Smoking-related diseases, the most preventable causes of death in the US, kill more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, fires, drugs, murders, and suicides combined.
This fall, the women's cross-country team gained national prominence after its impressive finish in the national meet. Now, the track team, led by the distance runners of the cross country squad, is hoping to build on the momentum gained in the fall and convert it into winter success.
Dawson took his three preppy friends on an amusing journey in last week's episode of Dawson's Creek. As Joey eloquently stated at the show's outset, "basically, you're ripping off The Blair Witch Project." Couldn't have said it better, because that's exactly what he did. Of course, the show never tried to score points in originality. Instead of writing a paper on The Crucible, Dawson convinces his teacher to let him make a documentary on Capeside's own witch legends. Clearly someone didn't do his homework. However, the ever-mature Jen was not afraid. "There are no such thing as witches. Witch is just a buzz word for a girl who chooses to follow her completely natural and totally healthy urges and explore her sexuality, but you can't do that in the swinging 1690s without getting the townspeople up in arms... I would've been so burned at the stake by now," she says. Hopefully she will get burned at the steak since she never stops whining. With all the cosmetics she wears, all you'd have to do is strike a match and she'd light up like the Fourth of July. Dawson recruits his cracak professional film crew/actors - Pacey, Jen, and Joey - and heads off to shoot his documentary on an island where supposedly 13 witches died in the 19th century. Even though Joey and he both have their own boats, and the island is only a couple hundred yards off shore, Captain D decides to hire some nutcase to ferry them out. I believe this is where the "suspension of disbelief" switch flickers on. As soon as the team arrives at their touristy destination, Pacey and Jen head into the gift shop, where she attempts to make him fall in love with her using a spell from an ancient witchcraft manual. And so she confirms our suspicions: Jen indeed is a bitch - excuse me, witch. Immediately the two begin flirting shamelessly and complaining about how it is so difficult to have sex without worrying about emotional baggage. Problems, problems, problems. Wait till college. "Sex good, love bad," the monosyllabic Pacey elucidates. "Sex is nice. Maybe casual sex is the way to go." The two horny teenyboppers painstakingly work out a "pre-gettin' busy agreement," as Pacey calls it. "This may be the witch's brew talking, but you're starting to look all kinds of cute," he tells her. I guess I'm not the only one who noticed that Jen is looking much better these days. Meanwhile, Joey and Dawson are employing a paper-thin analogy to bicker about the status of their relationship. "We're friends, why can't you just leave it at that?" he asks her. "If you take away everything else that we are, then that's what we are: friends." Put your hands together for Dawson Leary, ladies and gentlemen! If you take away everything BUT being friends, then of course you're friends, dumbass. My goodness, and this kid wants to go to college. Returning to the "documentary," according to legend, the Capeside witches were young girls deemed too promiscuous for their Puritan settlement and exiled to the island. One of them, Mary, was in love with a young man on the mainland who broke off the relationship after her exile. Like he couldn't just row out there for a quickie. Joey looked up from the book with big puppy dog eyes and read the passage aloud to Dawson. "She offered herself to the boy she loved, the boy she thought loved her back, and he rejected her," she whines. Downright pathetic. Three hundred years and chicks still just don't get it. When you're trying to seduce him and you take your shirt off, don't have a bra on underneath! Especially when you're dealing with Dawson. That kid couldn't get a bra off if he had four hands and a mirror. Mary probably made the same damn mistake back in the 1690s, it's just that she was wearing a colonial dress instead of an Abercombie T-shirt. It's all the same when it's in a pile on the floor. Darkness falls, and the gang fails to make it back to the boat before it leaves. Stuck on the island for the night, they take refuge in the old church. Pacey and Jen waste no time getting comfy. "What should we do now?" he asks. "Should I just take my pants off?" She, of course, says they have to kiss first. Typical. Just when you think that some serious booty knockin' is about to go down, the church gets attacked from the outside by what sounds like a band of colonials. A huge fireball whisks through the building, and the four screaming teenagers find themselves trapped inside. Instead of taking advantage of the romantic atmosphere, they decide to escape. When they get home, Pacey and Jen decide to continue their agreement to have no-strings-attached sex, while Joey and Dawson, true to custom, completely waste a perfect opportunity to get it on. Times change, but the chicks stay the same.
I like to make fun of people. Well, not all people. I only deride and belittle people I don't know, particularly those undeserving of my insulting jibes. Usually, I don't make fun of serious stuff, just how people look or if, you know, they're different from me. I do it behind their backs. They have no idea and why should they?
Tufts History Professor Gerald Gill has been named Massachusetts Professor of the Year for the second time in the past five years by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CASE). Gill teaches a number of Tufts courses, including "African American History to 1865," "African American History since 1865," and a seminar course on the Civil Rights Movement. Gill is also in the process of introducing his summer school course, called "Sports and American History," as a permanent addition Tufts' history department. In order to win the CASE Massachusetts Professor of the Year Award, professors must demonstrate an extraordinary dedication to teaching, an impact on and involvement with students, and support from colleagues. Aside from his substantial duties as a professor and undergraduate advisor, Gill has also been an advisor to the Boston-based Blackside Productions for the past 12 years as a film critic. Projects he has been involved in include the television specials Africans and the Americas and Eyes on the Prize I and II. He is also scheduled to publish his book, Dissent, Discontent, and Disinterest: Afro-American Opposition to the United States Wars of the 20th Century, next year. According to his students, Gill's many projects and interests do not detract from his commitment to his classes. He attempts to know every student by name - his classes range from 12 to 60 students - and he puts a lot of effort into keeping students interested. "Professor Gerald Gill appreciates that his job is to instruct, not to indoctrinate.... His treatment of American history is uncompromisingly fair... he presents both sides of major debates and does not penalize students for holding opinions that contradict his own," said one student in a course evaluation, according to a Public Relations press release. "I sometimes have a passion about what I teach, and I would like to convey that for informational purposes. I just find the study of history so fascinating, in part because of what we can learn about peer societies and also what some of those lessons might mean for us today," Gill said. He went on to say that he tries to incorporate good teaching methods that he encountered as a student into his own classes to make them more interesting. "I've always been exposed to good teaching, I guess from elementary school onward, and I've learned something from each of the teachers I've had," he said. The application process for the award entails a personal statement by the applicant, two letters of recommendation from former students who are still undergraduates, and one or two letters of recommendation from senior administrators. "To be quite honest, I was quite surprised [about winning the award] in part because it's the second time I won it, and I initially didn't want to apply for the award since I was named Professor of the Year before. So when I found out, I was more than pleasantly surprised," Gill said. This is the third time in five years that a Tufts University professor has been selected for the honor. Engineering professor Chris Rogers won the award last year, and Gill won the award in 1995. "I think it says something for Tufts. Rather than this being a prize for me, it is a prize for Tufts that we have been able to have three Massachusetts College Professors of the Year Awards in the past five years. It says something for Tufts that individuals are able to do research and to continue to be effective and excellent instructors in providing quality academic education," Gill said.
It took 100 minutes of play and eight penalty strokes for the winner to emerge, but in the team's most exhilarating win all season, the Tufts field hockey team defeated NESCAC rival Trinity 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The ABC news show 20/20 featured a segment on the dangers of meningitis on college campuses in last Friday's program. The news piece, entitled "The Unknown Killer," has added fire to the already controversial debate over the pros and cons of mandatory immunizations at US colleges. Tufts Health Services has the vaccine available but is considering offering a student-wide immunization in response to widespread concern.
No matter how many times you frequent a particular place in the city, you can always find something new or try something out of the ordinary. Locals pass important buildings and monuments all the time and never seem to pay much attention to what's going on, while tourists are busy taking advantage of as many photo opportunities as possible. But even newcomers don't really stop to take the time to discover the back streets, or to take in the peacefulness of a historic city park on a pleasant autumn evening.
The women's cross-country team celebrated a stellar performance at last week's Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship race at Tufts' home course in Grafton, MA last Saturday. It placed fifth out of forty-five teams, falling only to Middlebury, Williams, Springfield, and Colby. The fifth place finish this Saturday was the highest ever at past ECAC Championship races. Their performance is a testament to the overwhelming strength of this year's team. The Jumbos raced their second seven runners at the ECAC Championships in order to rest the seven who will race in next week's qualifier. The women who did race all showed themselves to be competitive with the team's top seven runners. Senior Tiffany Davis was the first Tufts woman to place, finishing 21st out of 250 women with a time of 20:25. In an excellent example of pack running, the next six Jumbos - freshman Heidi Tyson (20:30), freshman Mary Nodine (20:42), senior Nicole Gregoire (20:59), junior Monika Navarro (21:11), freshman Kathryn Hughes (21:12), and sophomore Ashley Langworthy (21:23) - all finished within a minute of Davis. After lesser performances at the New England Championship race on October 15 and at the NESCAC Championship race on October 30, last Saturday is an affirmation of the women's capability. "We're all very excited," coach Branwen Smith-King said. "This really demonstrated our strength as a team." "We've been having trouble being cohesive," freshman Heidi Tyson said. "We got it together on Saturday." Unfortunately, despite Saturday's performance, the Jumbos have not moved up in the New England Division III rankings and will go into the qualifier next Saturday ranked sixth. Middlebury, Williams, Brandeis, Amherst, and Colby are ranked one through five respectively and will prove to be worthy opponents at the qualifier. Although Tufts is the obvious underdog to place in the top three, the position needed to qualify for nationals, if it maximizes its potential qualifying it is still a possibility. The varsity seven runners for next week will consist of seniors Tiffany Davis, Nicole Gregoire, Cindy Manning, and captain Caitlin Murphy; juniors Leslie Crofton and Jennifer Edelmann; and sophomore Heather Ballantyne. Tiffany Davis is the only woman racing next week who raced last Saturday as well. Her shining performance at the ECAC Championship race further proved her value to the team. "It was a race that will give me confidence for next weekend," Davis said. Cindy Manning, the powerhouse of the women's team, has been the first Jumbo to place in every race she has run this season. Not only is she an invaluable asset because of her stellar times, but she serves as a challenge for the rest of the team to live up to. One woman who has given Cindy a challenge of her own is Leslie Crofton. Crofton has worked all season to close the gaps among the top seven and has been very successful. "Leslie Crofton has been on fire this season," Murphy said earlier this season, "she started out the season strong and has kept the momentum up." Murphy herself, along with Gregoire, Edelmann, and Ballantyne, has consistently placed in the top seven, providing points for the team. Both Gregoire and Ballantyne have run personal bests in this season's competition. The entire team is now focused on the goal of Nationals. The team is excited about its potential and is encouraged by last weekend's results. It is beginning to taper its workouts and focus on speed work rather than endurance. "Our main strategy is picking off every Amherst, Brandeis, Colby, Middlebury, and Williams girl that we can," said senior and captain Molly Frank-Meltzer, "and to place close to one another and close behind Cindy."
After a long season of cautious optimism, the women's cross-country team is celebrating its first-ever team trip to Nationals. The persevering Jumbos placed third at last Saturday's New England Division III qualifying race, defying all expectations but their own. Throughout the entire season, Tufts has consistently been ranked sixth or seventh in a very challenging division, and although the team saw its potential shine through in a few specific races, it had not been able to establish itself as a division leader until this past Saturday, coming through when it really counted.
Last Monday was an evening for social issues just as much as it was for baseball, when affirmative action supporter Andrew Leong took time out of his professorship at UMass-Boston to speak to a small group of Tufts undergrads. Invited to speak at the Start House, Tufts' Asian American House, Leong's lecture was solicited in order to give students a viewpoint different than that of Christopher Adley, a Harvard Law Professor and former advisor to President Clinton, who is expected to speak against affirmative action on campus during the upcoming Asian-American month.
Deep in the urban metropolis and world center of culture, art, education, and hygiene that is northeastern Connecticut, you will find an example of just the kind of can-do spirit that results when you combine a dream, some dedicated hard-working souls, a bunch of people tired of having to crap in outhouses, the mafia, and several billion dollars which came from G-d knows where. Yes, anything can happen with a little can-do spirit, and the result in this case was Foxwoods, the current world leader in adult gaming and entertainment, restroom paper towel assistants, and small children left locked in cars.
Tufts was awarded a two-year grant of $394,900 this October to expand its program to prevent violence against women. The grant came from a pool of $10 million that the Federal Justice Department's Violence against Women Grants Office distributed to colleges and universities this year.
If it seems like every division in basketball has about four or five teams that it can send to the playoffs, it's because there's a whole lot of talent in the NBA this year. There has been an influx of highly skilled, athletic college players into the professional ranks the past few seasons, and this could be their year to shine. The Midwest Division is no different, and as many as six out of seven clubs probably have playoff dreams.
If you love Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, chances are you are glued to the television on Wednesday nights. If the WB has its way, it would like to have you glued to your TV every night of the week this coming fall season. Not to be outdone by any other network, the network has announced an aggressive schedule that is sure to attract the always-in-demand teen and young adult audience.
Richard Feynman was possibly one of the purest examples of brilliance ever to exist. True brilliance is a fascinating trait. It is not merely a function of prowess in a particular subject - that's boring. There are tons of incredibly gifted artists, writers, mathematicians, engineers... you name the subject and there's sure to be someone who can do it better than you.
Rather than selecting one of Tufts' over 50 pre-packaged majors to fulfill his passion, senior J.D. Devan is instead creating a major of his very own.
Chances are you've never seen an altar-inspired art exhibition before. If not, now is your chance. The Tufts University Gallery will be presenting an exhibition entitled Imagines e Historias/Images and Histories: Chicana Altar-Inspired Art. The exhibit is unique because it is the first to focus on Mexican American women's art inspired by home or church altars.
I'd like to say something to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual communities. So, for all of you who are dead certain that you're completely straight, please stop reading right here. Ahem.
