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Kerry pulls off strong victory in New Hampshire

January 27

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- It was obvious from early on that the John Kerry campaign was banking on strong numbers in the New Hampshire primary. The song they chose to sound check campaign headquarters that afternoon before the results came in was U2's "Beautiful Day." Senator Kerry continued to build momentum in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination by winning decisively in yesterday's primary. Kerry received 39 percent of the vote, while Howard Dean was far behind with 26 percent. "Well, I love New Hampshire." Kerry said last night. After a pause, he added, "I love Iowa, too." With his second win in seven days, Kerry appeared confident and relaxed while delivering his victory speech from the Holiday Inn in downtown Manchester. "Together, let us lift our country up to the America it can become," Kerry said. Kerry appeared on stage surrounded by a diverse group of supporters. "Firefighters for Kerry," "Pro-Choice with Kerry," and "Conservative Voters for Kerry" were among the signs spotted at his campaign last night. The fifteen-point margin of victory confirmed Kerry's recovery -- two weeks ago, Dean had twenty percentage points over all other candidates in New Hampshire. Kerry credited his success to his campaign organization, and National Campaign Advisor Jeanne Shaheen. Shaheen is the former governor of New Hampshire, and co-taught a course last semester in the Tufts Political Science Department. Political science professor James Glaser said that yesterday's results should not be underestimated. "It's not just the New Hampshire voters that matter," he said, "It's the people that donate money to the campaigns." After their better than expected finishes in Iowa last week, Kerry and John Edwards, "showed their viability, it had immediate impact on their ability" to raise money, he said. Kerry's victory capped a chaotic day in Manchester, where thousands of supporters crammed the streets to show last minute support for the eight Democratic candidates. Included in the fray were dozens of Tufts students who have been campaigning in the state for months. This included sophomore Aaron Banks, who has been interning for Kerry since last summer. Banks said Tufts was strongly represented among local colleges by having the most interns and volunteers on the Kerry campaign. Banks supervised a phone bank set up by the International Association of Fire Fighters. "The workers gave up commissioned pay to work on the campaign, that's how strongly they feel about this," Banks said. Banks said the town he was responsible for phone banking went to Kerry with a two to one margin. "This was a great experience, there's real ability to advance," Banks said. Despite his positive campaign experience, Banks will return to campus today. "As much as I want go on the road and live like a rock and roll star, I'm going back to class for now," Banks said. Volunteers were not the only Tufts students in the state yesterday. The ExCollege class "Making TV for Social Change," made a documentary about primary day. "This is our first assignment and it's such a great opportunity," Senior Esra Yalcinalp said. After a crash training course in the morning, the class spilt up and filmed almost five hours of footage, which must be edited in the upcoming weeks. Yalcinalp said the class had already spoken to candidates Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark, as well as Shaheen, and was filming at the Kerry victory speech. Glaser, Political Science Professor Jeff Berry, and Bill Mayer from Northeastern lead a trip of 73 students -- 40 from Tufts -- to New Hampshire over the weekend. All political science students were invited. Students went to town meetings for Edwards and Lieberman, and took a tour of CNN Headquarters in Manchester, NH. The noise from the crowd inside the hotel began building after the Associated Press declared Kerry the winner at 7:45 p.m. By the time Kerry appeared at 9:30, the room was overflowing with celebrating volunteers, donors and residents. Kerry also touted his military connections, referring to his "Band of Brothers" and fellow combatants in Vietnam. "I know something about aircraft carriers for real," Kerry said. "And if George W. Bush wants to make national security the central issue of this campaign, I have three words for him I know he understands: bring it on." Kerry also explicitly thanked young volunteers twice during his speech. "You stayed the course and because of you this has been a successful and happy campaign," he said. With his twin victories, Kerry left late Thursday for South Carolina to begin campaigning for the seven states that have primaries next Tuesday, Feb. 3. Brian Loeb contributed to this article.

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News

Fares lecture postponed until the fall

January 27

Tufts' annual Issam M. Fares Lecture scheduled for February has been postponed until the fall semester of 2004, the administration recently announced. Although specific reasons as to why the lecture was postponed were not given, Assistant Public Relations Director Siobhan Houton cited "scheduling challenges among high-profile speakers." Judy Olson, President Bacow's Chief of Staff, who spoke on his behalf, said that unnamed complications had "prevented our top choice speaker from joining us." She added that, "given the extremely high profile of Fares Lecturers, the complexity of organizing such an event is, hopefully, understandable to our community." Although it was not revealed who the speaker would be, plans are already underway to ensure the Fares Lecture's execution next fall. Students have expressed disappointment. "If they couldn't find anyone who could speak I understand, but it's disappointing nonetheless," sophomore Jose Vazquez said. "It's a shame that it isn't going to occur this year," sophomore Caroline Kennedy said. "I'll be abroad in the fall, so I'm kind of disappointed that I won't be there to see it."

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News

Curtatone, critics still at odds over speed, direction of development

January 27

The plan to develop Assembly Square with 'big box' retailers will be pushed forward despite criticisms, new Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said after a Board of Alderman meeting last week. Assembly Square is Somerville's largest undeveloped waterfront property. It spans 145 acres and 3/4 miles of the Mystic River and is currently home to a few stores, including a Home Depot. Curtatone said that development in the area will bring millions of dollars in revenue that can be used to lower the taxes of private citizens. He also hopes it will convince the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to extend the Orange Line to the area, which is currently considered a "medium priority" concern in the MBTA's 25-year plan. The mayor said he wants to make Assembly Square "the most unique development area in the region," and that the city is "primed to move forward, but we have to unlock investment now." Curtatone chose to hire the Cecil Group to draw up a plan of development for the site, the urban design company that formulated the original plan in 2000. "We want to make sure whatever we do is consistent with our long-term goals," he said. Steven Cecil, Principal of the Cecil Group, said at the meeting that he was ready to "offer services, information, and creative ideas, but, most of all, great choices in the months ahead as you choose the best path for development." The Cecil Group's 2000 plan for Assembly Square listed "fundamental criteria for future 'big box' development proposals." These include ensuring "parallel development" of a "mixed use," pedestrian-friendly area, and preserving the current traffic capacity in the area and even creating new traffic capacity. The first step Curtatone is taking is to rezone the area to loosen restrictions on businesses trying to invest in the development. The zoning simply "puts out the rules of the game for developers," he said. But critic Bill Shelton, president of the Mystic View Task Force (MVTF), said that the current zoning proposal violates the 'fundamental criteria' outlined in Cecil's report, which would ensure that the Square be developed into more than just a strip mall. Shelton is unsure what Curtatone's final goal for the square really is. "If the mayor is coming back to [the Cecil Group] now, he would have to explain what's changed," he said. The MVTF opposed prior actions for the development of Assembly Square because of their special emphasis on the introduction of "big box" retail stores, such as IKEA and Home Depot, into the section of the development project to be called the Assembly Square Mall. Instead, MVTF favors a totally "mixed-use" vision of the development, which would include residences, increased transportation, and high-value developments like offices. The MVTF also encourages community involvement in planning, instead of hurrying development. Mark Horan, Curtatone's spokesman, said that the apparent move towards a big box development is only a way of "jumpstarting" the process. "The only way to get activity [to the rest of Assembly Square] is to get activity in the mall," Horan said. The plan can only be passed after both the city Planning Board and the Board of Aldermen agree to it. Denise Provost, President of the Board of Aldermen, said that the mayor seemed to have enough votes in place to pass the plan. What that plan will be, however, is still up in the air, as Provost said that the proposal is a "moving target," and it is very likely that it will continue to change. Curtatone's plans for Assembly Square were strongly opposed by his opponent in last fall's mayoral race, Tony LaFuente, who advocated a slower process in which the city, businesses, and private citizens would be equally involved. However, Curtatone said his victory in the race showed the public's feelings on the issue. "People knew they need strong leadership to move this plan forward, and I have always been decisive," he said. With Curtatone attempting to rezone the area, the MVTF continues to be a strong force on the issue. "Reports on big boxes in other cities show that they lose money for the cities they're in," Shelton said. He said that these large retailers will not attract the MBTA to Assembly Square as much as high-value businesses would. A cohesive public stance on the issue has been difficult to obtain. Curtatone scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for Dec. 23, 2003. He intended to hold a vote on the issue then, but because 64 of the hundreds of citizens in attendance spoke out against the rezoning, no voting took place. The Somerville Journal called the hearing a "brouhaha." Curtatone saw this as "healthy debate," rather than a serious setback. "We all agree where we want to head; we are just debating on how we want to get moving," he said. Development of the area has become even more important now that the unused area has become a magnet for drug-related crime. According to the Journal, there have been over 20 drug related arrests in the past month in Assembly Square. Curtatone intends to get "the highest and best use of the land." For now, he said. The city is "working with developers about how we should move forward."

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News

Mydoom virus disrupts several students and faculty

January 27

Approximately 100 Tufts University computer systems have already been infected with Mydoom, a computer virus that has been spreading throughout the world since Monday afternoon. Director of IT Infrastructure Lesley Tolman said that the virus "went into the wild sometime [Monday] afternoon and we had safeguards in place by 9:30 p.m." The worm amasses e-mail addresses from the host computer and then randomly generates subject lines for e-mails sent to the hosts' entire address book The virus contains itself in an attached file which is then spread to anyone who opens the file. The University has thus far fared much better through the Mydoom epidemic than with other viruses such as August's Blaster worm. Tolman attributed this to Tufts "having additional tools in place." Director of University IT Support Services Kathleen Cummings said she expanded on the protections that the University used. The strategies include server-side virus protection, client-side virus protection for all machines connected to the LAN, and "for students and stand-alone machines we offer a desktop solution," Cummings said. In an e-mail to Tufts faculty, Tolman warned that "it is crucial that all desktops update their virus protection to detect the Mydoom worm." Once a computer has been infected, it is quarantined from the Tufts Network. It is then barred from network connection until a member from Tufts On-Line has officially inspected the computer. Tolman said that "computers are quarantined to prevent additional infection. They pose a threat to the network." Tufts On-Line technicians can perform this service either by appointment in-residence, or students can bring the infected computer directly to the office. According to Tufts On-Line, it is necessary only to delete the executable file, rather than reformat the entire hard drive. According to CNN, virus experts believe that the worm may be part of a competition between the UNIX and Linux operating systems. The worm launched a Denial of Service attack on the website of SCO Group, which owns UNIX. Cummings maintains that the best way to prevent attacks is through education. "We have created training classes, pamphlets and on-line information about what to do -- and not do -- to help insure a safe computing environment." Another prevention method Cummings suggested was not to open files from unknown senders. However, Mydoom often uses e-mail addresses that are known to the recipient. Tolman commented on this, advising faculty to contact the sender first and confirm they sent an attachment. TCCS has not yet communicated with students about the Mydoom virus.

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News

Vet School PR needs improvement

January 27

For an institution that spent over $3 million expanding its hospital for small animals so that dogs and cats could be kept apart, the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine's failure to explain with some compassion the reasons that forced it to put down five dogs is shocking and upsetting. Students were not reassured that euthanasia was the only method to make the experiment worthwhile. Students were not reassured that the benefits will far outweigh the costs. Students were not even informed of the experiment, but discovered it on their own as if it were an embarrassment being covered up. This failure does not mean that the Veterinary school should stop what it is doing, but that it should reconsider how it deals with experiments that involve euthanizing animal test subjects. Today PETA is practically a household name, and "Animal Rights" is as familiar a refrain in Davis Square as "Human Rights." However, the value of research that can only be done with animals is undeniable. The discovery of insulin, organ transplant methods, the smallpox vaccine, the tetanus vaccine, and chemotherapy are a few gifts of medical research that used animals as test subjects. As a matter of fact, almost every major medical breakthrough would have been much longer in coming and had a greater toll on humans were it not for animal testing. However, this does not mean that animals can be used indiscriminately as test subjects. The largest victory for animal rights was achieved when Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act in 1966. Stringent rules limit the use of animals in testing, and the humane treatment of test animals is an almost universally accepted norm. The Alternatives to Animal Testing movement recognizes animal testing as a necessary evil, but still actively pursues the reduction of minimizing testing with animals. The National Library of Medicine publishes a yearly bibliography of papers identifying new processes and procedures that can be referenced by researchers looking for alternatives to animals as test subjects. The Tufts University Veterinary School is a leading institution filled with people who care about animals and are well informed about the debate surrounding animal testing. As the protesting students stated, Tufts should be guided by the highest ethical standards. The Veterinary School must be proactive and more transparent about any tests that will involve euthanizing animals. As a first step, the objective, duration, number of test animals, and expected benefits should be announced at the beginning of any such experiment.

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News

All eyes fixed on the Red Planet

January 25

Within the past several weeks, talk of extraterrestrial life and universes beyond our own has not been limited to conspiracy theorists and obsessed Star Trek fans. The Jan. 4 landing of the Mars rover Spirit and the Jan. 25 landing of its twin, Opportunity, have stirred interest in all things extraterrestrial among members of both the scientific and academic communities. "I think for a lot of people, [Spirit's success] vividly demonstrates what a small but integral part of nature and the universe we are," said Associate Chemistry Professor Samuel Kounaves, who is part of a team that is developing a new Mars lander for launch in 2007 by NASA. "It helps connect us with something greater." Spirit's landing and first two-plus weeks on Mars were completely successful: the rover transmitted numerous photographs of Mars' surface. On Jan. 21, however, Spirit stopped transmitting. Since then, NASA scientists have been working to repair it: on Saturday, they reestablished contact with the rover and are currently describing its condition as "stable." This includes Tufts graduate John Callas ('81), who works on the current mission as the science manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Astronomy Professor Bill Waller, who teaches "Space Science and Technology," agrees that this is a big step in space exploration. Waller's course examines the development of space telescopes, robotic space probes, and manned space ventures. "It will be really interesting to see what more we can learn since the last robotic exploration of Mars [Viking in 1979]," Waller said. According to Physics Professor Ken Lang, "there will be a lot of excitement" if either rover discovers liquid water near the surface of Mars, indicating that there is or ever was life there. Even if such a discovery is not made, though, Spirit's successful two-plus weeks have already had at least one far-reaching effect: boosting the public's perception of space exploration. "Space exploration is really good for the country's morale, considering we have so much negative press overseas," freshman Kasey Collins said. "The biggest implication of the success so far is that there was no loud outcry of wasting tax dollars as there would have been with another failure," physics Professor Emeritus George Mumford said. These previous failures had stirred skepticism among Tufts students: "After the failure of NASA's '98 Polar Lander and Orbiter and the recent silence of the European Space Agency's Beagle Lander, there was some concern," among his students if the Rover would succeed, Kounaves explained. In addition to disproving skeptics, Spirit's two successful weeks on Mars and Opportunity's successful landing have highlighted the advances made in various branches of technology. "I continue to be blown away by the marvelous technological achievements that have occurred in my lifetime," Waller said. "I think that the Mars rovers underscore what can be done with robotics -- We have come a long way in this regard." Head of the Tufts Robotics Academy Chris Rogers agrees: Spirit's success "is inspirational," he said. Spirit's success has also had political effects. "There wouldn't have been any presidential yell for people on Mars within decades if Spirit hadn't arrived," Mumford said. In the Jan. 14 presidential "yell" of which Mumford speaks, President Bush called for Americans' return to the moon by 2015. Bush also proposed using the moon as a launchpad for a manned mission to Mars by around 2030. Bush's plan, which has not yet received the endorsement or condemnation of the American Astronomical Society, has received mixed reviews from the public. According to an Associated Press poll, though 48 percent of Americans approve of the plan, 55 percent of them would prefer that the proposed NASA budget increase go towards education or healthcare instead. Members of the Tufts community evince similar concerns: though she thinks "space exploration is a good idea," Collins feels that "we should be spending more on education and our own people than on space." Others object to the plan on the opposite basis: while rich with big ideas and rhetoric, the plan, they say, provides too little funding to actually bring about the realization of those ideas. "Many of my colleagues in the space science community see this as a political action in which Bush takes credit for a new push in space exploration, while providing little in support and letting future administrations pay for it," Kounaves said. Junior Stefanie Schussel agreed, saying, "It's the perfect political statement -- by the time we know if it's a success or not, [Bush] will be long gone." Though the plan's completion will require an estimated $12 billion, only one billion will come from a NASA budget increase. The rest of the funding must be obtained through a major restructuring of NASA's current programs, a possibility that has Tufts' experts concerned. "Scientists are worried about the funding implications," Lang said. "$11 billion must be taken from existing NASA programs over the next five years, and this could impact current space science programs." One definite effect of the restructuring, the decision to halt shuttle maintenance flights to the Hubble Space Telescope and allow it to deteriorate, is described by Waller as "astronomically regrettable." "The Hubble Space telescope has provided more good science, more pictures to captivate public imagination, and raised more questions than virtually any other aspect of the space program," said Mumford, who, like Waller, is opposed to the Hubble's deterioration. Waller added that, "there is no optical-ultraviolet space telescope planned that could replace Hubble in the next two decades." The jettisoning of the Hubble notwithstanding, Lang is optimistic regarding the possibility of landing men on Mars. "It is certainly feasible to [use the Moon] as a launching base for Mars in the next several decades," he said. "There is a lot of interesting science one could do from the Moon." Kounaves, however, is skeptical. "I certainly would like to see Mars explored, but I don't think going from the moon in the next several decades would be advantageous," he said, adding that "to build spacecraft on the moon would require a substantial industrial presence, mining, fabrication, and a large work force." Mumford is also wary: "Proceed with caution to establish a base on the moon; especially on the side away from the earth, so that radiation emanating from our home planet won't interfere with contemplating the universe," he said. "None of this will produce enough results within the next decade to have much bearing on any course I might have taught," Mumford added. "Nor is it likely to increase interest in astronomy at the college or university level." Waller disagreed, and pointed out that "NASA's educational commitment is much greater than it was back in the 1970s." Kounaves also hopes that Rover's success and the administration's focus on space exploration will stir enthusiasm among students. "In the past, such events have certainly helped attract students, not just into astronomy courses, but into science," he said. "I know that several of my colleagues, including myself, were enthralled by the moon missions. I know in my case they helped generate a passion for doing science."

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Men's team making a splash as season continues

January 25

The men's swimming and diving team cut the holiday break short and went back to its winning ways in style, taking first in all three of their vacation meets and in Saturday's competition with Trinity. The Jumbos' dual-meet record now stands at a perfect 7-0. Vacation adversaries Brandeis, MIT and Wesleyan -- in addition to Trinity on Saturday -- were all overmatched. The Jumbos showed prominence in each event, looking sharp as they marched on with their undefeated season. Tufts dropped the Bantams in a 179-113 blowout, extending its unbeaten streak in league competition to almost two years. This season's victory over swimming powerhouse MIT was especially gratifying for the Jumbos; last season, the Engineers were the only smudge on an otherwise perfect campaign, edging Tufts by a mere six points. Last Sunday the Jumbo victory was far more telling as they took the contest by the large margin of 175-116. Tufts opened the contest by placing second in the 200 meter medley relay. The foursome -- made up of freshman Sloan Harris, sophomores Jon Godsey and Jason Kapit, and junior Michael Rochette- finished with a time of 1:38.35. "MIT was a huge win because they had beaten us last year and no one on the team seemed like they were going to let that happen again," Harris said. "This team's mentality definitely feeds off itself." Harris also finished second in the 800 meter freestyle relay and 200 meter freestyle events. In the 200 meter race, Harris pulled up to the wall just .37 seconds after sophomore teammate Brett Baker. Baker would continue on with a spectacular day, taking first in the 100 free and swimming as part of the 800 meter freestyle relay team. Kapit contributed on his part as well, winning the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:58.38. The previous day, the Jumbos handedly defeated Wesleyan 161.5-117.5. Once again, the 200 medley relay team of Harris, Baker, Godsey, and Rochette got things started for Tufts, touching home in 1:39.54 to earn first place. Harris and Baker also won the 200 free and Baker finished second in the 100 backstroke, second only to Tufts senior tri-captain Jamie Meyers. Myers won in 55.62 seconds. Fellow senior tri-captain Aeric Solow won the 100 breaststroke, and junior Seth Baron took the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:58.73. Despite its success, the team is trying to remain focused. "We still need to focus on the grand scheme of things," Baron said. "We can't let [single wins] detract from the whole picture." Sophomore swimmer Steve Ward agreed. "We just take it one meet at a time. We still have three weeks until our last meet at Williams, and we can't look that far ahead," he said. "It does give us momentum, however." Still, there have been many reasons for excitement, and even the swimmers admit that some of those must be acknowledged. "We did step it up at MIT. Some guys were even going several seconds faster in the same events than they did the day before at Wesleyan," Baron added. "To me, that was the most exciting part of the whole weekend, seeing our team go so much faster despite all the fatigue." Baron reached a personal high in last Sunday's meet versus MIT and Brandeis, gaining his fastest ever time in the 500 freestyle, clocking in at 4:54.53. In the Trinity meet, Baron took first place in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:18.05, followed by Ward with a time of 10:22.16. In diving, the Jumbos continued to dominate the opposition. Against Trinity, graduate student Connell Cloyd won the three meter event, and sophomore Todd Putnam finished second in the one meter event, with Cloyd coming in third. Against MIT and Brandeis, Cloyd and Putnam finished 1-2 out of all three schools in both the one and three meter events. Putnam won the one meter event, with Cloyd finishing second against Wesleyan.

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News

Jumbos lose to Bates, fall to 2-1 in NESCAC

January 25

The women's basketball team fell to league rival Bates 70-58 on Saturday, reliving last year's 80-59 loss to the Bobcats in the NESCAC tournament. The squad had just come off of a solid 64-47 victory over Keene State on Thursday. The Jumbos now sit at 9-4, and 2-1 in NESCAC play. Bates junior forward Betsy Hochadel scored 18 points to lead all scorers, and helped to hand Tufts its first conference loss of the season. Twelve of her points came in the first half when Bates built a five point lead. The 18 point effort tied the career-high Hochadel set last year against Tufts in the NESCAC quarterfinals. "[Hochadel] was really crashing the boards and getting up and down the court," sophomore Jessica Powers said. "A lot of her points were because of her hustle." At the end of the first half, the Jumbos went into the locker room down by five, but confident in their ability to come back in the second frame. "Everyone went into the locker room with their heads up knowing that the game was basically tied," Powers said. "[Coach Carla Berube] stressed boxing out and getting rebounds." Tufts pulled within two points twice in the second half, once when Powers hit a three pointer on the opening possession, and later when Love's lay up made the score 40-38. The Jumbos would get no closer than six points for the rest of the game. "We put out our best effort," Powers said. "Everyone played hard, but unfortunately we went down early and never came up with the lead." Love's double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds led the Jumbos, who shot just 33 percent from the field and were three of 17 from three point range. Powers added 16 points and sophomore Julia Verplank contributed ten rebounds in the effort. Tufts once again controlled the boards, finishing with a 47-38 rebounding advantage, but poor shooting prevented the Jumbos from capitalizing on the margin. Inconsistent intensity also hurt the Jumbos on Saturday, especially on the defensive end of the court. Tufts came up with just nine steals and forced only 12 turnovers. On average this season, the Jumbos have 13.2 steals and force 22 turnovers per game. They also regularly hold their opponents to just under 60 points a contest as compared to the 70 points they surrendered to Bates. "We need to put everything together for the whole 40 minutes, not in spurts," Powers said. "Our defense needs to be intense for the entire game." Bates moved to 10-6 on the season and evened itself with Tufts in third place in the NESCAC. On Thursday against Keene State, Tufts was lead by freshman guard Jenny Muller, who came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points in 18 minutes. Muller was seven of eight from the floor, including four of five from three point range. "Jenny Muller was on fire tonight," Berube said following the game. "I'm expecting the freshmen to start playing better. They've gotten their first taste of the NESCAC and they can't play like freshmen anymore." Tufts used its size advantage to dominate the game on the inside, particularly in the first half, when it built a 40-21 lead. Love and senior tri-captain Erin Buckley controlled the paint, combining for 20 points and 14 rebounds. "We played well, but we still needed to work on a few things," Powers said. "We showed that we could bounce back [after Brandeis.]" The advantage on the inside helped offset some sloppy ball handling by Tufts. The Jumbos committed 17 turnovers and had problems early in the game handling the Keene State press. Once Tufts got its ball handling under control, the team quickly pushed the game out of reach. "We really wanted to bounce back from the loss to Brandeis," Berube said. "I keep telling all the girls that everyone's getting up for us and there aren't going to be any easy games." The Jumbos will travel to Smith College on Tuesday, followed by an important NESCAC weekend at home against Amherst on Friday and Trinity on Saturday.

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New building in Africa dedicated in honor of Friedman professor

January 25

Dr. Frederick Hartman's name will now be known from here to Uganda, and starting next week, Afghanistan too. The Mukukku Health Center in Uganda announced that their new maternity health wing will be named in honor of Hartman, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition. For nearly six years, Hartman devoted himself to the treatment and prevention of HIV in Africa, focusing on women and children affected by the virus, including the nearly 2 million AIDS-infected orphans. He has spent four years working in Uganda developing a program for the cause. Now Hartman will travel to Afghanistan and work on international health issues there. Hartman first traveled to Uganda four years ago -- a visit which led him to deem the nation "the most advanced in Africa" because of its response to the AIDS and HIV epidemic. Hartman said Uganda has been "very proactive in widespread treatment programs." At one point, nearly 28 percent of the Ugandan population was infected with HIV. This figure is now down to 11 percent. For these reasons Hartman says Uganda has served as a model for AIDS and HIV treatment programs. During a recent trip to a rural area in Uganda, Hartman said he was disturbed by the disparity between patients in his program and those in more rural areas. This realization has led him to fight "for a program for rural HIV positive pregnant women." Hartman's program will now also focus help in more rural areas and on the prevention of the transmission of AIDS from mothers to their children. The Mukukku Health Center was originally built through the support of Plan International, an international, child-focused development organization. At a recent board meeting, the board decided the new maternity wing would be named Hartmans' Wing in honor of Hartman and his wife, a nurse who has aided in his work. Hartmans' Wing will include an antenatal clinic, delivery room, maternity ward, laboratory and dedicated patient space for pre- and post-HIV testing and counseling. Dr. Beatrice Rogers, Academic Dean for the school, calls the honor "well-deserved" and said that Hartman "is a committed member of the faculty, and his class is one of our most popular and well-received... We have had public health physicians take it and say that they have learned a lot." Since beginning his work in Africa, Hartman has received donations totaling $1.2 million -- all used to treat the 600 patients in his program. He is currently looking for an additional $20 million to treat an extra 5,000 women. He is also considering support for a new learning center with dormitories. This proposed center would serve as a training center where both Tufts and international students alike could continue to learn about prevention and treatment of AIDS and HIV. Hartman plans to continue teaching his Primary Health Care class, despite his globe traveling. Hartman has spent nearly 30 years in international health care and is a physician trained in infectious diseases and epidemiology. He has been teaching classes in public health at the Friedman School of Nutrition since 1986.

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Along Came Polly falls short of expectations

January 25

Writer/Director John Hamburg (Meet the Parents, Zoolander) was seemingly at a loss for new material when he created his new star-studded blockbuster, Along Came Polly. Although he stayed true to his promising Ben Stiller allegiance, Hamburg came up short of expectations as Polly is only a disappointing m?©lange of his previous work. While the film is entertaining, the unlikely and yet somehow predictable plot is forced to rely on overplayed slapstick moves that lost their novelty after Meet the Parents. Polly tells the story of an anal retentive risk analyst who calculates his every move. Reuben Feffer's (Ben Stiller) obsession with having a plan is severely shaken when he discovers his new bride (Debra Messing) literally rocking the boat with a French nudist scuba instructor (Hank Azaria) on the first day of their honeymoon. Forced to return home with his head bowed, Reuben is attempting to get his life back on track when he runs into his junior-high classmate and polar opposite; Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston). Believing "in a little thing called destiny," Reuben is sure that he ran into Polly for a reason and boldly (or rather not so boldly) decides to ask her out on a date. Reuben is forced to reevaluate his conservative ways as he is rather clumsily introduced to a world of spicy foods, underground salsa clubs, unwashed hands, spontaneity, and near-blind pets. While it seems more than unlikely that a beautiful adventurous girl such as Polly would give a severely neurotic insurance analyst the time of day, the film counts on the old adage, "opposites attract." Stiller plays a mixture of his previous roles -- a conglomeration which includes characteristics from There's Something about Mary, Meet the Parents,Keeping the Faith, and even Zoolander, when he performs his own spastic interpretation of salsa. His reliable comedic timing leaves the audience empathizing with his humiliation as we long to see his socially awkward character get something (anything!) right. It seems that Stiller's characters can never catch a break. While poop fiascos, profuse sweating, and some very stalker-esque wooing tactics can be amusing for a time, eventually the audience tires of covering their eyes in embarrassment and just wonders when it will all come to an end. Aniston is a perfect pick for the disorganized Bohemian, Polly. Her disarming charm and candid delivery serve as a perfect contrast to Stiller's aptly stifled and rigid neuroses. Her talent is hardly tapped, however, as a shallow script demands nothing more from her than a bubbly quip and sweetly blameless smile. With predictable stars, the real laughs in Polly come from a strong and hilariously farcical cast of supporting actors. Hank Azaria's performance as Claude, the French nudist scuba instructor, is a perfect example of his wonderful ability to transform into any character. After blatantly stealing Reuben's wife, he compassionately tries to explain to Reuben why these things happen as he emphatically compares himself to a confused hippo-pot-a-moose. Alec Baldwin is excellent as Reuben's inappropriately outspoken boss, Stan. Philip Seymour Hoffman's plays Reuben's best friend Sandy Lyle, an outdated teenage star. While his performance is sometimes overly vulgar, it puts the characters' expectations and fixations on what should be into a welcome perspective. Other supporting actors include Debra Messing as Reuben's irritatingly perfect bride and a show stealing appearance by Polly's near-blind ferret, Rudolpho. In short, if you're looking for a few mindless and shallow laughs, Along Came Polly is the film to see. However, with several "been there, done that" moments, a shallow storyline, and a few too many comedic attempts that take it too far, stick to the Stiller classics, Meet the Parents and Zoolander.

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Lady swimmers undefeated over break

January 25

For the women's swimming and diving team's seven seniors, Saturday afternoon marked the end of four storied years. The seniors walked away from Hamilton Pool in style, however, with a convincing 177-120 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in the team's last home meet of the season. With the win, Tufts improved to 6-1 overall heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. "Today was a sad day, but we're all really excited for what's to come. We're going into the end of the season strong and we're going to turn some heads," senior tri-captain Kierstyn Thayer said. "It was a sweet ending to the seniors' four year careers." The 400 yard medley relay team made up by Thayer, fellow senior tri captain Mika Sumiyoshi and freshmen Dierdre Cannell and Alaina Thiel gave Tufts its first 11 points on the afternoon with a dominating performance, winning by over six seconds. Sumiyoshi continued her dominance in the NESCAC, winning the 500 meter freestyle for the Jumbos by over 16 seconds and the 200 meter individual medley by over eight seconds. Cannell, Thiel, and fellow freshman Jessica Bollinger also continued their steady success for the Jumbos. The trio tallied four first place finishes and one second place finish in their individual events. "It felt good to win, especially at home, because we've been training a lot over the past few weeks," Cannell said. "I didn't expect to do as well as I did, but the crowd really helped set the tone in the meet, and their energy helped me swim faster." Sophomore Meghan Wallach also contributed to the victory with wins in both the 50 and 100 meter butterfly events. Senior diver Beth Wecksell continued her success in her final home meet by winning both the one and three meter diving events, both by considerable margins. Throughout the afternoon, the Jumbos were cheered on by close to 75 fans who packed the areas around Hamilton Pool to catch a glimpse of the action. "Swimming at home is always amazing. We have a very intimate pool even though we always make fun of it," senior tri-captain Amanda Bloom said. "It was special to have so many people there being able to see us do what we work so hard to do. It's nice to see people appreciate the intensity we put into doing well." The team has won four straight meets since it arrived home from its ten day training trip in Puerto Rico. Included in that undefeated stretch was a victory over Div. I cross-town rival MIT, a team that narrowly defeated Tufts last season. "It was absolutely awesome to beat MIT," Thayer said. "We had two meets back to back and just coming back from our training trip, our bodies were broken down. It was really nice to beat them and get revenge, because our meets are always close." Their recent success has given the Jumbos a boost of confidence heading into the season's final two weeks and the all important NESCAC tournament, where Tufts looks to improve on last season's sixth place finish. Six juniors returned from abroad after the holidays and have been a large part of the team's victories. They have given the team even more depth and experience. "Having those six girls back makes us realize what a presence they are on this team, whether it's on deck in the locker room," Bloom said. "They really complete the team because at most meets, it's not the first place finishes but the seconds, thirds and fourths that clinch victories." Tufts' next challenge will come against the Bates Bobcats next Saturday at 1:00 pm, with the Jumbos looking to up their perfect second semester record to 5-0 and build even more confidence heading into NESCACs and Nationals next month.

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Men suffer second conference loss

January 25

Bates freshman Zak Ray stunned the men's basketball team and silenced a raucous Cousens Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, when his desperation three from just inside half court found the bottom of the net. With the score tied 62-62, and 2.9 seconds remaining, Ray caught the inbounds pass and headed up court. He pulled up midway between the three point line and half court and hit the shot every kid dreams of, leaving Tufts with its second NESCAC loss, while Bates erupted in celebration. "It was just like blank," junior Andrew Kaklamanos said. "I couldn't move. I was waiting for the refs to call it off." Ray's shot negated a game tying bucket by sophomore Scott Armstrong that knotted the score at 62 with 2.9 seconds to go. The loss dropped the Jumbos to 4-11 (1-2 NESCAC), and puts them alone in seventh place in the conference. Bates, meanwhile, improved to 3-0 in the NESCAC, tied with Williams for first place. Although the end of the game was gut wrenchingly close, the Jumbos trailed for much of the first half, going down by as many as 11 points midway through the period. After a run late in the half, junior guard Jesse Belodoff's three point buzzer-beater had the Jumbos down just one point going into halftime. The true drama, however, was yet to come. Down 62-58 late in the game, senior co-captain Deyvehn East drew a foul from Bates' leading scorer, Ramon Garcia. Entering the game, East was shooting only 61.5 percent from the line, but was able to calmly sink the front and back end of the one-and-one, cutting Bates' lead to 62-60. Tufts remained two points down with Bates retaining possession after a missed jumper by junior forward Reggie Stovell. Tufts opted not to foul and instead focused on getting a stop because the 35-second shot clock almost guaranteed them another possession with 20 seconds left. The plan worked, as the Jumbos forced a bad shot and got the ball back with 20 seconds to go. After bringing the ball up court and finding no immediate options, coach Bob Sheldon opted to take a timeout with six seconds remaining in regulation. "If Deyvehn wasn't open to shoot the three, we wanted Scott (Armstrong) to go to the basket," Sheldon said. Off the inbounds play, senior co-captain Eric Mack looked for East, who came off a double screen. East was covered, however, so he turned to his second option, Armstrong. With his back to the basket on the post, Armstrong faked right, turned left, and threw up a shot that rattled home. "I had to spin middle," Armstrong said. "I got it up; thank God it got in." Armstrong's basket tied the game at 62 all. With 2.9 seconds remaining on the clock, Bates needed a prayer to stay out of overtime. "We wanted to make them make an impossible shot," Sheldon said. After catching the inbounds pass at about one-third court, Ray turned up court with Mack covering him the entire way. Cautious not to foul the point guard, Mack let Ray pull up from midway between half court and the three point line on the far right of the court to attempt a nearly impossible game-winning shot. "You want to play smart and give him room," Mack said. "He said to me, 'this is a great game,' right before he caught it and shot the three." While the loss was heartbreaking, there were some positives for Tufts in the game. Some players who had been playing minutes here and there, proved their worth by making big plays. Coming into the contest, freshman forward Brian Kumf only averaged 12.8 minutes per game. On Saturday, however, he played 23 minutes and was the catalyst for the energetic home crowd with his two handed dunk, which also drew a foul. "I just saw the hoop," Kumf said. "I was so pumped I just wanted to put it down." The freshman finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Also putting in yeoman's work was Kaklamanos, who began the season in the starting lineup, but has been working as a reserve in the team's last seven games. Kaklamanos had a meeting with the coaching staff in which they told him to just go out there and play and to not worry about making mistakes. The junior scored 12 points in 14 minutes, including three three-pointers. Although the Jumbos are now 4-11, the team feels its tough play against a solid team like Bates shows that it can compete with any team in the league. "We're real young, things are coming together now," Kumf said. "We're forming an identity." Along with the game came home court advantage, which greatly played into Tufts' favor. Whether it was fans heckling Bates forward Rob Stockwell or simply screaming when Zak Ray touched the ball, Cousens gymnasium quickly became a tough place to play. "Having such devoted fans cheering for the Jumbos was an integral part of the game," freshman guard Walter Baddoo said. "With that type of energy, we'll definitely do well in the future."

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$60,000 in new computers installed in Tisch over break

January 25

The Tisch library spent tens of thousands of dollars over break on new computers in an effort to use library space more efficiently and help reduce student printing volume. The new computers are part of a technology upgrade scheduled and budgeted for several years ago. "This upgrade was planned long ago, but the new computers are even better than we had planned on," said head of Library Information Technology Support Christina Kittle. "We knew we were going to upgrade, but these were a bonus." The upgrade, which cost $60,000, was shared between Tisch's operating budget and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, and replaced all of the library's public access computers. The replaced computers were all fewer than three years old, but the library said that the upgrade was an effort to stay on top of technological changes. "We try to keep up with the technology in the Eaton lab," said Director of Tisch Library Jo-Ann Michalak. The old computers were used to upgrade non-public areas of the library or were donated to other departments. The new computers are Dell Sx-270 models. They are equipped with Pentium 4 3.06 Ghz processors and 512 Mb of RAM. "Students will find that these computers are much faster than the old ones," Michalak said. The computers also feature 17 inch flat-screen monitors and Central Processing Units (CPUs) which are small enough to be mounted on the undersides of the desks, increasing the amount of workspace available for users, according to Michalak. Students see the new computers as adding convenience but some also see the added expense. "An upgrade is always a good thing, "said sophomore Pranav Kapoor. But sophomore Talia Goodkin was not as pleased. "It's nice to have new computers but [the replaced computers] really weren't that old. There are a lot of other things that Tufts could be using that money for," Goodkin said. The new computers are perfect for the libraries uses, Kittle believes. "These computers are great for research," she said. The computers feature temporary storage space, which is emptied every 24 hours. "Students can temporarily save things on the computer, and then decide what it is that they actually want to keep or print and what they don't actually need," Kittle said. According to Michalak, this could be another way to reduce students' printing costs. "We are always trying to come up with alternatives to 'pay-for-print' for the students," she said. Another feature of the new computers is easy access to the computers' USB ports, which are found both on the side of the monitor and the front of the mounted CPU. These are meant to facilitate the use of USB keys -- file storage devices that are the size of standard household keys and plug into USB ports. "We're really going to encourage students to start using USB keys to save their research," Michalak said. "USB keys are small and easy to use, and they fit in every computer -- Mac or PC," Kittle said. "And they store a lot of information -- mine can hold the equivalent of 60 floppy disks on this one key."

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Vet school completes $3.25 million renovations

January 25

The Foster Hospital for Small Animals has recently undergone $3.25 million worth of renovations to add 11,000 square feet, the Vet School announced last month. The hospital is now 20 percent larger than a year ago, according to Dr. Philip Kosch, Dean of the Tufts Veterinary School. "We now can provide a better environment for animal patients and their owners, as well as an enhanced work space for our veterinary staff and better learning opportunities for our students," Kosch said. The improvements were fully funded by charitable gifts from individuals and foundations, including a lead gift from Dr. and Mrs. Henry Foster. Dr. Foster is the founder of Charles River Laboratories, Inc., a trustee emeritus of the University, and a chair of the Board of Overseers to the Vet School. The Vet School has faced increasing budget restrictions over the last several years as Massachusetts State funding has been decreased, and at one point, completely cut. After 18 months of construction, the hospital has a new emergency room and trauma center, an expanded intensive care unit, and new hospital wards and treatment areas. A separate ward was created exclusively for cats, allowing the felines to avoid the potential stress of being near other small animals. "The new ward areas provide housing and treatment spaces that meet the needs of veterinary medicine today," Vet School Hospital Director Dr. Steven Rowell said. "While our previous facilities were adequate, the reconfiguration of space, increased oxygen supplies to all wards, and the ability to bring computers right into patient areas allows hospital staff to deal with changing patient care needs more efficiently." The addition of the feline ward is an important improvement, according to Rowell. "The separate facility allows the cats to avoid the stress of staring at dogs all day," he explained. "The whole atmosphere has improved and we now have significantly more breathing room." This renovation is the first expansion of the small animal hospital from when it started in 1985. "When we first opened our hospital, we envisioned accommodating 12,000 patient visits per year," Kosch said. He said that the hospital can now handle over 23,000 patients annually. In addition to treating dogs and cats, Foster staff and students care for a wide range of mammals, reptiles and birds that have gained popularity as pets. The hospital also says it has the nation's largest residency-training program in veterinary emergency and critical care. President Lawrence Bacow joined Tufts' trustees and Vet School officials in November to re-dedicate the hospital during the school's ongoing 25th anniversary celebrations. "It was a giant leap of faith when Tufts' Board of Trustees voted in 1978 to establish a School of Veterinary Medicine -- the only one in New England," Bacow said during his visit to the school. "Our expanded and newly renovated hospital is testament to our continuing focus on veterinary care quality and leadership." Rowell was a member of the vet school's original graduating class. "I was here in 1979 when this campus consisted of old buildings and lots of dreams, he said. "We had no small animal hospital at Tufts until 1985. I got a good education, but the facilities we now have are incredible compared to 20 years ago." "Our students now have the ability to see it all." Rowell said. "They will learn about things they cannot do in private practice, but they will know what can be done and how to properly work up a case for referral to a facility like we have at Tufts."

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Men's Track dominates in first of consecutive home meets

January 25

A winter break that consisted of two meets with two vastly different levels of competition left the men's track team with according results. On Jan 17, the team hosted six fellow New England schools at the Gantcher Center. The Jumbos flat out dominated the six-team event, mounting 316 team points to second place Keene State's 124. Six days earlier, Tufts sent a limited squad to Dartmouth to compete against a field that included Div I Illinois as well as several international squads. The Jumbos finished 13th out of 26 teams. This past weekend, the Jumbos once against hosted a meet at home, only this time without score. That was okay with coach Connie Putnam. "We have a young team," Putnam said. "So it was a good opportunity for the young guys to get out and run around and jump all out without the pressure of being scored." Sophomore Trevor Williams finished second overall in the 400 meter dash and junior Ray Carre finished third in the 500, but Putnam thought the highlight of the day was the 800, where freshman Nate Cleveland ran a sharp 1:59.06, good for first place. The Jumbos also found success in the 1,500, where junior Nate Brigham finished second overall with a career best of 4:02.55, and fellow classmate Mike Don wasn't far behind, finishing fifth with a time of 4:06.67. "I was most pleased by the 55 meter hurdles," Putnam said, referring to the race where junior Nate Thompson finished second overall and first out of Div III competitors with a 7.99. Tufts' 4x400 relay team also finished first with a time of 3:27.7, the team's second consecutive win dating back to the previous week, and the Jumbos found varied success in the jumps and shot-put events. Still, Tufts' achievements at its non-scored meet could not be compared to the success of its first home meet, when it dominated in almost every event. Carre (second in the 200 and first in the 400), Brigham (first in the 3000) and sophomore Matt Lacey (third in the 1000 and second in the 1500) were all bright spots, as was the 5000 meter run, where Don and freshman Josh Kennedy finished 1-2. Meanwhile, sophomore Seth LaPierre won the pole vault, freshman Ryan Byrne captured the shot put title, and freshman Fred Jones, who sat out this past weekend with an injured hip flexor, claimed first in both the long jump and the triple jump. The previous week at Dartmouth, first place finishes were nowhere to be found for the Jumbo athletes, but Putnam was not expecting his team to finish atop the competition. "We took some top guys who were back early and had a week of practice in, and we went up there to compete and get pushed around a little bit," he said. "The competition was extreme." Sophomore roommates Lacey and Mike Cummings accounted for ten of the Jumbos' 11 team points, finishing third and seventh, respectively, in the 5000 meter race. Thompson accounted for the other point through virtue of his sixth place finish in the 60 meter hurdles. On Saturday, the Jumbos will venture up to Bowdoin, where they will clash against not only the Polar Bears but also MIT and Springfield. "That will be a very, very difficult meet," Putnam said. "Anytime you race Bowdoin and MIT at the same time it's going to be a knocker of a meet. Next week should tell us a lot about where we are as a team."

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Winter freeze doesn't slow Jumbos

January 25

The women's indoor track and field team showed relatively few negative side effects from the bitter winter this weekend, hosting the second of four home meets at the Gantcher Center on Saturday. In the non-team-scoring event, the Jumbos third official winter meet, Tufts qualified provisionally for Nationals in two events, while adding several other championship qualifications. "This is the first week we haven't been doing double [training sessions], and they're tired, they're just getting back into the flow of things and we're still in our high training volume," Coach Kristen Morwick said. "It's usually slow-going the first few meets, so given those factors, I guess the fact that we have some people performing well is great." Senior quad-captain Jess Trombly led the way with provisional national qualifications in the 55 meter hurdles (8.64 seconds) and the 400m dash (58.67). Sophomore standout Rachel Bloom (59.90) finished close behind in the 400, joining Trombly as the only two women in a field of 30 to run the event in under a minute. Bloom qualified for the All-New England's, which features Div. I, II and III competitors, with her result. "I think it's best for us to run it together, we push each other up," Bloom said. "It was good for me to have [Trombly] in it. I practice with her and I'm used to running behind her. I know she's going to pick [up the pace] at a certain place." Senior quad-captain Lauren Caputo finished second in the 5000 in a time of 18:18.26, just under four seconds behind Trinity's Kristina Depeau (18:14.82) and three seconds clear of Bates' Julie Dutton to also gain All-New England's qualification. The Jumbos' 4x400 relay team (4:03.28) ran strongly as well, finishing just behind UMass (4:02.58). "We didn't qualify for Nationals yet [in the relay] but we didn't have our real team on yet," Bloom, who ran in the 4x400, said. "We play around with it until it gets close to the championship meets, and then we put our real teams together." The race of the meet, according to Morwick, was the 1000. Freshman Sarah Crispin, running the race for the first time in her college career, battled back and forth for the lead with Amherst senior tri-captain Alyson Venti, eventually squeaking past the Lady Jeffs' runner to claim first place by .30 seconds (3:04.88). "She had never really run it before, but the girl from Amherst, who's an All-American in cross country, took a huge lead at the beginning of the race, and Crispy came back and nipped her at the line," Morwick said. "It was awesome. It was a great performance, really exciting." Crispin also won the 1500 event two Saturdays ago with a time of 4:54.37. Crispin's 1000 time was good enough to qualify her for All-New England's. "I didn't really know what to expect," Crispin said. "But I went out at the pace I'd discussed with the coaches, and I just stuck with [Venti]. I ran indoor track in high school but I didn't take it too seriously. This is my first time training properly, and so far I'm happy with it." Over winter break, the Jumbos opened their home indoor season in style, hosting and easily winning the Tufts Invitational against five other New England schools on January 17. Tufts scored 381.5 points, dominating the field in sheer numbers--Tufts entered 35 athletes, just over half of its squad--to finish 277.5 points ahead of runner-up Keene State (104). Worcester State (28), Salem State (26), Fitchburg State (25.5) and Emmanuel College (13) rounded out the competition. Junior Sika Henry highlighted the meet in high jump with Tufts' first national provisional qualification of the season, winning the event by 16 centimeters with a jump of 1.66 meters (5 feet, 5 1/4 inches). It was the second-best women's high jump mark in Tufts history. Trombly put on a display of her own, cleaning up in the 55 meter hurdles (8.70 seconds), the 200 dash (26.35) and the long jump (5.00 meters), while finishing fourth in high jump and sixth in shot put to collect 37.5 points for the team. She was joined in the shot put by classmate Jess Gauthier (11.19m), who won the event over teammates senior Gwen Campbell (10.95) and junior Katie Antle (10.83). Gauthier also took first place in the weight throw. While the season is still young, Morwick is happy with the team's success so far. The team returned from winter break one and a half weeks ago in various stages of training, which while still being fine-tuned, is beginning to come together. "It's a little slow going right now because we've had over a month off from training," Morwick said. "Given that, I think people came back in decent shape and our returners more than anything are doing really well because they know how to prepare themselves when they're home over break. Some of the freshmen are just not there yet. But for the most part we're doing pretty well for this time of the year."

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Schroback resigns from Senate

January 25

Freshman Nick Schroback stepped down from the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate late last semester, opening a Senate seat for this term. He cited the main reason for the resignation as an overloaded plate of activities and schoolwork. Schroback said he was completely content with his first semester spent with Senate at Tufts. "The experience was worth it. There are a lot of people I know from it, and I really liked campaigning," Schroback said. "Everyone was very nice towards me, but I was a genuinely bad Senator. That's why I dropped." TCU President Chike Aguh respected Schroback's decision. "He decided that it was best for him to resign from Senate in light of some new responsibilities he was taking on this semester," Aguh said. "He knew he would not be able to put his all into Senate and he made a very selfless decision." "I feel that senators do have a lot to be done, so it can seem to be overbearing," freshman Senator Andrew Caplan said. "If you keep the eye on the target, though, it is definitely possible to balance." According to Schroback, this overwhelmed feeling stemmed mainly from the weekly Senate meetings. "Meetings were from 7 to about 12:30, and could have done without reflecting at the end on how the meeting went. The extra hour put me over the edge," said Schroback. "There are many cool people in it [the Senate], but they wanted a big time commitment," Schroback said. "I had the time, but no desire to spend all of it on Senate." Other senators understood Schroback's difficulties with Senate requiring many committed hours. "The Senate is a big time commitment so I respect his decision," said Senate Historian Jeff Katzin. He had only kind words for his fellow Senators. "A lot of kids were funny," he said, "But they were really into Senate, and I wasn't as much." "He didn't have time to be good or bad," Caplan said. "Senate's the type of thing that can take up all or as little of time as you want. The excitement comes when you're really digging into it." Schroback's resignation opens a spot for a Senate seat. Along with the freshman class seat is an open seat in the junior class. The TCU Judiciary also has an opening resulting from the graduation of senior Michael Douglas. The elections for the new seats are scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Feb 4. Candidates are holding a Forum meeting Feb 2 at 9:30 p.m. in Hotung. The candidates meeting is on Thursday, Jan 29, when all interested students must submit petitions to run.

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Somerville bars quietly accept smoking ban

January 25

In the few months that remain before a statewide smoking ban takes effect, Somerville bars have mostly come to accept the conditions of the town ordinance. In November, the Somerville Board of Aldermen passed a resolution asking for the ban to be reconsidered, citing a loss of business from Somerville's bars to establishments in neighboring towns without smoking bans, such as Everett and Malden. "Bar owners have been very vocal -- occasionally they voice problems about a loss of business [to these towns]," said Mark Horan, spokesman for Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. Those vocal complaints may have died down recently, however. According to Rob Ames, manager of the Joshua Tree in Davis Square, there has been "no loss in business. People have reshuffled." Hannah's, another local bar, has not been able to feel the effects of the ban as they are recently under new ownership. But owners of Handlebar Harry's, a bar in Plymouth, told the Plymouth Old Colony Memorial that they and several other restaurants were forced to close due to a 2001 smoking ban that took business to bars in neighboring towns without smoking bans. However, this may not be an issue in just a few months. By July, the entire state is expected to be smoke free, after Governor Mitt Romney signs into law a statewide smoking ban. Romney has made public his support of a statewide ban, which would keep bars and restaurants in towns without bans from having an advantage over non-smoking businesses. Somerville bars have been prohibited from allowing customers to smoke since Oct. 1, 2003 according to a Board of Health Ruling. There was controversy reported in TheSomerville Journal suggesting that the recent replacement of Board of Health member Arnold Duclersaint was due to the smoking ban controversy. The Board of Health is an independent organization with members appointed by the Mayor. Babette Mello, a registered nurse, replaced Duclersaint after he served for four years. Duclersaint told the Journal that he believed that his removal from the board was because he voted against repealing the ban. Horan, however, said that the appointment was not about smoking. "It was not a litmus test based on the Alderman's resolution," he said. "Joe [Curtatone] made the decision to go with a registered nurse over someone in the painting contracting business," Horan said, arguing that Mello was more qualified for the position. Opponents of the ban say that it forces people to smoke outside, which poses the threat of noise complaints in residential neighborhoods. Horan said, however, that the Mayor's Office has received no complaints regarding noise due to smoking outside bars. "Noise complaints are not an issue," he said. Ames also said that the Joshua Tree has not received any complaints. He did note that the establishment is surrounded by businesses, and that patrons are not allowed to smoke behind the building. "We're monitoring activities in Somerville relative to the smoke-free workplace regulation and are hoping to see workers continue to be protected from secondhand smoke," said Diane Pickles, the Executive Director of Tobacco Free Mass. According to Pickles, the nature of the ban is aimed at protecting workers, not preventing smokers from smoking. She also said that she is looking forward to working with Romney to ensure smooth transition to the statewide ban. Enforcement of the ban has also taken a somewhat muted form. The Board of Health uses spot checks on bars to enforce the rules, and is currently advertising a 20 hour per week job to perform these checks. Horan said that the enforcement is more of a "reminder of what the law is." Restaurants can be fined $50 for the first offense of the directive, $100 for the second, and can have their license to sell food suspended for two days after further violations. Ames said that on several occasions he has had to remove people from the bar. "People try to smoke in the bathrooms, but we catch them and kick them out. I don't want to lose my food license." Horan said that he did not know of any outright flaunting of the ban, as has been romanticized by articles in The New YorkTimes and The Boston Globe. "If there has been any rebellion it comes at the discretion of bar owners." According to Horan, though Curtatone does not support the ban, it is not going to be a primary focus of his administration. "Assembly Square development and a balanced budget come in far ahead of the smoking ban," Horan said. Currently the only establishments in Somerville that allow smoking are private clubs such as veterans' clubs. According to Massachusetts law, these clubs are defined as not-for-profit private organizations with a defined membership that are set up for charitable means.

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Alicia Keys's Diary: clever title, vapid lyrics

January 25

If your last name was "keys," wouldn't you be tempted to put old-fashioned brass keys and piano keys all over the cover of your latest album? Having composed music and lyrics since she was fourteen, Alicia Keys presumably has the creativity to come up with a sophisticated album. Alas, just as her cover art is preoccupied with displaying the various interpretations of her surname, the majority of songs on Keys's new The Diary of Alicia Keys seem too busy reiterating the same basic themes of her last album to try anything new. The unrequited love of the hit "Fallin'" reappears here in songs like "Dragon Days" and "You Don't Know My Name." Even the classic "A Woman's Worth" from Keys' last album, Songs in A Minor, has been utterly cheapened by Diary's "When You Really Love Someone." In both, Keys defines a "real" partner, giving parallel criteria for men and women. The two songs present a proud message about taking equal responsibility in a relationship, but one is sufficient to convey this point. Other songs, such as "So Simple," are cheap without even being repetitive. The couplet "Now it's hardly simple/ it's just simply hard" is one a talented singer/songwriter could easily dribble in her sleep. Keys's lyrical laziness in these songs is especially surprising when compared to the clever lyrics in others. The chorus of "Dragon Days" makes use of mythical reptile imagery and the homophone, "draggin'", to parallel the agony of "a lady in waiting" for her unrequited love with the dragon's-breath fire of her desire. The medieval references throughout the song are as thrilling in their content as in their literary value. While blues lyrics are known for their plays on words, one does not expect a modern R&B artist to express her passion as a "dungeon" awaiting the prescribed knight in shining armor. "Heartburn," which compares lust to those gut-wrenching tacos you just can't stop scarfing down, is also clever. If the rest of the album had a little more spit-fire and a little less dribble, this princess might be saved. Lyrical gripes aside, Keys is clearly a gifted musician. Her seductively impetuous tone combines with smoothness and rich timbre to transcend the multiple styles she employs over the course of the album. The arrangements, particularly in the clich?©d "Karma," are orchestral and precise, but Keys brings in back-up singers common to R&B. The resulting blend is impressively natural. "Diary," a song that coaxes a lover to divulge his secrets to a tender and trustworthy ear, opens with a piano riff so delicate that the keys might as well be attached to heartstrings. When Kerry Brothers, Jr. echoes Keys's vow of secrecy, the chemistry between their voices imbues the entire song with a tender sexuality that can be described only as wildly feminine, which is Alicia's patent effect. This song is almost worth buying the album. Overall, Alicia Keys's diary is worth cracking. Expect these songs to express a lot of frustration, but be prepared to appreciate the ebb and flow of blues music as well. Keys, like the word keys, can come in many forms at once.

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News

Exhibition captures photos in the negative

January 25

Imagine having a professional photographer at your family's reunion or at a picnic with your parents. One photographer, Diane Arbus, changed the world of photography years ago by treating the entire country as her family. A new exhibit, Family Albums, aims to address Arbus' goal. This exhibit includes portraits of well-to-do East Siders in Manhattan, as well as the mother of accused murderer Lee Harvey Oswald. Newly discovered prints provide the impetus for this exhibit, now at the Grey Gallery at New York University. The exhibit closes on Mar. 27. Although Family Albums is not showing near Tufts, a trip into the Big Apple merits a visit to this exhibition. The highlight of Family Albums is the display of contact sheets shown alongside Arbus' portraits. Contact sheets, or negatives, let a photographer determine which shot she wishes to print and the Arbus exhibit greatly benefits from these contact sheets. They help viewers see why a particular image may have been selected for display. Arbus seems almost obsessive compulsive when one looks at the contact sheets. Perhaps it is a small thing like a crook of a head, or the crossing of one's leg that may make a photograph special stylistically and worth the work entailed in making a perfect print, It is clear that Arbus tweaked her sitters to no end and then chose her favorite poses to be printed. In one section of the exhibit entitled "Mothers," pictures show how Arbus explored the role of the matriarch in a variety of subjects -- from actresses like sexy Mae West to two full photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, Marguerite. They are displayed in between sheets of dozens of contacts showing numerous poses and expressions on Marguerite's aged face. Another highlight of the exhibit is the comments from Arbus on her subjects. She described Oswald's constant grin -- how she continuously looked secretly pleased even though her son was the alleged murderer of a beloved president. There are no signs of grief in her eyes; she gives off the impression that she is photographed all the time and that this is no different. The exhibit shows how good Arbus was at finding anomalous situations for her subjects. When viewing the dozens of contact prints displayed alongside the finished pieces, it is evident that she put a lot of effort into posing and styling her subjects. Other topics explored include "Fathers," showing both famous and non-famous paternal figures and "Partners," showing numerous couples. A particularly interesting photo is one Arbus did for Esquire in the mid-1960s, focusing on the famous doctor, Donald Gatch. In "Dr. Donald Gatch and Addie Taylor, 1968," Gatch stands to the right of Taylor's wooden shack. Arbus poses Gatch to look dapper; he is wearing a black three piece suit with a white collared shirt peeking out and has a cigar in his mouth. Another example of Arbus' styling is clear: to make the photograph more artistic, Arbus positioned Gatch's right leg so it is bent with the foot resting on an axe. His left arm is also bent with his hand resting on his left hip.The two bent appendages form a nice balance of angles at either side of his body. Arbus started as a fashion photographer in the 1950s, but by the 60s she began to shoot many different types of subjects - including carnival freaks and transvestites. Right before committing suicide in 1971, Arbus wrote that she saw family to be defined as any type of bond, often more unconventional than just between brothers or husbands and wives. The curators of the exhibit want the audience to feel as if they are privy to seeing a family album of America. The photos are mounted with fuzzy borders, giving them a less professional feeling, and groups of families are shown together engaged in happy activities. The photos are often candid. What is presented in this exhibition is quite an intimate showing of people. Sometimes they are unusual or out of place, and her subjects are in a variety of settings. Arbus worked hard to find oddities in people and places, and her photographs captures individuals that many others would call freaks. Her images are meant to arrest the viewer and to make him want more. Though this gallery show is small, it is clear that Arbus was ultimately successful in her task.

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