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It's Gewirtz in an upset

November 8

Political newcomer Rebekah Gewirtz knocked off 22-year incumbent Jack Connolly for the Ward 6 Board of Aldermen seat Tuesday evening. Gewirtz - the vice-chair of the Ward 6 Democratic City Committee and the co-founder and former chair of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville - defeated Connolly 1,111 votes to 955. Ward 6 touches the southeastern part of the Tufts campus and includes Davis Square. All results are unofficial and will be finalized after a ten day certification process. "I think it's time for a change," Somerville resident Rand Wilson said of why he voted for Gewirtz. "She showed a lot of passion and I think the biggest issue that we have is development and we need someone to stand up to the developers." Connolly's last opposed election was in 1997, and he is largely credited with developing the Davis Square area. "He worked hard to bring Davis Square and Ward 6 to what it is today," former Somerville Mayor Gene Brune, who served from 1980-1989, said as he picketed for Connolly during Tuesday's voting. "I did a lot of good things," Brune said. "But Jack has done a lot of great things." Former Board of Aldermen member Grace Abruzzio agreed. "Jack was very decent, very honest, hardworking, and knew all the issues," she said. "He's an outstanding family man." Gewirtz also had longtime supporters, though she has lived in Ward 6 for only four years. "I've known Rebekah for a long time," resident Christine Barbar said. "She has great integrity, a thoughtful stance on issues, and I support her on these issues." Wilson, Brune, Abruzzio and Barbar were at the Methodist Church on Chapel Street and College Avenue - one of three polling stations for Ward 6. Connolly beat Gewirtz at that polling station, 264 to 231. Before the election, Connolly relied on his experience to hold onto his seat, while Gewirtz emphasized the need for affordable housing, subway extension to Somerville and public school funding. In neighboring Wards 3, 4 and 5, however, the incumbents were reelected. Thomas Taylor defeated Lawrence Paolella 1,002 to 751 in Ward 3. Walter Pero defeated Christopher Zambuto 701 to 235 in Ward 4. Sean O'Donovan defeated John Sullivan 1,302 to 792 in Ward 5. The election for Ward 7 - the other ward that touches the Tufts campus - was unopposed. Robert Trane held onto his seat. The four alderman-at-large seats were also up for grabs. All four incumbents - Bruce Desmond, Denise Provost, Dennis Sullivan and William White - ran successfully for reelection. They defeated Stephen Glines, Kimberly Foster Hirsch and Tufts alumnus Marty Martinez (LA '01). In the races for the School Committee seats, Paul Bockelman defeated Jim Thomas 1,149 to 703 in Ward 6 and Mary Jo Rossetti defeated Herby Duverne 897 to 689 in Ward 7. The Ward 5 School Committee seat went to Mark Niedergang, who was assisted by members of the Tufts Democrats. He defeated Megan Foster 1,103 to 1,049. Mayor Joseph Curtatone returned to office in an unopposed referendum. He received 7,840 votes, and there were 513 write-in votes and 2,582 blank ballots for mayor. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino was also reelected - 63,937 to 30,424 over Maura Hennigan.Brian Loeb contributed to this article.

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News

Onward and Upward | Putting a varied career to use by writing

November 8

Tracy Hahn-Burkett (LA '88) has taught English in the Czech Republic, worked as a legislative aid on Capital Hill, and served as a public policy director. She has also published essays on politics and adoptive families. And now, she's switching gears toward fiction - though she hasn't left those previous experiences behind. "[I've been surprised by] how much fiction is actually truth," Hahn-Burkett mused. "This is not something I actually suspected before. [But] of the novelists I really like and respect, the fiction has a lot of truth to it." Perhaps it's no surprise that Hahn-Burkett's novel has roots in her own experiences. "The novel I'm working on is about a twenty-something who goes to Prague at the economic transformation," Hahn-Burkett said. "But she's going to have experiences that differ from mine." Hahn-Burkett's own experiences have been many and varied. The lobbyist-turned-writer has explored a variety of interests ever since her time at Tufts, where she majored in political science and French. "I was an apprentice in a ballet company and I had an interest in languages - I didn't know anything else of the world," said Hahn-Burkett, adding that she knew she didn't want to be a professional dancer. "For me, Tufts was the land of opportunity - Tufts let me try all sorts of things and see how far I could take a skill or an interest," she said. Hahn-Burkett spent a large amount of time working as a member of the Tufts Community Union Senate, working her way up to president by senior year. After graduating, she went to Washington, D.C. to find a job on Capitol Hill. But finding a job in the bigger Senate took time. "I didn't know anyone, and I started out getting an internship," Hahn-Burkett said. "I went door to door - knocking on every Democratic door in Congress." She eventually found an unpaid internship three days a week in the office of Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), answering constituent mail. To pay her bills, she also worked as a waitress. "It was five months from when I started looking until I got my paid job," Hahn-Burkett said. After Kohl's reelection, Hahn-Burkett was promoted to a paid position as his legislative aide on immigration and human rights for the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I got to be the first person in my position in Herb Kohl's office," she said. "I was in that job for two and a half years, and I ended up getting to do amazing, fun things." Hahn-Burkett saw the 1990 David Souter Supreme Court nomination up close, met senators and foreign leaders and got to be "in the room" for many important events. One of the highlights of her time on Capitol Hill was meeting Alexander Dubcek, the Czechoslovakian leader famous for his role in the Prague Spring liberalization reforms. Hahn-Burkett's interest in Eastern Europe - which took root during her time at Tufts - also propelled her to her next career move: she deferred law school for a year to work in Prague. "I was working on Capitol Hill when the Iron Curtain fell," Hahn-Burkett said. "Suddenly it was possible to just go live over there [in Prague] and work." Hahn-Burkett began looking for opportunities in then-Czechoslovakia, and did not have to search very long. "Within four days I had a job teaching English in Prague," she said. "This was '91, '92. It was the land of opportunity for an American. I was 25 years old, but because I had worked in Congress, people thought I was an expert." Hahn-Burkett quickly went from teaching English to working with the Federal Parliament and the Czech National Council via a student organization. While the country's political transformation was already underway when Hahn-Burkett arrived, she witnessed the transition from a planned economy to a market economy firsthand. "You could see it in the physical sites in the city," said Hahn-Burkett of Prague, a city privatized via a coupon scheme in which citizens made investment decisions. "Privatization went on while I was there." "The trolleys when I got there were old and yellow and red, and when I left, they all had market-style advertisements on them," Hahn-Burkett added. After a year in Prague, Hahn-Burkett came back to the U.S. and concurrently pursued degrees in international affairs and law from the University of Virginia, with the intent to use her Juris Doctor (J.D.) in the public sector. "I had gotten as far as I was going to get without an advanced degree," she said. "In Washington, when you walk into a room and you have J.D. after your name, it certainly makes a difference. If you don't have a J.D. or some advanced degree, you're at a disadvantage." But she added that getting a law degree is not the right choice for everyone. "I think it's very important to think about what program you go [into]," she said. "There are a lot of people who just go to law school because they don't know what else to do. You should know what it is you want to do before you go." "If you're uncertain, take some time and see the possibilities in the real world, before you make the decision," Hahn-Burkett added. After getting her J.D., Hahn-Burkett worked for a year at the Department of Justice and then landed at People for the American Way (PFAW) as a public policy director. "That turned out to be a really fun job," Hahn-Burkett said. "I became a lobbyist for civil rights issues and for public education issues. I got to work on issues that were very important to me. I didn't always agree with those who were working with me, but I often did." The end of her time at PFAW was spent concentrating on No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush's education bill. "We were working to make it a better law, and we had some successes," Hahn-Burkett said. "It was two years in the room participating, trying to put together this massive overhaul." Hahn-Burkett's lobbying became easier as she formed more connections. She said the difference between talking to staff and talking to the actual representatives depends on networks. "A lot of it is making connections, and using connections wisely," she said. "You want to establish yourself to people as a resource." Hahn-Burkett left PFAW after the birth of her son (see box). She is now writing her first novel and enjoying having more time to raise her children. "You can work part-time as a lobbyist, but the availability is full-time," she said. "If a senator calls a meeting at five o'clock on a Friday, you have to be there. You have to be on call all the time, and that's not how I wanted to be a mom."

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Arts

The good times are Sun Kil Moon

November 8

Have you ever been engaged in a conversation about your love for Modest Mouse when, all of a sudden, someone interrupts with "Oh yeah, I've heard of them, I love 'Float On'!" Did you avoid brutally murdering the ignorant fool for fear of seeming elitist but quietly suggested that they don't know what the hell they are talking about? Sun Kil Moon tackles this dilemma by composing "Tiny Cities," a cover album of acoustic interpretations of Modest Mouse's greatest hits and a must-hear for those so-called "elitist" fans out there. "Tiny Cities" being Sun Kil Moon's second full album, the band is taking a big risk by showing this level of creative freedom so early in their career. But lead singer Mark Kozelek is no stranger to experimentation, especially as it pertains to covers. He has put out numerous albums over the years under his independently-owned label, Caldo Verde, including 2001's "What's Next to the Moon," in which he takes on rock gods AC/DC. You might be thinking to yourself, "Modest Mouse? AC/DC? This guy really knows how to rock!" It's much more interesting, however, for Kozelek to turn the dial down from eleven, since these bands have been playing at one louder long enough to hold us all over for many years to come. In general, the most interesting cover albums are recorded in a style far different from the originals, and "Tiny Cities" is no exception. Just as Me First and the Gimme Gimmes found their greatest success doing punk covers of classic soul hits, Sun Kil Moon brings a slow, steady, soft-rock style to some of the most raw, experimental rock music available to form a striking contrast. The most evident change that Sun Kil Moon has brought to Modest Mouse's work is steady simplicity. Whereas the original music can ranged from grunge rock ("Convenient Parking") to a country hoedown ("Jesus Christ Was an Only Child"), Kozelek somehow makes each song stylistically fade into the next. Although some are simply guitar and vocals and others feature percussion and a string section, the songs are brought together by the common approach. The band combines complex, fast progressions with a soft, gentle voice reminiscent of The Beatles' famous "Blackbird." Modest Mouse's lyrics are so abstract that they can accommodate any musical interpretation. The classic "Trucker's Atlas," for example, normally accentuates a sense of excitement with jerky rhythms and a fast tempo, but as these elements are stripped away and replaced by a slower rhythms listeners must think even harder about what the already abstract lyrics mean. After listening to this album, fans of the poetry of music will want to own an energetic version of Modest Mouse for the morning and a softer, gentler Modest Mouse for the evening. There is a reason, though, why The Beatles only wrote one "Blackbird." Listening to "Twin Cities" without the proper context will put the average college student to sleep faster than an 8:30 philosophy lecture. The album is a tribute, a corollary to an already impressive display of music and poetry. In discovering this album, the average consumer must therefore be careful not to overlook the music's origins, because having two interpretations of each song to compare is what gives Sun Kil Moon's work here life and meaning. Overall, original Modest Mouse is far superior, but Kozelek's unconventional experiment successfully pays tribute to the complexity of Modest Mouse's work and adds new dimensions to the words. Fans of Modest Mouse will greatly appreciate new dimensions that "Twin Cities" brings to these classics. Those who aren't as familiar with the band's work should realize that even the mere existence of such a masterful cover album proves the influence and importance that this legendary indie rock band has demonstrated over the years. Our advice: discover Modest Mouse first, and when you are ready check out "Tiny Cities."

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News

Lee out, LaPolice in

November 8

Freshman Matt LaPolice has been elected to fill the open Tufts Community Union Senate seat. LaPolice got 22 percent of the vote in Tuesday's special election to replace Andrew Lee, who resigned Oct. 24. After his election, LaPolice said he was excited to have won. "I'm really happy," he said. "It's really good to know that my classmates support me and believe that I can represent them." He defeated six other candidates: Kris Coombs, Constantin Sabet d'Acre, Daniel Hartman, Greg Meiselbach, Matt Shapanka and Elton Sykes. The turnout was high, Tufts Community Union President Jeff Katzin said. Thirty-eight percent -- 534 out of 1396 eligible students -- voted. "We're happy to have him on board, and look forward to bringing him up to speed, which should be easy to do," Katzin said. LaPolice said he is looking into lengthening dining hall hours, which he said is the one issue students he has spoken to have repeatedly raised. He plans to work with the current senators who are already pursuing the project. LaPolice won the election by a small margin. Coombs, the runner-up, got 20 percent of the vote and Sabet d'Acre got 18 percent. Unlike LaPolice, both Coombs and Sabet d'Acre -- and Meiselbach and Shapanka -- ran and lost in the fall general election. "It is important that the election was close," Katzin said. He said the significant amount of support received by the losing candidates should encourage them to participate in the Senate by serving on a committee. Any interested student, not just senators, can "walk-on" and serve on Senate committees. Walk-on members cannot vote. "I'm not very surprised," Sabet d'Acre said of his defeat. He said LaPolice had a "major advantage" because he lives in Houston Hall, an all-freshmen dorm, and could more easily encourage freshmen to vote. "I'm personally disappointed," Sabet d'Acre said. Sabet d'Acre currently serves on the Senate's Culture, Ethnicity and Community Affairs committee. Matt Shapanka, who got 16 percent of Tuesday's votes, serves on the Senate's Administration and Budget Committee. "It's partly an interest and partly a responsibility" to serve Tufts, he said of his committee work. Shapanka said he will continue to serve on the committee and attend Senate meetings. He also said he plans to run again. "I'm disappointed, but I'll be back," he said. "I will run again if a seat opens up, and in April if a seat doesn't open up." LaPolice said he considered running for the Senate in September, but that he wanted to make sure he could manage his school workload. "After being here for a while, and being settled, I know I can handle the time commitment," he said. Lee resigned because of the position's time commitment.

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News

Julie Schindall | Making the Connections

November 8

The Swiss are a rather silent people. On the train I've learned to turn my mobile to vibrate, and in the street my conversations - either in English or in French - are kept to a reasonable hum. There is the occasional motorbike through downtown, but the urban noise of Geneva consists mainly of a politely low din of armored Mercedes and the muted brakes of public tramways. Walk a little deeper into the city, however, and one discovers the immigrant district of P??±µis. Here one finds a fascinating m?©¬?nge of African eateries and halal butcheries. On a Friday night, if you walk far enough, you just might happen upon that aural experience most rare in spanking-clean Switzerland: thumping music coming from giant subwoofers in tricked-out cars. The first time I heard this phenomenon in Geneva, I was swiftly transported back to the days of my childhood, in which every high school boy worth his salt installed some big black woofers in the back of his ride and let the gangsta rap fly. Of course, at my school, the cars were more Volvos of Stockholm than the Peugeots of P??±µis, but that disturbing-the-peace cacophony of music made me smile nonetheless. Perhaps the Swiss do know how to make a little noise? They are, after all, famous for putting bells around the necks of every animal in sight. Perhaps bumping car audio systems are the 21st century incarnation of a covert predisposition towards noisemaking. But after a closer listen to the music emanating from the rolled-down windows along the P??±µis, I realized that my happy theory about Swiss loudness was as holey as Swiss Emmenthaler cheese. The people sitting in these cars are admittedly living in Switzerland - but they are not Swiss. Their language is not one of Switzerland's four official national languages; these guys speak Arabic. Their music has the undulating and vibrant coursings of Arab popular music, and the cards hanging from their rearview mirrors display Arabic expressions. The propensity to make noise in the street is not something these young guys have learned in Switzerland. It is something they bring from home, from cultures outside of Switzerland and outside of Europe. On the train, the passengers making the most noise - and getting the most angry sighs and rolled eyes from fellow riders - usually speak Russian, Hindi, or English. And in the street, while the Swiss greet each other with three delicate kisses on the cheek, the Africans opt for hearty slaps on the back and joyous cries of salutations. So while the traditional Swiss treasure their quiet alpine chalets and measured caf?© ?onversations, the world around this lovely country is getting louder and louder. The global din is fast becoming a roar as cell phone rings, Kanye West and debates over the war in Iraq pump up the volume of our daily lives. The definition of "globalization" is partially realized through the practice of noisemaking, from the music we consume 24/7 through our iPods to the competing barrage of cable TV news. On the other hand, the "underdeveloped" world can be characterized by the silence of evenings without television and labor performed by hand instead of by machines. This new global reality of decibels is perfectly demonstrated by the cultural volume of Geneva's large immigrant population. One way to delineate between the foreign and native populations is to gauge how loudly they talk in casual conversations. While the natives whisper to each other in the grocery store, the immigrants let their children cry noisily in H&M. True acculturation can be demonstrated when the immigrant stops shouting into her cell phone on the late-night bus and instead tells her friend she'll have to call her back. This past September, Swiss voters passed a referendum allowing free movement of persons across their borders, in compliance with European Union measures. Opening borders means movement of people, of cultures, and of globalization - a globalization that brings the noise of the whole wide world captivated by the cacophony of modern technologies and communications. While the U. N. and the multitude of national dress one sees in the streets are obvious signs of the global state of affairs of Geneva today, one can also walk down the streets of P??±µis to be reminded of the reality of the concurrence of international cultures. Swiss silence aside, Geneva is a pretty noisy place - noisy with the sound of globalization.Julie Schindall is a junior majoring in music. She is currently studying abroad in Switzerland, and can be reached at Julie.Schindall@tufts.edu.

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News

Inside the NBA | Injuries pose a test to contenders early on

November 8

Although the NBA season is just over a week old, several teams appear to be solidly establishing themselves as contenders or pretenders in their respective conferences. However, this season features more contenders facing injury problems early in the season than in years past, giving their rivals an opportunity to leap ahead of them in the early playoff race. These injury subplots will undoubtedly rear their ugly heads in several teams' quests for a successful start to the season. The most notorious absence before the season's commencement was that of Amare Stoudamire of the Phoenix Suns. Stoudamire had microfracture surgery on his left knee three weeks ago and can't resume playing until at least February. It is the same procedure that permanently damaged the careers of Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn and Chris Webber, and its results for Stoudamire, one of the games most talented young players, are uncertain. After posting the best record in the Western Conference last season, Phoenix will have to cope without its most explosive scorer in a lineup that is lacking frontcourt depth. If Steve Nash and Company can hold their ground until Amare returns, they should be primed for a playoff run. However, if they struggle, or if Stoudamire can't return to last year's form, the Suns are in danger of ending their season much earlier then they had planned. The Houston Rockets are expected to challenge for the Western Conference title, as they added some much-needed depth in the offseason, and finally have a well-rested Yao Ming for the upcoming season. However, their star player, guard Tracy McGrady, will be sidelined for up to three weeks with back spasms. T-Mac has been plagued by back problems since early in his career playing for the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors. While McGrady won't be gone for a large portion of the season, Houston can't afford to fall far behind in a division that includes the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and a 2005 title contender, the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets have high hopes for this season and will be tested early on to see if they can compensate for T-Mac's absence. Another Western Conference team with injury problems is the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets surprisingly went 32-8 after George Karl took over as head coach last season and played the Spurs tough in the playoffs before bowing out in five games. However, they weren't going to sneak up on anybody this year, and expectations were high in Denver. That is, until forward Nene Hilario was lost for the season with a torn ACL. While the Nuggets' frontcourt has taken a modest hit as a result, it was widely rumored that Nene would be packaged in a trade to acquire a better option at shooting guard. Despite the return of Voshon Lenard, Denver could use a more complete player at the off-guard position to round out an already stellar starting five. This loss is more significant for Nene's potential trade value than for what he contributed on the court, as the Nuggets still feature an impressive frontcourt of Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby. While Western Conference teams have been hurt more by injuries thus far, the injury bug has spread to the East as well. After losing in the Eastern Conference Finals and making several changes to the roster in the offseason, expectations for the Miami Heat were high once again. But the loss of Shaquille O'Neal to an ankle injury for two to four weeks gives them an early season obstacle that this recently assembled team was not expecting to have to deal with. O'Neal, who may still be the league's most dominant player, teamed with Dwyane Wade to make the Heat a legitimate contender last year. In addition to his individual statistics, Shaq frees up the floor for his teammates, especially Udonis Haslem and Antoine Walker, who join him in the frontcourt. For a Miami squad looking to gel following significant roster changes in the offseason, this injury could either provide a spark for the team or dig a hole for the Heat early in the season. These key injuries in this young season will challenge some of the league's better squads to overcome the absence of key players. The way these injury-riddled contenders respond now will go a long way to determining the NBA playoff picture in seven months.

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News

Ben Swasey | From Way Downtown

November 8

When I was writing my first column earlier this semester, I was nervous that its subject, golf's President's Cup, wouldn't appeal to the early-adult masses here at Tufts. Sure, maybe I could garner the interest of a high-handicap professor, but I was worried about the kind of opening statement I was making. Would my writing be shunned because of its allegiance to the not-so-mainstream sports or celebrated for its diversity? This topic is currently pertinent, as some of you may know, because this Sunday marks the tenth Major League Soccer Championship Game (MLS Cup) between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Boston's home team, the New England Revolution. (I wonder how many of you knew that; probably slightly more than the amount of people who can name five WNBA teams. By the way, try to name five teams, my roommate and I just did and it was pretty good comedy). And who can blame you? Unless you watch local Boston news, whose sports coverage, after discussing every other Boston team first, recaps the Revs, or are one of the few soccer diehards, you wouldn't know about the upcoming MLS Cup. Last Sunday, the day that the Revs extinguished the Chicago Fire to make the championship game, there was no trace of a soccer headline on ESPN.com's front page. Soccer in America has been and continues to be an intriguing phenomenon. We've all heard that soccer is the most popular sport in nearly every other place in the world, but the same cannot be said for the United States. As an example, a few weeks ago, fellow columnist Dave Pomerantz spoke of the enthusiasm and love for soccer in Prague. He was lucky enough to see a UEFA Champions League match, which is a tournament between the best European club teams. Clearly, there is some interest in the sport because almost all of us play as children; 22 kids running in a pack, back and forth across a field. Even now, many of us still chase after the ball, playing in Tufts' popular intramural leagues. In addition, college soccer is big, as evident by the number of Jumbos who witnessed firsthand our women's soccer team, ranked ninth nationally in Div. III, vie for the NESCAC title on Sunday. So what's the problem? For the creators of the MLS, they saw the void of a competitive professional American league and the lack of American stars as prohibiting soccer from growing here like it does abroad. Over the past decade, however, the MLS has struggled to remain afloat and gain popularity. The hope that improved quality of play and new, soccer-only stadiums would bring fans has worked only moderately. Last's year's MLS Cup was attended by one thousand fewer fans than the 2003 MLS Cup, even though they were held at the same stadium. That's not to say the MLS Cups have been disappointing. The 2001 and 2002 games went to overtime, the 2003 Cup featured two goals by one of America's best known stars, Landon Donovan, and, in last year's title, D.C. United survived a man disadvantage for most of the second half to win its fourth championship. In New England, traditionally a place with a solid fan base, there is definite cause to tune into the Revolution. The Revs have the league's top goal scorer and MVP finalist in Taylor Twellman, last year's Rookie of the Year in Clint Dempsey, this year's Rookie of the Year in Michael Parkhurst, were the Eastern Conference's top seed, and just completed their fourth consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Sunday, they hope to take the next step by winning their first ever title. But not every team in the MLS is so fortunate. League officials were very excited before this season about the arrival of Freddy Adu, the teenage phenom born in Ghana who is supposed to be the savior of American soccer. Also, the MLS introduced two new franchises, one in Salt Lake City and one named Chivas USA in Southern California, hoping to capitalize in the latter location on a soccer-appreciative Latino population. But after Adu's first games he started sitting on the bench, eventually complaining about playing time, and the two new teams were by far the worst in the league. And, as usual, general interest in the MLS fizzled. While the MLS still has trouble, there is some hope for American soccer. The last World Cup in 2002 saw the U.S. squad surprisingly advance to the quarterfinals. That match against Germany brought America's highest ever soccer TV ratings, despite a time difference that started the game at 7:30 a.m. on the east coast. Now, heading into the 2006 World Cup, FIFA currently has the U.S. ranked 7th in the world. There is also a new television deal in place with ABC/ESPN for the event, indicating more coverage. Hopefully, the MLS and the efforts of the American team in 2006 will one day pay off, bringing soccer out from the U.S. sports shadows. And if not, oh well, at least now you know there's a game this weekend.Ben Swasey is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Benjamin.Swasey@tufts.edu.

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News

Tufts to firefighters: Let's pump it up

November 8

Carrying those hoses will soon get easier for Somerville firefighters, thanks to a federal grant and the assistance of a Tufts nutrition program. The grant to the Somerville Fire Department for $228,000 was announced by Mayor Joe Curtatone on Oct. 17. Its purpose is to help improve the firefighters' overall health and wellness. Experts from Tufts' Shape Up Somerville program will work with the department to fulfill the goals. Massachusetts currently has no mandatory fitness standards for firefighters after they join the force. A significant amount of firefighters' deaths are heart- and stress-related, according to Somerville Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher. There is no definitive plan for how the money will be spent. Kelleher said part of the grant would likely go toward individual wellness and fitness programs for the firefighters. The grant will also go toward the purchase of about $120,000 worth of fitness equipment and new protective bunker equipment for the firefighters. This will replace the station's old and worn fitness equipment. "The guys are really excited about this," Kelleher said. "Someone cares, so we're getting something new." Kelleher said the grant request was initiated by the firefighters themselves because they wanted to improve their fitness and mental well being. "This grant is unique in that it targets a group of people who put their lives on the line for us," said Kate Ashton, who wrote the project's grant proposal. "This is an opportunity for the city of Somerville to do something to save them." The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy will participate by providing "program administration, health assessment, fitness programming tailored to each firefighter's need, stress reduction instruction, [and] cooking and nutritional information to firefighters in all fire stations," the grant reads. According to project coordinator Sarah Cluggish, who works at the Nutrition School, Professor Christina Economos will oversee the project's Tufts staff. Economos founded Shape Up Somerville - an obesity prevention program that promotes physical activity and healthy eating in Somerville schools. "Our role in the fire department's grant is a result of the relationships we have built with the city through the Shape Up Somerville project," Cluggish said. Economos' staff will be made up of Tufts faculty. Tufts students may also be invited to provide nutrition education workshops to the firefighters. According to Cluggish, the project will allow Tufts to further develop its relationship with the community. "We will be able to share our knowledge of healthy eating and active living," she said. "And we will also learn about the special opportunities and challenges firemen face." The grant may also lead to Tufts-assisted workshops on the dangers of stress, Kelleher said. Six Somerville firefighters have already been certified as physical trainers. These firefighters will be working with Tufts' health and fitness experts to effectively implement the program.

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News

Pom in Prague | David Pomerantz

November 8

In last week's column, I sat down with Jan Urban, a former leader of the dissident movement here in the Czech Republic - and conveniently enough, my teacher. We discussed the Communist regime and his life as a dissident. This week's column is a continuation of that conversation.

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News

Zupan chooses to play, not fold

November 8

Mixing in some bathroom humor and jokes about disabled people, Mark Zupan - one of the key players in the documentary "Murderball" - discussed the life of a quadriplegic rugby player Tuesday. Zupan, one of the top quad rugby players in the country, spoke in Cohen Auditorium in a program sponsored by Lecture Series. A quadriplegic at the C6-C7 vertebrae, Zupan broke his neck on Oct. 14, 1993. While Zupan slept off a night of drinking in the bed of his friend's pickup truck, the drunk friend crashed the truck, flinging Zupan into a canal and nearly taking his life. Zupan did not sever his spine in the accident and maintained a level of mobility equivalent to that of a paraplegic. One of the first things Zupan said to the audience was that he was "not here to preach." He wanted to outline the events in his life, tell some jokes, and let people make their own decisions. The result was a candid look at the life of a quadriplegic - a life that, beyond the wheelchair, was very normal. Zupan's initial reactions to his new life were more optimistic than one would expect. Upon waking up in the hospital with tubes coming out of and going into him, he wrote the first words of his new life on a form board, asking the question, "I am lucky???" In physical thearpy exercises, he laughed at the fact that his once toned and conditioned body could now barely sit up. But it was Zupan's quick acceptance of his fate that allowed him to become what he is today. Humorously describing the difficulty of performing everyday tasks such as putting on deodorant and brushing his teeth, he said, "That's when you know life's going to be different - with the everyday things." People would come up to him and yell, "'How are you today?' 'I'm not deaf!'" Zupan would reply. "It's not like I'm different." Jokes aside, Zupan did talk about some of the difficult times he faced, particularly coming home for the first time and feeling isolated and dependent on his parents. But even that would not deter him, as he soon fixed these problems by "getting my independence back." Zupan obtained a driver's license and a car with hand controls and was soon harassing friends night and day with possible itineraries. "Do you want to drive to Wisconsin?" he would ask. Zupan was eventually able to return to competition when his physical therapist recommended wheelchair rugby. Zupan had been in sports since age five, playing soccer literally through the last day of his bipedal life. When he first heard about the sport of wheelchair rugby, he immediately lit up. "Wait, you can hit people as hard as you want?" he said. "This one's good for me." As anyone who has seen the film "Murderball" knows, this was the turning point in Zupan's life. From 1996 onwards, Zupan devoted his life to quad rugby, training "as hard as any Olympian." He changed his diet and quit drinking. His hard work would pay off, as he made the U.S. World Championship team in 2002 and met the creators of the film after the competition. "By far, [my accident] was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said. "I wouldn't change it." Zupan found the fame he garnered from the film to be the most surreal thing of all. "When you see yourself in a movie, it's weird," he said. But after all the autographs he signs, his Reebok billboard in Times Square and the celebrity parties, Zupan still remains down to earth. "People come up and say, 'Can we talk to you?'" he said. "But I think to myself, why the hell do you want to talk to me?" He said he was pleased with the film not because of his fame, but because of the good it has done for quadriplegics. "The film showed [us] how we are...how we want to be treated," Zupan said. He said the film taught people that "wheelchair sports are for real," and greatly expanded the interest in such sports. But perhaps most importantly, Zupan believes the film teaches a life lesson. "You're given only one hand to play, and you can either play or fold," he said. "I chose to play."

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News

Earthquake in Pakistan

November 8

It would be an understatement to say that on the morning of Oct. 8, the lives of thousands of people thousands of miles away from us were undergoing a drastic change. In reality, an entire nation of 162 million people was resonating with the aftershocks of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that had struck parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and some parts of India. This is undoubtedly the worst calamity to ever hit the region and the destruction caused by it may take up to a decade to repair. For the survivors of the quake-devastated mountain areas, the battle for survival is getting bleaker by the day and indeed for many, the misery and suffering has just begun. Developing countries such as Pakistan do not have sufficient resources, expertise or the capacity that is required to deal with large-scale and unprecedented calamities such as this. In a country where 65.6% of the population lives on under $2 a day, the problems of the poor living in villages are further compounded when they lose the shelter that at least helped them survive through the rough winter. This is in addition to dealing with the trauma of having lost their families and all their belongings. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the devastation caused by the Oct. 8 earthquake has no parallel in the history of Pakistan. The loss of lives has exceeded our worst fears while the economic impact has been immense in magnitude. Entire towns have been completely wiped out and the infrastructure totally destroyed. Amidst news of other natural disasters occurring in various parts of the world, the news of the earthquake and the urgency of the relief effort needed may have been eclipsed and overshadowed. But does that really justify why such a monumental tragedy remained hugely irrelevant for so many people and nations? Why has the humanitarian response not been what it should be compared to what it has been in the past with other natural disasters? Is it because this tragedy struck a region which is relatively insignificant for many? Or is it because we are simply indifferent towards events such as these that do not directly affect us? The answers to these numerous questions are neither simple nor limited. It is, however, important to realize that in order for people to be concerned and charitable towards a certain cause or event, they must know and care about it. One cannot expect people to be concerned about a country or its people when they simply don't know much about them. The unfortunate truth is that Pakistan is neither a popular tourist attraction primarily due to security concerns nor is it a promising or viable prospect for foreign investment due to political instability. It is culturally and historically rich and of geo-political importance, but in a larger sense does Pakistan really matter in the global arena? Not really. A testimony to this fact is that fewer than 20 countries have come forward to help Pakistan in the aftermath of the earthquake in comparison to the 92 countries that aided tsunami relief efforts. Such comparisons are not meant to serve the purpose of undermining other disasters in relation to the earthquake but are rather meant to bring into light the disparity that exists in the level of response of the international community towards different disasters. It would be worthwhile to reiterate here that any disaster in any part of the world requires utmost attention from the international community and immediate aid. This is precisely why I am prompted to question the alarmingly different levels of humanitarian response to seemingly similar natural catastrophes. If $9 billion could be raised for tsunami relief efforts worldwide, then why isn't the world even coming close to the $550 million emergency aid that has been appealed for Pakistan? A subsequent question that arises is what does it take for the international community to take notice of this tragedy and respond effectively? It is tragedies such as these that transcend the boundaries of colour, religion, class and ethnicity. Such events make us reflect upon our own humanity, our own sensitivities and our sense of global citizenship. It is at times like these when we need to think beyond our own micro-communities about those who are far less fortunate than us at this moment irrespective of what religion they follow, what language they speak and what ethnic group they belong to. The international community needs to play a more active role by not just donating funds for relief efforts but also helping Pakistan in the reconstruction and redevelopment process that has to follow the relief efforts. After all this is not just about providing tents and warm clothing to people at the moment. It is also about rehabilitating thousands of people (many of whom are orphans) and rebuilding schools, hospitals, and infrastructure in those regions in the long term. It is natural but not necessarily sufficient for me and other Pakistani and South Asian students to mobilize ourselves and try to create awareness about the magnitude and impact of the earthquake and carry out fundraising. It would be encouraging to see other members of the Tufts community come forward and show their support towards this cause as well. It is, however, gratifying to see that the several fundraising events that have taken place so far at Tufts have been very successful in raising money. The proceeds will be donated to relief agencies working in Pakistan and India and the generosity of the Tufts community will thereby contribute towards ameliorating the lives of several individuals and families if not an entire village. Yet, there is still a long way to go before any semblance of normality is restored to the region.Rida Bilgrami is a sophomore majoring in Economics and International Relations.

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News

National Security Republicans?

November 8

Republicans are fond of proclaiming that they are the party of strong defense and national security. This is a claim that has been repeated with such frequency over the past few decades that it has become part of the conventional American political narrative: Republicans are strong on foreign policy and defense, while Democrats are stronger domestically on social and economic issues. The 2004 election, while popularly reported as having been swung by "moral" issues such as gay marriage, was actually largely decided by Americans who determined that Republicans, and President Bush in particular, would be stronger leaders in the war on terrorism. Unfortunately, the past three years - especially because of striking revelations over the past few weeks - suggest that Republicans should be kept as far away from America's foreign policy apparatus as possible. First, and most obviously, the current administration and Republican Congress have committed American military and economic resources to a peripheral conflict which does not address American security concerns. This is not a radical left-wing view. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 60 percent of Americans think that the Iraq War was not worth fighting, while 52 percent think the war has not made the United States more secure. Even worse, administration officials lied about and manipulated intelligence to support the case for war. Regardless of Republican efforts to persuade the public that this claim is the result of conniving collaboration between Harry Reid and Michael Moore, the facts are clear. Administration officials, particularly those working under Dick Cheney and in the office of former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, overstated both estimates of Iraq's capability to produce weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein's ties to al-Qaeda terrorist groups. Evidence of this ranges from Cheney's insistence to include clearly questionable reports of Iraqi attempts to buy African uranium to administration officials' apparently heroic ability to studiously ignore the numerous indications that there was not, never had been, and probably never would be a connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. The primary source for many of the administration's claims of an Iraq-al Qaeda connection was identified as a likely liar by a Defense Intelligence Agency report published in February 2002. Apparently no one in the White House listens to the DIA, or the CIA - or anyone else for that matter - unless it suits their purposes. This is also not, as the Right would like the reader to believe, a radical left-wing conspiracy theory. According to the same poll cited above, 55 percent of Americans believe the Bush administration intentionally misled the public in stating the case for war. In case any campus Republicans are hoping to accuse the Daily of mistakenly relying on a single source, recent CBS News and CNN/USA Today/Zogby polls show strikingly similar results. Events of the past few weeks have provided further evidence that today's Republican Party is not to be trusted with American security. The indictment of I. Lewis Libby bears two important lessons for the public. It reveals a clear, concerted effort by the administration to discredit a dissident voice by making the name of a national security asset public. Whether this was just a careless act or the intent was malicious is irrelevant to all except the special prosecutor and the grand jury. It shows at the very least incompetence and a cavalier attitude at the highest levels of government. The second point is that at least one administration official, if guilty, knowingly obstructed the effort to determine the source of the leak. The importance of an investigation to identify failure within the defense and intelligence structure cannot be overstated, and to sabotage such an effort shows a disregard for national security and the interests of the American people. As Trent Lott revealed Monday, the leak of the existence of secret CIA prisons in foreign locations around the world almost certainly came from a member of the Republican senatorial caucus. As Mr. Lott said, "We can't keep our mouths shut." The Daily and most of America agrees. Republicans should stay out of foreign policy and perhaps devote more time to writing the dirty novels that they seem to so thoroughly enjoy.

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News

Keith Barry | Blight on the Hill

November 8

There was a Maserati Coupe parked in front of Gifford House the other day, which can mean one of two things: Either Larry decided to make his first microinvestment at Maserati of New England, or it's Trustee Season. Seeing as though the goal of a microinvestment is to make money and Italian cars have the resale value of half-eaten oatmeal, I figured it was safe to bet on a trustee's meeting. Deep down, though, there's a part of me that wishes that President Bacow had bought himself something nice to reward himself for his success. If he were a rapper, the hot tubs of Gifford House would be bubbling with Veuve Cliquot, but he's just a University president. He's content with free housing, a busy schedule and a chance to hobnob with the slightly rich and mildly famous. He might as well be an RA who is taking EPIIC. I think that the last time Tufts has seen so many changes for the better is when Jean Mayer was president. Though Tufts formally became a university in 1955 under President Wessell, it was Mayer who really began the movement of Tufts from a small liberal arts school to a Research I university. Bacow has been doing an effective job carrying on Mayer's legacy. While Mayer created the programs necessary to make Tufts College into Tufts University, it's Bacow who is trying to change the Tufts College mentality into a Tufts University mentality. The school must grow into the best small school in the country - where a world-class professor will still know all his or her students' names. Not only has Bacow done a great job fundraising, he's also done a tremendous job attracting some very bright people from some excellent institutions - Provost Bharucha from Dartmouth, Dean Abriola from Michigan are two stellar examples. Our endowment posted gains that beat the market. I have full confidence that we'll be at a billion dollars before I'm done with graduate school. I've only met Bacow twice. The first time was my freshman year. A bunch of students had gathered in the dingy lobby of Hill to hear him tell a group of students that he didn't like the Naked Quad Run. The second time, I was put on the spot by the Daily to interview him about the Cummings donation. He told me I should have read the press release more thoroughly before calling him to talk. I feel like most students have a similar view of Bacow - the angry "you kids get off my lawn!" e-mail after the Naked Quad Run and the smattering of fraternity closings don't help to win the hearts and minds of students. That's Dean of Students Bruce Reitman's job: He's like that cool uncle who lets you swear when you're 12 and lets you drive around a parking lot when you're 15, but still expects you to act intelligently and with respect for yourself and others. His pre-Super Bowl e-mail was classic and effective. Bacow can't be cool, though. He's the president. If an angry old rich alum calls him up, he has to make him happy. If Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone calls him up, he has to make sure Tufts is a good neighbor. If he's concerned about student safety, he has to do all he can to make sure nobody gets hurt. For that, I have a great amount of respect for him. And to think - he can juggle it all while still finishing the Marathon in under five hours! Bacow's relationship with students reminds me of my family growing up. I wanted a Power Wheels and a Super Nintendo, but my parents didn't have that kind of disposable income. Tufts is just too financially limited at the moment to concentrate on student social life, so we all have to concentrate on responsibility and making do with what we have. I hope that the addition of centrally-located Sophia Gordon Hall will partially alleviate the "Uphill/ Downhill/ Off Campus" divide in the Tufts community. I also hope that as the frats re-open, they'll take a little more responsibility for student safety and community formation so that they don't have to be watched like a bunch of high schoolers. It's Bacow's job to keep the students from doing stupid things, but it's our job to act in a manner that means he doesn't have to watch out for us. That's a relationship I think we're all up to maintaining. In the meantime, Larry - don't you think it's time to trade in that old Saab? Microinvest in a new Carrera GT. It's sure to increase in value.Keith Barry is a senior majoring in community health and psychology. He can be reached via e-mail at keith.barry@tufts.edu.

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Inside NESCAC Men's Soccer | Minus Tufts, it's Williams, Wesleyan

November 8

While the season came to a close last week for the Tufts men's soccer team, the NESCAC is well-represented in the Div. III Championship Tournament, with opening round play beginning today. The NESCAC, one of the strongest Div. III conferences in the nation, not only advanced its conference tournament champion, Wesleyan, to the tournament via an automatic bid, but Williams was able to benefit from a spectacular regular season and receive an at-large bid as well. Wesleyan, which finished its regular season at 6-5-3 (3-4-2 NESCAC), got hot at the right time, knowing that its only chance at a ticket to the Big Dance would be to run the table in the conference tournament. To do so, the Cardinals, who actually finished tied with Tufts for sixth in the conference and received the seventh and final seed in the NESCAC tournament, had to go on the road and get past three of the four top teams in the conference. Wesleyan, which fell 2-0 to Tufts at home two weeks ago, opened conference tournament play at two-seed Bowdoin and easily vanquished the Polar Bears 4-1 to move on to a semifinal showdown on Saturday at Williams. The Ephs, who went through the regular season 13-1-0, including a perfect 9-0-0 mark in the NESCAC, outscoring opponents 38-10, were surprised by a Wesleyan goal in the seventh minute and never recovered, falling 1-0. "We scored first," Wesleyan coach Geoff Wheeler said. "Scoring early in the game made Williams have to play from behind which is a position they weren't used to this season." All that was left for the Cardinals was a championship date with four-seed Amherst. Nothing was easy, however, as Wesleyan gave up an early 2-0 advantage and needed late-game heroics from sophomore midfielder Ross Pemmerl for a 3-2 victory, conference title, and NCAA Tournament bid. "I think hopefully [winning the NESCAC Tournament is] a signal to everyone at Wesleyan and other schools that the strength of our league means that any team in the league, number one, number seven, or even lower, has a chance to win the conference tournament," Wheeler said. Like his team, it was freshman striker Matt Nevin who heated up at the right time to lead the Cardinals through the conference tournament. After scoring only twice in his rookie regular season, Nevin tallied a goal in the Bowdoin game, scored the game-winner in the colossal upset of Williams, and went on to score his team's first two goals in the conference final against Amherst. All told, the freshman provided four goals and added an assist in the tournament, making him worthy of NESCAC Player of the Week honors. The Cardinals' improbable run earned them a first round showdown today at Muhlenberg College (13-5, 6-3) in Allentown, Pa., champions of the Centennial Conference. If Wesleyan can get past the Mules, it has the daunting task of traveling to Grantham, Pa., to face Messiah College, the number one team in Div. III, owners of an undefeated 17-0 season and Continental Conference title. With that being said, after its unlikely NESCAC Tournament run, the sky is the limit for Wesleyan. "I think anytime you get to this point in the year any team you play is going to be a good one," said Wheeler, looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. "I think it will be a great matchup [with Muhlenberg], and obviously the winner has a great opportunity to play against the best team in the country." Williams, ranked seventh nationally and tied for first in the New England rankings, gets to host a regional this weekend despite its semifinal loss to Wesleyan. The Ephs take on Worcester State (15-3-1, 6-0-1), champions of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, on Saturday. If Williams can get a first round win, it will earn a second round matchup with the winner between Wheaton and Keene State, both of whom were losers to the Ephs in the regular season. The biggest roadblock between Williams and the Final Four would be a potential Elite Eight tilt with Western New England (No. 11 nationally, tied with Williams for No. 1 in New England), the only team besides Wesleyan to get the best of Williams this fall. If Wesleyan continues its recent hot streak and Williams, one of the nation's consistently strong teams, plays up to its ability, the two NESCAC schools could meet one another in the National Semifinals. A strong run from one of both teams in the national spotlight will only help the likelihood of schools like Tufts receiving an at-large bid to the tournament in future years. I think it's too bad [the NESCAC wasn't] able to get more teams in the tournament this year, Wheeler said. "To be honest, I think in the future we could get three and maybe even four teams in the conference into the tournament."

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News

Theater Review | 'A Number' sends in the clones

November 8

What if there are "others" who look exactly like you? What if you're walking down the street and see your mirror image? Would you ask where he came from and who created him, or would you go about your business, wondering about that person for the rest of your life? The new production "A Number" asks these very questions. The show has gained well-deserved critical acclaim since its city premiere at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Caryl Churchill's brilliantly-written play ponders current topics regarding the ethics of cloning and the future of science. Although "A Number" has two-person cast, its plot twists are thrilling and constant, mostly due to Churchill's engaging and absorbing dialogue. Despite the complicated scientific theories that the play covers, the dialogue is succinct and quick-moving. Set in England, "A Number" features a father-son duo, Salter (Steve McConnell) and Bernard (Lewis D. Wheeler), along with cloned "replicas" of the latter. Salter is a remorseful and apologetic father with a knack for dishonesty. As innocent and intelligent Bernard questions him about the nature of his own birth and the supposed death of his mother, Salter slowly reveals to his son their actual family history. Bernard learns his father took genetic information from his first child, a boy who was mysteriously "sent away." Salter then used this stolen DNA material to "create" Bernard years later. Salter's wife had actually been dead long before he had been born. As Bernard tries to grapple with these family secrets, he begins to question cloning and contemplates whether he would want to meet "others" that resemble him. In a startling moment, a later scene opens with Salter and someone who appears to be Bernard. Even though he looks the same, his mannerisms and accent are incredibly different. We learn that this individual is actually the original son, and that Bernard was cloned using his genetic material. Unable to understand this complicated situation, the original son physically threatens the father out of anger. He then blames his father for his difficult youth, and wonders if the other son had a better life. Skip Curtiss' set design is sparse and works to enhance the talent of the actors. The simple design, combined with the limited action on stage, gives the actors more freedom to emote the sentiments and passion of their respective characters. McConnell is a strong and humorous Salter. Perpetually caught in a lie, he adeptly denies accusations while remaining a strong father figure. Wheeler is brilliant at personifying multiple characters. When one scene ends, he goes backstage transforms into another character with new and impressive distinguishing characteristics. None of the performances would bring the same emotional impact were it not for the direction of Spiro Veloudos, who is able to coax effective and believable character developments out of his actors. "A Number" works by asking critical questions of our society. By the end of the play, audiences have a better understanding of the humanitarian dilemmas of cloning.

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Theater Preview | There's nothing 'Bohr'-ing about this fictional play

November 7

Michael Frayn's semi-historical play "Copenhagen" is Pen, Paint, and Pretzel's first minor production of the semester. Directed by senior Greg Fujita, "Copenhagen" tells the story of one of the greatest and perhaps most tragic scientific partnerships of the 20th century. Niels Bohr (senior Alex Sherman) was a Nobel Prize-winning half-Jewish physicist from Denmark who eventually worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos to develop the atomic bomb. Werner Heisenberg (sophomore Jonah Peppiatt) was Bohr's former prot?©§© who went on to head the Nazis' atomic bomb project. "Copenhagen" presents a fictionalized account of an actual meeting between these two minds in September of 1941. World War II was raging throughout Europe, and mere months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bohr and Heisenburg met one evening in Copenhagen. Historians know that during their visit, the two physicists went out for a walk in the woods to speak without fear of Gestapo wiretaps. While what happened in their actual exchange is unknown, Bohr returned to his house in a fury and the two never spoke again. Michael Frayn's script explores the possibilities of a conversation between these two men and Bohr's wife Margarethe (sophomore Lara Kitain) that could have altered the course of history. In this way, "Copenhagen" delves into a discussion of science, ethics and philosophy. Though the play does involve a good amount of scientific information, much of the beauty of "Copenhagen" rests in the eloquent philosophical exchanges between the characters that make the abstract world of atoms and nuclei a tangible experience. The play is divided into two acts, the first of which retells the fateful meeting between Bohr and Heisenberg from a fairly neutral perspective. The second act plays more with the temporal space and geography of the play by repeating the scientists' meeting in a much more existential context. Liberated from constraints of time and space, the characters reconstruct that fateful evening, analyzing every aspect of their conversation. The characters are allowed to step out of the moment and look back on it with full knowledge of future events, such as the use of the atomic bomb by U.S. forces and the collapse of the Nazi regime. One of the core philosophies presented in "Copenhagen" that is deftly reflected in the second act is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. This well-known principle of quantum mechanics states that "the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa." Fujita thinks this is a crucial concept to understand. "You can't know everything about the universe because as soon as you insert an observer, the universe is changed by what that person sees," he said. As the characters in "Copenhagen" repeat and rework their conversations, new meanings and revelations unfold as to the motivations and rational behind each person's chosen path. One challenge to the cast of "Copenhagen" was portraying a group of characters that not only were important historical figures, but whose actions might conflict with what the audience would consider ethical behavior. "For me, my character is about being misunderstood," said Peppiat. "How would it feel if I did something monumental that affects the whole world?" While Heisenberg did work for the German government during the war on the atomic bomb project, he was more pro-Germany and was not a Nazi sympathizer. For Kitain, who plays Margarethe, the difficulty of creating a character from a historical figure was similar. "You approach [a role] very differently when it's a character who lived. I was nervous at first and did a lot of research. But I realized I have to make the character mine. Then I consciously decided not to look at pictures of her or research more because I wanted to make her my own," she said. "Copenhagen" is an exciting opportunity to observe scientific and artistic creativity in action. All aspects of the production, even down to the occasional staging of characters as revolving electrons and protons, are presented in such a way as to open the world of physics and philosophy to a new audience. While you might not make it out of bed for your 9 a.m. physics class, "Copenhagen" is one science lesson you should not miss.

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News

Alex Bloom | Philly Phodder

November 7

"Teeee Oh!! T-O, T-O, T-O..." That, my friends, is opening line of the Terrell Owens song. The fans at Lincoln Financial Field made up a song for their star (being Philadelphia fans, it had to be a simple song). Every time he makes a big play, the stadium serenades the superstar. But now the serenades have been replaced with harangues. Few superstars have had a city turn against them faster than Owens. Just eight months ago, he was the toast of the town after taking the field in the Super Bowl and hauling in nine catches for 122 yards. Now he may never again play for the Eagles. After suspending Owens for Sunday's game with Washington, Philadelphia extended the suspension for the rest of the season. In case you are out of the loop on the latest Owens development, the prima donna athlete was suspended for comments he made to ESPN.com that lambasted the Birds. "Their reaction shows you the type of class and integrity of an organization that they claim not to be," the Little Girl pouted to ESPN's Greg Bensinger when the team didn't acknowledge his 100th touchdown in a win over San Diego in Week 7. "You know, they claim to be first class and the best organization. I just felt like it was an embarrassment. It just shows the lack of class that they had." Of course he didn't stop there. "I just don't see myself really being here," he said. "And that's not because I don't want to be here, but I just don't foresee them trying to do the necessary things to keep me here." And then he bashed Donovan McNabb (again) by saying Brett Favre would be a better quarterback for the Eagles. "He has played with injuries," Owens said. "I just feel like [with] him being knowledgeable about the quarterback position, I just feel like we'd be in a better situation." If you're keeping track, that's the third time he has gone after McNabb. In April, he criticized McNabb for supposedly getting tired during the Super Bowl. During his training camp holdout, when asked about if the two could succeed together, Owens said, "I don't think so, and I'm just being honest." If his treatment of McNabb wasn't enough, there are reports Owens got in a fistfight with Hugh Douglas, former Eagles defensive end and now team ambassador (the team "bad-ass-ador," as Douglas calls it). Owens, despite all his childish whining, has a point in regards to his contract. His contract tacks most of the money on to the final few years with a team option after two years. The Eagles, it appears, were never going to pick up the option, so Owens was never going to get the $49 million he was promised. Owens is currently one of the most underpaid players in the NFL. That's the way the Eagles conduct business. They sign their superstars before they become superstars to stay below the salary cap, meaning guys who deserve huge checks end up playing for chump change. When their contracts expire, the Eagles let them leave. That's what happened with Douglas, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Corey Simon, Jeremiah Trotter and Duce Staley. Does he deserve a new contract though? No. He knew what he signed. He lobbied to come here. The Eagles went out of their way to bring the problem child Pro-Bowler to Philly from Baltimore (who is probably thankful not to have Owens) in March 2004. He got a $9 million signing bonus. He should stop whining. He's severely damaging his own value by being a nuisance. It takes a lot for coach Andy Reid to suspend Owens. The guy is the whole team right now. He has six of the team's 18 offensive touchdowns this season, including a 91-yard score against Denver last week that switched the momentum in the Eagles favor. He was an offensive force last season and put the team on his back with his Super Bowl performance (even if he only had one good ankle). But Owens has the maturity of a spoiled 5-year-old. The Eagles are a better team with Owens gone, because there's no way they can coexist anymore. He blasted the ownership, which has brought the city four visits to the NFC Championship game, and a Super Bowl appearance. The guy managed to join a perennial Super Bowl contender with one of the classiest quarterbacks (McNabb) and one of the smartest coaches (Reid) in the NFL and end up writing his own ticket out of town. As an Eagles fan, I'd rather see them miss the playoffs this season than trot Owens back out there to disgrace the Eagles green. I'm certain he'll find another job with another team, but only because coaches are mesmerized by his offensive ability and believe they can control his personality. But anyone can see he is more trouble than he is worth. Teeee-Oh! In the words of Phillies announcer Harry Kalas, you're OUTTTTA HERE!

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Concert Preview | It's a bird! It's a plane! No, even better: it's Thunderbirds!

November 7

This writer will be the first to say that there are simply too many club meeting/special event announcements posted around school. It is as though scores of random clubs come out of the woodwork solely to scrawl in sidewalk chalk or plaster every accessible vertical surface for their obscure, highly specialized meetings that take place at inconvenient times in mysterious places on campus. Certain events hosted by certain clubs warrant the excessive PR. Some club-sponsored events are so important that they need to be shouted from the rooftops and trumpeted with as much publicity as this school can offer. The AppleJam Fall Bash, tonight's free performance of Detroit's indie heroes Thunderbirds Are Now! at Hotung Cafe is such an event. TAN! is an awesome band. The brash, infectious art-punk of Ryan Allen (vocals, guitars), Scott Allen (keys, vocals, samples), Mike Durgan (drums), and Howard Chang (bass) both spits and snarls with the caustic fury of garage rock and honest-to-goodness punk, and glistening with the keyboards and synths of '80s new-wave. Mixed down into their hilariously titled songs are the Allens' sassy, ironic, and often bizarre lyrics. On "Better Safe than Safari," from the band's 2005 LP "Justamustache," their dual vocals blare, "Signal's break up like long distance lovers / And scaredy-cat kids hide under covers / Systems break up like long distance friends / Who wants to be real? / It's more fun to pretend," with snotty abandon. Fueled with more energy than Philip the Hyper-Hypo Kid, TAN!'s performances are sights to behold. "Their show is incredibly energetic, dancy yet manic. Even if you don't know the songs...they get the audience involved," AppleJam president Paul Farris said. Thunderbirds Are Now! rely on their songs' urgent, angular melodies, lightning vocals, and upbeat samples to galvanize their audiences instead of unnecessarily fast drumming and the incoherent howling of a lovesick adult dressed in black. The result is safer dancing, and a generally more pleasant concert experience. The band debuted in 2003 with their most punk album, "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief." After releasing two EP's on two different labels and relentlessly touring bars and small clubs, TAN! was finally picked up by French Kiss Records, home of fellow art-punks Les Savy Fav and 2005's bar rock breakouts/ tour mates The Hold Steady. With French Kiss, the band released "Justamustache," which, coupled with more rigorous touring, has vaulted the band from relative unknowns to cult and critical darlings. They're poised to leap out of the underground and into the general public. According to the prescient Farris, who for last year's event booked The Arcade Fire for this same event, who "a week later were on Letterman and were in the New York Times," "(TAN!) are relatively below the mainstream radar right now... but we [AppleJam] think they are going to make the jump to big stars soon." As if a free show by a brilliant band on the cusp of stardom wasn't good enough, it will be at Hotung. The cafe's minute size and small capacity not only make for a private setting, but they also should concentrate and even bolster the band's already fiery songs. Hotung's clean acoustics and carpeted floors should prevent TAN!'s dense melodies from deteriorating into an unintelligible mess. Setting the stage tonight will be Boston's The Constants and The Blanks. All told, Tufts should be in for a night of loud, raucous, and free punk fun, headlined by one of music's newest best acts performing in a venue they were born to play.

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News

Meredith Pickett | The Eyes of Texas

November 7

Boy did I have a fun weekend! And when I say fun, what I mean is... definitely not fun. To count, I have spent 19 hours in the past 4 days in the library. Why, do you ask? Because Tufts decided that I was simply enjoying Tufts too much, and therefore it should kick my butt. Thanks for putting me in my place Tufts, I'll never enjoy you again. But in my hours of brain-numbing research, writing, and moments of insanity, I did come across some interesting tidbits which I would like to share with you, my readers who quite possibly could not care less. Quite simply, Barry Goldwater changed my life. That Arizona cowboy completely changed my entire understanding of current day politics, and I now know why the Bush administration makes some of its decisions. Now, I know what you are thinking. I am a huge loser. I accept this. But any person who is interested in politics today, in my opinion, will appreciate this trip through the New York Times from 1964. It will blow your mind. Why? Because certain political actions of the Republican Party confuse me. Well, almost all aspects of the Bush administration confuse me. For instance, the day that Bush announced that he wanted to go to Mars, and then never mentioned it again. Did anyone else laugh? I laughed. I mean, Mars is not exactly the moon, and Bush is not exactly Kennedy, and the '00s are not exactly the '60s. I thought it was ridiculous, and I'm pro-NASA! I mean, Space Center Houston? It's like my favorite tourist attraction! On a more serious note, the war in Iraq confuses me. I wish I could say that we all know that there is no connection between 9/11 and Iraq, but sadly, we don't all know that. I know that, and you probably know that. But the majority of the American public was misled into believing that Iraq was retaliation and therefore supporting the war. I still don't know the real reason why we are there, because it clearly was not to prevent the production of WMD's. It confuses and saddens me, because while I sit here in the library of my cushy prestigious university, people my exact age are sitting in a foxhole, and our President can't even explain why. I found something that might start to explain why these actions are being taken with little background cause and, it appears, little forethought. In the article "Goldwater Challenges the '4-Party System'" in the New York Times written in 1964, James Madison Burns basically predicts what is happening today in 2005. He is addressing Barry Goldwater's attempt to make the Republican Party strongly conservative. "If the conservatives won, the real danger to the nation would not lie in their attempts to reverse history by repealing the income tax or pulling out of our United Nations commitments. The crisis would come when such efforts failed to solve anything and when the conservatives, frustrated in making headway and embarrassed by their reckless promises to the voters, turned to some dangerous adventure at home or abroad." Stop. Go back. Read that again. Anyone who tries to tell me that that statement does not address our current situation spot-on is lying to himself. I could not believe my eyes when I read it for the first time. That was written in 1964. The author goes on to claim that the conservatives could never accomplish party realignment, and they would not actually want to. Boy, was he wrong. So the next time you watch the news and see the Daily report on the death toll in Iraq, think to yourself, is this worth it and well thought-out, or is this simply an adventure designed to disguise that we never found Osama Bin Laden, our economy is not strong, and there are millions of starving Americans living in this country? Honestly, I do not want to believe that this is true. And I do not believe that President Bush is a senseless man who would maliciously put American soldiers in harm's way. But the party stretches much further than Bush, and this is what worries me. With each day that passes and each member of my generation who will not see tomorrow, I grow more and more resigned to the thought that this war was a grand adventure out of the Republican failure to improve American life. I'm sad, and I'm inspired to work to change this failure in the system. Please join me in thinking critically about this topic, because this is our America and our generation, and we cannot afford to sit by and be toyed with. Think about this the next time you are sitting in the library, or especially, the next time you vote.Meredith Pickett is a sophomore majoring in history. Se can be reached via e-mail at Meredith.Pickett@tufts.edu.

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News

Housing plan discussed by its creators

November 7

After the weekend's Board of Trustees meeting, trustee Brian Golden called on-campus housing the University's highest priority. But a discussion in Metcalf Hall Monday of a new housing proposal, to be voted on by the student body Thursday, drew almost no students. Dean of Students Bruce Reitman, Director of Residential Life and Learning Yolanda King, and Tufts Community Union President Jeff Katzin presented the proposal, largely to other people involved in the project. Under the proposed plan, students would get their sophomore, junior and senior housing lottery numbers in November of their freshman year. The numbers for sophomore and senior year would be opposites of each other. "There are people who say to us all the time that they have lousy luck," Reitman said. "It would be fairer to have some system where if you get a lousy number one year there is a guarantee of a better number another year." Because of study abroad complications, and the limited on-campus space available for juniors, the numbers for junior year would be randomized independently of the other two. The campus has about 3,500 beds and 4,500 students, Reitman said. The gap is bridged by students studying abroad, living in fraternities and sororities and choosing to live off campus. About 300 people are still denied rooms who want them, though, Reitman said. Under the current system, seniors have priority in choosing housing, followed by juniors. Because a certain number of rooms must be set aside for freshmen and sophomores so that they can fulfill the requirement to live on campus, juniors are the first to be denied housing. According to Reitman, between 24 percent and 78 percent of the senior class chooses to live on campus any given year. This range makes it difficult for juniors to predict the availability of on-campus housing in advance. One of the goals of the proposed system is to give students more time to make living arrangements. "Predictability is everything," Reitman said. "Students fear they're not going to get junior year housing so they go abroad for the full year," Katzin said. The proposed system aims to simplify the process and reduce the amount of "gambling" students do under the current procedure. Because student lottery numbers are all independent of each other under the present setup, they may get poor lottery numbers every year. After the discussion, the creators of the proposal discussed how to handle numbers for roommates. Under the current system, students - mostly sophomores - and their roommates select rooms at the designated time for the higher lottery number in the pair. Though there initially was disagreement, Katzin said, the proposed plan will average the roommates' numbers. "We're going to add averaging to the proposal," he said. If two pairs of roommates have the same average, the pair with the highest individual lottery number will choose first. According to Reitman and King, freshmen living in forced triples will continue to be compensated for this in later years. "If we do have a change, nothing that we do will undo the advantage points promised [to students in triples]," Reitman said. Some aspects of the current system will stay in place under the proposed plan. Sophomores and freshmen will still be guaranteed housing and required to live on campus. At the discussion, Katzin defended this requirement. "Feeling removed from the campus after only being here for a year won't help build community on campus," he said of the possibility of allowing sophomores to live off campus. Also consistent with the old plan is the policy of allowing seniors to pick first in the March lottery, with juniors picking second. Though seniors are not guaranteed housing, there has never been a problem in finding it for those seniors who request it. "We've never shut out seniors who wish to live on campus," Reitman said. Sophia-Gordon Hall was also discussed. The proposal will allot up to 18 of the building's 21 apartments for pre-lottery application, similar to Hillsides and Latin Way. Groups of students apply before the lottery for apartments and their numbers are averaged. The remaining rooms in Sophia-Gordon will be available in the regular lottery. Students will receive an e-mail Thursday with instructions on how to vote on the proposal. The Office of Residential Life and Learning, the Tufts Community Union Senate and the Dean of Students Office will consider the results before proceeding with the plan. Katzin said students who vote "no" would be asked for a reason. "We need the input of everyone because the last thing we want to do is implement change for change's sake," Reitman said. "We want to change things for the better."

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