycles. They also found that strippers who were on the pill (and who thus don’t ovulate), made significantly less than naturally cycling women overall, mainly because they didn’t have the “estrus earning peak” that the other strippers had.

Since estrus impacts earnings, it could be useful for women in the workplace to schedule important meetings or big job interviews during certain weeks of the month. And men, if you’re having trouble getting your partner to agree to your kinkier suggestions, it might help to keep track of their cycles and proposition them when they’re ovulating. O APRIL 19, 2010

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OPINIONS

?

freethou

ht

When I first arrived at Tufts as a freshman, I felt more welcome than anywhere I had been before. Orientation introduced me to my new school and the place I would call home for the next four years. And then, at the candle-lighting ceremony something happened: the University Chaplain said “…and we thank our Creator for bringing us together here.” As his voice echoed over the President’s Lawn, I had to wonder, was I the only one here that felt excluded by that statement?

BY XAVIER MALINA

O

nly when a few others and I put together the Tufts Freethought Society (TFS) a year later did I find out that I was not alone; that statement had made each one of us uneasy. We were left asking, so we don’t believe in God, now what? As we began interacting with the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, we found an answer: humanism.

Are you an agnostic? An atheist? Or simply non-religious? If so, you might identify with humanism.

Humanism, as defined by the British Humanist Association, “is the view that we can make sense of the world using reason, experience, and shared human values and that we can live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs. Humanists seek to make the best of the one life we have by creating meaning and purpose for ourselves. We choose to take responsibility for our actions and work with others for the common good.”

When humanism was explained to us, it clicked because it made sense:

g

Humanism is the belief that one can do good without a god and, what’s more, that people can make sense of things and lead fulfilling, happy, and ethical lives without being religious or believing in the supernatural.

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People sometimes ask members of TFS what it is we do in our meetings. As a friend once put it, “I mean, do you just meet in a room and all agree that there is no God? Sounds like a short conversation.” If that described what we did, it would be. Atheism, secularism, and agnosticism don’t bring us very far. But humanism does, by providing non-religious individuals with a next step to reach their aspirations and to work together for the greater good.

A club, however, can only do so much for students, and non-religious students deserve a chaplaincy of their own from which they can seek guidance. Nonreligious students have just as many questions about the way to lead a fulfilling and meaningful life as religious students. If you are religious at Tufts, you fortunately have several resources available to you for answers to these questions, such as your reverend, pastor, rabbi, or imam.

If you are non-believer, however, your resources are not so obvious, though the argument has been made that they ex-

OPINIONS ist: your philosophy professor, your psychologist, Ears for Peers, and the Tufts chaplains. But they are not adequate.

It is not part of a philosophy professor’s job to take an active role in students’ lives. A psychologist has not been trained to assess the fundamental questions of life or understand the philosophical roots of your inquiry. Students on the other end of the Ears for Peers line should be commended for everything they do provide to Tufts students, but it must be acknowl-

vide to their own, “the faithful,” that they cannot provide to others.

Imagine a teenager asking someone who thinks they’re Santa’s helper where presents come from. If the teenager is wholeheartedly seeking to find the truth and knows there’s no such thing as Santa but hears an answer that has to do with Santa Claus, then the answer he received falls short. In a similar way, a Muslim asking a Jewish rabbi how he ought to best live an Islamic life would yield unsatisfac-

demographic to go unrepresented in the chaplaincies. You might be non-religious and be thinking, “I don’t need a Humanist Chaplain,” and that’s all right. Not all Catholics go to church on Sunday—at Tufts it is about a third who attend, according to Revered O’Leary—but would you ever argue that as a result, Catholics as a group don’t deserve a chaplain of their own?

It is my hope that the first step toward a humanist chaplaincy at Tufts would be-

Of Americans*

76.5%

14.1%

are Christian, of which:

are Nonbelievers

1.3% are Jewish

52% 24.5%

0.5% are Muslim

1 Yet / 3 of Tufts Protestant

Catholic

freshmen are unaffiliated *2001 ARIS Study

edged that they provide neither expertise nor the prospect of a continued and active mentoring relationship beyond the phone line.

As for the other chaplains? They certainly provide the fundamentals just described: they have studied religion and philosophy and have committed their lives to building relationships with Tufts students. They are guides, and, from what I have gathered, they are all wonderful people. But there is something they pro-

tory answers. Likewise, a conversation in which a humanist asks a Catholic priest about the meaning of life is destined to be unsatisfying. And yet, this is the only option available to non-religious students at Tufts.

For a school that found it justified to fund a chaplaincies for groups that comprise small portions of the population, the freshmen survey reveals that over one-third of students do not identify with any religion. It is shameful for such a large

gin with a one-year commitment by the administration to put in place a humanistin-residence at Tufts, whose duties would mimic all those of the current chaplains.

This ought to be done for those who see the laws of nature behind miracles, for the people who need an open community based on their own worldview, and for those godless individuals who stand alongside me and wait for their turn to be integrated into the Tufts community and recognized as having equal needs. O APRIL 19, 2010

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OPINIONS

Do you really know what makes you happy?

The answer might surprise you.

G d Day, D S hi Good Sunshine

BY ARIANA SIEGEL

H

appiness. It is a highly coveted emotion, the motive of countless actions, ideologies, goals, and, ironically, worries, something Americans are supposed to be constantly pursuing.

There is endless chatter about “the pursuit of happiness” in the US, shouted through commercial jingles, sung in popular songs, and taught in civics classes. With all of the emphasis placed on finding happiness, one would suppose we would at least know what we are looking for. But apparently not. According to a New Yorker book review entitled “Everybody Have Fun,” happiness has been a hot topic of psychological inquiry lately, and the evidence seems to suggest that people don’t actually know what makes them happy.

Let’s take a brief test. According to the studies, who is happier in day-to-day life in the years following a life-altering event? a) A lottery winner b) An accident victim If you thought the answer was “a,” think again. According to research done

in 1978, victims of devastating accidents that left them paralyzed reported “getting more pleasure from their daily lives” than lottery winners who had come upon 50 thousand to a million dollars.

Here’s another question: which country’s inhabitants would you guess are happier? a) Panama b) Argentina Despite the fact that Argentines have double the average income, the answer is the Panamanians, according to research done by Professor Carol Graham of the University of Maryland. Graham also reported that Afghanis, who have endured decades of poverty, violence, and warfare, are a fairly happy nation on the whole.

So perhaps money is not the key to happiness. But what of other things like getting married and having children, or winning an election? Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard professor who recently wrote a book called Stumbling on Happiness, said in an interview with Smithsonian.com that generally, people’s emotions remain stable over time and that however a person is feeling at a particular moment is a

good predictor of how he or she will feel in the future, even after an incredibly joyful or upsetting event.

“Most events have a small impact that doesn’t last very long.” Gilbert said in the interview. “More than one person who’s gotten married or moved to California to change their happiness has found that it stays about where it is.”

Gilbert’s book discusses this phenomenon, called “affective forecasting,” in which people routinely misjudge their satisfaction. For instance, contrary to popular opinion, large events that we think will make us happy do not always do so as much as we expect. A study conducted during the 2000 elections asked voters to predict how happy they would be if their candidate won. After Bush won, researchers asked Bush voters to rate their happiness, and it turned out that they were only about a third as happy as they had predicted they’d be. Several months later, however, the subjects mistakenly recalled being as happy as they’d initially predicted they would be. Because people expect to be exceedingly happy during certain occasions, they remember being exceed-

PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH HERMAN

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OPINIONS

ingly happy later one, even if they were not actually that happy at the time.

The New Yorker article also said of Gilbert’s research that, “[People] tend to think they’ll be happier with more variety, when, in fact, they get more pleasure from being offered the same thing over and over again. They are willing to pay a premium to preserve their options, but they’re more contented when they commit themselves to a particular choice.”

When I first read this research I felt somewhat confused, even depressed. Was I really ignorant of what made me happy?

How could I live like that, blundering around thinking one thing would make me happy when in fact it was another?

I decided to make a conscious effort to notice what actually made me feel happy and what did not, in order to enhance my happiness.

What I came up with was not altogether unexpected; I felt happy being outdoors with my shoes off on a beautiful day. I felt happy talking to good friends, or listening to a favorite song, or eating and evaluating tasty food (in Dewick, no less!). As Gilbert predicted, having many choices of food, or music, or people to hang out with was not what mattered, but rather what mattered was that I enjoyed what I ate, or listened to, or did.

What did surprise me was the contrast between these small events and those I would have predicted would make me very happy; for instance, the happiness of being barefoot was greater and longer lasting than the happiness of receiving an A on a sociology paper or being cast in a one-act play I had auditioned for. The feeling of turning in an assignment was as good as getting another one back with an A on it. The most important thing I noticed was that by actively taking note of my good mood, I elevated it further.

My satisfaction lasted longest when I consciously enjoyed my enjoyment, tak-

ing stock of all the things that made me smile—hearing a guitar playing, seeing an article published, feeling rested after a good night’s sleep.

I have since found that there is research to back this up. A study on the website of the American Psychological Association reports that “happiness comes in everyday simple rewards.” Alice Isen, a professor of psychology at Cornell, found that, “people experience a thrill when they get a free sample, find a quarter on the street, or receive an unexpected gift—and this emotion makes them feel more generous, friendlier, and healthier.

They became more flexible, creative, and better at solving problems.”

Having learned this secret of happiness, that it truly is the little things that matter most, I attempted to enlighten others. While sitting outside on one of the first sunny days of spring, I called a friend who I knew had been feeling very stressed under the weight of several midterms that week and told him to come study outside for a bit. He refused on the basis that he could not concentrate enough outside.

When I protested that enjoying the beautiful day would make him happier, especially since the oral exam he was studying for only accounted for a small percentage of his grade, he continued to refuse because, he said, “I’ll feel better if I’m more prepared.” Later that evening, however, he remained stressed out and needed to find ways to unwind. The episode made

me wonder: does our inability to predict what makes us happy impact our priorities for the worse?

Working hard towards a goal certainly does make one feel happy. The elation felt after turning in a paper, or receiving a good grade, is only afforded to those who put in the work to get there. By contrast, I know many students who have encountered unhappiness during summer weeks spent without goals or feeling of purpose.

However, my recent self-examination revealed that in the search for happiness, it is also of capital importance to take a moment to stop and smell the roses, or the coffee, or the burgers and grilled cheese wafting from Dewick, as the case may be. I realized that the best way to achieve happiness is to simply notice when you are already happy and appreciate it.

So how might you answer this question; which of these would you anticipate making you happiest? a) A cap and gown, a cheering audience, a band playing the annual theme, a smiling gowned teacher handing you a weighty document that feels light in your hand. b) A green lawn, a warm summer breeze, a guitar playing, a smiling friend handing you a cold drink whose condensation drips onto the grass tickling your bare feet.

The answer? They both will. For a little while, at least. The important thing is just to realize you’re happy. O APRIL 19, 2010

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POETRY & PROSE

S o m e w h e re without

Fences

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NATALIE SELZER

S

age covered the rolling hills in a frosted green hue. The sun beat down on the earth and hardened it, cracking the soil and slowly burning the sage into a lifeless beige color. A brown mare slowly reached the top of a hill, laboring with each clop of her hooves against the scorched earth.

There she stood, her neck bent down, her lips frothy white from dehydration.

Her hooves were cracked and bleeding. Her shoes, if she had had any, had long since broken off, and she tenderly shifted from side to side in an effort to alleviate the pain. Bending her neck further, she slowly reached her tongue out to the sage below her. She nibbled sparingly at the plant, but found the texture to be brittle, it yielded few nutrients. Slowly, she cobbled down the small incline, the sun beating down on her chocolate neck and hindquarters. A weathered saddle lay strapped onto her back, and on each side of her flank hung canvas saddlebags, emptied of their contents. She walked on, limping slightly as the split in her hooves gaped open and let small droplets of congealed blood seep out. She was not long for this world. Trembling now with the intensity of the heat and the painful thirst that afflicted her, she whinnied softly, almost inaudibly, kneeling her hind legs down on the earth. The end was imminent, but it would not be over quickly. Heat and dehy-

By Eric Archibald

dration would take her, until her lean and muscled frame would lay lifeless amongst the slowly dying plants. *** He was sick of the fences. The houses, too, and the asphalt that seemed to flow like a black and sinister river across the once pristine land. But mostly it was the fences, the barbs that lashed out and cut the land into neat little boxes, dividing the once vast valley into small single-servings.

“One of these days, Marie,” he warned.

“I’m tellin’ you: one of these days.” Marie,

tanned and weathered with straw-colored hair floating in wisps across her face, glanced quickly at him, blew the hair out of her eyes and used a dirt-encrusted hand to tuck it behind her ears. “I’m sure you will,” Marie answered, turning away once again to face the window over the kitchen’s rusted sink. “Just be sure to take that damn horse of yours with you, cus’ if you think I’ll be paying to feed that creature, you’ve gone crazier than I thought.” He turned to leave; she had reminded him that the horse needed to be fed. As he exited the small kitchen, she called after him, “Don’t be long, supper’ll be ready soon.”

POETRY & PROSE He had meant for it to be a short trip. To see the wild expanse, to see the land as God had envisioned it, and then to return to the house with the tin roof that he hated so much and the woman he had married hastily as a young and inexperienced man. As they put more distance between themselves and anything that could get in their way, namely the barbed-wire fences that he despised, he had been filled with increasing amounts of hope. He had read McCarthy. He could make a clean break, leave the tin roof and the loveless marriage behind, and live off the land. The green hills in front of him could be no more than a few days ride away. There he could find some ranch to stay the night and to water and feed the mare. He would live nomadically, taking what kindness strangers offered, staying mostly to himself, maintaining anonymity. Marie would be fine, he thought, she would sell what little land they had, the chickens and the old, dried-up cow, and move on. She would move to the city to be near her father, a man who had never liked him, who had seen his simple lifestyle as a sign of laziness and contempt for the modern world. Yes, it was settled. He would continue on, to wherever the brown mare took him.

Their journey continued, fueled by hope and a desire to distance themselves from a forgettable past. They quickly forgot about the tin roof. They slept under the stars—the nights were cool and mild. During the days, the sun beat down on them, tested their commitment.

The man and the horse

E YC AL CU

RR

became accustomed to gazing lustily ahead at distant greenery.

It quickly became apparent that he had misjudged the distance to the land he sought so fiercely. They were running low on supplies, and the mare’s patience ebbed. Each morning she sighed and looked west, seeing what little progress they had made the day before. He had gone through a full saddlebag of food and was working his way through the second one. The mare devoured any greenery she could find, but as they continued, sustenance became increasingly harder to find. He noticed her suffering.

She had lost weight in the short time they had been traveling.

She was not drinking much, only out of dirty puddles they came upon a few times, and to make matters worse, her shoes were falling apart. The hard soil and the many rocks had dislodged the nails that held her shoes on. “They’ll hold until we get there,” he thought. “They will.”

By the second week, he had begun walking next to the mare.

She had grown weak and could barely hold his weight. He was tempted to whisper, “We’re almost there,” into the mare’s brown ear, but he thought better of it and the pair kept walking in silence. The second saddlebag was now empty, and he had begun scavenging anything he found on the hard ground. He never found much.

One morning he awoke to find he hadn’t the strength to stand. He leaned on the mare as they walked a few paces, but the sun had already risen considerably in the early morning, and his legs buckled underneath him. Here they were, he lying in her shade, she standing next to him, both gazing westward. Here they were, far from the house with the tin roof and the fences and the rusted sink and the water and the supper that Marie would make With the lights out, of chicken and potatoes and fresh we’re skin-tight in the night air, carrots and cool, sweet tea. Here they my mouth clenched close to your taut apple skin were, far from the still-distant green, like the garden temptation I never faced. the promise of a better life. And here he O endless fruits; would stay. the lights are out As he lay on the unforgiving earth, he in Bethlehem tonight gazed at the distant greenery and the rolling and I am cradled hills and thought about the mare upon whose in the fullness of your shiny flesh. back he had rested all of his hopes. With much coaxing he had been able to convince the mare to leave him where he lay. The brown animal, an animal with more human emotions than Marie would ever believe, slowly marched towards the

By Eva Parish expanse of distant green. He watched for a while until her outline slowly faded into the brown earth and she was gone. “Maybe she will make it,” he mused.

But he knew, perhaps he had always suspected, that the sun and the earth would go on forever, and that she too would succumb to the elements. “At least,” he thought with some solace, as he gazed into the clear, unobstructed horizon, “there are no more fences.” O

IE

R

Forbidden

APRIL 19, 2010

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NATIONAL

POLICE BLOTTER

Tuesday, April 6

Best frat party theme? Belated Easter egg hunt. At 3:50 p.m., two TUPD officers saw a group of male students throwing eggs at each other near South Hall. After noticing the officers, the group stopped. A student carrying a carton of eggs ran into the dorm. The students that were stopped were questioned and insisted they didn’t know what the officers were talking about. Despite the fact that they were by the basketball courts, the students said they were part of the tennis team and that they were throwing eggs at the freshmen. The students eventually admitted to being members of AEPi. “We knew they were lying,” Sergeant Robert McCarthy. “The tennis team uses the courts by Professor’s Row. They should’ve done their research.”

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Saturday, April 10

Monday, April 12

At 3:45 p.m., a student was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of College Ave. and Boston Ave. Medford Fire, Medford PD, Armstrong Ambulence, and TUPD responded to the scene.

The student, who broke his ankle and fractured his jaw, was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital. Medford PD is handling the investigation. Jumbo jaywalkers report the accident as a bias incident.

At 11:39 p.m., a vehicle was reported missing at Curtis Hall. The vehicle, a 2007 navy blue Lexus RX 400h, belongs to the Arts & Culture editor of the Observer and was stolen by the Editor-in-Chief. It was borrowed early in the evening and promised back at College Ave. by 11 p.m. At 11:39 p.m., it was noticed to be missing. The vehicle in question arrived an hour late at midnight. Charges were not pressed as both editors promise to resolve the situation amicably.

At 11:59 p.m., members of the Observer staff collectively received a compliment sandwich. To document the incident, the staff took photographs and then reported the bias incident to TUPD. O Written and illustrated by Ruth Tam.

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SANTIAGO GASCA

APRIL 12, 2010

TUFTS OBSERVER SINCE 1895

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