Most 40-year olds' birthday parties aren't packed with collegestudents, but last Thursday night, Hotung Cafe played host to about50 students and faculty at a party celebrating the ExperimentalCollege's 40th anniversary.
Tufts prospective students did not expect to be given a lessonon labor negotiations during Friday's welcome presentation ofTufts' April Open House in Cohen Auditorium.
Everyone likes to be in on something. To be one of chosen few inan inner circle of knowledge has a certain thrill not easilymatched. This is especially true when the subject is prominent andthe number of uninitiated dupes is large.
Somerville to host workshops for small businesses Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone announced last week that the citywill conduct a series of workshops for developing businesses,starting this month.
As part of his "Change Starts with U: Kerry Campus Tour 2004," Senator John Kerry hosted a conference call for college newspaper reporters yesterday. His brief opening speech and student questions centered on issues important to America's youth in the context of his anticipated nomination for Democratic candidate for president. "Over the last three years, public college tuition has increased by around 28 percent even after inflation is taken into account," Kerry said. "That meant that this year, 220,000 students have been priced out of college." Kerry blamed the Bush administration's tax cuts for the rising costs of tuition. "In effect, Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy have been a tax increase for college education, and I think that's unconscionable," he said. Kerry said that his education policy would create a $50 billion tax credit for education, which would amount to $4,000 dollars in credit per student per year. "There's a choice in this presidential race," Kerry said. "It's between common sense and what has proven to be failed economic policies. It's a stark choice, and we want students to start realizing their power in this election." Kerry encouraged American youth to rally around what they believe is right, and become active in the political process. "Young people have an enormous power and should embrace and use it," he said. "We're going to make issues pertinent to young voters once again, and together we're going to win back a Congress that will change this country's priorities," Kerry added. A March 3 Daily poll showed that 36 percent of students claim to be more politically active than in the previous year. Twenty-seven percent of students said they were less politically active than last year. Support for Kerry also seems strong. According to that same poll, 67 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Democratic candidate while only ten percent claimed they would vote for incumbent George W. Bush. Kerry addressed issues such as the economy, the environment, social security, and the military, but tailored his responses to a student audience. In answering a student's question about the future of unemployment and the economy, Kerry said, "You're all going to want jobs when you graduate from college. We're going to grow 10 million new jobs and they're going to be in fields such as high technology ... high end jobs that people need when they graduate." Kerry added that his plans for environmental responsibility will be closely linked to the economy. "We're going to start down the road towards energy independence, and that sector alone will create an additional 500,000 high-end jobs in itself," he said. In terms of the military and the occupation of Iraq, Kerry quickly assured students that there would be no draft. He had, however, previously suggested that an additional two military divisions be added to help stabilize Iraq. "Adding two more divisions to Iraq will be done by having a more sensible foreign policy where young people don't feel as if their leadership is making irresponsible decisions," Kerry said. "If we have a more reasonable relationship with the rest of the world, we shouldn't have a problem filling those new divisions." Kerry addressed a student question about social security with reassurance. "There is a lot of scare talk about social security from the Bush administration. I can guarantee you that social security will be there ... for your generation and the next," he said. Kerry added that "I have no intention of privatizing social security like Bush is trying to do. If we move our economy forward, we're not going to have a massive problem with social security. If we roll back the tax cuts and begin to be responsible fiscally, we should be just fine." Kerry's conference call is part of a broader effort to reach out to America's younger voting crowd. His "Change Starts with U" campaign will combine high-profile entertainment with voter registration and political organizing efforts, a press release for yesterday's conference call said. Kerry's phone conference comes at a time when both the Democratic and Republican parties are realizing that college voters will be key in the 2004 election. A 2003 survey from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education showed that 59 percent of college students said they would "definitely be voting" in the 2004 election and 27 percent said they would "probably" vote. In 2000, only 32 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted. The survey authors said that politically aware college voters -- dubbed "campus kids" -- increased political participation because of high profile events such as the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war.
As the first week of the National League season has clearly proven, preseason speculation is about as trustworthy as a politician during campaign season. Spring training favorites the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies are off to gloomy starts while former cellar dwellers, the Cincinnati Reds, sit atop the NL Central with a 5-2 record. Philly seems to have lost the cheese to its steak, winning a league worst one out of its first seven games. After seeing any pre-season optimism they might have had get swept away in a three-game series against the reigning World Champion Florida Marlins, the Phillies returned home for their inaugural game in the new Citizen's Bank Park. It was just like the days back at the Vet, however, as the team floundered, losing 4-1 to the Reds in the damp, cold weather. The boo-birds were out and the upper deck was empty by the fifth inning; so much for turning over a new leaf. As Inside the NL so sagely foretold last week, the Cubs are hexed, and that's all there is to it. Not only does Chicago have the curse of the goat working against it this season, but the Sports Illustrated baseball preview edition cover jinx has landed on the team as well. The Cubs sit dead last in the NL Central as of Monday at 3-4. Hurler Mark Prior remains on the disabled list and will probably stay out of the line-up until late May or early June. Fellow pitcher Kerry Wood has shown some promise early on (especially in his 11-strikeout performance on Sunday), but the newly-reacquired Greg Maddux was beaten to a pulp in his Wrigley Field debut, 13-2, by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Reds are clicking on all cylinders for the first time since their last winning season in 2000. Ken Griffey Jr. is healthy again and has been productive thus far batting .318 with two homers and five RBI through five games. The 34-year-old outfielder has lost many of his prime years to injury, but still is only 177 homeruns behind Barry Bonds and Willie Mays for third place all time. If Griffey stays off the DL, he could break out of the slump he's been in since joining the Reds in 2000. Another outfielder that has been putting numbers up early for the Reds is 24-year-old Adam Dunn. The fourth year slugger is hitting .381, just behind team leader Sean Casey's .385, with four dingers and four knocked in through six games. Dunn has had problems in the past with his role on the team, but with hitting coach Chris Chambliss' guidance, seems to have matured and come into his own in the lineup. Fully recovered from a thumb injury he suffered last August, Dunn should continue to compliment Griffey in both the outfield and at the plate. In the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a solid start with a division-leading 4-2 record. Gaps between the five western teams could show up early as the first two weeks of the season have been devoted to division play. LA took two of three from the Colorado Rockies over the weekend and will play two, three-game series with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants this week. Dodger third baseman Adrian Beltre has come roaring out of the gate batting .478 with three homers and eight RBI in the first week. Obviously this hyper-production won't continue for the entire season, but Beltre has the tools to remain consistently good for LA should he stay healthy and avoid the slumps he has been prone to in years past. On a side note, Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hit his 660th homerun on Monday tying his godfather Willie Mays for third on the career homer list. This milestone should actually be the most important thing in this article, but Bonds already receives way too much coverage, and he's a miserable human being anyway.
This week is the MCAT edition of "Inside Fitness:" I take a look at breathing during repetitions and the use of weight belts. I started lifting recently and I'm getting much bigger but I'm still in the process of learning the ropes of weightlifting. The main thing that I'm having trouble with is controlling my breathing during reps. Can you give me some pointers? -- Peeps Thomas, '06 Breathing during repetitions can be difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll easily learn how to apply breathing technique to any exercise you choose. The most difficult portion of a repetition is called the sticking point, or the plateau. For example, in the bench press, it's the pushing portion of the rep slightly above the chest; people have the most difficulty breaking through that specific point in the rep. In the bicep curl, the sticking point is about halfway through the upward portion of the rep, where the upper arm and lower arm make a ninety degree angle with one another. Once you figure out what the sticking point is of the exercise you're about to perform, the rest is easy. For most exercises, you should exhale through the sticking point and inhale during the other half of the repetition. So for the bench press, you should exhale as you push the bar up into the air and inhale as you slowly bring it back down to your chest. During the bicep curl, exhale as you curl the bar up towards your face, and inhale as you lower it back down towards your thighs. This breathing technique works for most resistance exercises. If you're sloppy with your breathing technique and breathe completely wrong during your reps, it is possible to pass out. So be careful! There are a select few vertebral-loading exercises in which it may be suggested that a breath-holding technique is better; however, this technique is very difficult to learn and can be dangerous so I would recommend against using it. I have this furry pink weight belt that my parents gave me for my birthday and I'm kind of afraid to bring it to the gym. But my lower back has started to hurt me during some of my heavy lifts and I'm thinking that the weight belt will come in handy now. When should I use it? -- Karim Bin-Humam, '05 I'm glad you brought this up. Lots of people either use weight belts too frequently or don't use them enough. Weight belt use is simple: a weight belt should be used during exercises that place stress on your lower back and involves near-maximal, or maximal loads. In all other instances, a weight belt is not needed. So if you're trying to max-out with the tricep pulldown or the lat pulldown, don't wear a weight belt. And if you're performing squats or deadlifts with light loads, don't use one either. But if you're trying to max out in the squat, the use of a weight belt is a good safety precaution to take. If you use a weight belt for every exercise you perform, regardless of whether or not it involves the lower back, your abdominal muscles will not be trained to their full potential, as your body will use the weight belt as an abdominal cushion during each rep. In addition, your body will become accustomed to the weight belt, which can be a bad thing if you're stuck without a weight belt during a training session.
Today it's hard to believe that international students were ever considered "rare" at Tufts, but Israeli-born Joseph Neubauer certainly remembers a time when foreign students were an uncommon sight on campus. Neubauer entered Tufts as a freshman in 1959 -- only three years after moving to the United States. Neubauer did not speak much English and his parents were not entirely understanding of his desire to study higher education in the United States at the time. "But, they stuck me in the basement of Carmichael freshman year, so my parents thought I was getting some sort of discounted education," Neubauer joked. Tuition at the time of his enrollment was around $800 a year, he said. Neubauer admitted that he struggled with his freshman year, but after pledging a fraternity sophomore year and excelling on the soccer field, he began to adjust and learn to love his environment. One of Neubauer's fellow fraternity brothers at the time was Nathan Gantcher (A '62). Neubauer also described how relations between the opposite sexes have changed at Tufts over the years. As a dormitory proctor his junior year, he was technically responsible for monitoring students' doors when there were members of the opposite sex present. "We all perfected the art of 'ajar,'" he said. "Did it mean closed? Open enough so that light shone through?" It was during his senior year that Neubauer had his first experience with what he would later be dealing with at ARAMARK: the food service business. As steward of his fraternity, Neubauer was in charge of monitoring the sandwiches and milk concession and delivery route around campus. "That's where I learned a lot about entrepreneurship. We knew that the closer to the end of the day it was, the cheaper we'd sell the food. If it was a rainy or snowy day, we'd raise the prices a bit, since no one wanted to come out of their rooms," he said. Upon graduating from Tufts with a BS from the School of Engineering, as well as with a solid foundation in economics, Neubauer was encouraged to study business at the University of Chicago, where he is also a trustee. "I'll never forget the event at Tufts that changed my life. I was taking a final exam in advanced microeconomics, and one of the answers was something so unexpected -- it was nothing we had really studied before. But I was the only one who got the right answer, thanks to some of the knowledge I had from my engineering classes," Neubauer said. His professor later took Neubauer aside and discussed the possibility of business school. Neubauer also named his German professor, current University Professor Sol Gittleman, as another prominent professor during his time at Tufts. Neubauer later married his wife, Jeanette, a current trustee at Brandeis University. They now live together in Philadelphia and have made a name for themselves as pioneers in philanthropy. Neubauer himself was once chair of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Neubauer officially became a trustee at Tufts in 1986, and since then he continues to give "generous donations" to the University, Vice President of University Advancement Brian Lee said. Neubauer's most prized donation, however, has been to the current group of 18 undergraduate students in the Neubauer Scholars program, created three years ago. "The mission of the Neubauer Scholars program is to bring the best and the brightest to Tufts. These are students who have the opportunity to attend any college program they would like, but with the Scholars option, they are given a mentored experience and sometimes a stipend for research," Lee said. "[Neubauer] is very passionate about connecting with these students, developing a relationship with them." The Scholars were to have dinner with the Neubauers after his speech in Barnum last evening. Aside from the Scholars and alumni programs, Neubauer has also remained a part of the Academic Council, often meeting with President Bacow, the provost, and various deans to discuss the role of philanthropy in a university setting, Lee said. A professorship has also been established by Neubauer -- the Max and Herta Neubauer Professorship -- in memory of his parents, which is currently held by economics professor Yannis Ioannides.
During a rare press conference last night, President Bush stammered when asked whether he had any regrets about the last year -- a question for which he clearly had not prepared. The eventual answer he gave -- vague and disconnected -- exemplified the squandered chance to make his case to the American people about why we went to war. Given the turmoil in Iraq it was a good time to grant a rare press conference, but his remarks rarely deviated from the same rhetoric we have been hearing for months. In a time of war, the President's steadfast resolution to our commitments in Iraq was commendable. He clearly articulated the US's commitment to a stable and democratic Iraq. He made it clear that our goal was to liberate the country, not occupy it. Were we to slow our efforts to stabilize and democratize the country, he argued, it would serve to embolden rebels within the country. Equally reassuring was his apparent openness to greater levels of international action in Iraq. The president said he sought a greater role for NATO's allies in the peacekeeping and nation building efforts. He spoke about the United Nations using perhaps the kindest terms to date. Reality has burst the bubble military planners lived in when they believed post-war democratization of Iraq would be straightforward. It was heartening to hear that the administration -- so comfortable with virtual unilateralism just months ago -- was warming up to the idea of getting more of the world involved. Yet the president left many unanswered questions, and ultimately most of what he said felt canned. With regard to the pre-Sept. 11 warnings, we heard the now-familiar declaimer that Bush would have "moved heaven and earth" if he had known what was coming. He stated that no one in his administration or the previous could have anticipated terrorists crashing airliners into buildings. When a reporter brought up the various intelligence reports that indicated such a possibility, he refused to answer, as he did another similarly worded question. Similarly, he reverted to the party line when pressed about the complete lack of WMD in Iraq. In his disappointingly familiar black and white terms, he replied that the world was better off without Saddam Hussein. He said the dictator represented a threat to the region, and to the US. What he still could not explain was why the war had to be waged when it did, over the strenuous objections of the UN and our allies who were asking for more time. Though he reiterated his commitment to handing off Iraq in just over 80 days, Bush could not elaborate one the nature of the change, nor who would receive the handoff. Though the reporter posed the question twice, he would not explain why he would only testify before the Sept. 11 commission with Vice President Cheney at his side -- contrary to the requests of the commission. When asked if he had done a poor job communicating his policy with the American public, the President replied that he had done the best job he could. If it was not good enough, he mused, perhaps he should study how to communicate better. Given the dearth of meaningful information at the conference, the president would be wise to consider his own words.
The article on Azar Nafisi's talk at Tufts on April 1 ("Author condemns Iran's social repression," April 2) did not do justice to Professor Nafisi's lecture. I would like to offer some clarifications and voice a concern. Professor Nafisi is an important figure both here and in Iran. Her memoir 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' is a best-seller in the United States and what she has to say is monitored very closely in Iran by large groups of people who have been inspired by her book and also by those who oppose her views. Professor Nafisi offered Iran as a case model in the Middle East and the Muslim world of a society taking a critical look at itself and trying to change through a process of democracy. In response to a question from the audience as to whether she would support "regime change" in Iran and Iraq she emphatically answered that she would not. She expressed her intense disapproval of Saddam Hussein but also her feeling that military intervention was not the best way to confront him. She also asserted that she believed that change in Iran would come non-violently through a democratic process, and that Iran's recent Nobel Peace Laureate, the lawyer Shirin Ebadi , was a symbol of movement toward a civil society. She urged people in the United States and other countries to extend their efforts to support freedom for political prisoners and freedom of expression in Iran. Professor Nafisi praised the young men and women in Iran who refuse to comply with the ruling elite's repressive laws and who take on the "morality squads" in the streets of Tehran. The substance of her talk focused on the ways in which people can resist and change oppressive systems by subversive uses of the imagination. She celebrated "ordinary people" defending their dignity. I cannot stress enough how important it is, in the days of worldwide internet publication, for newspapers to be accurate in their reporting. The Tufts Daily has a responsibility equal to that of any other newspaper. Jonathan Wilson Professor of English Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate Chair of English Department
"Those who work harder somehow just end up doing better," Vice President of the Board of Trustees and ARAMARK Chairman Joseph Neubauer told a packed Barnum 008 audience yesterday evening. Neubauer was invited by the Lyon and Bendheim Alumni Lecture Series, the recent project of two Tufts alumni, J.B. Lyon and Tom Bendheim (both '85), aimed to bring alumni together with students on campus, as well as with other alumni. The lecture series is also focused on celebrating the entrepreneurial achievements of alumni. "What we have found is that these alumni, like Neubauer, are always thrilled to come back," Bendheim, the current Rheingold Beer CEO,said. After graduating with a B.S. from Tufts in 1963, Neubauer earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and quickly rose in the ranks of the business world, particularly with his commitment to ARAMARK. ARAMARK provides outsourced services and is one of the world's leading service and problem-solving corporations. The company has witnessed continual innovative, financial, and economic success. In 2002, AMARAK was named one of the nation's most admired companies by Fortune magazine. "The greatest thing about my time spent at ARAMARK is that the people here come to work everyday, wanting to do their best for you," he said. "We don't wake up every morning and think 'What is someone is trying to steal from us? Trying to cheat us?'" Despite his achievements in the business world, Neubauer was adamant that the most important aspect of his success is his ability to give back to his community, which includes Tufts. "Analytical work, cooperation, trust, giving back to people -- all of these things I learned when I was at Tufts, yet they continue to apply 40 years later," Neubauer said. "Everything in my life that has been good to me has been built on trust." Neubauer presented a brief video clip of one of ARAMARK's most recent projects: the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Neubauer explained how ARAMARK successfully solved a severe dust problem which had been threatening the preservation of hundreds of artifacts, as well as building a large water-chilling system and roof maintenance. ARAMARK began in 1936, during the Great Depression, when its founder, Davre Davidson, made a living out of selling bagged peanuts to bars across the country. Davidson's passion for "delivering your promises" is the basis on which ARAMARK operates today, Neubauer said. The company established itself as the Automatic Retailers of America (ARA) in 1959 as a service and vending company. "We still have some of the same customers today as we had back in 1959," Neubauer said. In 1979, Neubauer joined the ranks of ARA as executive vice president of finance and development, CFO, and a member of the company's board of directors. According to Neubauer, he entered at a time when the company was only operating on a "mediocre" level. Neubauer continued to rise to become company president and COO in 1981, and then to the position of chairman, a post at which he has remained for the past 20 years. During this time, ARA changed its name to become ARAMARK. After a hostile takeover attempt by PepsiCo in 1984, Neubauer and a group of executives coordinated a management buyout, which resulted in the privatization of the company. In 2001, ARAMARK underwent another IPO and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Neubauer credits ARAMARK's decision to go public with the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which took the lives of seven ARAMARK employees. "There was no better time to want to give back even more, to dedicate our services," Neubauer said. Neubauer's presentation was well-attended by students, alumni, and University officials, including President Larry Bacow, Provost Jamshed Bharucha, and Director of Alumni Relations Tim Brooks. "I wanted to learn about his work because I had just read an article about him. I was very interested in how this transformation of a company happened," sophomore Edward Jun Lee said. Currently, ARAMARK is a $10 billion company that employs 200,000 people from around the world, including Ireland, Chile, Japan, Korea, and Spain. Clients include Federal Express, Boston University, the Boston Red Sox, British Petroleum, Wendy's, and Exxon-Mobil.
Somerville bars face bleak prospects of being granted a one-hour extension for last call. Although Somerville's Licensing Commission voted last month to accept applications for liquor licenses that would be valid until 2 a.m., commission Chairman Ray Trant said "just because we approved the acceptance of applications doesn't mean anyone will get the extension." Six bars have already applied for the new license: The Independent, Toast Lounge, Johnny D's, Club Choice, P.J. Ryan's, and Good Time Emporium. Trant said that the Commission intends to take "public need" into account as it makes decisions about the applications. "If people came expressing concerns we would listen to them," he said. A public hearing will be held at which the Commission reviews the applications. Although the date has not yet been set, it is expected to occur this month. Somerville residents in particular are concerned about extending last call. Although businesses have been lauding the extension as putting Somerville on an even playing ground surrounding cities which have last calls at 2 a.m. on weekends, residents seem largely opposed to it. Alderman Jack Connolly of Ward 6, which includes Ball Square and Davis Square, says he has been inundated with calls from citizens protesting the proposed licenses. The Board of Aldermen itself has vocally opposed to the extension as well. At a meeting last week, the Board unanimously accepted two resolutions put forward by Alderman Connolly and Vice President of the Board Bruce Desmond. The first resolution is a request to the Licensing Commission to not grant the 2 a.m. licenses to businesses within 100 yards of residences. This addresses the concern of nearly all of the aldermen, who believe that extending last calls would disrupt the quality of life for residents who live near bars. If adopted by the Commission, the resolution would eliminate nearly all license applicants, except for Good Time Emporium. The second resolution asks the Licensing Commission to move the public review of the applications from the police station to City Hall. This, said Connolly, is a way to establish more of an open forum, which more residents will be able to attend. He hopes that the presence and arguments of residents at the meeting will make the Board's points more salient to the Commission. The Board's stance is that enabling people to be out drinking for an extra hour will cause public safety issues for the city. "I live in this area and I know that people are woken up all the time by people who go to the bars," Connolly told the Daily in March. He and many other aldermen called the extension "unfair." In addition, Connolly objects to the fact that this extension will bring customers from other towns to the area. "I'd much rather serve a clientele who lives nearby, since they will be more respectful to neighbors," he said. Connolly also cited a letter from Somerville Police Department (SPD) Chief George McLean to the Licensing Commission last month, in which he said that the SPD does not have the resources or manpower to conduct the extra policing the extension will require. "There is little doubt in my mind that 2 a.m. closing will translate into more business for bars; it also translates into more 'business' for the police," he wrote. "Bars can hire more people immediately to handle their increase in business, we cannot." Several bar owners have argued that they would ensure that the comfort of the neighborhood is preserved. Yet, aldermen doubt that this promise could be upheld. Desmond said that "even the best bar managers in the city cannot manage patrons who are unruly." Alderman Walter Pero of Ward 4 invoked Somerville's reputation as a fairly safe community in order to argue against the extension. "People look at Somerville very differently than they did a generation ago," he said. "Because of the pride I have in this community I don't know why anyone would want this to happen." Alderman Bob Trane of Ward 7 was the only one to express some concern over the resolutions. If restrictions are imposed on the granting of the licenses, he said, all bar owners who do not receive a license may sue the city. "If the city gets a court order to grant the licenses we will lose all control," he said. Trant said, however, that the Commission is already writing up definite guidelines for granting the licenses. "We share the same concerns that the Aldermen do," he said. Connolly hopes that the Commission will focus on what he thinks is the larger issue within the controversy over licenses. "The main question here is, how will the citizens of Somerville benefit from this?" he said. Business owners are playing it by ear. Choices owner Victor Ortiz is doubtful he will get a license, but said it is important that bar owners are making their argument heard. "Right now, [the city is] just killing business," he said.
This past week my family visited Tufts and took part in the orientation and campus tour. There was an official brochure handed out in which it was stated that Tufts played Harvard in the first ever football game in 1875 ("Tufts won!"). This Tufts factoid was repeated by the Admissions Office tour guide at the rather dramatically painted cannon. Apparently the cannon was donated to commemorate this "first." The problem is that Rutgers played Princeton in the first ever football game in 1869. Rutgers won 6 to 4. Columbia was the third school to join the fray, and was Princeton's second opponent. Columbia lost and has regrettably continued the tradition. Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and Yale all met to set up the first formal set of rules and to establish the first football league. A one-hundredth anniversary game was played in 1969 and again Rutgers won. This received extensive press coverage in all media forms. You can easily verify all the above with a simple Google search under "first intercollegiate football game." No where will you find Tufts or Harvard cited and the latter school claims just about everything. As a graduate of Columbia (class of 1974), we were always taught to question various claims and representations. I hope someone at Tufts will do some scholarship on this subject and set the record straight. Dr. Peter J. Zegarelli Sleepy Hollow, NY
I remember pre-gaming one night freshman year: dancing around the room to Blondie's "Touch Myself", drinking week-old box wine out of cups stolen from Hodgdon. "I love you guys," I professed in an impromptu toast, "cause y'all will last four years...and guys...you'll be lucky if they last four minutes." Our M.O. for that part of the year was "screw men, we have each other." But then some of us met people, we lost our "boys suck" solidarity, and there was an unspoken fissure between them and us. Getting into a relationship in college can feel like being seduced by the dark side. We fear that deciding to having a significant other and having a friend-filled social life are mutually exclusive. We fear that we must decide if we want the mascot of our college years to be a condom or a kegorator. But relationships don't have to be so "all or nothing," and having a girlfriend of boyfriend doesn't mean that we have to let ourselves be isolated from all our single friends. Most relationship problems are a result of allowing ourselves to be completely consumed by another person. When we find someone we're really into, it can be hard to keep sight of who we are, and what else in the world is important. It's so tempting to go with the immediate gratification of spending all of out time with them, and to neglect to stop and consider the long-term consequences. Total immersion leads to total isolation. As enticing as it can be to live in your private bubble of "Pookie and Me", it is always important to keep some perspective. Realistically, most college relationships end; pet name "Pookie" is soon replaced with pet name "prick". And when relationships go sour, it's our friends who are there to be the emotional janitors. Our friends are the ones who drive three hours and meet us at our house with a case and a blow up doll ... but only if we had continued to acknowledge their importance while otherwise occupied with Mr. or Mrs. Right then. Especially if we are wrapped up in a relationship, we can forget that our friends need us too. That being close to someone, even in a platonic way, puts us in the position to be able to hurt them. The difference is that while someone we are involved with romantically may be very verbal when we hurt them, often friends don't speak up, because they feel like "technically" they shouldn't be upset, and they don't want to undermine our happiness. The number one healthiest thing you can do while in a relationship is to always take time out to spend with your friends. And just as there were things to talk about before Pookie, there are other things to talk about during, and after. Your friends want to know the "Cliff Notes" version of what is happening in your relationship; they don't want the drawn out novel. They really don't care if his or her father wore a gray shirt which is so funny cause it's a big family joke that Ross hates gray but it's Sally's favorite color, but they haven't talked for three months because blah blah blah.... As enthusiastic as you may be about your partner, it's important to remain people- friendly. This means not rehashing the details of the great sex you're having to those friends of yours that aren't getting any. It means don't dry hump in the campus center -- wait to get it on in the privacy of your own home. And don't designate every hour you're together as a new reason to celebrate an anniversary. Love your partner, but don't make the rest of the world observe your bizarre love rituals. The majority of the time, getting into a relationship with someone you care about is worth it. You are able to learn things about yourself both good and bad that never would have surfaced otherwise. Having a relationship doesn't have to mean choosing between your friends and your hook-up. You are always the one in control of how you spend your time. Everything in moderation, and it's very possible to split your college years between booze and babes 50-50.
In its final dual match before this weekend's NESCAC Championships, the women's tennis team fell to Amherst by a score of 7-2, bringing the team's fall and spring combined record to 10-2 overall. The match was moved indoors due to inclement weather outside, but this did not necessarily prove favorable for the Jumbos. According to senior captain Barclay Gang, playing in the Amherst indoor facility was only slightly better than playing in the rain. "They had three indoor courts that played really fast," Gang said. Despite the less than optimal circumstances, Gang was quick to praise the team's effort on the court, and was proud of the way her team competed. "The girls fought really hard," the captain added. Despite the loss, the trip out to Amherst did yield a couple of bright spots for the Jumbos, including a win at second singles by junior Jen Lejb. Lejb provided a straight set triumph over the Jeffs' Kristen Raverta by a score of 6-4, 6-3, which improved her overall record to 12-1 on the season, including an impressive win at second singles on Saturday against national number one Emory. The other victory on the day came at second doubles with Gang and junior partner Neda Pisheva defeating the team of Raverta and partner Wallis Molchen, 8-3. Gang also had a tight match at fourth singles but fell to Hadley Miller 6-4, 7-6. Also coming up slightly short for Tufts was Lisa Miller, who fell to Molchen at fifth singles 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. With the result of the match already decided, a tiebreaker was played in place of the third set to determine the victor. In the rest of the day's singles action, freshman Jen Luten fell at first singles to Trista Hedrick 1-2, 2-6; sophomore Becky Bram fell to Rachel Holt 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, and freshman Kylyn Deary, playing in the sixth slot, fell 6-3, 6-1 to Katie Hudson. In doubles, Lejb and Luten fell 8-4 to Holt and Hedrick, and Bram and Miller lost to Miller and Erin Murphy by a score of 8-6. The eighth-ranked Lord Jeffs improved their overall mark on the season to 12-3. The Jumbos will not have to wait long to put forth a strong performance on Amherst's home turf, as the squad will be right back out in Western Massachusetts on Thursday for this weekend's NESCAC Championships, hosted by the Jeffs. Multiple current Jumbos were able to have success in last year's NESCACs, including wins in two doubles flights. In the number 1 doubles flight last year, Lejb was victorious with her partner, 2003 graduate and co-captain Kate Nordstrom. In the number 4 doubles flight, Bram and junior Trina Spear also came out on top in 2003. Gang advanced to the semifinals last year in the B Flight of the singles tournament, and Miller did the same in the C Flight, only to lose to the other 2003 senior co-captain, Iffy Saeed. In the D Flight, Pisheva advanced all the way to the finals, and looks to repeat her similar success this year. The Jumbos two freshmen, Luten and Deary, also look to be successful in their first NESCAC tournament. At the Middlebury Invitational three weekends ago, Luten was dominant in each of her matches on her way to the flight A singles title, while Deary smoked her competition, only losing 11 games in the entire tournament on her way to the flight D singles title. The two then combined to win the Flight A doubles title, as Luten's usual partner, Jen Lejb, was unable to compete. Coming off its first two losses of the season, the squad seems ready to post multiple strong showings in this year's NESCAC Championships. Gang is confident in her team's ability and hopes today's loss will help motivate the Jumbos in the tournament. "We're excited for NESCACs this weekend," she said. "And hopefully we'll have a chance to play some of the same people [we played today] and beat them."
Females: if you could change one part of your physical appearance, what would it be: your nose, breasts, waist, thighs, teeth, or all of the above? On the website for FOX's new series "The Swan," the poll's most popular answer out of 162 women is "all of the above." Each episode of "The Swan" capitalizes on these and many other self-esteem issues that plague today's women for the show's own financial gain, joining a slew of other networks that have dropped their moral standards to a new low in the realm of reality television. Not only do these series feed on people's self-loathing by promising them false happiness, but they also support the concept of a single, ideal and vastly unattainable standard of what is considered to be "beautiful" in American society. "Swan" focuses on two "average-looking" women per episode, who explain their reasons for loathing their physical appearance and then are given intensive three-month makeovers, ranging from significant plastic surgery to dieting to self-esteem therapy. Twenty-eight-year-old Kelly, one of the show's first two contestants, sobs uncontrollably when she is told that she has been selected to be a Swan. Photographs of her semi-nude body are shown to the "reconstruction team" and are accentuated with large target signs on all of the body parts the team deems "unworthy." In Kelly's case, these necessary changes include a brow lift, lip enhancement, liposuction on her chin and cheeks, collagen in the lips and in nasal labial folds, hair removal and Lasik eye surgery. And this is just for her face. Not only does the show perpetuate the idea that there is only one standard of beauty for women (large breasts, impossibly thin frame, and various fixed facial features), but it also sends the message to every female viewer who does not have these characteristics that they are not beautiful and never will be unless they conform by modifying themselves, as the unhappy contestants have here. However, perhaps the most disturbing part of "Swan" is that at the end of the transformation, one of the two "contestants" is chosen to compete in the Swan Beauty Pageant, which will serve as the ultimate degradation of television. Basically, whoever has received the best plastic surgery and has done the most complete job of transforming their appearance into something unrecognizable from the "average-looking" woman before will be crowned "The Swan." After enduring three months of painful torture and even after enormous transformations during which one's entire physical look is discarded and reconstructed, the losing contestant is still not considered to be beautiful enough when superficially compared to another woman. What kind of psychological effect would this have on a human being, to be told after the most drastic form of makeover on this planet that they are still not "good" enough? Equally alarming are the contestants' reiterations that they will "become a new person" after the physical transformation, which the surgery team eagerly plays into. The "Swan Team" of two cosmetic surgeons, a cosmetic and reconstructive dentist, a laser eye surgeon, and several other professional "enhancers" hack into these women like pieces of meat, decorate them with new plastic body parts like personal Barbie dolls, and then surround the contestant cheering and clapping over their final product. The women undergoing the transformations don't become "new people;" they are still the same except now the doctors have chipped and sliced away at them. But this plastic surgery craze and desire to become someone else is not limited to women. One of the first episodes of MTV's "I Want a Famous Face" chronicled the transformation of two teenage twin boys whose ultimate desire in life is to look like Brad Pitt. The most sickening element of the new makeover reality show phenomenon is the blatant fact that these people's deep, psychological needs are being ignored in order to get good Nielsen ratings. "Swan's" Kelly cried continuously throughout the makeover process and repeatedly made comments such as, "I would love to look in the mirror one day and be happy with what I see." Reality shows like "Swan" and "I Want a Famous Face" are making this idea of rejecting one's own body and appearance as a normal and sometimes necessary action in order to obtain happiness. Somewhere between the participants' weeping and repeated declarations that their lives will be drastically changed once they have a new face, it becomes painfully obvious to the viewer that no amount of physical transformation can make these people accept themselves or succeed in giving them happiness.
"Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite certain that they mean something else," wrote Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest. But is the first sunny day of the year really so complicated? Spring in Paris marks the end of interminably long stretches of gray winter days, which are enough to give the whole city le flegme (that heavy, lazy feeling) or even a Baudelarian spleen. So on the first warm day of April, my friend Kathryn and I, and seemingly everyone else in the 17th arrondissement, found ourselves in Parc Monceau exposing our un-pigmented upper arms to the sun. Though it's technically forbidden, we sat on the new spring grass and looked around. Across from us, a lanky shoeless boy slumped against a tree, his thick book growing heavier as the afternoon sun grew warmer. Two groups of high-schoolers, boys and girls, were lounging a flirtatious distance from each other. Soon, contact was initiated by way of cigarette. "Je peux te taxer un clope" -- the cigarette offered, the light retrieved, the head inclined into a moment of brief intimacy with a stranger. A more established couple spooned on a towel they had laid out on a flat patch of grass by the path. Their gauzy obliviousness was broken by the insistent whistles of the gendarmes, who were making the rounds in their humorless navy uniforms to chase us off the grass. Even they seemed to regret depriving the sunbathers of the simple pleasure of laying out on this first day of spring. The boy with the book slowly put one sock on after the other, prolonging the process beyond any imaginable necessity. And everyone else reluctantly obeyed as well until the gendarme was safely out of sight. After she left to spoil other people's fun, we returned to the grass to re-spread blankets, reopen books, and re-entwine ourselves under the spotty shade of still leafless branches. Around 3 p.m., the gendarmes stopped making their rounds, realizing the futility of their task, or perhaps the mean-spiritedness of it. Kathryn and I decided to stroll around the oddly decorated Parc Monceau, past an Egyptian-style stone pyramid, a pond ringed with Doric columns, and statues of young girls with braids draped admiringly over the busts of dead poets. The gravel path was choked with laboring rollerbladers and kids careening on miniature Razor scooters. A few panting runners weaved through the crowd, their sweaty T-shirts exhibiting a perfect incomprehension of the spirit of the day. Meanwhile, children dressed as miniature wizards, princesses, knights, and Spidermen chased each other in circles, dressed up for some holiday having to do with Lent, I think. A crowd of tiny boys played soccer on an uneven stretch of dirt, the roots and bumps of their three-dimensional field transforming the game entirely. They played shirts versus skins, exposing sharp little shoulder bones thrust with pointed concentration. As we approached the carrousel, a breeze carried the unmistakable smell of cr??pes au Nutella from a hundred yards away. The line of some three dozen parents and their impatient children, who clamored for cr??pes and pinwheels and other trinkets, deterred us, however, and we waded through the swarming tide of toddlers toward the respite of the shade. We followed a narrow path out of the park, our cheeks pinked by the early April sun and the sensation of being surrounded by so much newness -- pale green buds, smooth-checked babies, first flowers emerging from the dirt. That evening, dusk chilled the air again, definitively closing the brief parenthesis of spring. I closed my window that night, trying to hold in the memory of the day even as I saw the navy clouds coming in over a black sky. I should have known that this warm blush would be all too short: it is often so with unexpected pleasures. And so, as Wilde predicted, I find myself thinking inevitably of something else.
Could the September 11 attacks have been prevented? Raising this question a year or two ago would have been branded as conspiratorial and paranoid, not to mention unpatriotic. But now, portions of the truth are being revealed to the public and people are now beginning to wonder. How much did the government actually know about the threat of an Al-Qaida attack? How did it react to the available information? What could have possibly been done to stop those 19 hijackers from committing their terrible crime? Thanks to the Sept. 11 Commission, which investigates the terrorist attack, the public is learning some pretty interesting facts about how this government acted. Apparently, there was a lot of intelligence indicating the intention of Osama bin Laden to perpetrate terrorist attacks in the United States. In August 6, 2001, President Bush received a presidential daily briefing, or PDB, entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S." President Bush, who was enjoying one of the longest presidential vacations ever at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, read the following warning in that report: "FBI information ... indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks." That seems to me like a pretty clear warning. True, the reports (as far as we know) did not pinpoint the exact location of the attacks, or the date. But maybe some steps could have been taken to heighten airport alerts, or something of that sort. That, of course, does not mean that the Sept. 11 attacks could have been prevented. After all, these terrorists were "determined" as the report states. But it makes you wonder whether the government reacted appropriately to the information it had received. Nobody is blaming the Bush administration for Sept. 11, but we need to ask tough questions in order to get a clear picture of what happened in the months leading to September 11, 2001. It is essential that we know exactly what kind of information the government had and how it reacted to it. Only then will the Sept. 11 commission be able to make the necessary recommendations that will help the government deal more effectively with similar threats. It is certainly important to find out about what happened before Sept. 11. But it is more urgent to reassess what is happening right now. How has the administration responded to the threat of terrorism? Instead of concentrating all of its forces to dismantle al Qaida and eliminating the root causes of terrorism, the Bush administration has been caught up in a huge mess -- a wholly unnecessary huge mess. The war in Iraq is costing billions and billions to U.S. taxpayers, it is taking the lives of increasing numbers of Americans, and it is undermining the fight against terrorism. The United States has lost its credibility in the eyes of the world, and it has alienated valuable friend and allies. In only a few months, Bush has been accomplished what Saddam only dreamed of -- it has succeeded in uniting Shiites and Sunnis in their hatred of the U.S. occupation. As Iraqis rebel throughout their country, Bush insists that his administration will meet the June 30th deadline to transfer sovereignty back to Iraqi hands. The June 30th deadline is unrealistic and arbitrary. It was designed in Washington for electoral purposes and it completely ignores what is actually going on there. Of course, the transfer of sovereignty is only symbolic because the U.S. will effectively control the fate of this country. However, if the U.S. does not provide the necessary military and financial support to the emerging government, Iraq will surely spiral into a civil war, in which the different ethnic groups will fight each other for control. The situation in Iraq can surely get much worse than this and it would be an enormous defeat for U.S. foreign policy to leave Iraq worse than the U.S. found it. The U.S. should not transfer sovereignty until there is stability in the country. If that means that the June 30th deadline will not be met, so be it. It is far more important to get the job done right in Iraq (if that is at all possible at this point) than it is to show the resolve of this administration to meet its own deadlines. It was not necessary to go into Iraq. But now, whether we like it or not, the U.S. is there. The U.S. must make sure the new Iraq does not collapse. That means it will have to send more troops, spend more money, and stay there for many more years. There is no easy way out and no illusory deadlines will change that fact. Bush, and the rest of the country, will have to pay dearly for this mistake. Rodrigo De Haro is a senior majoring in International Relations. He can be reached at deharo@tuftsdaily.com.
Our government is in the process of developing a circumspect series of laws whose only purpose is to undermine Roe v. Wade. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act is a priceless example: it includes the definition of an unborn child as "a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb." To legally define a fetus as a person "at any stage of development" (or, from conception), is, indeed, the sole point of this legislation, and its horrific implications should not be overlooked or ignored because of the law's humanitarian fa?§ade. As citizens, it is imperative that we educate and assert ourselves to prevent more dangerous legislation from slipping into law. The importance of this law, which was signed into legitimacy by President Bush on April 1, cannot be underestimated. For students who still think that it is actually about protecting pregnant women, there are some things you should know: as this Act was being written, Representative Zoe Lofgren of California drafted and set forth a parallel piece of legislation in the House of Representatives. She proposed an identical increase in punishment against attackers of pregnant women but did not create legal personhood for the fetus. It was outvoted in favor of the current wording. Even after her less controversial version was rejected in the House, women's advocates in the Senate tried to salvage the Act. An amendment that would have kept the law from legally stating when human life begins was outvoted in the Senate, 50-49. This amendment was written by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and together with Representative Lofgren she shows us that it is not necessary to create the dangerous legal precedent of personhood for a fetus in order to fully prosecute those who would attack or harm a pregnant woman. Indeed, so called "fetal-rights advocates" have repeatedly overlooked such truly humanitarian efforts in favor of the loaded wording of the current legislation, and they should be ashamed of themselves for hiding their anti-choice rhetoric behind a law that pretends to be in the interests of women. The language used by advocates of such "fetal rights" legislation is deceptively pro-woman, but it is important to realize the innate contradiction that fetal rights pose to a woman's right to choose. The pro-choice movement holds that every woman has the moral right to decide if and when she will have a child, but placing the "rights" of a fetus above the decisions of the mother essentially eliminates the mother's choice. As the American Civil Liberties Union states in the 1996 article 'What's Wrong with Fetal Rights,' "A pregnant woman and her fetus should never be regarded as separate, independent, and even adversarial, entities." Anti-choice politicians use phrasing to suggest that disagreeing with them makes you against feti, or anti-babies. But I am a dedicated pro-choice activist and I believe that a fetus has rights, too: the right to be loved, the right to have a mother who has access to proper medical care for it, the right to be born healthy. These rights cannot be assured by limiting abortion rights or access, and forcing a woman to carry her pregnancy to term. I beg all students who care about preserving women's rights to pay attention, and assert themselves. Bills both supporting and opposing fetal rights go through Congress every day. See for yourself, go to the website thomas.loc.gov, it's a service of the Library of Congress that shows all the current Congressional legislation in addition to Senate schedules and information on the legislative process. Here are some examples of what is being considered: the "Life Protecting Judicial Limitation Act," the "Child Custody Protection Act," the "Parental Notification and Intervention Act," and the "Late Term Abortion Restriction Act," are only some examples of the many, many Congressional attempts to render Roe v. Wade meaningless. The Bush Administration is pushing its way towards a choice-free America, and the time to fight back is now. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act is not the first law worded solely as a means to limit reproductive rights and hidden behind an outrageously inappropriate humanitarian vocabulary. It will not be the last, either, and until President Bush is out of office we must read between the lines of legislation that pretends to help women, and stop further encroachments on our rights. We must educate ourselves on what's going on in our government, and we must vehemently voice our protest. The damage already done is immense. Melanie Clatanoff is a sophomore French major and member of Tufts Feminist Alliance.
Tufts received a record number of applications for admission for the fourth year in a row, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions announced yesterday. The University accepted 27 percent of the 14,720 students who applied, a selectivity rating Coffin called "consistent with previous years." The selectivity rating for the class of 2007 was 26 percent. The mean of admitted students' combined SAT scores was 29 points higher than last year's scores, from 1384 in the class of 2007 to 1413 in the class of 2008. Mean verbal scores rose from 681 to 703, and math scores increased from 703 to 713. According to Coffin, these SAT scores are the highest of accepted students "in recent memory." Coffin said he was "very impressed" in his first year at Tufts. "We certainly saw that during the fall, as we were visiting schools, that the interest in Tufts and the awareness of Tufts continues to grow," he said. "As we went through selection committee, the data all increased from last year to this year," Coffin said. High school guidance counselor Marilyn Rennie-Stanton of Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, MA said she has witnessed a trend in the growth of student interest in Tufts. Getting into Tufts has "definitely gotten harder in my six years here," she said. According to Rennie-Stanton, even strong students must "go the extra step and say 'Tufts is my first choice.'" Though the admitted student statistics give a picture of the quality of accepted students, applicant interest in Tufts will be measurable only after May 1, the deadline for students to confirm their position in the class of 2008. "It's also going to be very interesting to see what happens on May 1, if the enrolled profile also increases after last year," Coffin said. So far, 100 accepted students have confirmed that they will not be attending Tufts in the fall. According to Coffin, the sample of students who already turned down their application was too small to show any patterns. "We were in the mix, and given the academic profile of this class, they have options," he said. "That to me is an expected part of the admissions process at a place like Tufts." Now, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is concentrating on the April Open House, a program that begins this Friday and is comprised of tours and seminars for admitted students. "The challenge going forward as we move into the April Open House program is to put a best foot forward, and as accepted families come to campus, showcase the University in a way that makes them say, 'this university is superb'," Coffin said. Demographic data shows that admitted students in the class of 2008 are 51 percent female and 49 percent male, and 30 percent are considered members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Geographic trends continue from last year, according to Coffin, who said there is a "deepening of the pool in key areas, [namely] New York and California. The international pool has continued to be strong." Students were accepted from every state except South Dakota, and from over 70 countries. Coffin said that applicants listed their top interests as the International Relations program, pre-health programs, life sciences, economics, and political science. "A significant number of applicants and accepted students have those interests, which makes sense, because if you think about the signature programs at the University, that awareness is clearly coming through the admissions process and we're seeing outstanding students who have those interests," Coffin said. Coffin decided to send letters of notification later than last year in order to give admissions officers more time to examine applications. Letters were mailed March 29. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions released numbers later than usual this year, because Coffin only recently returned from traveling to receptions for accepted students all over the country. "We immediately hit the road," he said. "Some of the delay was mostly [because] we finished and pretty much left campus." The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has not yet done an official comparison of this year's statistics to classes other than 2007. Director of Admissions Allan Clemow did not comment on the release, and referred all questions to Coffin.
