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The Setonian
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Women's Cross Country | High-stakes meet could spell Nationals

November 11

Months of dedication and practice will come down to tomorrow as the women's cross country team heads to Twin Brooks, Maine for the much-anticipated NCAA Div. III New England Championships. The top five finishing teams will earn an invitation to the national meet in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and the Jumbos feel they have a viable shot at being one of the five. "We train for this race all season," junior Becca Ades said. "It's the peak of the season. We're all tapered for it. There's no reason why everyone shouldn't have their best race on Saturday." The Jumbos will send senior tri-captain Katie Sheedy, Ades, sophomores Sarah Crispin and Raquel Morgan, and freshmen Catherine Beck, Katy O'Brien, Anna Shih, and Laura Walls. The team has not made a decision on who will be the final seven for the race yet. The top three teams at the meet most likely will be Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst. The three teams are ranked in the top five nationally and have been far and away the best teams in New England area races thus far. With three spots virtually locked, only two places are still available. Wesleyan, Colby, and Tufts figure to be the teams with realistic shots at those two spots. To earn a trip to the national meet, the Jumbos will have to beat one of the two teams, something they haven't been able to do all season. Yet coach Kristen Morwick has been optimistic about her team's chances all season long. "I think if we run well, we can do it," Morwick said. "We should beat Wesleyan. We match up better with Colby but they've been in front of us all season. I think if we run well we can beat them." "Obviously we have to beat Colby and Wesleyan to make it," sophomore Raquel Morgan said. "We have to beat one of the two in order to go. It's not so much running as a pack. I think the top five have to be really close." The three teams last met two weeks ago at the NESCAC Championship at Colby College. Colby (127 points) had a decided advantage racing on its home course and used it to beat both Tufts and Wesleyan. Wesleyan (130) was close behind while Tufts (141) were certainly within striking distance. Coach Morwick and the team have spent the last week breaking down their game plan for the race, analyzing past results and developing a strategy for the race. "We need to match up more with Colby in terms of having our No. 1 in front of their No. 1 and our No. 2 in front of their No. 2," Ades said. The final two spots will come down to only a few points, since these teams have been racing closely all season. The Jumbos are hoping that a large race will work to their advantage, especially against Wesleyan, who has a slower No. 5 runner who could easily finish further back in a large race. For Tufts, Ades has consistently been the top finisher, with Morgan and O'Brien close behind. The next four finishers have varied all season long. "This team hasn't been easy to predict. They're pretty young, and it's been an up and down kind of journey and it could be anyone up there," Morwick said. "I've said to Sheedy and Crispin all along that 'you have to act like our fifth runner whether you're there or not.' And they very well could be." The Jumbos understand that the race will largely depend on their racing, not other teams', and that they control their own destiny. "I'm not saying we have to run as pack but we all need to have our best race," Morgan said. "Becca can't just place top 15 and we'll go. Our fifth runner can't just run well and we'll go. We all have to be at our best in order to go." "Even though that does seem like it's asking a lot it's definitely within reach," Morgan added. "It's right there in front of us. We just have to do it. I think we're all there physically and we're all there mentally. We just have to put the two together and make it happen." A trip to Nationals would be the first for the Jumbos since 1999, when Tufts placed 11th behind standouts Caitlin Murphy, Leslie Crofton, and Cindy Manning. Crofton placed fifth at Nationals individually in cross country the following season while Murphy owns two national titles in the 800 meters. "We don't have anyone like that on our team," Morwick said. "This is kind of doing it a different way. It's going to be more of a team effort, rather than doing it with a couple studs up front." A lingering concern for the team all season has been the possibility of inexperience plaguing the young team. Tufts fields six underclassmen in their top eight runners and the fear is that such an important meet like Regionals would be overwhelming for an inexperienced group, especially the four freshmen. "It's hard to predict because we have a very young team," Morwick said. "We have potentially four [freshmen]. We don't know how they are going to respond in a big meet situation." "[The freshmen have] proven over the season that they are great runners," Sheedy said. "It's a lot of pressure on them. We've had a lot of talks with them in team meetings. They know what they have to do and what the team has to do to go to nationals." The women realize what's at stake in this weekend's race and are looking for a better performance than last year, when they finished ninth. "This year is definitely a more reachable goal," Sheedy said. "Just being able to be that close and know that we can make it is pretty exciting. Hopefully this won't be my last race this weekend."

The Setonian
News

Restaurant Review | Forget about freedom fries: Les Zygomates is amazing French food

November 11

Got some cash burning a hole in your pocket? Want to pretend to be French? Like jazz? Seeking to impress (or apologize to) your significant other? Parents coming into town soon? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, give Les Zygomates some thought. Tucked away behind South Station on South Street, Les Zyg, as those in-the-know call it, serves up some of the best French food in Boston. In fact, the restaurant won Boston Magazine awards in 2003 for both "Best Neighborhood Restaurant - Downtown" and "Best Wine List." The bistro, which has a twin in Paris, actually comprises two restaurants within one: One side is reserved strictly for food whereas the other half features both a large bar and a stage where live jazz is performed every night, Monday through Saturday. Indeed, Les Zyg is as well known for its lunchtime financial district crowd as its evening live jazz. First off, the place itself is gorgeous. In the bistro side, the high ceilings and red leather couches and chairs give the place a true "chillin' in Paris" feel. On the jazz side, in contrast, the stage is raised and off to the side, separated by a stylish colored glass wall. Think tasteful but fun, kind of like Eleanor Roosevelt. And Chef Ian Just's menu is, to say the least, amazing. For the starter course, I went with the seared crab cake with chipotle aioli. Wowza. The crab cake was perfectly grilled, the chipotle not too spicy, and I finished it before even thinking to find out what "aioli" means. Also good was the heirloom tomato and smoked mozzarella salad; the smoked mozzarella tasted a little "bacon-y." If neither of those appeal, try the oysters, warm goat cheese salad or the escargots. When considering what to have as an entr?©e, let's make something clear: Les Zyg's steak frites is famous across Boston. The sheer mention of it makes me hungry. The steak is cooked to perfection (get it medium rare) and covered with truffle maitre'd butter. Again, I have no idea what that is, but believe me: It's delicious. Piled liberally on top is a mound of perfect french fries. Imagine the perfect pomme frites: crispy brown outside, silky potato on the inside. Cover them in butter and a gravy-like sauce and you have it. Top it off with a side of gravy and butter drowned spinach, and that's one heck of an entr?©e. Also delicious was the night's special, grilled salmon, with substitute of mushroom risotto. The risotto was described as the best that my dining colleague had ever tasted and the salmon was also quite good, cooked perfectly and marinated in subtle spices. Also rumored to be excellent are the scallops and the pork chops. After unbuttoning my pants to finish the steak frites, I went with the warm chocolate cake with chocolate Chinese five spice ice cream for dessert. Notice how the word "chocolate" is repeated in that sentence. Also tempting were the cr?©me br?»le?© and the caramel cranberry tarte with maple flan. Not to be forgotten is the wine list. Les Zygomates' wine list is among the best in the city, and probably New England. There were 40 kinds of wines and spirits on the dessert menu alone. That included 10 kinds of Scotch and five Brandys. The wine menu is a comprehensive six pages long. Forgotten in all this talk about food is the excellent jazz. Only faint strains of saxophone were audible from the next room while dining in the main restaurant, but upon further inspection, the jazz side was beeping and bopping along. It was also considerably more crowded, with clientele ranging from hip parents to college students and young professionals. It's amazing that the two atmospheres can be housed within the same restaurant without noise problems. Without wine, expect to drop at least $40 per person. With wine, add on $20 to $40, depending on how much of a baller you are. Les Zygomates may push the upper limits of a student's budget, but the experience is comparable to prohibitively expensive places like Rialto, Olives, or No. 9 Park. Reservations are a must for tables on weekend nights. And, as a special treat to the college crowd, Les Zygomates is open until 1 a.m. every night of the week. If possible, bring the parent's credit card.Street parking is possible. Red Line stop is South Station.

The Setonian
News

Campus Comment | He's big, he's tough ... he's herbivorous?

November 11

We all know the story of the beloved pachyderm that serves as Tufts University's mascot. P.T. Barnum, a trustee and benefactor of Tufts, owned this 12-foot tall, six-ton African elephant, which was captured as a baby in Abyssinia in 1861. The elephant was sold and moved to Paris and London, at which point Barnum purchased him for $10,000 and transported him to America. He was named Jumbo, synonymous with "huge," and toured with the Barnum & Bailey circus for a few years, until he was tragically killed by an oncoming train in Canada in 1885. However, this was only after showing great heroism in shoving a fellow, smaller elephant, Tom Thumb, out of the way to save his life, and embracing his adored trainer in his gigantic trunk before dying. The story of Jumbo's afterlife isn't much cheerier than that of his demise. After his stuffed hide was donated to Tufts in 1889, he served as our lucky mascot, displayed in the Barnum Museum of Natural History, with students tugging on his tail and sticking coins in his trunk before important athletic events. But in 1975, the Barnum building caught on fire and destroyed the only remains of Jumbo. Today, just his ashes remain in a peanut butter jar and stand as our good luck charm. Jumbo's energy is unquestionably felt in the Medford air and on the Hill, but the mascot is also ... shall we say, unique. "Prospective students usually think it's weird that our mascot was hit by a train, but they definitely like the elephant," sophomore and tour guide Jeff Vanderkruik said. So how do current Tufts students perceive Jumbo today? Is everyone happy with having a gentle, herbivorous mammal as our supposed "tough" mascot? While other schools such as University of Michigan, have ferocious, carnivorous wolverines, we have a mammoth elephant, which wasn't even fast enough to get out of the way of an oncoming train. Our rivals may taunt us for shouting out the name of such a tender creature at football and lacrosse games, but perhaps they fail to realize the heart behind that big ol' elephant. The Daily spoke to members of the student body to find out what they think about having Jumbo the pachyderm represent Tufts.

The Setonian
News

Band members' ties create one Selfonix

November 11

Up and coming rockers Selfonix packed the Paradise Lounge last Friday with a show at the famed music club. Selfonix, which includes Tufts senior Anthony Dalli, rocked out for an hour-long set of all originals that energized the listeners to tear up the dance floor. The group embodies a youthful, exuberant energy that seemed to only develop more as the show went on. The band is made up of Dalli on lead guitar, Dave Hodgman on vocals and guitar and Berklee School of Music students Adam Sloane on vocals and keys, Jake Butterfield on bass and Ryan Monk on drums. Influenced by everything from the dour pop of the Cure to the free-form experimentation of the jam scene, Selfonix creates a type of rock music that blends song writing with aspects of improvisation, maintaining a strong core, based on the lyrics of Sloane and Hodgman. Selfonix focused on the lyrics, but also loved to jam, creating a new sound that separates them from the average young band. Dalli explained that Selfonix is focused on having a good time, more than anything else. "Our band's goal is to create a blend of music that is appealing to people because of the strength of the songs, but also because of the live improv," Dalli said. "I just want to make music that people enjoy listening to. I want to make people think about the lyrics and take something away from them. "But I also just want to make people dance," Dalli added. All of the band's members performed a variety of roles which alternated throughout the performance. For most of the show, though, Dalli liked to venture into guitar solos while Hodgmon and Sloane focused mainly on rhythm and vocals. The group plays almost all originals, and Dalli said that it is a team effort which creates the end product. "Dave and Adam usually write the songs - sometimes separately, sometimes together - and bring them to the other band members who help arrange the music, and put their own stamp on them." Selfonix managed to get people out of their seats often during the show, which would send the band into a longer and more intense jam. Dalli, Sloane, and Hodgman have been playing with each other for years, growing up together in Worcester, Mass. "We grew up playing together, so we kinda learned to play around each other," Hodgman explained. "Adam and I, as a result, have a good system of writing songs with each other while Ant [Dalli] and Sloane also challenge each other to play better while jamming." That relationship only improves their on-stage performance, the band says. "We're good at locking up together on jams. We can tell where each other is trying to go, so that helps our overall sound and togetherness," Hodgman said. Last week's set list included "Wake Up Walk Out," "Wirefire" and "It's a Wonder Why" written by Hodgman and Sloane; all three songs appear on the band's recently self-titled full-length debut. Selfonix has also played at All Asia and TT the Bears in the past month. Dalli said after the show that he was happy how it went, and that Selfonix is trying to grow as a group. "Right now we're just trying to develop our sound further and create something new and exciting," Dalli said. "Hopefully, we can keep bringing in new people along the way to come see us, party with us and have a good time."For more information on Selfonix, please e-mail selfonix@hotmail.com

The Setonian
News

Chilifest held in Carmichael

November 11

In a gesture of appreciation to local fire departments for protecting the Tufts community, students and firefighters lunched together in Carmichael Dining Hall on Wednesday at a chili meal entitled "We're Smokin'." Carmichael staff members invited students to "please join us in honoring [firefighters'] efforts to keep us all safe and especially to thank them for being there when needed." The lunchtime crowd selected from a variety of chilis and chili-related foods and students had the option of chatting or dining with local firefighters present in Carmichael. "The fire marshal burger is great," freshman Corey Martin said. Aside from the food, students said they enjoyed being able to show appreciation to the firefighters. "It's a nice way to pay respect to the firemen and also get some new food in Carmichael," freshman Cory Lewis said. The firefighters in attendance also seemed pleased with the event. "It's nice to be recognized for what we do. We really appreciate it." firefighter Bob Turner said. "I wish some of the cafeteria staff could be hired at the station," he added. Firefighters and Carmichael staff both said events like Wednesday's can help bond local and Tufts communities. Carmichael Unit Manager David Kelley, who has worked at Tufts for 23 years, said, "Tufts always has done a little something but since Sept. 11, we have tried to upscale it to show a little more appreciation." "It's a great event, a great way for Tufts to appreciate firefighters who respond to the campus," Assistant Fire Marshall Joseph Rolli said. Rolli works two days a week at Tufts and performs safety inspections in dorm rooms. Kelley said that this event is a small, inexpensive way to show them that the Tufts community appreciates their hard work. "They don't get enough credit," he said. "It's a nice gesture." "We enjoy it. The kids enjoy it," Kelley said. "It's a little different than every day." One visiting firefighter, Tufts alumna Janelle Jordan (LA '99), is a deputy chief with the fire department. "I've never quite experienced anything quite like this here at Tufts. It's nice to be welcomed back and appreciated by a community of which I still feel a part," she said. "It's terrific. It's a great community relationship," firefighter Mike Greer said.

The Setonian
News

Putting down new roots: part 3 in a 3-part series | "We are experiencing technical (and financial) difficulties ..."

November 11

Ask any student on the Tufts campus, and chances are, he or she will vividly remember the difficulties involved in entering higher learning: the essays, the applications, the dreaded FAFSA. Most students, luckily, dealt with the process once and have since put it out of their minds. Transfer students, however, had to begin the process all over again when they came to Tufts. Most transfer students agree that filling out the actual application is not terribly difficult. "It's not as big a hassle as it is applying to colleges out of high school," said Alex Lauritson-Lada, a junior who transferred from Trinity College. The simplicity of Tufts' application - coupled with its comparatively late deadline - influenced senior Dan Lavine. "I chose Tufts because they have a late application deadline," he said. Transfer students are required to fill out an application very similar to a regular application, but with an additional essay asking why the student wishes to leave his or her previous institution and come to Tufts. Director of Transfer Admissions Leon Braswell said that the process is about to become much easier. "This year, [transfer students] will be filling out the Common Application for those coming in January," he said. While the application process itself may be relatively simple, being accepted into Tufts as a transfer student is not easy. Although the acceptance rate for transfer students is approximately the same as that for incoming freshman, transfer admission tends take factors like compatibility into account, along with academic records. "For example, if you're coming from a business school, we don't have a business program, so if you're going to take accounting and management, where is that going to fit?" Braswell said. After students are accepted into Tufts, their decision to actually attend can be affected by the very large issue of financial aid. Financial aid packages offered at Tufts often differ from those offered at previous institutions. "[Trinity] gave me significantly more money than Tufts does," Lauritson-Lada said. "It's somewhere in the realm of an $8,000 difference in financial aid." One transfer students said that her first school's aid was more generous due to merit scholarships, something Tufts does not grant its students. "The only complaint I have is that Tufts doesn't have merit scholarships," said second-semester junior Kenny Hickman, who had a merit scholarship at American University. Once transfer students do actually begin their matriculation at Tufts, they must deal with the hassle of transfering their credits. Students may only transfer 17 credits within the Liberal Arts school and 19 credits within the Engineering school. "We couldn't in good conscience award a degree from Tufts University if you had taken more than half of your courses someplace else," Dean of Students Jean Herbert said. Because Tufts uses a different credit system than many universities, the transfer process involves converting hours at a previous institution into Tufts credits, a process that Herbert said is "very standard" and does not differ depending on a student's previous institution. "Three or four semester hour credit courses from a previous university equals one Tufts credit. That's it," Herbert said. If a student came from a quarter system, Herbert explained that "we total up all the credits ... and divide by 5.25." Although Herbert describes the process as "very straightforward," some transfer students would disagree. Lavine explains that when he transferred to Tufts, one of his professors "took the liberty of combining several classes into single credit classes here ... so I basically had four classes go down to two, in my major." Getting enough credits transferred within a major was even more difficult for senior Chris Babayan, who came from Georgetown University. "A lot of my credits didn't transfer, and because of that, I had to switch majors," Babayan said. Still, not all students have difficulty switching to Tufts. Those who come as sophomores rather than juniors or seniors seem to have considerably less difficulty, since fewer credits need to be transferred. Junior Matt Kruger described the process as "easy" and said that "[he] got everything [he] wanted" in terms of credit transfer. Other students have difficulty transferring AP credits to Tufts, since all schools vary in their treatment of advanced placement courses. "I would have been a junior at American in what was my sophomore year here," Hickman said. "I had skipped a year because of AP credits." However, because Tufts doesn't accept AP credits in the same manner as American University, "I was pushed back a year," Hickman said. Herbert said that acceptance of AP scores may vary. "Each department makes that decision separately," she said. Hickman, however, has a different explanation for credit transfer. "Dealing with bureaucrats is difficult anywhere - it doesn't matter where you are," he said. "They were bad at AU, they're bad here. They're bad in different ways, but they're still bad." Still, Hickman said, "All is well in the end."

The Setonian
News

Who will be the sole 'Survivor' this time?

November 10

The game is on. After last week's merge and the voting-out of ticking time-bomb Rory, "Survivor: Vanuatu" is down to its final nine contestants. Out of the remaining players, seven will comprise the jury that decides the winner, and the other two will vie for the $1 million prize.

The Setonian
News

Why you voted for Bush ... again

November 10

Today in Scotland, we celebrate the recent success of the re-election of George W. Bush, whose triumph over Senator Kerry has emphatically re-endorsed U.S. Christian family and moral values to general rejoicing. On this occasion, the true expression of U.S. popular will prevailed without challenge or question. Bravo! Over here in Europe, no one votes on moral issues. Election issues are reduced to such secular notions as jobs, tax, health, education, the economy and occasionally foreign policy - so it is doubly refreshing to see the world's Premier Democracy voting for higher ideals. To see the U.S. voting conclusively for the abolition of abortion, the biblical truth of creationism, the blocking of stem cell research, and the blocking of the Kyoto Agreement on global warming, is a wonderful example to the rest of the world. Furthermore, it is good to know that this moral stand will be enforced on third-world countries by the withdrawal of foreign aid to the poorest countries that allow abortion, despite the negative effects it will have in combating AIDS. God in his wisdom has also granted circumstances (the appointment of new U.S. Supreme Court judges) to make this stand last for a generation, not just for 'four more years.' Truly, the U.S. is blessed. President George Bush maintains that Saddam was behind Osama and the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, so the fact that Saddam has been captured has made the U.S. (and the world) safer - and the electorate agrees. The doctrine of pre-emptive strike has been endorsed, with or without WMDs. President Bush tells the world that the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners needs re-writing and who can doubt him? Under this convention, prisoners of war had certain rights which are outdated in the modern world - such as forbidding the use of torture. The judicial system also requires modification for "The War on Terrorism." It used to be the case that prisoners had to be accused of committing a crime, given access to lawyers, tried, and, if found guilty, sentenced to a term of imprisonment. In the new world of President Bush, the suspicion that someone might be thinking of committing a crime, or of supporting the wrong group, or even of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is deemed sufficient reason for detaining him. In the case of Saddam, we are told that he was thinking of making WMDs in the future, so this justified the war. The prisoner cannot be charged because he has not committed a crime - and because he has not committed a crime, he obviously has no use for a lawyer to defend him. Neither can he be given a determinate sentence, as there is no way to prove that in the future he might not commit a crime, and therefore, if released, be subject to immediate re-arrest. This new doctrine is so good for detaining people that perhaps it might be extended to U.S. citizens. Surely, the authorities can predict with a high degree of certainty which citizens might be tempted to break the law. Why "three strikes and you're out"? Why not one? It is well known that most criminals re-offend, so one can say with near-certainty that criminals think about committing crimes. Twenty-five percent of all the prisoners in the world are incarcerated in U.S. jails - over 2 million and rising. Their cost is off-set in the privatized U.S. prison system by selling the goods they produce, and in a world of cheap labor, the contribution of these black "slaves" (by chance they are mostly black,) makes a modest but useful contribution to the U.S. trade deficit. Alas, the latter has mushroomed over the past four years. Under the liberal President Clinton, whose morals were terrible, the U.S. had a trade surplus - but after cutting the taxes of the wealthiest citizens (because they know better than the poor how to spend money), and after the cost of spreading democracy to Iraq, the trade deficit has reached an all time record and is still growing. (Iraq alone accounts for $5 billion a month.) Sadly, most of this debt is being bought up by China (not really a true democracy), with incalculable consequences should it decide to sell some of it. The U.S. also consumes 25 percent of the world's oil supplies - but fortunately Iraq is now on their side, and the democratic Saudis love the U.S., so that is OK. With all of the above, it is comforting to know that President Bush has been elected for a second term. It would have been crazy to change the commander-in-chief midway through a war. It does not matter if he makes mistakes, as long as he never changes his mind. Awkward facts can always be changed to fit the desired goal as the President receives his vision of the future on his knees direct from on high. We can also sit back and be sure to enjoy some spectacular explosions and fireworks shortly with the assault on Fallujah viewed from the safety and comfort of our armchairs. It should make spectacular viewing on the TV with some great street fighting scenes. If I were 20 today, single, and a U.S. citizen, I would be asking myself very seriously whether I wished to live my life in the U.S. over the next five or 10 years.Michael Bennett-Levy is a resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the uncle of Tufts student Ilona Solomon, a senior majoring in history.

The Setonian
News

It could be worse

November 10

"'Tis a black, black day, indeed." "Nightmare, nightmare go away!" "In our darkest hour...I think the end is near" "Oh no...that's all I can say." And the list goes on. By reading the various away messages of my buddies, one would think that something really bad had happened. And while this may be an accurate inference according to some, others would (and have) chastised this overreaction to the results of Election 2004. I admit, I was (and still am) bitter about Bush's re-election as president. I sulked, I cried, I complained, and I cursed. I even refused to party last Thursday night because I was still in mourning. And as I sat with my suitemate, who was even more heartbroken than I, lamenting about the hardships that the next four years would bring, wondering what country Bush would invade next (my bet is on Iran), I had an epiphany: It could be worse. We could be Iraqis, previously dominated by a dictator and now occupied by U.S. forces and living in chaos. We could be Cubans, where they have had a dictatorship for 45 years. We could be Sudanese, where mass genocide is taking the lives of thousands each day. We could be Saudi Arabian, and at the mercy of the royal family. We could be Palestinians, who are citizens of no state and victims of a corrupt Palestinian Authority and a selfish leader. And the list goes on. While we may complain that we have a president that invades other countries without our consent, we could be citizens of the invaded countries. And, while we may not be proud to be Americans when the whole world despises us, we should still be proud that we have free presidential elections every four years, and the opportunity to criticize the president in our free press. Although we may not be happy with the decision, the American people did speak and they chose George W. Bush. Think of all the despair that Bush despisers felt last Wednesday. Now magnify that by 15 years, eliminate the forum where this misery is vocalized and add economic hardship. This is what millions of people feel each day. And, while Democrats might be less than pleased with Bush, at least he is not Arafat - a president and fatherly role model for the Palestinian people who, in reality, he has done more harm than good for. He has allowed his people to be the refugees for the longest period of time in history (almost 60 years for some). He has refused to compromise with Israelis (he made no counter offer at Camp David II), thereby preventing his people from achieving their own state. Probably his biggest flaw in addition to his diplomatic failings is stealing money from his own people. The United States and the United Nations give millions of dollars each year to the Palestinian people, which ends up in Arafat's various bank accounts. I could go on and on. With Arafat's death imminent, the Palestinian people have been liberated from the grips of a corrupt leader. While it is yet unclear who will take over, and if there will be free elections, any sort of regime change should be a welcome experience for the Palestinians. Perhaps they can choose a leader who is committed to finding a solution to the problem. Democrats will have to wait another four years for a presidential regime change and two years for electing new congressmen. But at least we voted. And we will not have to wait 60 years for another election. Cheer up. It could be worse.

The Setonian
News

Captured | Police in a row

November 10

Lucia Di Poi, a senior majoring in international relations, took this picture of row of Argentine police officers observing a protest. The protest group, Piqueteros, fills the capitol, Buenos Aires, weekly with protests arguing for more jobs. The presidential administration now outlaws interactions between the police and the protestors. Instead, the police physically shut the Piqueteros out of the center of the city and watch the happenings from inside their self-imposed cell.

The Setonian
News

Clinton recommends U.S. foreign policy shift

November 10

Before the largest audience ever assembled for a Fares Lecture, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the annual Issam M. Fares Lecture yesterday afternoon. Her lecture, titled "Policy Challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean After the Presidential Election," emphasized the necessity of fostering healthy dialogues regarding both domestic and international issues. Before Clinton's speech, University President Larry Bacow welcomed some 2,300 Tufts students, faculty members, visitors, and dignitaries to the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center. "Through the generosity of the Fares family, Tufts continues to bring leadership on exploring dialogue relating to the Middle East," Bacow said. After brief remarks by Leila Fawaz, founding director of Tufts' Fares Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and His Excellency Issam Fares, successful businessman and deputy prime minister of Lebanon, Clinton took to the podium to enthusiastic applause from the audience. She began by expressing the wish "that I were here speaking about the prospect of a Middle Eastern foreign policy from the perspective of a President Kerry," a remark which elicited hearty clapping from the college-aged crowd. But Clinton said next that partisanship must be avoided if serious conflicts like those in the Middle East are ever to be resolved. All countries "have a stake in the great conflicts [occurring in the Middle East], but the U.S. has more at stake and more capacity than most to shape the region's outcome," she said. A consistent theme of Clinton's speech was that U.S. foreign policy should use dialogue between opposing parties to work towards peace. "We need to change our ways of thinking first, and then act on that thinking. [Middle Eastern and American] fates are inextricably bound together," she said. Clinton's discussion jumped from country to country, but she began by insisting that the entire Middle East region work to socially and politically enfranchise women. "Human rights are women's rights," she said. Though some Middle Eastern nations have taken small steps in the right direction, Clinton said women and girls are consistently marginalized in all aspects of society. "When we look at the political, economic and strategic position in the Middle East today, it's obvious that progress cannot be made if there is an unwillingness to include half the population of these countries," she said. Clinton described herself as "one of the early voices speaking out against the treatment of women by the Taliban in the 1990s," and said democratizing the Middle East required "educating women and girls to the fullest of their abilities." Moving on to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Clinton gave recommendations on the twilight of the Yassar Arafat era. "We hope and pray that it is a peaceful transition for the Palestinian people," she said. Hours after her speech, a French military hospital announced that Arafat had died while in intensive care. Clinton said Arafat's impending death would offer Palestinians another chance to engage in serious, meaningful and effective dialogue with the Israelis. Successful negotiations will still largely depend on U.S. involvement in the process, however. "It is now time for President Bush to become engaged," she said. Turning her attention next to Iraq, Clinton called U.S. soldiers there an "extraordinary, exemplary group of Americans" and said "we owe it to them to develop a policy that works." Clinton said the United States needs a "fresh start in Iraq" and that Bush should take advantage of his re-election to try new policies and work anew with allies. The quickest, most surefire way to turn around the situation in Iraq would be through multilateral cooperation, she said, again stressing the importance of dialogue within the international community. "It is important to bring in more people from around the world [to Iraq]," she said. "We're in [Iraq] for the long haul, and we need to create enough safety in the region to run a successful, legitimate January election," Clinton said. "We know we cannot afford to fail in Iraq, and no nation is safe if Iraq falls into chaos." In an obvious dig at Bush's pre-war assertion that Iraq was an imminent threat, Clinton said that today "Iran is the place that many in the [Bush] administration thought Iraq was. This time the weapons really are there." Clinton's comments on Iran took the form of a warning - she said "a nuclear-equipped Iran would shake the political system [in the Middle East] like a 7.0 earthquake." Instability in this region would threaten security worldwide, she said. "I have yet to understand the current administration's policy toward countries like Iran and North Korea," Clinton said, explaining that some of the world's most potentially dangerous countries are being virtually ignored by the White House. "During the Cold War, every U.S. president fostered dialogue with the Kremlin, and this was at a time when the Soviet Union had nuclear missiles pointed at all of our major cities," Clinton said, concluding that the Bush administration's lack of contact with Iran was inexplicable. "We need to impress on [Iran] the highly adverse consequences to continuing a program of nuclear proliferation," she said. "Short of multilateralism and dialogue, I see no other short-term possibility to stop Iran's nuclear plans." Clinton referred to Turkey as another major player in the future of the Middle East. "Turkey is at the front lines in the battle against extremist Islamic terrorism," she said. "The U.S.' future is linked with Turkey's." The United States should fully support Turkey's inclusion into the European Union, she said, and predicted that should Turkey's bid be rejected by the EU, it would almost certainly be taken as a grievous insult to the Islamic communities worldwide. "This would only serve as fodder for anti-Western Islamic terrorists," Clinton said. Clinton concluded her speech by saying, "We are at a crossroads. We cannot, must not, turn our backs on the Middle East. We must once again become a voice for freedom and peace in that region." Should the United States fail in this endeavor, Clinton said there could be "horrible consequences," not only for the Middle East, but for the world. As the audience rose for a standing ovation, Clinton said, "I can only hope that this administration will be guided by reality and evidence, not ideology and partisanship." Bacow then read three pre-selected questions from a student, a professor, and an administrator. One question regarded "wedge issues," particularly gay marriage and its effect on dividing the electorate in favor of Republicans candidates. Clinton drew upon the Bible in her answer, saying "no one who reads the New Testament can ignore the fact that Jesus had a lot more to say about how we should treat the poor than some wedge issues of the campaign, like gay marriage." Clinton spoke briefly about domestic issues, and smiled when asked what her one wish for the U.S. health care system would be: "start over," was the reply. "While we see the statistics [regarding health care] continuously getting worse, there is still a huge vested interest in keeping this dysfunctional system just as it is," she said. Clinton said she admired some of Kerry's ideas on health care but deplored the policies of the current administration. "So I guess my wish is that they'll be unsuccessful," she said, concluding the session to great applause. Mary Jeka, vice president of University Relations, said she was extremely pleased with the lecture. "It was terrific to have a very prominent woman," Jeka said. Jeka said Clinton's lecture was actually scheduled for last spring, but that the senator asked instead to speak after the presidential election due to temporary time constraints. It is "unclear" whether there will be a second Fares lecture this year to make up for the one missed last year, Jeka said. Because Clinton is an active member of the U.S. Senate, she is unable to collect speaker's fees. Jeka said the money which the Fares Foundation would have spent on her fee was instead given to an unspecified charity.

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Drinan speaks on human rights

November 10

Father Robert F. Drinan, S.J. spoke to a crowd of about 40 in Goddard Chapel on Tuesday about taking personal and national responsibility for human rights at the international level. Drinan's talk, entitled "How Can America Advance Democracy and Human Rights?" was the second part of the University Chaplaincy's Religion and the Law Forum. A Catholic priest and former U.S. congressman, Drinan addressed three main points in his lecture: the evolution of human rights, the revolution in Congress for human rights, and what individuals can do to promote human rights. "If there is one concept of an international morality, it is the importance of international human rights," Drinan said, adding that there are still obstacles to the recognition of human rights in America. "You just can't change humanity so that we are suddenly so much better than we were," he said. "[The United States] pretends that we are a superpower," Drinan said. "But we are not living up to our duties." Drinan traced the evolution of the U.S. stance on human rights, first lauding President Jimmy Carter, who made "human rights the soul of our foreign policy," he said. Under Carter, "the world saw that the U.S. was serious about human rights," Drinan said. President Ronald Reagan kept human rights in the national spotlight, but focused exclusively on "anti-communism," and President George H.W. Bush brought "four years of ambiguity," Drinan said. As for President Bill Clinton, Drinan labeled him "devoted to human rights," but his evaluation of the current president was much more damning - George W. Bush "seems militantly against human rights," he said. Drinan urged students to "keep up with this" issue of human rights, because it is "a movement of global consequence." He urged the audience to "learn about it, pray about it, and act on it." He cautioned that "we in the United States, isolated by two great oceans, don't want" to get involved in human rights on an international scale. Islamic nations can pose unique difficulties in this domain. "It is an entirely new problem in the history of our country, where suddenly one fifth of the world's population doesn't like us," he said. Drinan came down in opposition to the Iraq war, asking "Why are we bombing these poor people? Why do we want Fallujah?" "You may say 'Well, those are political issues,'" he said. "Well, they're human rights issues." Drinan provided examples of specific cases in which the United States has broken international law, including the possession of 19 submarines with 2,000 nuclear weapons in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, he said. "Why are we doing this? It's not to protect democracy and it's not to protect human rights," Drinan said. Drinan most emphasized the importance of individual action. "You may say 'I just want to lead a simple life.' Well, you can't ... we are all called to democracy," he said. "We have to be well-informed, we have to be articulate, and we have to defend human rights." He gave the example of a Catholic lawyer in London who was just "one man," but took on the case of five unlawfully detained Portuguese students. That "one man" founded what became Amnesty International. "You count," Drinan said to his audience. Drinan called attention to specific issues that students could work on, including "the plague of AIDS," the plight of refugees, and issues of children's rights. "The world is begging for the U.S. to give, and we give, but not enough," he said. "When I read the foreign press, it is very painful." Drinan said the United States ranks only 21st among the list of 26 "donor nations" that give money to the poor, relative to size. He made a special call to the Catholics in the audience. "The whole world is looking at American Catholicism," he said. According to Drinan, the 62 million Catholics in the United States make up 26 percent of the country's population, leading other countries to wonder, "Can't [Catholics] have more impact?" "They see the scandals ... but they also see the promise," he said, adding that Catholics are the "best-paid ethnic group in the country." Drinan also said that he was "disappointed in the Catholic vote" in this year's presidential election. "We have to face the fact that it is a conservative country, it's a selfish country," he said. Drinan said religion and politics are intertwined. "You can say that the churches should be completely removed from politics, but that's a myth. You need the churches," he said. Currently a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, Drinan has acted as a visiting law professor at a number of U.S. law schools and is the former dean of the Boston College Law School. Drinan served in the U.S. Congress as the Massachusetts representative from the Fourth District from 1971 to 1981. He resigned when the newly-elected Pope John Paul II changed Church policy so that a priest could no longer serve as a politician. The next installment of the University Chaplaincy's "Forum on Religion and the Law" will take place on Dec. 7 when Professor Joseph Walser of the Comparative Religion Department will speak on "Buddhism and the Law."

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Basketball team School Bus rolls through season only to wreck in final

November 10

The seemingly unbeatable IM basketball team, School Bus, reached the end of the road last Tuesday, unable to defend its championship title in the final round of playoffs. The magical ride was over, despite the fact that School Bus had previously dominated the Monday Recreational League, going undefeated with a 6-0 record for the entire eight-week season.

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Series victory brings some vindication for Duquette

November 10

He brought Boston some of its biggest sports icons. He made some shrewd trades and revitalized the careers of several players on the scrap heap. He also helped bring a World Series Championship to the Red Sox. No, we're not talking about Theo Epstein, but rather former Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette. By now, everyone knows what a fantastic job Epstein has done with the Red Sox. But in the post-euphoria of the World Series victory, you don't hear many Bostonians praising the job that Duquette did. Maybe it's about time he got a pat on the back. After all, he acquired Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek, and Derek Lowe, all in lopsided trades. He brought in Tim Wakefield for nothing, and he signed Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Duquette was fired in March 2002 by new owners and no longer has any formal connection to the team, but he displayed no bitterness towards Boston's success without him. "I was sitting in Busch Stadium right behind third base when they won," Duquette said. "I've been going with a friend to the World Series for about the last 15 years, so it was certainly great to get a chance to see the Red Sox in there." Duquette also exhibited a sense of pride in how well the players that he had acquired performed in the Series. "It was real fun watching Pedro and Derek Lowe pitch so well," Duquette said. "Manny winning the MVP of the Series was great. Manny's a pretty cool guy and a terrific hitter; I'm glad to see he's doing so well. And we signed Orlando Cabrera in Montreal when I was the GM there, so it was nice to see him do well [too]. I remember talking to a scout in Montreal because we had just signed his older brother, Jolbert, and the guy said he's got a younger brother who might be even better, and I said, 'Okay, we'll have to sign him too!'" In fact, the World Series victory meant a lot to the Dalton, MA, native on a number of levels. "How many times have we been on the verge of beating the Yankees and they go on to win the World Series? It was nice to have it the other way around and dominate the Cardinals in every facet of the game. I thought it was great personally because the Duquette family has been waiting to see this for four generations," Duquette said. "It also felt great professionally because a number of the core players were signed or acquired in other ways under my tenure, so I have a lot of ties to this team. I also have indirect ties with people like Curt Schilling. The Yankees wanted him too, but Boston used some prospects that our administration had developed to acquire him. He turned out to be one of the heroes." One has to wonder if Duquette feels a bit underappreciated, considering he had so much to do with the victory. You certainly didn't see him riding along with everyone else in the Duck Boats at the parade. Still, he didn't go without any recognition. "Larry Lucchino called me during the League Championship Series to thank me for the contributions I made to the team, and I saw Tom Werner at the World Series and he said congratulations to me for my contributions, so that was nice of them," Duquette said. Despite some clever pick-ups, Duquette's reign wasn't without controversy. In contrast to the current merry group of Red Sox, some of the teams in the past didn't quite exhibit the same enthusiasm for the game. Carl Everett never gave "the Manny Ramirez finger-point" to Jose Offerman. Still, Duquette claims he did pay attention to the need for clubhouse chemistry, though he said it can be overemphasized. "We targeted players with good makeup just like this group does, but sometimes they come here and they just have a hard time performing in this environment," Duquette said. "From this current administration I'd say Byung-Hyun Kim might be an example of that, and from my time Carl Everett is probably an example. Clubhouse chemistry is important, but it can be overplayed because good players win, and winning is what makes people happy and what people are judged by. You have to look at it from all angles; there's the evaluation of the player's skills where scouting and Sabermetrics come in, there's the economic side - how much the players is making - and there's the player makeup, you have to look at all three." Despite the attachment Duquette feels toward some of his acquisitions, he doesn't feel it is necessary for Boston to hold onto any of the free agents simply for sentimentality. "The Red Sox are going to be a competitive team no matter what," Duquete said. "If these free agents don't play another game with the Red Sox that's okay because they came here and did what they set out to accomplish. We got to see Pedro's best years and we should be grateful. If he wants to leave I say best of luck to him because he came here and did what he set out to do." As for Duquette's post-Sox agenda, the former GM has returned to his roots and is running the Dan Duquette Sports Academy in the Berkshires. "We have a state-of-the-art training facility and one and two week overnight and day camps for ages 8-18," Duquette said. "We have baseball, basketball, soccer, football, strength and condition, and sports." And of course, Duquette stays very close to baseball. He helps run the Berkshire Dukes of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, which had 105 players drafted or signed by the MLB last year, second only to the Cape Cod League. But after some time away from the game at the major league level, he's starting to get the itch once again. "This year I'm working on trying to re-affiliate with a Major League team," he said. There are certainly many that could use him.

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Evan Cochran | Down with the FCC

November 10

There are times in everyone's life when you just have to throw yourself into the unknown. I'm not talking about taking a yoga class or learning about dolphins, I'm talking about getting all loaded up, be it on pure adrenaline or something else entirely, and putting yourself in mortal danger. Now I'm not claiming to be Evel Knievel by any means, but I can assure that I've put myself in many situations that I didn't always expect to make it out of. I consider myself one of many people who can honestly say that risking it all every now and then isn't just healthy, but exhilarating as well. And I also consider myself someone who has earned the right to talk about how peering over the edge irrevocably changes a person because I myself have almost fallen over this same edge. Let me give you an example of what putting it all on the line can do to you. For one, trivial things that used to piss you off lose their importance. Once you've woken up and been amazed that you're still alive, you no longer worry about people smoking cigarettes in your house. It really just isn't that crucial anymore, especially when you realize that it's more important to have fun than to be a cigarette Nazi. Another perk is that you won't feel the need to be nice to people you hate anymore, because well, it's simply a waste of time that you're lucky to have. And perhaps best of all, you become a better lover. Trust me. The reason for all these changes is that you no longer feel the need for complete and utter safety. I'm not saying that you become reckless by any means, but rather, I'm saying that you know that you can take a punch and keep going. So when I hear someone talking about things like why smoking should be illegal and how evil tobacco companies are, I usually think to myself: If any of these activists had actually lived their lives courageously, they wouldn't really care if someone around them wanted a cigarette. When was the last time you heard a veteran of World War II talking about how much smoking offends them? The fact is that once you've had a gun put to your head, you understand the danger posed by a cigarette being put to your mouth is really pretty minor. Many people will read this article and disagree, saying that a lifetime of smoking will drastically shorten your life expectancy. That's true, but what you people never seem to realize is that it's your choice to smoke. If you don't like smoking, then don't smoke. It's really pretty easy. You might also tell me that smoking is addictive, and that's why it's so bad. But you know what? Anyone with the will to quit can. And if a stranger around you is offending you with their smoke, then deal with it. They'll be gone in a little while and I sincerely doubt that a few minutes of second hand smoke here and there is really going to kill you. Obviously, it's different if your family members or friends smoke and you want them to stop. I would recommend just talking to them and telling them to stop instead of going on a political rampage trying to rob a group of people, smokers, of something they like. How would you feel is someone outlawed your "Home and Gardening" magazine or whatever other thing you people like just because it offended some group of people, somewhere? I feel this way and I'm not even a smoker myself. I just know that whether or not people around me smoke isn't going to have a significant impact on my life, and therefore I have no problem with it. What I do have a problem with, however, are people who live their lives never taking any risks at all in the hope of making their lives as squeaky clean and safe as possible trying to tell other people what they can and cannot do. That's not fair, especially when you realize that these are the same people who are so anal and afraid that they can't even take the smallest risks in their own lives. I guess what I'm trying to say is live a little, be daring and don't be such a prick. You'd be how surprised how fun life can be when you're willing to take some chances and how hollow your life would seem without them. And on a completely different note, I need a job. The Daily doesn't pay too well and therefore if anyone knows of any job openings please email me the details. Thanks.

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Productive dialogue is key

November 10

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech yesterday correctly stressed the importance of productive dialogue between the United States and the nations of the Middle East. U.S. relations with the region are floundering at the moment, due to the Iraq war and President Bush's "War on Terror."

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Tisch lectures about importance of partnerships in creating synergy

November 10

Jonathan M. Tisch (LA '76), Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, gave a speech Tuesday afternoon as part of the Lyon and Bendheim Alumni Lecture Series. He lectured on the importance of partnership in both business and everyday life as discussed in his recently released book, "The Power of We: Succeeding Through Partnerships." Tisch said he believed that individuals must understand and care about the community, putting aside singular concerns to work toward the greater good - what Tisch labeled "the power of we." Tisch, who also mentioned his part in the redesign of the library that bears his name, focused on six types of business partnership throughout his lecture: partnership with customers, co-workers and employees, the community, competitors, the government, and investors. Tisch said that people in all career fields need to be collaborative in their partnerships in order to work towards group unification, and must avoid a singular mind-set. "By creating a pathway to success, you have to support those around you," Tisch said. This is a policy that he claims to employ not only in relation to his co-workers and customers, but to the communities that surround his hotels as well. Tisch took pride in his ability to use his position of prominence and power to help people who live and work around his business. Programs such as Loews Hotel Good Neighbor Policy, which donates left-over food and blankets to area food banks and missions, and Loews Loves Pets, which raises money for animal shelters, are examples of partnerships business leaders can easily form, Tisch said. Tisch's understanding of the importance of partnerships was reinforced in June, 2003, when he took part in a week-long The Learning Channel (TLC) program entitled "Now Who's Boss." The program restarted CEOs at entry-level positions within their own corporations. There they traded their business attire for a blue-collar uniform and were trained for labor-oriented service duties, after which they performed these services for paying customers. Tisch's experience involved cleaning hotel rooms, running a front desk, serving as a bellman, and cooking breakfast at the hotel restaurant. His employees were brutally honest with his performance, granting him a "C" in the housekeeping section. Tisch admitted it took him three hours to clean one room. Tisch said his experience in the program "reinforced my understanding of how important these individuals are to my success, to my company's success. I understood what they can do for us and what we can do for them. All executives should do what I just experienced." Tisch said that he did not simply give back to his community by "throwing on a tux and writing a check at a fundraiser." Rather, he said he created numerous partnerships and took risks in an on-going effort to incorporate products and services into organizations. He said that by working toward the greater good, and by managing assets in the most efficient way possible, organizations from "Ma and Pa" stores to huge corporations will help reflect the "powers of partnership" by serving as examples of great success.

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