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The Setonian
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BANZAI! Place Your Bets!

April 1

Right now you're thinking, "TV is so dull. I need action! What I crave is a circus-rodeo game show of chickens tied to helium balloons, bewildered celebs, rabbis racing priests, and the elderly racing each other! And I wanna bet on them too. I love to bet!" BANZAI! Your wishes have been granted by Comedy Central and the re-release of the show "Banzai." After getting canned last year by FOX after six episodes, "Banzai" is back on Comedy Central with the six old episodes plus four new ones. The show is an interactive betting show, spoofing the bold and frantic Japanese game shows. Though funny in this respect, "Banzai" often takes the stereotype too far and is more offensive than humorous, at times bordering on racist. The networks pitch it as edgy and different, but the audience is left wondering whether they should be laughing at this. You be the judge. But there's no denying that even though it makes you wince, "Banzai" makes you laugh too ... and maybe even have a seizure if you're so lucky. Watching the show is like being at an arcade. That's the idea behind the Japanese spoof, at least. DING DING!! Little yellow tickets spit out of your VCR in a nauseating stream. You ah a winna! You ah a winna! BANZAI! Everything is brightly colored, pictures and words flash rapidly, and karate is mentioned every minute or so. It's like being punched in the face. The two hosts of the show, one wearing a three piece suit and the other in a supposed martial-arts outfit with a shaved head, dance in front of a blue-screen between segments. Uncomfortable yet? YAHTZEE! The voice-overs have the same disorienting effect. At the commencement of each new segment, the suit-wearing host of the show shouts with a very thick accent, "Prase bets now! Prase best now!" So go ahead, "prase your bets!" How long will "Mr. Shake Hands Man" be able to stay gripped to "Frasier Man" in an impromptu parking-lot interview? If you guessed forty-point-one seconds, you're right! BANZAI! It gets awkward at around fifteen seconds. For the remainder of the time, Kelsey Grammer looks like he's being robbed while riding a roller-coaster. Use your imagination. But Grammer's frantic bobble doesn't begin to compare to the disarming spell that "Lady One Question" casts on her red-carpet interviewee, Simon Cowell, in another segment. Her mission: "Ask celebrity people only one question ... and maintain wall of silence." The goal: to see how long before celebrities "feel such shame they walk away." If you guessed seventy-seven seconds, you're right! BANZAI! Cowell laughs and chats for about thirty seconds. Then he gets nervous and repeats himself. For the final portion of time, he looks back at the woman in complete terror. Cowell stares at her vacant eyes as if he's a man looking for the "on" switch to a robot while knowing that if he touches it, the robot will kill him. The result of all this is comic, no question, and also pleasantly subversive. Not many people can disarm the "American Idol" character, which makes "Lady One Question" all the more funny ... and puzzling. That's something of the overall effect of the show, too -- bombardment, confusion, silence, laughter. "This is a true-re magical moment!" as the host says. The show is funny, assuming that you can manage to overlook the circa-1940s Asian stereotypes. It'd be one thing if they got in the way of the humor, but they don't. They are the humor. The segments themselves are funny, but no more outrageous than MTV's "Jackass." It's the costumes, voices and decorations of "Banzai" that make a person more than just a little uneasy. It's not the only show to be outfitted with heavy racial humor, but it's probably the one whose use of stereotypes is the easiest to ignore. "Banzai" is one of those shows that go with Comedy Central like old folks go with Florida. But who knows? With all the MAD TV reruns of late, maybe Comedy Central is trying to build up a jittery-comedy appeal. "Banzai" fits in nicely with that, as long as you can stand it. BANZAI!

The Setonian
News

Course gives students a new perspective on Cuba

April 1

Most students' sense of "the classroom" is limited to the 50 minutes spent sitting behind a desk. But for the 20 students in Tufts' "Special Topics in Cuban Culture and Society" class, "the classroom" extends all the way to a different country and continent. The course, offered for the first time this semester, was highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education this semester for its unique structure, which combines travel to Cuba, regular classes, and the lecture series. "There is no better intellectual approach to a different culture or society than the one offered by the combination of classroom study and research with different experiential learning," said romance languages Professor Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir, another of the course's teachers. Through the combination of types of learning, the course seeks to deconstruct students' preconceived ideas about life in Cuba. According to Kaiser-Lenoir, these preconceptions include thinking "that Cuba has nothing to offer the rest of the world in terms of development, and of creative ways of addressing the sort of very concrete human and social problems that continue to plague most of the less-developed countries of the world." This view was echoed by Salinas-Stern. "There's a sense in this country that Cuba is this stagnant society that is sort of stuck in the past," he said. The professors' goal with the course's "Focus on Cuba" lecture series is to provide students with another way of broadening their understanding of Cuban society. "Since this sort of academic collaboration is highly unusual, we decided to turn the sessions taught by the outside experts into a public lecture series," Kaiser-Lenoir said. "This way, we also offer the broader community the opportunity to take part." Through class, lectures, and the trip to Cuba, the students have been able to experience the country with an insider perspective. Nickerson regrets that more people don't have such a chance to learn about the country in this way. "One of the saddest side effects of the strict travel restrictions is that people from the United States rarely have the opportunity to meet and interact with Cubans, to hear their stories and learn about their lives," she said. "It was important that we saw that people there do like the people in the U.S., but they don't feel okay with the fact that the U.S. has imposed a blockade on [trading with] them," Mayoral said. "The history of the two countries has been so tightly bound that it's not possible to gain a better understanding of one without also understanding the other," Kaiser-Lenoir said. The class's January trip was an attempt to provide students with a firsthand experience of Cuban society. "I applied to go to Cuba not knowing anything about it," sophomore Maria Mayoral said. "We got to talk to people on the streets, and professors there... we have so little information here in the United States about Cuba and the information we do have is very biased," because Cuba is not a democracy. To gather unbiased information and impressions, the students visited museums, hospitals, schools and farms, and met with workers in those fields. "Since Cuba is so poor, you'd have imagined they'd have made cutbacks to education and social services," Salinas-Stern said. Students saw that this was not necessarily the case. "What was most interesting to me was hearing what children had to say," Mayoral said. "Everyone there has education and health care, they all know how to read and write... they all know how to do math, they all have computers in their classrooms. When you see that, knowing that Cuba economically is not doing too well, it's a very enriching experience." "Even though it's a very poor country, they're doing a lot of things that the U.S., with all its wealth, is not," Salinas-Stern said. "Before taking this trip, my knowledge of Cuba was negligible," sophomore Amara Nickerson said. "When I thought Cuba, I thought Fidel Castro. I was entirely overwhelmed upon visiting Cuba by how much there was for me to learn." "If you go to Cuba, you can't help but come back with a million questions," said Tufts Latino Center Director Ruben Salinas-Stern, one of the ten individuals involved in team-teaching the course. Three of the teachers are Tufts faculty members while the rest are outside Cuban society experts who speak at the course's six "Focus on Cuba" lectures. The class, Salinas-Stern said, does not provide "black-and white" answers to questions, nor does it encourage students to view Cuba through a certain political framework. Rather, "it teaches students that [the situation in Cuba] is complex. We try to show students that it's not just black-and-white, democracy-versus-no-democracy."

The Setonian
News

Editors Weekend Picks

April 1

AMAN GUPTA Duke Blue Devils vs. UConn Huskies -- The latter of Saturday night's final four matchups will surely be one of best and hardest fought games of the NCAA season. UConn boasts the top team in the nation right now, having crushed everything in its path on its way to San Antonio. And Duke, well, Duke is the team that everybody loves to hate because they're always so good. Emeka Okafor and Shelden Williams will battle to the bitter end in the paint, and as long as Okafor is healthy (and stays healthy), he should dominate that matchup. Ben Gordon (Westchester the Bestchester represent!) is a better and more effective point guard than Chris Duhon, but look for Duhon to certainly hold his own in possibly his final game as a Dukie. It should be a nice Blair Academy reunion for Charlie Villanueva and Luol Deng, but look for Deng to get the better of his ex-teammate. Rashad Anderson and Talik Brown will be key for the Huskies, and Daniel Ewing and Shavlik Randolph will be huge for Duke. The ex-factor in the game is of course the White Kid. J.J. Redick is going to have to shoot the hell out of the ball to give his team a shot to win. With the nasty one, two punch of Gordon and Okafor for the Huskies, Redick will have to carry the Devils if they want to have any shot. Prediction: Look for J.J. Redick to have a big game, but the Huskies inside outside game of Gordon and Okafor, and the outside shooting of Anderson and Brown to be too much for Coach K and the Durham kids. UConn to the championship game, where they're going to kill whoever they play. JESSE GERNER Elliott Wiley Jr. vs. Wesleyan's Jeff Maier -- Many baseball fans recall that tragic October, 1996 day when some stupid little Jersey punk named Jeff Maier reached over the Yankee Stadium right field rail, caught -- then dropped -- Derek Jeter's fly ball, and basically handed the Pinstripes a free pass to the World Series. Last spring, it was discovered that the same punk was a freshman outfielder for the Wesleyan Cardinals. However his potentially life-threatening trip to the Boston area was cancelled due to inclement weather, much like his sophomore appearance in tomorrow's doubleheader at Tufts could be once again. Anyway, we decided to pit Baltimore lifer and PA system operator Elliott Wiley Jr. against the O's heartbreaker in a fantasy fight. Elliott, with his superior girth and ham hocks for arms (read: 5-9, 225lb), would beat the 5-11, 190lb beanstalk that is Maier, based on pure hatred and cold-blooded emotion. Maier, who is currently batting .451 and slugging .608 on the season, would be the one slugged to a pulp. Prediction: A 1-1 tie. Elliott would kick some Jersey ass in a fist fight, but you know Maier gets SO MUCH ass based on his teenage infamy. The things people do. ELLIOTT WILEY JR. Minority Report vs. the World -- "You can't break the unbreakable, shake the unshakable," a wise man once said. Well the unbreakable and unshakable are personified in form of myself and Carlos Montalvan. Let it be known that we have been running wind-sprints, suicides, and shuttles, as well as straight practicing our craft and we refuse to go out like suckers. What am I talking about you might ask? If you don't know, ask a friend, but if you do know, just know that we aren't going out like the Baltimore Orioles. Prediction: We are similar to UConn.

The Setonian
News

Weather dampens baseball season

April 1

Persistent rainfall and soggy fields led to the postponement of the baseball team's scheduled game at Mass Maritime on Wednesday, and the threat of more wet, dreary weather now looms over tomorrow's planned home opener against NESCAC foe Wesleyan University. Tufts is scheduled to host the Cardinals in a doubleheader tomorrow, which would mark a series of season firsts for the 2004 Jumbos -- first game played in the Northeast, first regular-season game, first home game, and first conference game. However, the April showers (preceded by some late-March ones) are dampening the prospects for this weekend's series. According to head coach John Casey, the team certainly hopes to see the weather clear up soon. "If not, we're going to have some oceanfront property soon," Casey joked. Tomorrow's forecast calls for mid-40 degree weather and a cloud cover, but Saturday is sandwiched between several rainy days on either side, leaving the possibility of a rainout well within the realm of possibility. The weather for Sunday's doubleheader at Wesleyan, in Middletown, Connecticut, is even more unpromising, with rain entrenched solidly in the forecast. According to Casey, dry weather tomorrow wouldn't rule out a postponement, as field conditions must be taken into consideration. "It's pretty bad out there," Casey said of Tufts' Huskins Field. "There's nothing we can do until it stops, and then we'll be working on it." The steady rain has also affected the Jumbos' practice schedule. Yesterday's practice was shifted indoors to the Rocky Carzo Cage, where the team spent the winter and preseason training. Wednesday's rainout gave the squad a day off, and Tuesday, they were fortunate enough to squeeze in an outdoor session between the rain showers. "At least everyone's in the same boat," Casey said of his team's trials and tribulations with Mother Nature. "It's not like it's just raining here in Medford, so no one else is really playing either." Casey said that one difficult aspect of the recent weather has been it's effect on the momentum his team carried off their spring break series in the mid-Atlantic, where they posted a .500 record and only narrowly lost several very competitive games. "We've been playing fairly well... the problem is you stop playing, you lose that rhythm," Casey said. Rescheduled games later this season could lead to a difficult, tightly-packed schedule as well. Wednesday's rained out game at Mass Maritime has been rescheduled for this Monday, so if the Wesleyan series pulls through tomorrow and Sunday, Tufts' could play six games in four days, as they are also slotted to play Bentley on Tuesday, in Waltham. "Hopefully our pitching can hold up," Casey said of the busy schedule that further rainouts may cause. "One aspect I was pleased with [over spring break] was our pitching. We were in every game after the first two -- our pitching kept us in every game -- so hopefully they will continue to do that." If tomorrow and Sunday's series does in fact go on as planned, Tufts stands a good chance of grabbing some wins. In recent years, Tufts has faced Wesleyan at a similar point in the season, and has fared well. In 2003, the Jumbos swept a two-game, early-April series in Middletown, winning 7-4 and 3-2. In the first game, current senior captain Randy Newsom, who will likely lead off the Jumbos' pitching rotation this weekend, picked up the save. In 2002, the Jumbos and Cardinals faced off in a back-to-back doubleheader format like that scheduled for this year. Tufts went 3-1 in that series. The Cardinals, currently 5-8-1, played their home opener and kicked off their NESCAC season against Amherst College last weekend. The two teams split Saturday's doubleheader, with Wesleyan, prevailing, 2-0, in the opener, then dropping the second game 6-0. Sunday, Amherst took the rubber game of the series with a close 6-5 win. Earlier this season, Wesleyan played a handful of games on the west coast, including four in the California Classic at Whittier College in Whittier, California and returned with a mixed bag of results. Casey said a major team goal in the near future is to become more consistent, and also said he hopes to see his younger players continue to mature on the field. "We're young and we're just looking for some level of consistency," Casey said. "At some time, the youth thing has got to wear off. We've got to stop making mistakes, stop saying it's because we're young. We've just got to get out there and play."

The Setonian
News

Playing it up in Carmie

April 1

Carmichael Hall might be better known for its fine dining than its fine drama, but this weekend, the Bare Bodkin Theater Company will transform its inner sanctuary from a residential lounge to a theater hall. The organization's spring show, which consists of three student-produced one act plays -- "A Light So Dim," "Boise, Idaho," and "Pic Nic" -- premieres tonight at 8 p.m. in the Carmichael lounge, and will be performed again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. The one acts being performed don't necessarily have a lot in common, aside from a consistent theme of dark comedy. Though all three deal with questions about reality and the manipulation of perception, they range in subject manner and genre, making for a wide-ranging night that Bare Bodkin members hope will contain something for everyone. "A Light So Dim" was written and directed by Tufts freshman Brendan Shea. It creates what the playwright calls "a portrait of the human condition" through a series of short vignettes, which function as abstract games of paper-rock-scissors as two characters at a time interact with each other and one inevitably trumps the other. Shea adapted a short story into a production at his high school, but "A Light So Dim" represents the first time he's produced his own original work. He wrote the script in two nights over this past winter break. "Bare Bodkin is really cool, very involved, and encourages student-directed and student-written theater," Shea said. "I got in contact with them and asked if they were going to accept any proposals, and they asked me to send in the script and they accepted it." The second play, "Boise, Idaho," is an exercise in surreal storytelling. Directed by sophomore Gabriela Jirasek, it relates the story of a couple in a French caf‚ who embark on a passionate love affair when another character begins narrating their story. The production plays with the concept of storytelling as the audience is left to watch what happens "Pic Nic" was originally written by Spanish playwright Fernando Alba, but it was adapted for the Bare Bodkin production by director Benjamin Gomberg. The play involves a picnic that takes place on a battlefield, and Gomberg hopes that his production will leave viewers questioning what they saw. "I expect the audience to walk away with a sense of discomfort," Gomberg said. "The play is intended to lull the audience into a false sense of security and then destroy that." Gomberg, an International Letters and Visual Studies major, is using the play as his senior thesis. He translated the original script from Spanish, is currently directing the staged version, and will write an analysis of the playwright and his contribution to Spanish theater. One of the challenges in "Pic Nic" was determining a way to produce the play in such a manner that it would remain as wide-ranging as possible. "[The script] is something that could be very specific or very general," Gomberg said. "The play has a lot of references to war as a very general cause, so I tried to get the play to apply to a very general audience, including people who don't know a lot about historical references. I think it was a challenge to get it to be widely accepted." Bare Bodkin decided early on to put on a night of three short one-act plays instead of one major spring production and issued an open call for scripts earlier this semester. Five were submitted, including one other student-written play, and the membership of the organization voted to select the three that are currently being performed. Auditions for the various plays were held at the end of January. The casts and crews then had five weeks during February and March to pull the productions together, and their efforts will culminate in the final performances this weekend. "We've been rehearsing in whatever space we could find and luckily now we have the Carmichael lounge," Shea said. "We've been working pretty hard on each of the plays, and I hope [the show] is a success." In the future, members Bare Bodkin wants to focus more on student-written plays in an effort to give undergraduates an opportunity to put on their own productions. They are currently working on organizing a series of workshops that will allow student playwrights to come to them and ask for help in developing plays.

The Setonian
News

Spring Break OH 4!

April 1

"We don't know about the future, all we know is what we have right now... tickets to Vegas and money to buy booze," my friend Ali said before the six of us embarked on our spring break adventure. It wasn't your typical spring break, but there was something for everyone: three "Wild on E!"-style nights on the Las Vegas strip, three relaxing days at an AZ resort, and a hike into the Grand Canyon -- all connected with a road trip via family mini-van. Las Vegas really is Sin City -- like a Disney World for adults. The bright lights and big, glitzy casinos are just like in the movies, and it's true, the prostitute advertisement cards are everywhere. (Ick.) There are no open container laws in Vegas, so you can see tourists boozin' on the street by 4 p.m. and liquor is sold right next to cheesy souvenirs. In line with the Disney metaphor, there are some crazy characters in Vegas - just imagine Mickey intoxicated. We met brides, a fake Elvis, little people, ruckus-raising bachelorettes, college kids (mostly from California and supposedly the quarterback from Washington State), tons and tons of tourists, and of course, the old biddies who rule the town. A classic example: at a 2 a.m. nacho break at The Garden Caf‚ in Harrah's, where we were surrounded by the gray-haired set, the lady sitting next to us had a prayer card in one hand and a Keno gambling card in the other. We stayed at two hotel-casinos with very different scenes, the New Frontier and Tropicana. The New Frontier can be characterized by two things: the large number of people sporting mullets and Wednesday's bikini-mud wrestling night (we did not attend.) There were some college coeds at the wild-west themed hotel, including another bunch from Tufts, but not many. Needless to say, we took our $1.99 margarita specials to go. The Tropicana, our second hotel at the end of the week, wasn't exactly Mandalay Bay, but the pool was awesome and full of spring breakers. As far as spring break partying, Vegas isn't exactly wet t-shirt contest central, but there are several classy bars and clubs. They seem pretty strict on IDs, so only expect the 21 and over crowd. It's great being a girl in this town because while it's mad expensive to do anything -- gambling, clubbing, barhopping -- female-friendly discounts are plentiful, thank goodness. (There is up to a $20 difference in club cover charges for guys.) Drink specials are the way to go since casino drinks are expensive, if you can even get the attention of the snobbish bartenders (that is, unless you're baller enough to be served comp drinks at the betting tables. Clearly, I stick to slot machines.) Our fave drink spot was La Salsa Cantina, which has a location on the strip and in the Luxor hotel. There, they serve margaritas by the yard in oh-so-spring-break long plastic glasses, an excellent trophy souvenir. There are a number of things to do on the strip besides drinking and gambling, including extravagant shows, from the family appropriate Cirque du Soleil to the more raunchy male strip show, The Thunder Down Under (we were tempted by the hot Aussies, but didn't go), art exhibits for the cultured (there is one at the Venetian), and all-you-can eat buffets (we went to the one at Excalibur, which was pretty much a glorified Dewick.) Our last night on spring break was what my roommate calls "a true Vegas night." After arriving late to Vegas from our jaunt into AZ (which included a Grand Canyon hike that day and a terrifying drive across the Hoover Dam on an empty tank), we rallied. We headed to Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, where the cover was free for ladies. The remake of the infamous NYC dance club had just as long lines as in its 1970s heyday. We met a couple of fellas who got us into the VIP line and proceeded to wait. What happened next might as well have come out of a movie. Two midgets in club attire came up to my friend Ali and said, "Hey, if you and your friends give us $20 each, we can get you into the club now. Just go up to the bouncer and tell him Shorty sent you." No joke. We sent some people to check with the bouncer while we held our place in line. The little dude was not legit. However, a legit Las Vegas local named Derek came to the rescue with VIP passes. Upstairs in the VIP lounge, we enjoyed the view of the dancing masses below while dancers performing acrobatics from swings hung from the ceiling. We racked up quite a bill on cocktails until military men who could've been in Top Gun sent some our way. We came home totally satisfied with the evening at 5:30 a.m., and Studio 54 was still kickin' it even as we left. (The only drawback was the one stall woman's bathroom in the gigantic place. Who's the moron engineer who designed that?) By the end of our red eye flight back home to Tufts, I had lost my voice, but earned $8 in quarters (score for laundry!), a tan, crazy fun memories with the best of friends... and that's all I can really say, because whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The Setonian
News

Tufts recognized for Hispanic achievements

April 1

Hispanic Magazine has recognized Tufts as one of the top ten universities for Latino students in its March issue, pointing to qualities such as "academic excellence and Hispanic achievement." Latino students comprise eight percent of Tufts' undergraduates, the fifth highest Hispanic concentration of the universities surveyed. Tufts ranked tenth out of 25 schools, which also included the University of Notre Dame, Harvard University, MIT, and Columbia University. Stanford University was named the best university for Latinos. The rankings were based on a combination of sources, including university data, Hispanic scholarship organizations, and U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges issue. "We looked for superior centers of higher learning where Hispanic students are thriving," the magazine read. Administrators were pleased with the tenth-place national ranking, and hope that the result can be used to Tufts' advantage. "Being listed in a publication that ranks us highly as a good place for Latino students sends a really strong message," Associate Director of Admissions Darryl Tiggle said. Tiggle cited the high percentage of Latino students at Tufts, the existence of a cultural house and center, and other on-campus organizations as factors that give Tufts its good standing amongst Hispanics. "When an independent source supports and markets that reputation for us, it really spreads the word," he said. The admissions office has increased its minority recruitment efforts through establishing connections with academic programs such as the National Hispanic Institute and One Voice. Student volunteers have organized programs for prospective Hispanic students and searched databases to contact exceptional Latino students. Latino Center Director Ruben Salinas-Stern was careful to note that the new ranking does not mean the situation on campus is perfect. "There are some retention issues," he said. Hispanics "don't all thrive... they face particular pressures that other students don't." Salinas-Stern said that many Hispanic students receive work-study aid, and are often the first member of their families to go to college. An interview process with unsatisfied Latino students leaving the University would be a good step to better understand how Tufts could improve its Hispanic retention, Salinas Stern said. "It would give us a better handle on what is happening," he said. Salinas-Stern said Tufts is headed in the right direction academically, though, with its incorporation of more Latino studies into the curriculum. "We put together a push to have Latino studies, bring speakers to campus, and have workshops for faculty," he said.

The Setonian
News

Bush administration right to let Rice testify

March 30

In a surprising about face, President Bush announced yesterday that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice would be allowed to testify in public, under oath, before the special commission on the Sept. 11 attacks. While withholding Rice's testimony was legally justifiable, the decision to allow her to speak represents a necessary step towards understanding how the attacks occurred. Rice, as National Security Advisor, is not a Senate-confirmed cabinet member. There are no allegations of criminal behavior, and the issues on the table clearly involve national security. These circumstances combined with a historical precedent make for a strong legal argument against her testimony. The problem was, many Americans were not buying the argument. Preventing Rice from testifying was proving to be costly for the Bush administration. The move was even more baffling considering the numerous television interviews she has granted over the past few weeks. It led many, such as "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart, to snidely conclude that Rice was more comfortable on television where she "doesn't have to tell the truth." While such remarks were made in jest, the refusal to testify still struck many as suspicious. And of course it fueled suggestions by the Democrats -- already taking advantage of former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke's accusations -- that the administration was inept when it came to the war on terror. If the Bush administration is to win the credibility war about national security, it will have to refute Clarke's charges that it downplayed terrorist threats before Sept. 11. Rice's testimony could go a long way towards that end. That said, those who have criticized the government for its failure to prevent Sept. 11 need to tone down the rhetoric. It is true that tighter national security might have stopped at least some of the terrorists from conducting the attacks. And it is possible that Bush, whose forte was never international politics, did not fully grasp the danger al Qaeda presented. But regardless of the intelligence we did or did not possess, America simply did not have the political stomach to deal seriously with the threat. The mere suggestion of invading Afghanistan and dismantling the Taliban would have met a wall of opposition prior to Sept. 11. Clarke's apology to the Sept. 11 victims -- though touching -- is unwarranted. The terrorists who financed, planned, and executed the attacks bear full responsibility. While there clearly was room for improvement, in the pre Sept. 11 world it is difficult to see how such attacks could have been completely prevented. In the wake of the national security failure, the best outcome is an honest, open, and thorough examination of what was done and what should have been done. Allowing Rice to testify is a step towards meeting that responsibility.

The Setonian
News

Stop looking at advertisements

March 30

Moustaches, horns, the occasional crudely drawn genitalia: graffiti on subway ads are usually an expression of little more than an under-active parental authority or an over-active brain stem. But in Paris, the giant 12-square-meter advertisements in the metro are being graffitied over with the slogans of a revolution. "Enough with advertising!" is the motto of these revolutionaries, who have been defacing Parisian metro ads since October. For several months, dozens of stations have become ideological battlegrounds, where Sharpie pens leave in their wake defaced ads, disfigured models, and a trail of furious sloganeering. One anti-ad offensive last fall regrouped hundreds of loosely connected volunteers and vandalized ads in 130 metro stations. The next morning, passengers waded through shreds of torn-down ads. The activists, sometimes prone to exaggeration, strove to warn the public of the grave damage being done by the "three by fours," a term referring to the offending ads by their dimensions in meters. "Advertising is harmful to your health," one slogan gravely warned metro riders. "Advertising kills!" shrieked another. But the graffiti wasn't all written to such a hysterical pitch -- some pointed out the cringe-inducing stupidity of certain ads. One recent set of ads featured a generic blond man winking idiotically at passers-by, his giant foolish face at least twice as tall as the average man. It was an ad for French cheese, and at station Havre-Caumartin, someone wrote "LOGOTOMIE" (vomit) on his forehead. I'm sure that I'm not the only metro rider who appreciated such breaks from the soulless monotony of the commute, and who even commiserated with the sentiment. But such protests have landed 62 anti-ad activists in the courtroom, where they face the possibility of having to pay 922,000 euros in damages to the ad agency of the state-owned Parisian transportation company. Just how this motley group of students, professors, and unemployed persons will be able to scrounge together a million euros has yet to be determined. The activists' ideologies are as varied as their backgrounds -- some are anti-capitalist (which is less heretical here than in the U.S.), some are altermondialiste (seeking an alternative to globalization as it is occurring today), and some, it seems, are just looking for something to get riled up about -- or an excuse to doodle on metro ads. Other anti-ad organizations such as Casseurs de pubs (French for "Adbusters") are under attack by the ad agency Defi, a subsidiary of the insidiously evil empire that is Clear Channel Communications. But even if these graffiti radicals don't have a sense of humor about being prosecuted -- and they don't -- they may have a point. We see ads 2,500 times a day, according to estimation in the French daily L'Humanit?©, the newspaper of the Communist Party. And we've all had the experience of finding our lives being invaded by advertising in some new, unexpected way -- ads on the ATM screen, ads embedded in supermarket flooring, ads on the wall above a urinal (though I have not personally experienced this last one). Only Kaczynski-style hermits can avoid the daily bombardment that has become an inseparable part of our reality and a creepily subversive challenge to our free will. Ask yourself: why do you use Crest instead of Colgate? Another legitimate grievance of the Parisian commandos is that advertising makes too-abundant use of female sexuality to sell everything from cell phones to vegetables. (I once saw an extremely suggestive ad for green beans.) Ads for sunny vacation getaways are often the worst offenders. Given France's more liberal (the French would say "less puritan") attitude toward nudity, it's not unusual to see a little T&A on the way to class in the morning. And so, I think the feminist inside every woman felt vindicated at metro station Bastille, where a leggy underdressed model in an ad for knee-high stockings was labeled "Femme-Objet" - an objectified woman. Models in ads all across Paris have shared this title recently, as well as other slogans denouncing advertising's degrading, sexist treatment of women. But though the anti-ad campaign is rich in ideological indignation, it's hard to see any tangible effects it has had. The Parisian transportation company, after pointing out that ads are necessary to finance Paris' excellent metro system, put up a few blank "free expression" boards, but they have already been taken down. And the demand of one of the most oft-seen slogans certainly rests unfulfilled -- very, very few riders have actually obeyed the order to "Arr??tez de regarder la pub" - "Stop looking at ads."

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More than Reruns

March 30

In a move reminiscent of Kentucky Fried Chicken's decision to shorten its corporate name to KFC, the Game Show Network has reinvented itself as GSN, the Network for Games. With a new logo, GSN is hoping to bring in a new cache of viewers, eager to watch innovative programs, as opposed to the endless string of rehashed game shows. Another goal of the network's resurrection was to be taken more seriously as a cable network -- a cable network that has more value than to serve as a barometer of horrible '70s fashion sense. For this reason, GSN chose to blast off their revamping with the documentary feature, "Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession." While not as serious as something you might see on The Discovery Channel, and not nearly as fluffy as any "E! Inside Story" special, this documentary took a fascinating look at the innovative and backstabbing origins of video gaming. Beginning in the early 1960s with the invention of the Magnavox Odyssey, "Video Game Invasion" follows the evolution of electronic gaming in the arcade, at home, and with the invention of the PC, on the computer screen. For anyone eager to relive the glory days of twenty minutes of homework and twenty hours of hitting inside the park home runs with Roger Clemens in "RBI Baseball," the documentary succeeds at hitting the soft place in your heart for nostalgia. Yet the show is not just a fond remembrance of things past, a la VH1's "I love the 80s." The program also takes a look at the original programmers and pioneers of video gaming, including familiar names like Steve Jobs and Nolan Bushnell. The backstabbing and vicious relationship between the programmers and executives at Atari and Coleco is almost as exciting as dodging a barrel in Donkey Kong. Perhaps the only misstep in "Video Game Invasion," is its lack of any real chronology. It covers the first few years of electronic gaming in a sequential manner, then veers off in a confusing array of tangents that hop around the past twenty areas like Frogger in traffic. In addition to documentaries, GSN has also premiered the new programs "Kenny vs. Spenny" and "World Series of Blackjack" in recent weeks. The former is the cheesy "ultimate roommate challenge," where two friends go head to head each week in a series of ridiculously stupid contests. The supposed "draw" is that Spencer (Spenny) is a straight shooting, play-it-safe competitor while his friend Kenny will find any way possible to cheat the system. The other new programming is an obvious rip-off of the Travel Channel's wildly successful "World Series of Poker." The riveting action of the turn of the cards in poker translates as being horribly lame in blackjack. The only true "skill" in winning money at blackjack comes from counting cards, mathematically calculating the odds in your head, and playing an interminable number of hands to maximize one's winnings. Math just isn't all that exciting. While the newer programs offered by GSN aren't riveting entertainment, they should be commended for beginning to abandon a schedule filled with old Family Feud reruns -- Richard Dawson's sexual harassment actions and all. Viewers can still find old episodes of "Match Game" and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on a daily basis, but as a whole, GSN is on its way to becoming a viable cable network. It's got fascinating and intriguing programming while still being able to answer the "$64,000 Question."

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Jumbos return north from 5-5 spring trip

March 30

While most lay on beaches, the Tufts baseball team played its way from Lynchburg, Virginia, through North Carolina and back to Virginia again, clashing with eight schools in ten games in its annual season-opening spring trip. Tufts returned home Monday night with a 5-5 record that did not do justice to games the team played. After dropping the season's opening two games, 13-9 to Lynchburg and 15-6 to Randolph-Macon, the Jumbos won their next three at Guilford, Methodist and Greensboro. They dropped a 4-3 decision to N.C. Wesleyan, then finished the trip with wins in both ends of a doubleheader Saturday at Apprentice and successive one-run, extra-innings losses in a Sunday twin bill at ninth ranked Virginia Wesleyan. "We could have played better, but we could have played worse," coach John Casey said. "We've still got some questions we've got to get answered, but we certainly have some sense of some guys now." But while the Jumbos are far from thrilled by their .500 mark, three of the team's five losses came in one-run decisions, and two wins came by similar margins, speaking for the young team's ability. "It's frustrating to be 5-5," senior co-captain Randy Newsom said. "I've got real mixed emotions because we could have done a lot better, but we did some things real well. We started to come together in the last eight games and play really good baseball." "All those teams are either ranked [nationally] or top of their conference." Newsom experienced early struggles in the season opener, surrendering six runs -- three earned -- in three innings against Lynchburg. "I came out and set the worst tone ever by just choking in the first game," Newsom said. But the workhorse bounced back with two stellar outings, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth with one out against Methodist before settling for a 2-1, two-hit complete game win. In his next start, the second game of Saturday's Apprentice doubleheader, Newsom pitched his second straight complete game, a six-hit, one-run, seven-strikeout effort in another 2-1 Tufts win. Junior righty Jeremy Davis (1-1, 11.25 ERA) also struggled early, allowing Randolph-Macon (7-15) to score six runs in the first inning on its way to a 15-6 win. Davis rebounded with seven strong innings in his next start against Greensboro (two unearned runs, eight K's) but stumbled again in the first game against Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday. Davis lasted just a third of an inning, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk before being pulled for senior Dave Frew. Randolph-Macon, who are 7-15, "may be one of the worst teams we see all year," Newsom said. "That was just us not being ready. That game sparked something in us." Newsom pointed that the next day the team went out to beat Guilford 13-11. Frew, who has bounced around the bullpen the last three seasons with a career 5.74 ERA and 2-2 record, came up big on the trip, posting a team-leading 2.20 ERA. While he was victimized for six runs -- only two earned -- in four innings of relief against Lynchburg, picking up the loss, Frew was a hard-luck loser against Virginia Wesleyan. He pitched 7.1 innings to follow Davis, giving up the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth after holding Virginia Wesleyan to one run before that. After the opening two losses, the Jumbos picked up their play, thanks in part to several strong offensive performances. Senior co-captain, 3B Adam Kacamburas started the year on a tear, batting .455 (10-22) over the team's first five games. Sophomore RF Matt Clement leads all Jumbos with a .469 average, seven walks, a .595 on-base percentage and nine RBI, including knocking in a key run in the team's 2-1 win over Methodist. Senior infielder Nick Palange, who entered the season with a .235 average in limited playing time, has also started well, batting .391 with a homer in six games. Kacamburas downplayed his own results, instead shifting praise to his teammates, who he said are the cause of his early on-base success. "The guys in front of me just got on base and put me in a good position to hit the ball," Kacamburas said. "The pitchers had to just throw to me, there was no way to put me on the base paths, so I just got good pitches to hit." Those young players include freshman righty Ben Simon (2-0, 3.86 ERA), who threw a 3-1 complete game win against Apprentice on Saturday. Simon gave up six hits in seven innings of work, and also picked up the win in the Jumbos' 17-6 spanking of Guilford earlier in the week. Classmates 1B Bryan McDavitt, who leads all freshmen with a .344 batting average, outfielder Chris Decembrele (.300, 6 RBI) and SS/DH Kyle Backstrom (.316) have had strong starts both offensively and defensively. "We're fairly happy with the younger guys, I think they've done some good things," Casey said. "But we shouldn't be necessarily having to rely on them as much as we are. We've got some guys we're just waiting on to see." The team has several areas it is looking to strengthen. Control, according to Newsom, is the biggest issue the pitching staff faces. In five wins, Tufts' pitchers have allowed just nine walks. But in five losses, the Jumbos issued 19 free passes, including 11 in the Randolph-Macon loss. "We need to make sure we don't walk anyone," Newsom said. "Getting ahead in counts is the big one for pitching. When we got ahead in counts this trip we pitched well." Keeping focused the entire game, base running and defense were also problematic at times for the Jumbos, who committed 18 errors that led to 11 unearned runs. "One of the things we to have to basically work on is just playing all 27 outs of the game," Kacamburas said. But according to Casey, many of the difficulties experienced early on will settle down as the team gets more game experience during the season. "We could have done some things better, but some of that was that we're playing teams that have played 25 games, and we're playing our fourth or fifth," Casey said. "Obviously if this is our finished product we're not going to be as good as we can be. We're just going to try to keep working hard and see what happens." Tufts will look to bring improvements in these areas to the team's clash this afternoon at Mass Maritime, in what Newsom calls a must-win game. "That's a team we need to beat," Newsom said. "We're going to run out a good lineup against them and whatever it is, we have to win that game because we have to get some momentum going into this weekend [against Wesleyan]."

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Responding to the 100 percent democrat label

March 30

An article in The Tufts Daily ("Campaign donations from Tufts community go to Democrats," March 19) on the "100 percent Democrat" rating of the Tufts community on campaign contributions underscores the appalling lack of intellectual diversity at the University, a fault Tufts shares, of course, with essentially all of the self-anointed "elite" institutions of learning. Professor Neva Goodwin offers a smug, self-righteous appraisal of why only Democrats are beneficiaries of Tufts faculty largesse. "The clustering of support towards Democrats suggests to me that a variety of values which Tufts faculty and students tend to share are more in line with values that are apt to be espoused by Democrats than with those that are associated with Republicans," he said. Let's deconstruct this statement. Goodwin starts by postulating that faculty and students "share" a set of liberal values -- that, in the face of a recent poll showing a sizeable and growing, but largely clandestine, conservative bent among Tufts students. Let that be fair warning to any student who might be tempted to probe any of the received liberal tenets in a term paper or to deviate from the party line in Ms Goodwin's classes! To quote the first President Bush, "Don't want to go there; not prudent!" Goodwin's condescension and self-satisfaction are bad enough. But, more importantly, this insouciant remark is indicative of the failure of the powers that be in the Tufts academic community (as well as those of the other "elite" schools) to recognize that the lack of intellectual and political diversity in "elite" academe is the serious problem that it in fact is. Are we to assume that half the population of this country is incapable of generating at least three individuals who are capable of representing the conservative perspective, the perspective espoused by more Americans than the liberal alternative, and who are also bright enough to serve as professors at an "elite" institution? Or is it simply the case that anyone who does not kowtow to the liberal viewpoint is systematically eliminated from consideration? I say three, because I have identified two such individuals. One is Marty Feldstein (you know -- the Nobel laureate, the one that the liberals at Harvard have been trying to oust from his post teaching the introductory Econ course there). Feldstein is one of two Harvard Arts and Sciences employees who have made contributions to Mr. Bush's campaign; the other, a Mr. Radislav Krystic, is a window washer there, that is, if poor Rad hasn't already been tarred, feathered and ridden on a rail out of Harvard Square -- he doesn't have tenure! (By the way, I am not making this up; if you don't believe me, check the CRP site mentioned in the March 19 article). Or, alternatively, let us suppose, just for the sake of argument, that the collective faculty and administration of the University, starting with President Bacow and right on down the pecking order, is correct in taking for granted that the Democrats have a monopoly on Truth and Virtue. Then why does the University do nothing to attract those benighted, bad-teeth, red-neck Red State students who are so in need of being shown the light? Don't they, much more than the current "right-minded" student body, require indoctrination (strike that -- education)? Setting aside for a moment the sarcasm that the current astonishing bias of the faculty so clearly warrants were it not for the danger it represents, is it not the case that the principle of a liberal university is not that it be "universally liberal," but rather that it tolerate and indeed encourage a catholic approach to opinion and knowledge -- seekingout, rather that chasingout-- those perspectives which are at odds with those of the majority of the instructors of the institution and those which the not-yet-educated students bring as baggage to the institution? Isn't it the case that the essential objective of education is to learn to weigh and sort out opposing beliefs? Who at this institution is qualified or willing to articulate with passion the view that the past has something to teach us, that perhaps the state might not be capable of running our families better than we ourselves, that dependence on the state is not a good thing, but rather a bad thing, that maybe it is not COMPLETELY true that the Left knows best? From the CRP report, apparently no one, or perhaps only those faculty members who have appreciated that the current atmosphere is so overwhelmingly hostile to the probing of liberal dogma that it is imprudent for a conservative to make a political contribution that might become a matter of public record or to express their opinions in front of their fellows or their students for fear of ostracism -- or worse. Is not the price of having those very institutions which arrogate to themselves the formation of the future leaders of the nation -- no, indoctrination is the correct world -- is not the price of those institutions being monopolized by a single political stance -- nothing short of tyranny? William Boone is a Graduate Special Student in Physics.

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The Ladykillers': Murderously Funny

March 30

The Coen brothers' latest film, "The Ladykillers," is haunted by the ghosts of past cinematic glory. Not from the 1955 movie of which it is a remake, but from the duo's previous work, specifically 2000's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Both films feature the same larger than life characters, sweeping vista shots, and a soundtrack that revives bygone musical styles. Like "O Brother," "The Ladykillers" is centered on a group of hapless but lovably kooky criminals. Professor G.H. Dorr (played by Tom Hanks) is the leader of a group of five thieves plotting to rob a casino. They set up shop in the basement of Marva Munson (Irma P. Hall) in order to tunnel into the casino's vault. Munson doesn't suspect a thing, believing that the five men are members of a musical ensemble that performs pieces from the Renaissance. Alone, each man seems to be capable enough to fulfill his own role: the Professor is the brains, Gawain MacSam (Marlon Wayans) is the inside man who works at the casino, Garth Pancake (J.K. Simmons) is the pyrotechnics expert, the General (Tzi Ma) is the field expert, and Lump Hudson (Ryan Hearst) is the muscle. But, surprise: it turns out that this group of eccentric ne'er-do-wells is unbelievably bungling, blowing even the simplest of tasks, and relying on the Professor's smooth-talking abilities to get them out of the scrapes. The incompetence of the group reaches its climax when Pancake's poorly timed explosives lead to Munson discovering what is really going on in her root cellar. Not even the Professor's wheedling promise that the men will donate their money to Bob Jones University (Munson's favorite Christian institution) can convince their landlady to keep quiet about the plot. They decide they must kill her, which, naturally, becomes a more difficult task than it should be. The seemingly stock vaudeville tone of the film could become a collection of meaningless movie clich?©s in the hands of any other filmmakers. The Coen brothers, however, have a knack for nuance that makes "The Ladykillers" more than a by-the-book comedy. Perhaps the most complex character in the film is Professor G.H. Dorr, who gets some of the best lines in the film: he tells a waitress, "We must have waffles, we must all have waffles forthwith," and claims, after Munson finds him hiding under a bed from a police officer that "we academics like to put ourselves into tight spaces." Tom Hanks is especially effective in his portrayal of the Professor, piggybacking off the skillful writing the Coen brothers laid down, making Dorr a joy to watch. Dorr's Foghorn Leghorn-style laugh (complete with dandyish cane-waving) and smarmy use of sesquipedalian words lend an absurdity to his character that makes him utterly charming, despite his pomposity. Marlon Wayans is also outstanding as the hot-tempered MacSam, playing up his unreasonable rage perfectly: when Pancake breaks the code of agreement among the group and brings his girlfriend Mountain Girl to their conference in a restaurant, MacSam repeatedly shouts in disbelief, "You brought your bitch to the Waffle Hut?!?" Later, in a gleefully irresponsible departure from the Coens' tendency towards moralizing, Pancake tries to impress MacSam by telling him that he was a member of the Freedom Riders, an organization designed "to give you people [African Americans] the right to vote." MacSam responds, "Well, I don't vote anyway, so f*** you!" Indeed, one of the downfalls of "The Ladykillers" is its inclination toward Hollywood moralization. The other major fault of the film is that the Coen brothers, who are usually creative and witty, sometimes bow to the cheap, obvious laugh instead of trying always to go for the unexpected. It is inexplicable when this cleverly whimsical film relies on gross-out humor: Pancake and Mountain Girl met at a getaway for sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and the medical condition appears at several other points to drive along the plot, as if the Coens couldn't think of anything better to advance the story. Furthermore, is it really necessary for there to be the scene at the beginning in which Pancake gives a slobbering dog CPR? Or to have Munson express her distaste for "hippity hop" music, in a stale reprisal of the hackneyed "old person who doesn't understand youth culture" gag? And yet, the film is still impossible not to enjoy. The film is theatrical and referential (one memorable moment occurs when Poe-fanatic Dorr sees a raven alighting on a statue in a visual homage to the "on the pallid bust of Pallas" line in the famous poem) but it is self-aware enough that one never feels that the movie takes itself too seriously. As the strains of gospel music flood the theatre at the end of the movie, one gets the sense that the Coen brothers have created their own church where their film is deified as sacred art.

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Overtraining can have a serious impact on the body

March 30

This week, I help people work out less and more at the same time. I've been very motivated in the gym lately. I've been lifting six days a week and running outside every day. But I found that I'm not making much progress. I feel tired but I've never worked this hard before. What's going on? -- Matan Chorev, class of 2005 Chances are that you're OVERtraining. This has been a serious topic of discussion among strength and conditioning specialists recently. Some of the sporting situations you see on TV, such as coaches yelling "No pain, no gain!" and "The more you workout, the better you'll be at game time", are flawed. After a certain amount of training, an individual's body can no longer handle the training stimulus and their performance either plateaus or declines. This change in performance is a result of a mistake in the training program. To fix your situation, I would recommend making some changes in your workout routine: Mainly, do less! People underestimate the importance of rest in their workout. Allowing your body to recover from an intense lift or run is just as important as the lift or run itself. If you're not giving your body enough time to rest before applying another training stimulus, you'll eventually overtrain. So set aside some lazy time to recover. As a rule for lifting, try to schedule each session for no longer than one hour. After an hour, the resistance exercise that you do will have very little, if any, benefit. If you notice that your desire to lift has decreased or that your lifting performances have decreased, chances are good that you've anaerobically overtrained. As for aerobic exercise, there is no limit; however, you know your own limits best. If you notice that your performance has decreased, your body fat percentage has decreased beyond normal levels, or you experience increased muscle soreness or an altered resting heart rate, chances are that you've aerobically overtrained yourself. Although you don't want to do too little in the gym, you also don't want to do too much. Play around with your workout for a bit and find the amount of exercise that works for you. It's been over a year since I've worked out and I'm anxious to get back into it. How should I go about it? -- Vanessa Agosti, class of 2005 I'm glad I've motivated someone to get back into working out. First, start off slow. If it's been a full year, chances are that you're rather out of shape and you won't be able to immediately repeat what you did last year. If you're into running or aerobic exercise, start off with a low intensity, low volume stage. Break a sweat and keep that heart rate up for at least 20 minutes, but don't overdo it in the beginning. You don't want to hurt yourself. If you're getting back into lifting, start off slow; go through a low intensity, low resistance stage to get back into the swing of things. Within a week or two, you'll notice a solid improvement in what you can do. From there, start slowly increasing your training volume or intensity. When you feel as though you're making more improvements, kick it up another notch. Just make sure that you listen to your body and stop when it's necessary. On a final note, if it has been a while since you've hit the gym, try the Tufts Personalized Performance Program. It's a new program that's encouraging everyone in the Tufts community to get in shape. Send an e-mail to Francis.Otting@tufts.edu and ask to be paired with a personal trainer. You'll get five sessions, all free of charge, in which you work one-on-one with a trainer to achieve your fitness goals. It's a great opportunity to get back into exercise.

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Wireless plan in the works for Davis Square

March 30

The City of Somerville is working with local businesses to set up a free wireless internet network (Wi-Fi) in Davis Square. Mark Horan, spokesman for Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, said that extending Wi-Fi to Davis is "not absolutely definite but it's something that's being looked at very seriously." He says that the city is researching how other cities, such as Portland, Oregon, have installed wireless networks. For the city, the greatest obstacle is money. "I don't think the city has the money to spend on a network so we would have to find other ways to get some," said Horan. One method, he said, would be to ask for financial contributions or sites for equipment installation from local vendors. Horan foresees cooperation with Davis Square businesses on the issue. The city will target companies interested in doing business with the administration, he said, and solicit them first. The push for Wi-Fi in Davis isn't coming entirely from within city limits. Michael Oh, President of Boston-based Tech Superpowers, has been approaching businesses in Somerville directly to push the project forward. Oh has already brought Wi-Fi to Newbury Street in Boston. Although Oh is not in touch with the city of Somerville right now, he previously worked with former Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay's administration on the Wi-Fi project. Oh is seeking a wide variety of businesses to sponsor the network. He compared the Somerville project to a similar installation underway in Salem, for which a bank donated a considerable sum. "If Somerville were to get sponsorship like that," he said, "the network would come together in a snap." According to Oh, the biggest problem is that businesses would rather pursue their separate interests than come together to improve Davis Square as a whole. "The question is whether or not Davis wants to coordinate itself as a community to get Wi-Fi," he said. "There are individual businesses talking about putting it in themselves, but while that gives them a competitive advantage it fragments [sic] the community sense of the project." Gus Rancatore, owner of Someday Caf?© in Davis Square, is getting Wi-Fi installed through company resources, independent of city initiatives. Starbucks and Diesel Caf?© already provide their customers with Wi-Fi, at a cost. Although Rancatore was involved in the city's cooperative push for Wi-Fi, he blames the lag in the process that made him work on his own on the change in administrations. "Someone will have to catch up with the twenty first century," he said. Installing this network would not only provide a level of convenience for Somerville residents and visitors, Oh said, but it would also "foster the impression that everyone is working together to provide a good service for the community in general." While the city currently has no definite plans to install Wi-Fi, Horan agrees that a Wi-Fi network in Davis would be beneficial to the city, as it would, "encourage people to be part of some of our most significant commercial districts. It makes Somerville a place where you want to live and work," he said. Horan stressed that Somerville is known as a technologically innovative city -- for example, it was the first to have more than one cable supplier, he said. In addition, Mayor Curtatone is "interested in doing innovative things," especially if they can attract attention to Somerville businesses, Horan said.

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Strong start, weak finish for Jumbos

March 30

The women's softball team started its season in style last week, playing a rigorous schedule at the Sun West Tournament in Orange, California. The Jumbos had a full slate of 12 games over the course of the week, and came away with a 5-7 record. Tufts won the first four games of the trip by margins of four runs or more. But the results soon turned sour for the Jumbos as they lost seven of their last eight games, including the final six in a row. The last game of the trip was a bitter pill for Tufts to swallow. The Jumbos faced division rival Williams and former Tufts coach Kris Herman, now the Ephs' head coach. Tufts was unable to overcome the strong Ephs pitching, and fell 2-0 to their former head coach. Despite the tough loss, many of the Jumbos focused on the positive aspects of the trip. "We're still putting it all together and I think we fared pretty well overall," junior pitcher Caroline Grieco said. "We definitely didn't play as well at the end of the trip, but we were also facing stronger competition. Some of these teams have been playing outside since February." Strong pitching led the Jumbos to two victories on the first day of the trip. In the first game, senior Pam Swidler pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Jumbos to a 5-0 victory over Carleton. Junior first baseman Katie Smith went 2-3 with two runs scored and added an RBI. Later in the day, sophomore Julia Brenta pitched seven strong innings to help Tufts defeat Elmhurst 5-1. Brenta went seven innings while giving up just one earned run and striking out seven. Smith and junior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti both had two hits and three RBI for Tufts. Tufts defeated Elmhurst 18-4 on the second day of the trip and then knocked out St. Catherine 9-2 later in the day. Tufts scored seven runs in the first inning against Elmhurst. Bongiolatti and senior catcher Julie Fox hit back-to-back home-runs before Elmhurst could record an out. Smith went 3-3 and drove in two runs, and freshman left fielder Anne Ross drove in four runs on three hits. Later, against St. Catherine, sophomore Sarah Conroy did it all for the Jumbos. Conroy got the win for Tufts by pitching seven strong innings and allowing two runs. She also went 2-4 with three runs batted in. Senior tri-captains Maggie McClory and Deana Davidian both contributed three hits as well. The win against St. Catherine capped off the impressive day for the Jumbos as they bashed 37 hits and crossed the plate 27 times. The Jumbos started off their final day by playing Dominican, and were crushed 17-0. Dominican scored all 17 runs in the first three innings. Later, Tufts had a hard time dealing with Williams' sophomore pitcher Clara Hard, who held the Jumbos to just four hits without yielding a run over seven innings. Grieco pitched solidly for the Jumbos, yielding just two runs over six innings while striking out two and walking two, but it was not enough to overcome the overpowering Ephs pitching.

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Intramurals provide fun for all athletes

March 30

Are you ready to rumble? The intramural squads at Tufts sure are. Spring brings with it not only allergies, daylight savings time, and another Ken Griffey Jr. injury, but a steady diet of intramural athletic competition as well. Squads will compete for glory and bragging rights in flag football, tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball, field hockey, and, of course, badminton. Professional and varsity athletes are discouraged from participating in their respective intramural sports. Only one member of any given intramurals team may be on the varsity team in that sport. Also, those suspected of involvement with THG or BALCO company in general are also not allowed to compete. Teams are entered into competition for a $30 fee, most of which is spent on equipment and officials; any team of sufficient size and monetary backing is welcome. One may wonder why these athletes compete in intramural sports instead of the more traditional, organized forms of varsity. The reasons are many. For one, intramural sports bring with them a much smaller time commitment. Others dislike the intensity of varsity sports. Some intramural athletes have more personal reasons. "I play [intramural] soccer to get chicks," sophomore Brett Gewirtzman said. "I don't have time to play varsity, I've got classes to attend." By playoff time, however, intramurals can get just as intense and competitive as varsity sports. "There's a lot at stake when the playoffs come around," sophomore Daniel Crenshaw said. "I need to spend five or six hours sitting in a dark room mentally preparing myself for the games; getting my game face on." This intramural season promises something for everyone, casual and more competitive athletes alike. For those seeking a smaller time investment sport, intramurals are a good option. This season should be another interesting one, and updates on scores, games, and teams will be published in the following weeks. Get ready to rumble.

The Setonian
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Sensual food, soulful songs and short stories

March 30

"Bam!" yells Adam Wilson as he throws a pinch of salt into his simmering marinara sauce. "Emeril's my man," the senior grins, adding garlic and basil to the sauce and stirring them in with a frenzied whirl. "You gotta get into cooking, you know?" Wilson says. "It's your time to play God. He created the world in six days; I can create a mean marinara sauce in six minutes. I guess the main difference between Him and me is that He created women, I just like to get with them." Wiping his hand on his pants and then turning down the heat on his deep tomato-red sauce, Wilson turns with a smile. "Well, you've stepped into my office, so what do you want to know, baby?" Known by his friends as "Wilson" (there's a Phish song by that name) rather than Adam, the 22 year old has taken his love of cooking beyond his own 'office' -- er, kitchen. Last semester, he and seniors Owen Sidd and Mia Segura created a cooking show for TUTV called "Sunday Night Dinner." The show features the trio creating dishes of all shapes and sizes. Wilson prepares all sorts of meals on the show, but his favorite cuisine genre is Italian. "It takes me back to the womb," he says of Italian food, referring to his childhood in the North End of Boston, a center for Italian food and culture. "I was born into the smells of fine cuisine." Some of the dishes Wilson has prepared on the show include Thai chicken with peanut sauce, Guinness beef stew, rosemary chicken with wild mushrooms, and -- sexual innuendo alert -- his famous putanesca sauce. (The sauce's name is derived from the Italian word for prostitute.) While the preparations of such dishes play a main role in "Sunday Night Dinner," cooking is not the show's sole focus. "'Sunday Night Dinner' is about more than just food," Wilson says. "It is about a mismatched group of people -- two very raunchy men alongside a, how shall I say, prim and proper woman, and the discomfort that comes from blatant sexual innuendoes in the hot, cramped space of a kitchen -- it's pretty great." Each week, the team comes up with new dishes to prepare and goes step by step through the process of creating them. "Ideally, I would hope that some underclassmen might watch the show and learn how to cook," Wilson says. "But I know that's probably unrealistic. Everyone eats at the dining halls or Expresso's. So at the very least, I try and get a few laughs with my phallic food references." Food is only one of Wilson's creative outlets: he is an English major and aspires to be a writer in the future. Wilson is currently working on a book of short stories that he hopes to have finished by the end of the year. "I like short stories a lot," he says. "I like the idea that you can express a lot in a short amount of space." Wilson's stories have appeared in various publications, including, most recently, Fusion, a national online literary magazine. Wilson was also recently informed that he is one of three winners of Tufts' Mary Grant Charles prize in creative writing. Wilson also has a love for music. He has been a member of two bands during his time at Tufts: Raw Dog and The Pedro Martinez Experience. Some of the more colorful songs he has written include the much-acclaimed "Yankees Suck" and "Raw Dog Theme Song." Wilson's bands have performed at venues around campus including Hotung Caf?© and the 2002 Naked Quad Run. While cooking, writing, and music may seem like a diverse assortment of interests, Wilson feels that his passions share some major connections. "The thing I like about music, or writing, or cooking, is that you are taking something that already exists -- notes or words or ingredients -- and then combining them in different ways to create something that is totally unique." "Okay, I'll be honest though," he adds. "I do love the ladies, and I think actually every interest I've ever pursued, cooking, writing, music, etc., have all stemmed from my desire to endear myself to women." Wilson's unabashed honesty is something that friends enjoy. "He's a great guy," says housemate senior Phil Harris. "He doesn't mince words; he lets you know exactly what he's thinking and how he feels, no matter how ridiculous. There's nobody like Wilson." Senior Ryan Little agrees. "He's just Wilson, you know? He's the original raw dog." In his kitchen, Wilson tastes his current creation, and the rich garlic and tomato smells bring hungry housemates out of their rooms to come see what's cooking. "Damn I'm good," he says with a cackle after tasting the sauce. When asked about his dreams, Wilson leans his head back and closes his eyes. "You know what? I think in a perfect world I'd combine all of my loves," he says. "Ideally, I'd have my own T.V. show in which I cook for women, serenade them with my songs, and then make sweet, sweet love to them. And then, I'd use it all as material for my book."

The Setonian
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Ambassador describes U.S.-Pakistan relationship

March 30

Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Ashraf Jehangir Qazi tried to deflect criticism leveled at his country by the international community during a presentation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy last night. Speaking in the ASEAN Auditorium at the Charles Francis Adams Lecture, Qazi told an audience of about 75 why his country could be a permanently useful ally of the United States. "Since Sept. 11, we have been together at the front line on the global war against terror," Qazi said. Pakistan has been responsible for the capture of more than 600 al Qaeda operatives in the past three years, he said. In addition to operations against terrorist operatives, Qazi said the government is working to stop the sources of terrorism. He likened the war on terror to the war on crime, where punishing wrongdoers may not be enough to eliminate the problem. "We have to address the root-causes of problems to get long-term solutions," he said. The Pashtun ethnic group, which Qazi said makes up almost 50 percent of the Afghan population, straddles the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Any instability is this region will inevitably affect the much larger Pashtun populations in Pakistan, he said. U.S. actions securing the Afghan government have a direct, positive impact on the stability of Pakistan, Qazi said. Qazi acknowledged that the United States and Pakistan have not always had the best of relationships, but since the mid-1960s, "the basic thrust has been positive." The challenge facing the countries now, he said, will be moving past the global war on terror -- GWOT, as he called it -- and Operation Enduring Freedom to a permanent, closer relationship. He was hopeful about the prospects, noting positive statements made in a 2002 meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Qazi also tried to quell concerns about the country being responsible for international nuclear proliferation. A global scandal erupted last month when it was revealed that Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear weapons scientist, helped develop weapons programs in North Korea, Libya, and Iran. He said that although Pakistani government officials had suspicions about Khan, the government was unable to act without "credible evidence." He said the United States and other international watchdog groups also lacked proof until this October. He attributed the eventual arrest and confession of Khan to Pakistani military action. The country sent investigation teams to Libya and North Korea to confirm allegations, and then confronted Khan. While the country was "very embarrassed" over the incident, Qazi denied that government officials had any knowledge of Khan's action. No physical nuclear materials from Pakistan were exported because of smuggling, he said, and all of Khan's illegal actions took place outside of the country. Qazi addressed the controversy over the government's pardon of Khan, which he described as necessary considering the political realities in Pakistan. "The political fact that you cannot ignore," Qazi said, "is that this man is seen as having done a valuable service for his country." Qazi described Pakistan's weapons program as being a response to illegal nuclear tests by India, and that his country was "never responsible" for nuclear escalation. He described his country as the nation leading the way in discussions to end the long-standing conflicts with India. His country has constantly been willing to negotiate, he said. Qazi said the Indian and Pakistani governments have recovered from a "bottoming-out" in their relationship in 2002. He compared the recent raucous reception of the Indian cricket team in Pakistan to the countries' warming relationship. "It was an incredible sight," he said. Even though the home team lost, the stadium erupted in applause for the victorious Indians. Previous matches have been marked with tension. He praised India for recognizing the uniqueness of the much-contested border dispute between Kashmir and Jammu. The volatile situation has led to three wars and twice led the countries to the brink of nuclear war. While the countries have other differences, Qazi said they were not different than what other countries face. According to Qazi, the Jammu and Kashmir problem threatens the political security of both countries. The stakes for a solution to the problem are high. Qazi said that rising tensions threaten the development of prosperity in the countries. He said China received $40 billion in foreign investment last year, while India only received $5 billion due to the instability and conflicts that plagued it. Lifting people from poverty is the "greatest contribution to human rights" a state can make, he said. India and Pakistan both need to grow at an eight to nine percent rate for the next fifteen years, similar to the rate of China's development, to reach their full potential. Qazi was hopeful this could be achieved, with one condition. "This won't happen in a state of conflict," he warned. He repeatedly emphasized the need for negotiations and compromise for the benefit of both countries. Qazi previously served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to the Indian government, but could no longer serve when rising tensions caused the countries to break off diplomatic relations in 2002. He was then appointed by the Musharraf government to his current position in Washington, D.C.

The Setonian
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Alum to run for state legislature

March 30

Tufts alumnus Carl Sciortino (LA '00) is running for the Massachusetts State House of Representatives, and may be representing Tufts in the process. Sciortino's campaign will pit him against incumbent Vincent Ciampa in the Democratic primary, to be held Sept. 14. The November election will determine the next State Representative for the 34th Middlesex District, which encompasses most of Medford and Somerville -- including the Tufts campus. Sciortino kicked off his campaign this past weekend with a party at Orleans Bar and Restaurant in Davis Square. According to Sciortino, the event set a positive tone for the upcoming campaign. "We had a great turnout and we exceeded expectations for attendance and donations," he said. Ciampa is a former member of the Somerville Board of Aldermen. He has held the State Representative position for 14 years and has been unopposed for the last six. No one else has announced a candidacy for the position as of yet. This campaign marks Sciortino's first run for public office. "It is a little daunting," he said, "but I am going to use my determination to win this election." "I am running because I think the community deserves a better choice than a representative who has been unresponsive and has run unopposed for six years," Sciortino said. "Everyone I have spoken with has told me that [Ciampa] has been unwilling to listen." Ciampa could not be reached for comment. Sciortino said that his time at Tufts had a large impact on his political ambitions. "Tufts taught me that political participation is essential to a strong and healthy community. It taught me to challenge the status quo," he said. Sciortino welcomes participation by Tufts students on his campaign. "I want to encourage students to be active in the community but especially in local campaigns and local politics," he said. "I would appreciate the help of any Tufts student." As an undergraduate, Sciortino served for one year on the Tufts Community Union Senate and two years as co-chair of Tufts Transgender Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Collective. His sophomore year, he also founded the Rainbow House, Tufts' on-campus housing for LGBT students. "I also worked on a co-ed housing initiative," he said. "It was interesting to work on as it received some national press." Biology Professor Margaret Lynch worked on a summer research project with Sciortino, who was a biology major. She said Sciortino was selected by a competitive process to receive a stipend and research funds for a project from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "He was very enthusiastic and passionate about his research project," Lynch said. Sciortino is originally from Connecticut and now resides in Somerville. He is presently the manager of research operations at Fenway Community Health. Sciortino's biggest campaign focus is going to be the state budget. "My first issue is bread and butter budget issues -- education, health care, social services, and housing," he said. "It should be based on the needs of the most vulnerable and the most at risk in our community." Sciortino also plans to campaign for equal marriage rights for Massachusetts' same-sex couples. "I agree with the [State Supreme Court's] ruling one hundred percent," he said. A third major campaign platform issue for Sciortino is a sound environmental policy for the state, including an increase in the availability and range of environmentally-friendly public transportation. "Extending public transportation was a requirement of the Big Dig ten years ago, but only recently have any efforts been made to expand the system," he said. Sciortino hopes to see the extension of the Green Line from Lechmere into Medford and Somerville, including a stop near Tufts.

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