Several users of Tufts Webmail accounts have reported receiving large volumes of unsolicited and unwanted e-mail, or spam, and the University has begun to take steps to alleviate the problem.
Ultimate Frisbee was popularized by some dirty hippies. We all saw the womynists and the naked stoners duke it out for the school title at the fictional PCU. These images of ultimate Frisbee are hilarious, but antiquated and inappropriate in a time where the sport is exponentially gaining legitimacy worldwide. While just as in any sport, you can find a broad range of "athletes" (I need only to turn to my friends who enjoy a drunken game of intramural basketball once a week), ultimate Frisbee appeals to a variety of people, and offers many levels of competition. The Tufts ultimate Frisbee program falls into the most competitive category, played by serious athletes who train as such and have gained regional and national recognition. Many are former soccer, lacrosse, baseball and field hockey players. What differentiates ultimate Frisbee from other sports, and also draws such unfounded criticism, is the self-officiating aspect of the game. Ultimate is governed by what is known as "The Spirit of the Game," which encourages players to play fairly and with good sportsmanship while adhering to the rules and regulations. Players make the calls on the field, and if there is a dispute, an "observer" is referred to in order to resolve conflicts. Based on this aspect of the game alone, it is ludicrous to contend that ultimate Frisbee is not a sport. Do we define sports by the presence of an official who rules the field and on the premise that the players will violate the rules? Instead, look at the athletic aspect of the game, and ultimate Frisbee certainly offers this. Additionally, at a time when violence in sports has reached a ridiculous level, should we not be looking to sports that champion fair play as a guide for the way things should be? Despite contentions clearly guided by frustration and not by fact, the suggestion made for ultimate Frisbee to have its own field is actually a beautiful one. Yes, ultimate Frisbee should have its own field. In fact, this is usually not a problem. This year, Tufts installed a beautiful turf field across from the gym, making an excellent all-weather playing surface for many sports. This field benefits the entire Tufts community, as it strengthens the Tufts athletics program and adds to the school's appeal in recruiting new athletes. Unfortunately, the construction of this field and general renovations to the field around it has rendered much of the surrounding space unusable for this year. Traditionally, the ultimate Frisbee teams have practiced in this space, as it is one of the few that can accommodate a full-sized ultimate field. Simultaneously, ultimate has seen a surge in participation. Two men's and women's teams make for a total of at least 75 students playing ultimate at Tufts. The E-men are one of the best teams in the country, and the E-wo are serious contenders for College Nationals this year. This means a serious need for practice space while our fields are unavailable. As a result, many compromises have been made; the A-teams practice in the early morning and late at night, and the B-teams practice on shorter fields (such as Fletcher field). Far from bemoaning the fact that we must make these adjustments, we are thankful to the athletics department, especially Rick Miller, for making it possible for us to play. We appreciate their recognition of ultimate Frisbee as a competitive club sport. We are also thankful that we attend a university that funds and accommodates to the best of its ability a broad spectrum of intramural and club sports. We, in turn, have to make compromises occasionally in order to keep all of these programs running. Let us enjoy this beautiful spring and share the fields to the best of our ability, keeping in mind how privileged we are to have these facilities at all. This weekend, Tufts ranked among the top teams in Boston, and looks forward to being among the best in the region. We are proud to have two amazing B-teams that also came out strong, and we are proud to be among the best teams in New England.Lauren Fein is a senior majoring in psychology and is a co-captain of the Tufts Women's Ultimate Team.
When asked how he was feeling at the beginning of his match against Boston University, men's tennis coach Jim Watson said, "I could be better." That mindset reflected the general mood at Voute Courts yesterday as the Jumbos looked to turn their season around after a tough loss to Amherst on Tuesday that effectively ended any hopes at a postseason bid. Even a 4-3 win for the Jumbos did little to overshadow the impact of Tuesday's loss. The showdown with Amherst was supposed to mark a new chapter in the men's tennis team's season. It was the match Jumbos circled on their schedule weeks in advance, an opportunity for the team to overcome injuries, boost its sub-.500 record, and make a stab at a post-season berth. But a 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Lord Jeffs on Tuesday afternoon all but closed the door on the team's postseason aspirations. Even if the Jumbos finish their season on a winning streak, post-season play remains a long shot. "This just was not our year," senior co-captain Rifat Perahya said. The match marked the final one of Perahya's career as a Jumbo, as he is suffering from a torn-ACL and was barely able to complete his singles match. "It's very disappointing that Rifat cannot enjoy the glory of playing in his last few matches," coach Jim Watson said. "He has been an integral part of our team for four years." Perahya acknowledged that it was a team failure, and not any specific player, that stopped the Jumbos well short of their season goals. "This was the most important match of the season," Perahya said. "Our whole team knew that and Amherst just outplayed us. There is nothing more to it than that." The Lord Jeffs dominated the Jumbos point for point. Jumbo sophomore Sean McCooey's loss in a third-set tiebreaker was the only singles match that lasted longer than two sets. In what has become the norm during Jumbo losses, McCooey was playing his match with the outcome a foregone conclusion. McCooey is the Jumbos number six singles player and an overall Amherst victory was assured when his match began. Junior Paul Roberts won the lone match of the day for the Jumbos. Roberts made quick of his opponent, Lenny Lepner, defeating him in two straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Injuries have not only sidelined key Jumbos, including junior Ben Alexander, who missed yesterday's match with ankle problems, but have seeped into the mindsets of Jumbos all season long. "A huge part of this injury bug has been mental," Perahya said. "You can debate all you want about whether it is a valid excuse, but it affects our team attitude and, more importantly, [our] ability to prepare." Watson has seen the same effects on his players. "It's been really difficult all year to prepare because the guys never know who they are playing. Our lineup today is different from yesterday and will probably be different this weekend," Watson said. "This has to wear on the guys." Injuries and a molecular biology test forced the Jumbos to reshuffle their doubles pairings against Amherst. Matt Gallin, who is usually the Jumbos number seven singles player, was paired with Paul Roberts in the first doubles match. McCooey and Perahya, the number one doubles team a year ago, were reunited at the second doubles spot. Sophomore Geoff Loh was taking a biology test and therefore was unable to play. Tufts made some unforced errors and the Jumbos had a difficult time adjusting to the Amherst courts. Since the Amherst courts were recently re-paved the ball moves much slower than it would on a normal hardwood surface. The Lord Jeffs also used their strong ground stokes to keep the Jumbos on the defensive for much of the match. "Their courts were very slow," Watson said. "This means that you have to really hit the ball and we simply left a lot of balls out there which allowed them to hit a lot of winners." Senior co-captain Adam Yates agreed. "They hit the ball much harder than us and this allowed them in control through most of the points throughout the match," he said. In the doubles matches, Amherst was able to use the slower courts to hit difficult shots that often forced the Jumbos to retreat to the baseline. "They were all over the net," Yates said. "There is no question about that." Watson spoke frankly about the loss. "The points have been competitive all year long," said Watson. "[Amherst] improved tremendously and it was the first time they beat us in four years. The better team makes the big shots and that was Amherst yesterday."
It seems like every time I go out to enjoy some of Tufts' open green areas these days, I am confronted with the ultimate Frisbee team playing Frisbee. I make a point of saying that they are not playing ultimate, as they like to refer to it. Instead, they are simply playing Frisbee, just as hippies that play hackey sack are just playing hackey sack, not "Extreme Hackey Sack." And if anybody who plays hackey sack should try to tell you that hackey sack is their "sport," you would laugh at them. This should be our attitude toward ultimate Frisbee. I do not want to stoop so low as to have to explain to you why ultimate Frisbee is not a real sport, and that even if it was, it would be a totally crappy sport. I try not to understand the rules. Let's just say that any "sport" where you stand in front of your opponent and say "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi ..." is far too close to calling out the time before you can blitz in touch football. Could you imagine the basketball team counting down the opponent's shot clock? Of course not, and that is because basketball is a real sport and ultimate Frisbee is not. There are a multitude of other reasons why Frisbee is not a sport, but I am sure you can figure them out on your own. Frisbees, when used properly, can lead to quite a lot of fun. You can take them out to the green with your friends on a nice afternoon. You can take them to a party and play the old "I bet you I can fit five beers in this Frisbee" trick. You can take them to a Frisbee golf course and pretend you are playing Frisbee golf as opposed to just getting high in the woods. We can reap so much enjoyment from Frisbees, and yet there is this small enclave of ridiculous people who think that playing Frisbee should entail doing push-ups and running laps. They have a legitimate-looking website and bark at each other like football players while doing drills. They tell you about how hard their Frisbee workout was. A workout? To play Frisbee? Friends, let's leave playing Frisbee to the real experts: dirty hippies. But let me come to some sort of legitimate point. I am tired of the Frisbee "team" always taking up Fletcher field, which, if reserved for anything, should naturally be reserved for a superior sport, such as softball or baseball. This position is strengthened by the fact that Fletcher Field is, in fact, a softball diamond. Do the football or hockey teams have territory battles over who gets to use the ice rink? Does the field hockey team fight for time on the basketball court? Certainly not. Each sport should stick to its field/arena/court. Unfortunately, Frisbee is not a real sport and therefore it has no field. In fact, Fletcher should be reserved for nothing at all. It is the one Tufts athletic field that you do not have to be on a team to use. As my friends and I have been told several times while being kicked off the official baseball field by Officer Williams, "Go play on Fletcher. It is the only diamond that you don't have to be on an athletic team to use." Even though this means a downgrade from baseball to softball (although softball allows one to drink beer while playing, more evidence of its superiority over Frisbee), we obey like good Tufts students. And what happens when we get there? The Frisbee "team" is there taking up right and center field. The most unbelievable thing is that the Frisbee people have convinced some administrators in the athletic department that it is a sport (I shudder at the thought that my tuition money might be used to pay for ultimate Frisbee jerseys or cones). So when we logically tell the Frisbee people that we were using the field first, they take out their laminated paper saying that they have been given the right to the field. They act like WE, a legitimate intramural softball team, are intruding on THEIR field. On a softball field! I do not understand how they can set up their cones in the outfield and then get upset when they have to dodge fly balls. That is like going to sunbathe on the discus field during a track meet and then getting pissed because people keep throwing discuses at you. Can anyone really take seriously the idea that these Frisbee people are more entitled to the field than an IM softball team? Naturally, we try to be rude to them. The funny thing is that the Frisbee people are the only ones that we have issues with. If two softball teams want to use the diamond, one waits its turn for the other to finish, or they play together in a spirit of camaraderie. Even though softball/baseball is clearly superior to all other sports played on Fletcher and even though Fletcher is unmistakably a softball field, we are still happy to share the field with the cricket players, soccer players, sun bathers, people walking dogs and the people playing Frisbee for fun. Everyone shares, compromises, and make room for one another. But the Frisbee "team?" Oh no. I admit that they try to be polite about it, but they set up their cones and courteously try to kick everyone off just the same. Enough of this quasi-sport stuff. The athletic department needs to come to its senses and realize that playing Frisbee is not a real sport and stop giving the Frisbee people the right to use up Fletcher. Either that, or it needs to recognize ultimate Frisbee as a sport (I know it is ridiculous, but bear with me) and give them a field of their own. Fletcher should be a community field shared by everyone who wants to use it. Mark Langer is a senior majoring in international letters and visual studies.
The start of my Saturday night read like a grandmother's admonition: "Always wear nice underwear, so that if you're ever in an accident and they have to cut your clothes off, you won't be embarrassed." What would be more appropriate is: "Always wear nice shoes and slacks because you never know when you'll suddenly be whisked away to go clubbing." Yes, yes, I ought to put this in perspective. It was Saturday night and my date and I exited that evening's performance of "Hay Fever" fully expecting to have missed the 10 p.m. shuttle into downtown Boston. We should have known better: when does that shuttle ever run on schedule? It was 10:30 and the shuttle was still there. So instead of running back to change, we boarded the bus. After all, we were just going to Tequila Rain, the self-proclaimed all-year spring break location. Just how fancy could this pool hall/dance club possibly be? Spending all weekend in the sun must have roasted away a few brain cells, causing me to forget cardinal rule number one of Lansdowne Sreet (and most clubs elsewhere): no sneakers after eight p.m. After being bounced from Tequila Rain, we turned to the next best option that would accept our scrubbiness: Jake Ivory's. Despite the sign outside boasting "America's hottest duelling piano show" within, it didn't hit me and several of my friends what exactly we had plunged into until we had all paid our eight dollar cover. From the stage in the middle of the main hall, the two "duelling" pianists were just starting up a new song. Our group exchanged amused glances as the crowd began to shout-sing along to the pianists' rendition of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer." "I don't know how to dance to this!" a mock-panicked voice yelled from behind me. Nevertheless, we did. We worked our way towards the front of the bar and onto an elevated area by the windows looking out onto Lansdowne Street. Peering down into the mass of people before us, one word came to mind: old(er). We must have been one of two college-aged groups in the bar (they must have been rejected next door too.) The rest of those in the crowd were in their 30s, 40s or 50s and, judging from their Red Sox apparel, many of them had wandered in after the game. As the crowd fought over whether they wanted to hear Michael Jackson or Billy Joel next, an overwhelming desire for a shot overcame me. After all, there must be a reason why Billy drinks so much, right? Unfortunately for me, the bartender informed me that Jake Ivory's has a no-shot policy following Fenway games, in order to "prevent rowdiness." Behind me, Billy Joel supporters roared in triumph as they got their song. "Prevent rowdiness" indeed. With a chuckle and a shrug, the bartender proceeded to make me a Long Island ice tea. And what a good one it was. Back on our platform, we bobbed our heads, twisted and sung along to quite a few more songs until one of the pianists jumped atop his piano and began singing "Y.M.C.A." It was time for some hip-hop. After a brief bathroom stop (Jake Ivory's ladies' bathroom, despite a slight griminess and wet floors, has a surprisingly quick turnover), we all made our way into the hip-hop room. Gone was the group of weird kids that had been attempting to rap onstage when we peeked in earlier in the night; standard hip-hop blared from the speakers. There wasn't any impressive mixing here, either. The fanciest thing the DJ did was ensure that songs played seamlessly one after another. After piling all our stuff together in a corner at the side of the stage, I decided to make another attempt to garner myself some shots. Although I had already been denied shots by the first bartender outside, I refused to resign myself to being shot-free all night. Not every bartender could possibly be so straight-shooting, I reasoned. I was correct. Jake Ivory's was not quite the type of place where I had thought I'd be spending my Saturday night on Lansdowne Street. If I wanted a live band, I would rather head over to Central or Harvard Square. But then again, it was fun, in a silly way, to be singing along with the band at the top of my lungs with a group of friends. And despite the age difference, the crowd was friendly and easy to get along with - even the bald man who tried to convince me to run off and elope with him.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tufts University and MIT are offering Boston its first comprehensive look at the impact of nuclear power. The Global Hibakusha Film Festival, which began last Thursday and concludes on Sunday, appears in conjunction with the "Hiroshima/Nagasaki 2005: Memories and Vision Symposium on Nuclear Issues." The symposium, held this weekend at the Fletcher School, encompasses films from Japanese, American, Indian and Canadian directors and looks at nuclear issues as seen on film from the 1945 Japan bombings to the Gulf War. With the symposium providing a forum for the academic community, the Hibakusha Film Festival - hibakusha is the Japanese word for survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings - attempts to foster understanding about nuclear power outside of the context of academia. "Sometimes the academic symposium tends to be too technical. [These films] are much easier to connect to, to access nuclear issues," said Sato Asaoka, a Tufts research associate who first conceived of the film festival. Films are, according to Asaoka, "one of the best measures for general people to reach, or access, or commit to social problems." The festival's nine films are largely aimed at "people from local communities, and younger people like teenagers. That kind of audience is our ideal audience," she said. With this diverse audience in mind, Asaoka selected films with varying subject matters and styles. "I didn't want to show [films] just about the past," she said. She looked for films about current nuclear issues, including the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and the suspected use of depleted uranium ammunition during the Gulf War. Ultimately, Asaoka ended up with a group of films whose topics range from the nuclear threat between India and Pakistan ("War and Peace" by Anand Patwardhan), to a satire of the Eisenhower administration's plans for winning the enigmatic World War III ("Atomic Caf?©" by Jayne Loader.) Many of the films depict nuclear issues as an ongoing factor in peoples' lives. As Asaoka said, "[Nuclear power] is not just today's problem or the past's problem." In the eyes of many of the films' directors, the impact of nuclear power can be seen most powerfully in the stories of individuals. At last Saturday's screening of Seiichi Motohashi's "Nadya's Village," about the life of the residents in a small village in Belarus affected by the Chernobyl accident, the director, speaking through an interpreter, explained that "The horror of nuclear [power] is real, but I wanted people to see those people who preserve their real lives even after the nuclear [event.]" Also present at Saturday's screening were four elderly hibakusha, who flew in from Japan to attend the film festival and symposium. The hibakusha extended their thanks to Mr. Motohashi for his uplifting film, and also cautioned the audience about the dangers of nuclear weapons. "We have to seriously understand the implications of having such weapons in the world," said Takahiko Murata, a survivor from Hiroshima, speaking through an interpreter. His voice strengthened with passion as he added that "human beings and nuclear weapons are not made to live in unison." That is precisely the message the film festival hopes to transmit. According to Tufts senior Kei Okamura, the public relations director of the film festival and symposium, "In order to avoid making past mistakes and to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we must confront the ugly past, and apply what we have learned to our present situation." Okamura noted that many of the films screened at the festival are not films well-known in the United States. He added, "We have also invited the filmmakers and hibakusha to attend our screenings for Q&A. Because the hibakusha are aging and dying each year, this may be one of the last times people will be able to hear first-hand accounts of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki." "We are not expecting the audience to become nuclear specialists. However, if they can come out of the theater and reconsider the threat of nuclear weapons, that would be a great reward for us," Okamura said.
A different kind of dynasty This Saturday, Tufts' Chinese Student Association (CSA) brings excitement and intrigue to Cohen Auditorium in their annual cultural extravaganza, "Dynasty." And no, it doesn't have anything to do with that Joan Collins nighttime soap from the '80s. This "Dynasty" will excite and inspire with a program filled to the brim with a wide variety of musical acts and dramatic interludes. According to "Dynasty" performer and freshman CSA member Lisa Yeung, the evening, which is co-sponsored by several other campus Asian culture groups, will feature such acts as a Chinese a cappella rendition, a traditional fan dance, a modern Chinese hip hop performance and a demonstration in martial arts executed by a coalition of Tufts, Harvard and MIT students. Said Yeung, "Basically the show is a gathering of a lot of Asian cultural clubs that should give everyone a good sense of Asian culture ... We have a wide range of every kind of performance that covers everything comprehensively from traditional to modern, and we just hope that it gives people an appreciation for our culture." "Dynasty" begins at 8:00 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium, and tickets are $5.Hallelujah HooplahEverybody knows that a good film can't be judged on the strength of its actors, script or plot alone; no movie is complete without stellar musical accompaniment. Tomorrow, you can relive the greatest tunes from your favorite flicks without having to shell out cash for the soundtrack. Just come to Cohen Auditorium, where Tufts' own gospel choir will be performing tracks from hit movies like "The Preacher's Wife," "Fame" and "Sister Act" in a special end-of-the-year program entitled, "Gospel Music at the Movies." Gospel music has recently become a staple at the box office; its emotionally compelling sound and rich history allow it to function in a variety of film genres. The gospel choir will be lead by conductor Donnell Patterson, and has a large repertoire of both contemporary and traditional music from which to draw Friday night's selections. "Gospel Music at the Movies" begins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Seats are general admission, and the cost of a ticket is $5.Sarfaty brings his comedic stylings to TuftsYou've seen him on "Premium Blend." You've seen him at Caroline's in New York. You've even seen him at nudist gatherings. But tonight, you can see him at Hillel, where nationally-renowned Jewish comedian Eddie Sarfaty will be yukking it up in an event co-sponsored by Tufts Hillel and the Tufts LGBT Center. Sarfaty's signature self-deprecating, sarcastic style has earned him the right to poke fun at just about every aspect of people's lives, from the women he meets in aerobics class to the trials and tribulations of babysitting for his nephews. On the personal side, Sarfaty treats the serious subject of his homosexuality with light anecdotes about coming out and dating in the contemporary gay community. Tonight at 7:00 p.m., the co-hosting organizations have invited Sarfaty to bring his humorous insight to campus for a program entitled "Queer Comedy." In a relaxed environment punctuated only by resounding chuckles, Sarfaty should be able to use his quick wit and silly stories to diffuse the air of tension that always surrounds questions of religion and sexuality.--compiled by Kelly Rizzetta
The election of Pope Benedict XVI, formerly German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was met with mixed reaction from the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. Many were quick to condemn the new Pope as a hopeless conservative and saw his nomination as an indication that the Church is continuing to ignore the wishes of its congregation. While these arguments are well-founded, it is imperative that the world not write the Pope off in the first days of his papacy. Benedict should be allowed to define his tenure as pontiff with his appointment, instead of being defined by past decisions. As a Cardinal, Ratzinger was known for his hard-line conservative stances on many controversial issues: birth control, abortion, women priests and homosexuality. He was vocal about these issues because it was his job when he ran the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Inquisition). Benedict was entrusted to maintain the orthodoxy of the Church, an inherently conservative post. During his time in Rome, he became close friends with John Paul II. Benedict's election likely signals that the College of Cardinals wants to continue the spirit of John Paul II's papacy. Benedict XVI has admitted himself that he does not expect to be in power for nearly as long as John Paul II. He is already 78 years old, 20 years older than John Paul when he was elected. Benedict was elected to serve as an interim pope; to keep the church in good hands while it decides what direction it wants to take next. Serious changes do need to be made in church policy. In Africa, church officials still forbid followers from using condoms despite the ever-growing AIDS epidemic. Condoms and safe sex habits must be encouraged by the church since it is such an influential voice in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Church's congregation is growing, and can help in the fight against AIDS. In the United States, the Church needs to confront its sex-abuse scandal head-on by punishing those who abused children or covered up abuse. Offending priests should be defrocked and criminally charged, not hidden in cushy positions in Rome. Perhaps the best indication of how this Pope will act can be taken from his choice of names. Ratzinger chose Benedict in honor of Benedict XV, who reigned during World War I. Benedict XV worked to bring the warring allied and central powers together to negotiate peace but was ignored by world leaders. The newly ordained Benedict XVI has said that he wants to promote peace in a time of war, and unite all Catholics as his namesake strove to do. He also has said that he wants to continue the reforms of the Vatican II council, which reformed the church to make it more accessible. No matter how controversial his social policies may be, Benedict XVI is now the head of the Church. Catholics must respect his opinions, but it would be smart for the Pope to tone down his messages since he is now in charge of all Catholics, both liberal and conservative. Doing so will help unify disillusioned Catholics with social conservatives, and prepare the church for the 21st century and the changes it will face.
So tonight I brought with me to a bar (because instead of working toward a productive future or toward passing any of my classes successfully, that is what I do on a Tuesday night) the TUFTS PUBLIC JOURNAL. In all my delusions of grandeur as this fantastic voice-of-our-generation (which I am surely not) columnist, I decided to write a profound column on the Public Journal itself, examining, scrutinizing and perhaps even fellating not only the product but the process. So I read it. Sitting at a table with a few friends, I scribbled notes on half-stained bar napkins, and yes, I did so in part because I want you to think I'm cool. Well, that obviously proves that I am. Does it matter that my notes were illegible? No. Does it matter that the only words I could read even 15 minutes after I wrote them were "Dragostea din Tei" (which appeared on page 10 and sent this particular Romanian pop music fan into a violent frenzy)? No. What matters was that I read the gosh darn thing, and have opinions on it. The idea itself is fascinating to me. Reality journalism, I call it. Like "The Real World" in a glossy, bound 66-page format. Except strangely more real. No meathead posers or legs-open sluts trying to make a career out of it. Beauty in anonymity. Gloriousness without glory. But it is strangely perverted, creative non-fiction, a form of prose adapted and warped by the blogging generation. Voyeuristic. Personalized. I. Me. Mine. Self-imposed. Self indulgent. Breaking the goddamn fourth wall and putting in a gaudy bay window. Artistically, I do not care for it. Because it is not art. Some of it is beautifully written, but it lacks an important quality: accountability. Context. What is art without both of those things? The answer is: not art. And I will defend that to the death. Ambivalence is how I feel towards it: not indifference or apathy, but genuine ambivalence. None of it is bad. Scratch that, not all of it is bad. But that is not important. Where some of it is brilliant, some of it is mediocre, and some of it is crap, all of it just is. And that's where its real value lies. In its existence. IT (not the authors, not the editors) is the voice of our generation, as troubling or promising as that is. The $10,000 dollar question here is, how do you feel about this being a voice of our generation? It is profound, I believe, in only its self-importance. Its most effective function is as an exercise in therapy, which speaks volumes more than the individual treatises on bulimia, unhealthy relationships or even the 73 whimsical college lessons that try just a little bit too hard to be Mr. College (fabricated excerpt: "Aren't I awesome! Look at all the crazy inane college-guy things I do! Do you like me yet?"). Therapy: a present from God to the privileged. This Journal is about our generation's need to vent (not to whine, not to complain, and not even to unnecessarily use parentheses), to tell everyone our fears, our hopes, our thoughts. Look at me! Read my blog! Check my away message! But hey, even I am guilty of that sin. Every Thursday I get a 900-word forum to indulge myself and prostrate my thoughts, and I relish it, guarded as it is as by the fact that I do not enjoy the shroud of anonymity. You know what, screw it. Here, in traditional Public Journal-confession form are some bullet-pointed, raw, hardcore truths about myself. I hope seeing them in print makes me feel better about who I am. -I have three empty bottles of Poland Spring water on my desk, and when I throw them away I will probably deliberately not recycle. -My elbows are very ashy, and rather than blame myself for never moisturizing, I blame my parents. -I would yell, "HEY WATCH OUT!" to a blind guy walking down the street just so I could then say, "Gotcha! Man, you should have seen the look on your face." -Rosario Dawson is GORGEOUS. -I truly see nothing wrong with having sex with 16-year-olds. I mean, which is worse: having sex with a 16-year-old that looks 22, or having sex with a 22 year old that looks 16? I pray that some of you are with me on this, because I don't really consider myself a pedophile. -Look at me! I'm an upper-middle class American college student who resents his parents for no apparent reason and finds this anonymous journal a convenient forum to express my opinion that I am better than you! Look at me! (EDITOR'S NOTE: this more closely resembles several actual entries in the Public Journal than the author's actual thoughts. But he, in fact, does like little girls. Better than little boys, I always say.) What silly business this Public Journal is. Official verdict: as valuable to this campus as each of the other publications. Less infuriatingly ignorant and intolerant than the Primary Source, unintentionally funnier than the Zamboni, more volumes published than Radix, prettier than the Daily, and sufficiently in love with itself.Saj Pothiawala is a senior who is majoring in economics. He can be reached via e-mail at sajid.pothiawala@tufts.edu.
This weekend finally showed the bright side of what New England weather has to offer, and the men's crew team took full advantage, rowing to a strong finish on Sunday on the Malden River. After a Saturday during which the Jumbos encountered problems against Holy Cross, Ithaca and Colby, Sunday brought new energy to the boats as the team competed against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Williams-Smith and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The men's second varsity boat won its race and the first varsity boat finished in second, behind only RIT. Junior captain Ben Harburg said the team made significant improvements between the Saturday and Sunday races. "In Sunday's first race, we got off to a much stronger start and maintained our lead throughout," Harburg said. "We were able to distribute our energy much more evenly so as to have a powerful middle half and sprint. We beat RPI and WPI pretty easily and lost to RIT by only a few seconds." The first varsity team also won the Baker Cup, an annual award for its victory over WPI. In addition, the second varsity received shirts from each of the boats it defeated, including RIT, WPI and RPI, following the tradition that the losing boat gives its shirts to the members of the winning boat in any crew regatta. On Saturday, however, it was the Jumbos who were losing their shirts. In the first race of the day, the men's first varsity boat placed fourth, while the second varsity boat placed a close third, behind Holy Cross and Colby. The White Mules defeated Tufts' second varsity boat by only 0.4 seconds, 6:26.5 to 6:26.9. Harburg said the first varsity boat had problems from the start. "In the first varsity boat, we had a rough time." Harburg said. "Our start was called back because we crashed into Holy Cross almost immediately off the line. The race was restarted and we had a very strong start for the first 1,000 meters. However, by the time we hit the final 1,000 we were all very drained and slowly allowed the three boats to push away." Tufts' novice boat finished fourth in a time of 6:51.8. The race took place in near-perfect conditions, with comfortable temperatures and calm water on the Malden. "Overall, we had two beautiful days to row," sophomore Mike Abare said. "And fortunately, we were able to finish with a successful last day." Next week, the team will head to its first regatta of the season not to be held on the Malden River. The team will row against Williams, Marist College (N.Y.), Bates and the Coast Guard Academy at Lake Onota in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. "It will be a good experience to prepare us for the New England Championships [on May 1], where we hope to make it to the finals," Abare said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance to compete for best in New England and possibly qualify for Nationals." As the season progresses, the team continues to row with the strong, cohesive rhythm that is crucial to winning races. Right now, the Jumbos are focusing on advancing to the ECAC National Invitational Championships on May 7 and 8. With the strength they showed this past Sunday the Jumbos will have a good shot to improve its record this weekend and move on to the New Englands.
Gertrude* estimates that, by Tufts standards, she has cheated in about a third of the classes she has taken throughout her tenure here, whether by copying problem sets, studying from old tests, "collaborating" with fellow students or keeping formulas in her calculator. But she would not call herself a cheater - she prefers to be described as "one who cuts corners." This senior has "cut corners" throughout her Tufts career, but she credits her 3.75 GPA to her hard work - not others' hard work. "At the end of the day, I do study for the exams and I do well," Gertrude said. "I study and get good grades regardless of whether I cheat." Gertrude began cutting corners well before her Tufts matriculation. "In high school, chemistry was one of the subjects that was the hardest for me," she said. "So in that class I cheated the most." Gertrude's high school used Scantron (an electronic scanning system that relies on fill-in-the-blank answers) for all the tests, so she was able to copy straight lines of bubbles from her best friend, the school valedictorian. When she came to Tufts and began taking economics classes with other friends, she realized that it would be useful to study old problem sets and exams. "Cheating is easy because many of the professors don't change their tests and problem sets, especially in economics courses," Gertrude said. "In many of my econ courses, myself as well as other students have collaborated during exams [and] shared answers," she continued. "The way I have been able to cut corners in college is by getting old problem sets or old tests in order to study for exams or replicating old problem sets," Gertrude said. "If the teacher's not going to change their tests and problem sets from year to year or semester to semester, then I don't think it's necessarily cheating if the student uses all the resources at their disposal." Gertrude says her relationship with cheating is not chronic. "I don't cheat in every class," she said. "I'm very intelligent, but I'll cheat to give myself that advantage, put me over the edge." In fact, she sees herself more as a lazy opportunist than a dumb cheater. "When it comes time to take the test, I learn it," Gertrude said. "That's where I think I'm different. Some tests I won't have the opportunity to cheat, so I always need to prepare." Another reason for her relative success is that she is calculating in her decisions. "I always weigh the risks before I cheat," she said. "Basically, I never do anything that would result in me getting kicked out of school if I were ever caught." "I don't consider a lot of the stuff I've done cheating, but I know that copying off someone is cheating and collaborating during exams is cheating," Gertrude said. "But I don't consider getting old problem sets or tests cheating." Gertrude believes her behavior is similar to that of many students at Tufts. "Every single person has cut a corner at one point in their career here," she said. The list of actions Gertrude will not take includes stealing a test or "plagiarizing a paper straight from Google." Unfortunately for her, those precautions cannot safeguard her completely. In an introductory-level econ course, Gertrude "got a problem set from a student who took the class the semester before." Since the professor had neglected to change the problem sets, she was able to use all of the correct answers. When her recitation received back their problem sets, Gertrude's grade had been replaced with a dreaded, "See me." Her teaching assistant thought her answers were peculiarly perfect and questioned Gertrude as to how this was possible. "I said that I did the problem set and did it very well," she said. "I told her I looked over the old problem set and I used it to check my answers - and when mine were wrong, I took the right ones. I left that out." Gertrude was lucky in this instance. The TA understood that she had checked her answers and not stolen an answer key, and gave Gertrude a 90 on the assignment. "It was a 100 that I really deserved," she said. She had one other close call - the scariest. In a Spanish class, she was asked to keep a journal, with the last entry about a movie shown in class. "I unfortunately fell asleep during this movie and couldn't write the entry," Gertrude said. "So I went online and researched the movie and used a lot of the information from the website, not really realizing that I used a lot of the wording from the website." Gertrude said that it is difficult to rework a sentence in Spanish, particularly in an introductory class that has not taught synonyms yet. "The teacher had apparently used the same exact website," she said. "She called it plagiarism." Her professor said that she would bring this to the deans, but later called to take that back. Gertrude received an A for her efforts in the class. She remains confident that she could have explained herself sufficiently to the deans. "That was the worst that ever happened," she said. "But in the back of my head I always knew that the worst outcome would never be me getting kicked out of school." "Combining your talents as well as cutting corners always results in a more successful person, in college as well as in life," she said.*Name has been changed. The identity of this individual and the veracity of her statements has been confirmed.
Road improvements set to begin as part of beautification effortThirty Somerville streets will be resurfaced in the next few months, according to the Somerville Journal. The city is planning a major enhancement to Somerville Avenue, which will include the construction of a bike lane, new signage and raised sidewalks. The project will cost an estimated $13.3 million, according to the Journal. "The most exciting part to the public eye is the improvements to the streetscape," Lucy Warsh, spokesperson for Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, said. "It's not just a matter of busting up a road and repaving it ... it will literally start from the ground up." In addition to cosmetic and aesthetic improvements, the storm water drainage system will also be revamped in response to the ongoing flooding problems that the streets of Somerville currently experience. Although local businesses may suffer during construction due to reduction in traffic, the project should greatly enhance the area in the long-run, according to the Journal. Another $1.7 million will be spent on the resurfacing of nearly 30 other city streets and the replacement of a bridge, all part of what Curtatone called his administration's "overall neighborhood cleanup and beautification effort."Somerville Journal exposes 'devious' boat docking Somerville city officials will be taking disciplinary action against an unidentified city employee who was discovered to have used a municipal building to store his private yacht, according to the Somerville Journal. Officials initially said they knew of no boat in the Homan's Building, but Journal reporters took a brief tour and found a "sizable ship" inside. According to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, public officials "may not use public resources for political or private purposes." "The proper person is being dealt with at this point," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone spokesman Mark Horan told the Journal.Competition to fill late Senator Charles Shannon's seat Somerville resident and Democratic State Representative Pat Jehlen has declared that she will campaign to win the State Senate seat departed by the late Senator Charles Shannon, who died of cancer earlier this month. "I'm running," Jehlen said. "I feel pretty clear about it." The date for the special election to fill Shannon's seat has not been set, but a year-and a half remains in his term, according to the Somerville Journal. Several other local figures may also run, including Republican and current City Alderman Bill White. "At this point, I would have to seriously consider entering the race because Somerville's economic future is going to be at stake in this Senate election," he said. Other possible candidates include Medford City Councilor Robert Penta, Alderman Sean O'Donovan, and former Chief of Staff for Shannon, Stan Koty, according to the Journal.--compiled by Bruce Hamilton from the Somerville Journal
Several different forms of sexual education exist in the U.S. for high school students. Some schools have what are known as "comprehensive" programs, in which students learn about contraception and STD-prevention methods. Others have no sex education programs at all. But an increasingly common form of sex education is "abstinence-only." The federal government provides huge amounts of funding to schools that choose to use the curriculum outlined by the administration - over $100 million annually. In these programs, educators teach that abstinence until marriage is the only sexual option for unmarried individuals. Teachers are required to refrain from disseminating any information about contraceptive or STD-prevention methods, other than statistical failure rates. According to Psychology Professor Joe DeBold, there's a current lack of thorough examinations of these programs - and even with such studies, it would be difficult to interpret the results. "It's a hard issue to study because the results are complicated by community views, different teachers' approaches to the topics, and how the students started out before high school," said DeBold, who teaches a course at Tufts on human sexual behavior. For students leaving high school with an education in abstinence, the transition to a college "hook-up" culture may be an uninformed one. Without a formal education about STDs and contraceptive methods, many students have learned from peers how to protect themselves. "I basically learned from my friends and through personal experience," freshman Evan Dreifuss said. "I just kind of figured it out." "I read a lot; I've had talks with various people," freshman Raven Anderson said. "I don't think it was a problem not learning it in school for me personally." A complete lack of sexual education can lead to the spread of misinformation, however: DeBold described a class he taught in which he discovered that "students were surprised at the amount of inaccuracy" in what they had learned about sex. Many students said that comprehensive programs in high school are probably a good idea for learning correct information. "I think that it makes things much easier ... I don't think not teaching it is going to keep people from [being sexually active]," Anderson said. "Students might as well be educated," Dreifuss agreed. "Abstinence-only is one route, but another route is to make sure that they're doing it safely." One student who experienced abstinence-only education had a teacher in another course who taught about contraception and STD-prevention methods. "I actually got sex education because I took anatomy and physiology, and my professor taught it because she knew we wouldn't get it otherwise," freshman Meredith Posner said. Posner's school was a large public high school in the second-poorest county in Florida. Because of the abstinence-only curriculum's high levels of federal funding, schools like hers are more likely to choose that curriculum than a comprehensive one. Posner said that her particular school, however, instead chose to ignore sexual activity altogether. "The school tried to pretend it doesn't even exist," she said. To treat the issue of young adults becoming sexually active, Posner's high school chose to establish rules that would prevent situations that could lead to sex. "Instead of teaching people how to do it safely, they tried to make more rules," she said. "They made rules like no dancing - we weren't allowed to dance at prom - and no standing in the parking lot because people might be doing something in the car." Abstinence pledges are also common in conservative schools. Students sign cards or get rings signifying their promise to wait until marriage to have sex. The rings' effectiveness, however, is debatable. "I think for a while it lasts, but I don't actually think it makes a difference - they say one thing and do another," Posner said of students who pledged abstinence. One study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that STD infection rates among abstinence pledgers were the same as rates among non-pledgers, but that the non-pledgers had fewer partners. "This means they have sex with fewer people, but they are as many STIs going around," DeBold said. "There is a problem there." One argument against having sex education taught in schools? That teaching kids about sex is the job of the parent rather than the educational system. Various studies have shown that parents play a significant role in their children's knowledge about sexuality and sexual health. Some students who never received sex education in school, however, never received such an education from their parents, either. "The word 'sex' is not spoken in my house - if there is a sex scene in a movie or whatnot, we all leave the room and make popcorn or something," junior Lindsey Overstreet said. "It's just not discussed at all. Although I am expected to be a virgin until marriage - I know that much." Overstreet also missed out on sex education in high school because of transferring. "There's still a lot that I'm probably in the dark about - I was really never taught anything," she said.
While Seftel may have moved into the realm of reality television, his documentaries have won him much acclaim over the past few years. One such film, Seftel's "Taking on the Kennedys," a documentary about contemporary political warfare, premiered on PBS in 1996. The DVD version of the film was released earlier this year. The documentary follows the story of a political campaign for a Rhode Island congressional seat. In 1994, Patrick Kennedy - the young son of Mass.'s favorite senator, Ted Kennedy - launched a campaign against Republican Kevin Vigilante, a physician with extensive community and civic service behind him. He had never run for office before, however. "Ill-prepared for the rough and tumble of political campaigning, Vigilante brandished lofty ideals, naively swearing off the mudslinging tactics most voters claim to deplore," said the Boston Phoenix in a review of the film. "Kennedy, on the other hand, rolled up his sleeves and faced the business of politics head-on, delegating fundraising duties to his famous relatives and deploying negative TV ads from the start." As the history of our political system would predict, Kennedy won, proving that money, clout, organization, and political savvy frequently triumph over idealism and honesty when it comes to politics. "Taking On the Kennedys" is a behind-the-scenes look at the entire campaign, shot from within the Vigilante campaign. Armed only with his Hi-8 video camera, Seftel created, directed and produced the film on his own, trailing Vigilante as he attempted to become a politician. With full access to the candidates as they plotted strategies, pandered to the voters, attended fundraisers, debated and glowed in the media attention, Seftel presented a deconstruction of political campaigns and powerful dynasties, featuring appearances by Caroline Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy, the late John F. Kennedy Jr., and other powerhouse political figures. According to the Phoenix, "Seftel's low-budget, neo-noir work is sure to become a modern classic of New Social Realism." - Andrea Bradford
My forearms are weak. How do I strengthen them? - Delroy from da South Forearms are often neglected because they get so much work during every other exercise. That is not to say you shouldn't train them, however, especially the extensors - the muscles that bring your knuckles up towards your elbow. Chronic neglect of the extensors can lead to a condition that is like having shin splints in your forearms. Symptoms include shooting pains up the outside of your forearms as well as a dull ache and difficulty performing movements that require use of the flexors (which means pretty much everything). Aside from avoiding injury, having a strong grip will improve your lifts and athletic performance (assuming you use your arms in some way. Forearm strength may not improve your 40 time or your penalty kick.) Listed below are a few forearm exercises. - Reverse wrist extensions: Grab a light barbell or two light dumbbells and sit on a bench with each forearm resting on a knee. Hang your wrists over the edge of your knees with your palms down and making sure your elbows remain in contact with your thighs the entire time. Lifting your elbows will assist in the movement and will make it easier and, therefore, less effective. Let your wrists go limp, then bring your knuckles up as high as you can, forcefully contracting your forearms at the top of the movement. Slowly lower them until your knuckles are pointing at the ground, then repeat. This exercise is great to do drop sets with if you can only get one or two good sets with a reasonable weight. - Wrist curls: These are the same as the aforementioned, but start with your palms up instead. The movement is the same, and so is the hard contraction at the top of the motion. For most normal forearm development, I would say do these sparingly, since wrist flexors are usually much stronger than extensors. Too much of one and not the other will lead to an imbalance and the condition 'wrist splints' I mentioned before. - Reverse curls: This exercise hits the extensors and also works the biceps from an unconventional angle (I say 'unconventional' because I rarely see anyone doing this in the fitness center). Grab a barbell and, back straight and shoulders retracted, bring the bar slowly up towards your chin. Make sure your palms are down and your elbows are in close to your body. As you get closer to the top of the movement, you can concentrate on flexing your forearms by adding an extra little wrist movement towards your chest. It's basically a reverse wrist curl at the top of the reverse biceps curl. - Wrist-rollers: This exercise may require a bit of assembly, but is certainly worth it. Take an 18-inch long piece of pipe or wood about the diameter of a hockey stick and, using about two to three feet of shoelace or thin rope, tie a light weight to the end of it. Then, holding the stick out in front of you with the weight hanging at the end or the rope, turn the stick until the rope winds around it and the weight comes up to the stick. Roll your wrists the other way to drop the weight. This exercise is great because it can be done anywhere and has the added benefit of stimulating deltoid stability. When training forearms, keep in mind that they are instrumental (though secondary) in most other exercises. This means that it is not a good idea to train them before you do a bigger muscle group (especially back). If you are diligent with your forearm work, however (a few sets a couple times a week is all it should take), you shouldn't be surprised if you see your other lifts go up accordingly.
The annual Senior Awards were presented to 12 seniors this past Saturday, April 16, in the Alumnae Lounge in the Aidekman Arts Center. The awards were first instituted in 1955 and are sponsored by the Tufts University Alumni Association. Students are nominated by their advisors and others with whom they have worked with in the Tufts community. Those who nominated students were also invited to attend the ceremony. This year's Senior Award recipients were: Sarah Affel, Chike Aguh, Jessica Gioia, Armen Nercessian, Emily Pfeil, Matthew Pohl, Natassia Pura, Christopher Roughton, Avantika Taneja, Christopher Valente, Jeffrey Volinski and Zeleka Yeraswork. "It was a real honor," Valente, also a Fulbright Scholar recipient, said. "It was nice to be recognized [and] nice to sit at a table with everyone I've worked with at Tufts." Affel said the ceremony was "really lovely and well-run." She said she was also happy that she was able to receive the award in the presence of her parents and advisor who she was able to thank for their support. Both Valente and Affel said they were also impressed with the achievements of their fellow students. "[It was] pretty amazing to hear what people had done," Affel said. The awards are given in consideration of four criteria: academic achievement, wide participation in campus and community activities, outstanding qualities of leadership, and potential for future alumni leadership and service. There is no predetermined number of awards given at each year's Senior Awards ceremony, but the number has hovered around 10 students in past ceremonies. This year's number of 12 students placed the Class of 2005 right behind last year's 13 winners.- by Anthony McGovern
Over 450 students participated in the second annual 18 hour walk-a-thon, the Relay for Life, which began last Friday and continued until Saturday morning, in Cousens Gymnasium. The event, sponsored by the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS), collected the largest fundraiser purse in Tufts history, topping last year's total of around $55,000. Online donations totaled $55,401, and over $5,000 was collected at the event. "We basically spent all year planning it," event co-organizer junior Craig Kelly said. All of the money raised will be given to the American Cancer Society (ACS). According to Kelly, over 400 colleges nationwide participate in Relay for Life. "Last year, we were number six in the nation [in] online [fundraising]," he said. "This year, although we raised $5,000 more than last year, other schools raised a lot more." The event played a dual role as both a fundraiser and a social gathering. Fundraising teams included such groups as LCS, fraternities and sororities, and intramural teams. "Almost every Greek house on campus signed up," TCU Senator junior Jeff Katzin said. This year's student presence, however, was stronger than last year's. "There were a lot of people that were in and out, but more [people] remained than last year," Katzin said. Katzin said he attributed the students' stamina to the Relay's changed hours. Last year, the event began at 6 p.m. and ran until noon the next day. This year's walk began at noon on Friday and ended at 6 a.m. Saturday. "It went better than last time because we cut down the hours," Kelly said. Not all held out until the end, however. "It was pretty fun," participant sophomore Stephanie Mayer said. "[But] I didn't stay the whole night." Aside from changed hours, organizers said that this year's Relay ran smoothly because of strong publicity from last year's event. "[This year] it was easier in reaching out because people were more familiar with the event," Katzin said. According to participants, the star of the night was TCU Senator sophomore Brody Hale. While teams traded off hours of walking on the track to keep one member on it at all times, Hale walked for 13 hours straight. "He just kept going," Katzin said. Hale has several family members who have fought cancer. "[Through these people,] I have sseen what cancer can do to someone, and so I thought this would be a good way to stand up and support them," Hale said. While organizers said they were happy with the turnout and the fundraising, they agreed that upcoming years have room for improvement, especially regarding community involvement. The event had an average amount of participants for national Relay for Life events, but in comparison to other ACS walks across the nation, Katzin said that organizers are usually able to attract people from the surrounding communities. "It's a great event that can help community relations," Katzin said. "Hopefully [involving the community] is a thing we can work on in the future. It's community building, too."
I tried to embrace some Hong Kong culture this past week with fellow exchange students. The result was one friend in the hospital, some spoiled food and a whole contingent of firefighters walking up a hill in full uniform. The lesson learned was that foreigners should be very careful when trying to do things that seem to come naturally to locals. The rather embarrassing incident did allow a rare opportunity to see Hong Kong's finest in action, though. Not surprisingly, they passed the test. Hong Kong loves its barbecues. Thanks to the pleasant climate and the large number of public parks, Hong Kong-dwellers can cook outdoors nearly all year round. Barbecue here is more diverse than its Western counterpart. While most Americans are content with some burgers, hot dogs and maybe some corn-on-the-cob, anything here is game. Fish balls, tofu, raw shrimp and fried bread are regulars in the picnic basket. The preferred way to cook food is on the end of a roasting stick. Grills are allowed, but not really encouraged. Instead, they cook as much food as possible in the shortest amount of time. I once saw a local cram three sausages, a piece of tofu and a small steak on one skewer. The steak very shortly fell off the stick and into the fire. It is a delicate art. Foreigners can have a tough time, something that became all too apparent this week. Ten people, none of whom were local, decided to have a Hong Kong-style barbecue on Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island. The problems began immediately. We had brought no wood or lighter fluid and were reduced to searching for sticks around the barbecue site. The only place we could find sticks was near an abandoned stone structure resembling the finale of the "Blair Witch Project." Corn-on-the-cob slices, wrapped in aluminum foil, were stone cold on one side and charred on the other. One item of food after another caught fire as we tried to minimize cooking time. We allowed ourselves one item from the Western barbecue: the marshmallow. Every person placed three or four marshmallows on the roasting stick (that each of these held raw meat less than an hour earlier did not cross my mind until much later) and began toasting. Suddenly, the stick of a British friend caught fire. She took the stick out of the fire and began to shake it furiously, trying to put the flame out. Two still-flaming marshmallows flew off the stick immediately in the direction of another Brit. One hit her upper face, the other landed in her hair. Within seconds, we were on the phone to the police. No place is a dead zone in Hong Kong, and a quick type of 999 (not 911!) had an operator on the line. The major problem was explaining to the authorities what exactly had caused the burn. No one could remember the word for "marshmallow" in Cantonese. Our description of a white, sugary cylinder did not register. I ran along with a Chinese-Canadian who spoke Cantonese to meet the authorities. Fifteen minutes later, I saw nine men dressed in full firefighters' gear slowly marching up the hill. They were carrying pickaxes and flashlights, and had no stretcher. While my friend had a discussion with the leader, I was left with the others. "What happened to your friend?" one paramedic asked me in broken English. I explained, although again the marshmallow part was not understood. "So there's no fire?" he said, obviously disappointed. This explained his heavy uniform. After that, the fireman was not interested in making conversation. We walked back up the hill and met with our injured friend, who was escorted to a waiting ambulance. She spent the night in the hospital in observation and was released the next day. The final diagnosis was a second-degree burn around the cheek and upper eyelash, but no damage to the eye itself. In spite of the language difficulties, I was very impressed by the response of the police. They reached a remote area very quickly, and were able to react to a situation that was different than expected (no forest fires, as the offending marshmallow was already put out). The treatment was free and everyone was kind. Part of the reason why this was such a surprise is that previously I had not had any reason to deal with the authorities. They are largely invisible on Hong Kong Island. There are not the constant blaring sirens of police cars and ambulance vans speeding down the highways. The police are present at the sidelines of large crowd gatherings, but they rarely seem to be involved in any action. Things run in an orderly way, and this carried over to our little emergency situation. The recommended treatment was no contact lenses for two weeks, keeping the area moist with Vasoline, and no more attempts at Hong Kong No one could remember the word for 'marshmallow' in Cantonese. Our description of a white, sugary cylinder did not register.
This year's race for TCU President has a vibrancy not witnessed in last year's campaign, due to the myriad differences in the platforms of the two candidates. While both Senators Katzin and Goldberg have shown themselves to be able campaigners, it is Katzin who will be able to best lead his fellow Jumbos for the upcoming academic year. Katzin, the current TCU Treasurer, has a strong background in student government and leadership. As treasurer he has overseen the distribution of some $1.1 million dollars in student activities fees to various organizations around campus and worked with student leaders around the hill to ensure that their groups have the funds to accomplish their goals. Most students find it difficult to merely balance their own checkbooks; Katzin had the task of making sure that a much bigger set of books was in good hands. The "JUMBO changes" platform on which Katzin is running is a strong plan for accomplishing real change on campus. All too often it appears that student government on the Hill falls short of its end goals, producing many objectives but few results. The current treasurer realizes that students want goals, and he seems very willing to push for concrete results rather than feel-good resolutions. Many of Katzin's stated goals are based on current senate initiatives for which he would push hard if he were elected. One idea of critical importance to the student body is reform at the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL), specifically in the form of a tiered lottery system. Such a system would ensure that students do not receive a low number in all three of their lotto years by splitting the lotto into three tiers (high, middle, low) and ensuring that each student can only receive one number from each tier. Thus, if a student received a low number he or she can rest assured that it won't happen again. Also of interest was Katzin's stated interest in "candidate hunting": that is, trying to increase interest in candidacy for the Senate and other elected positions. Following an election where the only contested seats were in the Senate for the class of 2008, it is clear that more competition is needed for important and influential seats in student government. Given Katzin's concern over Senate diversity, it is surprising that he explicitly disagrees with the idea of opening up nominations for TCU President to the entire student body. Such a move would be a valuable safeguard against yawn-inducing elections with forgettable candidates and would acknowledge that many, not just senators, play valuable roles leading this campus. When it comes to town-gown relations, candidate Katzin also drops the ball, stating no clear plan (and perhaps desire) to play a significant role in calming the tempest. Our next president must show willingness to voice student concerns to local leaders; it is essential that he be willing to butt heads with those in power if that's what it takes to make the wishes of nearly five thousand undergraduates known. Katzin's opponent Rafi Goldberg has some good ideas of his own, most notably his proposal for a $4 million endowed fund to provide stipends for unpaid summer jobs. The program, to be modeled after the current "summer scholars" stipend setup, will ensure that Jumbos can gain valuable career experience without worrying about finances. We hope the winning candidate, be it Goldberg or Katzin, implements this great idea. In spite of his significant shortcomings, however, Katzin will prove to be the better leader for Tufts. Now it is up to students to show their interest today and vote, so that the next president is assured not only of interest in him but of concern for the workings of student government.
At this point, most of Tufts has already heard about my TCU Tomorrow Plan. So instead of regurgitating the same points again, I would like to offer a more personal look into why I am running for TCU President. When I arrived at Tufts for April Open House three years ago, I immediately noticed the abundance of messages written on the ground using sidewalk chalk. Wherever I went, I was being asked to vote for one presidential candidate or another. Although I had never met either candidate, it was immediately clear to me that these individuals were very much intent on taking charge of student government. The main question in my mind was whether their passion stemmed from a simple quest for power, or a genuine desire to improve the community. Of course, the answer was more complex than that. As far as I can tell, both motives were factors in the race for TCU President, just as they often are in real government. After I successfully ran for the Senate at the beginning of my freshman year, I realized that the leadership was spending far too much time jockeying for power, and not paying enough attention to the legitimate needs of Tufts students. Other younger members of Senate agreed with my assessment, and we spent a lot of time discussing how best to abandon the culture of infighting. Two main streams of thought developed among this new generation of student government leaders. The first, in which I participated extensively, was the drive to do a better job of listening to our constituents. One of the major complaints about the Senate (which still applies today, although the situation has improved) was that nobody knew what we did, and that we had no idea what students wanted us to do. We came up with several remedies to this problem, including surveys, forums, a revamped Web site, and informative e-mail updates. Not everything we attempted was successful; forums typically ended with many boxes of uneaten pizza. The desire to improve outreach, however, is something that has stayed with me throughout my time on Senate. The other major stream of thought that emerged during my first two years on Senate was an emphasis on improving social life at Tufts through new events. I participated in this as well, helping to plan the Culture Festival and organizing safety volunteers for the Nighttime Quad Reception. The logic of social programming was twofold: that one of the biggest student concerns at the time was the lack of weekend activities on campus, and that adding new events was a way to address a real problem without a major risk of controversy. After the Historian tried to impeach the Vice President during my freshman year, the last thing anyone wanted was more controversy. We had to rebuild our credibility, and a focus on social programming appeared to be the best way of doing so. Our plans to revitalize the Senate have been working fairly well. Gone are the days of popular disdain for student government at Tufts, although apathy has replaced that sentiment in many cases. Today's Senate is far more capable of enacting real and lasting change than it has ever been during my time at Tufts, and it is with this ability in mind that I seek the TCU Presidency. It is time for the Senate to move beyond the comfortable confines of bus shuttles and dances, and enter the realm of large policy initiatives. My TCU Tomorrow Plan outlines three such projects that I believe are vital to the future of the Tufts Community. They include starting an endowed fund for unpaid summer internships, integrating public speaking into the curriculum, and reforming the way we deal with bias incidents on campus. By no means does the TCU Tomorrow Plan detail every issue that will come up next year, nor does it exclude the continuation of projects that have already become standard for the Senate, such as Fall Ball and improving the housing lottery. What my platform does, however, is provide student government at Tufts with a new unifying vision of how we can best serve our community. The culture of fighting over power on Senate has indeed been reduced over the last few years. What we need now, however, is to replace it with a new creed that emphasizes our great responsibilities as representatives of the student body. This is my mission as a candidate for TCU President. With your support, we can go far in making the Light on the Hill shine brighter than ever before.Rafi Goldberg, a junior majoring in political science, served as the 2004-2005 TCU Vice President.
