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An bigger orchestra, now able to play on its own

November 13

Gustav Mahler's symphonies are among the most challenging orchestral music traditionally written for large orchestras, but until this weekend, Tufts has been unable to perform many of them -- the orchestra was simply not big enough. But at its Winter Concert in Faneuil Hall this Saturday evening, the TSO will perform Mahler's challenging Symphony No. 1, entitled "Titan," unaccompanied. The orchestra will be directed by conductor Malka Yaacobi. Finally, the orchestra has enough members to perform the piece: in the last two years, the size of the orchestra has increased by nearly two thirds, from 45 to 70 active members. When it performed Mahler Symphony No. 2, Tufts had to join with Brandeis and Wellesley for the orchestra to have enough members. "This is an important accomplishment for the TSO because playing a piece like Mahler Symphony No. 1 is in itself a testament to our musical prowess," said TSO publicity officer and bassist Aaron Weinstein. Cellist Anthony Rios, a junior, attributed the improved recruitment of student musicians to the reputation the orchestra has built on its international tours. TSO started touring four years ago, and has visited Portugal, Jamaica, Greece, France and Germany. This winter break, the TSO will perform in Rio de Janeiro. "It is not a coincidence that after the start of our tours we now have an orchestra that can play Mahler Symphony No. 1," Rios aid. But TSO members seek to improve their popularity on campus as well. "I hope that we can find a way to get the school community to know about us and be enthusiastic about classical music the way that they are towards other musical groups like a cappella," Weinstein said. But members suggest that the orchestra could improve further if the University improved the acoustics in Cohen Auditorium, its primary practice space. The room was not engineered for an orchestra and student musicians say that it is difficult to distinguish melodies in the room, which makes for frustrating rehearsals. "Acoustic improvements in Cohen are not too expensive and they would make a huge improvement," Rios said. Although the University has plans to build a new music building, the building's plans do not include a stage large enough to accommodate the orchestra. This will be the second consecutive year that the TSO has played at Faneuil Hall and Rios said that the mood-shifting symphony will "engage the audience throughout the piece."

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News

Jumbo Jamming

November 13

Admit it, you were skeptical. When you heard that the Tufts basketball team was going to have a slam dunk contest at last Friday's Jumbo Jam (if you heard at all), you probably shot your corn flakes straight out your nose. Well you weren't the only one. A dunk contest? What the hell were these guys doing having a dunk contest? This was ridiculous. I was picturing the dunk contests from back in high school, where you get the two guys on the team who can actually touch the rim to compete against each other, and the one who manages to actually dunk the ball one time wins. So I really can't blame you for being skeptical. I couldn't picture our team having a dunk contest, and I've been covering these guys for the past two years. In all of the games I've seen over the past two seasons, I've counted at most maybe ten dunks, and about half of those came from Craig Coupe, now Trinity's newest center. Probably four of the remaining five came from Deyvehn East, who can elevate, make no mistake. But when he throws the ball down it's generally less than thunderous. The only dunk that has ever made me leave my seat was the one Reggie Stovell made last year over Amherst All-American Steve Zieja. But the injured Stovell wasn't even participating in the dunk contest, so as I entered Cousens Gym last Friday, it was with more than a little doubt in my mind. I guess all I can say is that I was wrong. If you were there on Friday night, I think you'll agree with me, these guys can dunk. Even in the best case scenario that I played out in my head, the most I thought I'd see were a few, loud, straight on, two-handed dunks. Maybe even a few one-handed dunks, if we got lucky. About five minutes into the contest, as I worked arduously to remove my foot from my mouth, it was pretty apparent that I was completely and utterly wrong. The 300 or so people who showed up were treated to a show filled with 360 degree, reverse, one handed, acrobatic dunks that would have made Spud Webb proud. We all knew that Dan Martin and Blaine Lay were athletic, but damn. It seems that Coupe's hold on the center position last year, along with some ankle problems for Martin kept the two sophomores too far out of the limelight. Call me crazy, but I'm kind of excited that Coupe's gone this year if it means I get to see these guys get more minutes. My two favorite dunks of the night were two by Martin and Lay in the final rounds. In the first one, Martin banked the ball off the backboard from the left side of the basket, ran to the other side, jumped up, and with a fully extended right arm grabbed the ball and threw it down while falling away from the basket. On Blaine Lay's contest winning dunk (my other favorite), he stood at the foul line with his back to the basket. He bounced the ball through his legs, off the backboard, and grabbed it in the air for the one-handed dunk. This one would have been cool even if he had missed the dunk -- do you know how hard it is to bounce a ball through your legs, off the backboard, and have it go where you want it to go? It seems needless to say, but I was impressed. In fact, I was impressed by the whole Jumbo Jam event. The knock-out game between the men's team and women's team was awesome -- we all learned that John McGlynn's jumper might be just as sweet as his older brother's, and we also learned that Kate Gluckman's might be better than either one. We learned that, aside from McGlynn and Andrew Kaklamanos, the men's team might be starving for outside shooters this season after the men lost to the women in the three-point shoot out. And we also learned that, for a 5'7", 175-pound dude, senior lacrosse player Tom Mulcahy makes a mean Jumbo. But maybe most importantly, we learned that, if you reach out to them, students might actually come out to athletic events. Jumbo Jam was on a Friday night and there was essentially no advertising, but there were still about 300 people there. Sure, about 90 percent of them were drunk, but at least they were there. Friday night's crowd was as big as any crowd at a basketball game last year, except for the men's playoff game against Middlebury. Just imagine what the crowd could have been like if more people knew about it. But God forbid the Athletic Department ever advertise anything. At least put up some flyers around campus or buy an ad in some student publications. How are people supposed to show up for events they don't know about? But advertising aside, Jumbo Jam was definitive success. Hats off to Blaine Lay and Jen Griffin for the idea. Instead of complaining about a lack of fan support, these two actually thought of an idea to fix it. And now that you know that the women can shoot like they do, and that the men can actually dunk the way they do, aren't you a little bit curious to see if they can do it in a game? Well you're not the only one.

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News

One second, Professor -- let me just take this call...

November 13

When you were in elementary school, one steely glare from your omniscient teacher was probably enough to dissuade you from talking during class or passing a not to your friend. In college, however, things are not quite as simple: the distractions caused by students in college courses (and the way professors and fellow students deal with them) are more complex. At Tufts, the most common class disruption is the dreaded mid-class cell phone ring, a distraction that Chemistry Lecturer Chris Morse estimates became a problem "about three years ago." "I can't stand the sound of cell phones going off," sophomore Lindsay Garmirian said. "It happens in all my classes, even halfway through the semester, and students will still forget to turn their phones off. The sad part is that teachers just try to ignore it." Some professors feel that this strategy of ignoring the phones is a good one. "Generally the person feels like crap, so you don't have to do much," Morse said. "[So] I basically just ignore it [when cell phones ring], or sometimes I'll glare or make a catty comment." Morse's strategy in dealing with cell phone interruptions may be effective: "At the beginning of the semester, there's usually about one call a day in my class [of 300 students]," he said. "As the semester wears on, people get a lot better with that." Some professors, however, may be more likely to ridicule a student with a ringing cell phone. According to students in Professor Richard Eichenberg's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy class, Eichenberg becomes angry and "starts making fun of us" when cell phones go off. At Tufts and other universities, distractions from cell phones and other sources tend to occur more often in lecture classes than smaller ones, possibly because students feel more relaxed and comfortable in a setting where the professor's focus might not be on one individual. There are exceptions to the rule, however: "In the French 2 class that I took, there were four or five students whose phones rang every day in class," Morse said. "They would then run out of the 13-person class to answer the phone, and on several occasions, had the conversation right there in class while the teacher was talking in French -- once it was during a student's presentation." Some students' cell phones even ring during exams: "During exams... phones usually go off several times, which I'm... surprised at," Morse said. Especially during exams, cell phone rings can make concentrating -- on the behalf of both the students and the professor -- difficult. The University has no standard policy on the use of cell phones during classes. Thus, student cell phone etiquette rests on the notions of common sense, courtesy, and maximizing one's own learning experience. Other schools, however, have found more concrete ways to deal with cell phones and other classroom disruptions. At the University of Arizona, school officers put together a video that showcases the most disruptive things students do in classrooms. The video was based on student feedback regarding their opinions of noise disruptions. "I don't think it should be made a policy enforced by the school of how students should show respect," English Professor Andrea Humphrey said. "I think it should come from individual teachers because some teachers are more relaxed then others." Humphrey herself has set down some rules for her English 3 class. "Some of the most common [disruptions] include students coming in late," Humphrey said. "I teach three times a week at 9:25 for a class of 12 students, so any disruption would affect the whole class." In order to prevent such disruptions, "on the syllabus, I enforce that three late [arrivals] equal an absence," Humphrey said. "If the side talking and falling asleep during class get to be too much, it will start to reflect on [students'] grades." "I just wish students would take their education more seriously," she said.

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News

Gephardt's daughter supports father's policies, campaign

November 12

As part of a whirlwind speaking tour that took her to six schools yesterday alone, Chrissy Gephardt, the daughter of presidential hopeful and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) spoke to a handful of students yesterday evening about the importance of labor and jobs to her father's campaign. Gephardt's most recognizable constituency is organized labor, and his daughter devoted most of her speech addressing economic issues. "My dad has been fighting for workers for a long time," she said. She said her father's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, which she said "devalues the work of Americans," contrasts the position of then-Vermont governor and current rival Howard Dean. Improved treatment of workers is important, Gephardt said, because "it's just not a reality" that everyone can attend college. Although they live outside the traditional coastal Democratic strong states, Gephardt said unemployed industrial-sector workers from the Midwest will be able to identify with the working-class, upbringing of her father in Missouri, Gephardt said. Gephardt outlined many of the pillars of her father's campaign, including universal healthcare. "The fact that people use the emergency room for their doctor's office is wrong," she said. Her father's plan would repeal all of the Bush Administration tax cuts and instead give businesses a 60 percent tax credit to provide health insurance to employees. The money that businesses previously spent on healthcare, she said, could be spent on increasing pay and hiring new workers. She explained her father's plan to make the first $10,000 spent on college tax deductible and have the government repay college loans of teachers. Gephardt mentioned her father's reaction when her sister Katie received a low paying teaching job immediately out of college. "He's like, here's the future of our country, and we're paying them $17,000?" Gephardt said. Gephardt, who graduated from Northwestern University in 1995 with a degree in communications and received a master's in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, joined her father's campaign this past June. She said her father wanted to be a candidate "who contrasted sharply with George W. Bush." Unlike the other Democratic candidates, she said, her father has experience working on the national budget during Bill Clinton's presidency. "When he gets into the White House, he's going to know how to do that," she said. Gephardt briefly addressed her father's foreign policy goals, emphasizing the need for multilateral cooperation. "George Bush has leveled our relationships with other countries," she said. "Unfortunately George Bush thinks he knows everything." She said that her father has always supported gay and lesbian issues during his time in government, but that support has intensified since she came out as a lesbian to her parents and then-husband two years ago. "He has been a big advocate of those issues for a long time," she said, but "when it's in your family, you always look at it differently." Gephardt said that Dean has emerged as her father's main rival. "It's typical to target your front-runner," she said. She also credited Dean's internet fundraising techniques as "monumental." "He's gotten a lot of hype but maybe he's not all he's cracked up to be," she said. Presidential candidate Gephardt has consistently billed himself as the candidate who supports the rights of workers. While Gephardt has the support of over 20 different unions, rival Dean recently won the support of the two largest unions of the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union. These two represent 3.1 million potential voters. In a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, Gephardt's support has increased to 12 percent, up from eight percent in a poll earlier in the month. Gephardt and Dean are in a dead heat for first in support in Iowa, where the first primary is held. Before stopping at Tufts, Gephardt visited Dartmouth College, Winnacunnet High School, New Hampshire Community Technical College, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and Boston College Law School. After her speech, she traveled to Wellesley College. The speech was sponsored by the Tufts Democrats, who hosted Democratic Party presidential hopeful John Kerry's daughter, Vanessa, last month.

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News

Life in the cube

November 12

Why has our species triumphed over so many obstacles to reach the pinnacle of civilization, only to decide we should work all day? I mean, think about it. There must be someone in charge of this whole 'human' thing, who said, "Alright guys. We've outlasted the dinosaurs. Those ice ages are done with. We beat the black plague, managed to settle every piece of land on the planet. We took a car to the moon. We can float on water, fly in the air, drill holes into the ground. We've got pop tarts, we grow living animals for our own interest just so we can eat them. We're doing great. So, now that we have that established, let's go to work. Yes, that's right. As a species, we've got everything under control, but I am mandating that you go to work all day and waste it all away. Get in your car, and drive there. Make sure you kiss ass, dress right, pack a lunch, and don't be late, because you've got to have a job. You'll do this for 40 years." Do you realize that people in this world are going to work all day, and not getting home till 6 p.m.?! Then they eat, decompress, and it's 8 p.m.?! And then there are four precious hours left until they must go to bed. Four hours a day. A precious nugget of four hours. Add in a kid and there goes a few nights thanks to the band concert or little league game. Add in something that makes you a reasonable person like a bowling league or volunteer work and there goes another night. Then what about doing your bills and sending birthday cards and cleaning your room? And having sex? Doing laundry and dropping off shirts to be cleaned and buying stamps? Try to relax by having a few beers and watching the game and that just leaves you more deathly exhausted the next day. For more work. So much work is just superstructure: the buildings, the suits, the cars, the elevators, the guy at the ground floor saying hello, the receptionist answering the phone. The businesses that only deliver food to people at work, the businesses that only supply work with paper to work on. The people that only make staples to staple the papers together that contain the work. The people that make the filing cabinets in which to put the stapled pieces of paper so that later, someone else at another work can call and ask for some proof of the work, and see it. People make those cabinets. People make and drive trucks to transport the cabinets and people pump the gas on the highway for those trucks. People make the uniforms for those gas men and people make the cardboard boxes to ship the uniforms in. So many people are doing so much work just so we can keep working. What are we working for? More work. Do you realize that all we really need are food, water, shelter, and love? That's it. Everything else is contrived. Career satisfaction? That is made up. That is fiction. Here are some things that are reasonable jobs: food maker, water guy, shelter builder, medicine man. I propose we revert as soon as possible to those four jobs. Granted, we'll have to crap in the woods, but we'll deal.

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News

Flutie Magic returns in full force

November 12

The NFL could be mistaken for a kennel upon a quick glance at some of the dogs that comprise the league at the moment. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago -- and the list goes on. Even Arizona, in this age defined by parody, is on its way to yet another losing season. But as the saying goes, every dog has its day. And Sunday, with seven out of the eight last place teams claiming victory, there was no team that proved that more than the San Diego "Super (for now)" Chargers. The reason the Chargers stood out a little more this weekend than the other giant killers was their glitz. There are some memorable contributors on the offensive side of the ball for the Bolts (David Boston, LaDainian Tomlinson, to name a couple) but none is more noteworthy than the awe-inspiring Doug Flutie. Coming into the year, it certainly appeared that Flutie Magic was on its way to exiting stage left. Drew Brees was the apple of everyone's eye, and it appeared that the work Flutie had done winning games with the Buffalo Bills, Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders would all be a distant memory. But what people in the league have to understand is that Dougie is not your average 41-year-old, and while he may be a gentleman in the way he handles being second string, he wants to be on the field. And Sunday he got that chance once Brees was benched for his erratic play thus far this season. Flutie took full advantage in a 42-28 romp over the 6-3, but on the skids, Minnesota Vikings. Flutie is a very innovative and improvisational player, and his jump pass as well as his touchdown run off a botched snap are good illustrations of that. Say what you want about his not-so-technical style, but it scores points and wins games. Here's to Flutie pulling one out next week at Denver, and finishing his career on the field rather than on the bench. The only other two 1-7 teams coming into the week also were able to put their past transgressions behind them and pull out impressive W's. The Atlanta Falcons went into the Meadowlands behind third string quarterback Kurt Kittner and pulled off an impressive 27-7 upset to finally get head coach Dan Reeves his 200th career victory. The Giants, between Tiki Barber's painful fumbles and Jeremy Shockey's foot injury (out six to eight weeks), now sit at 4-5 and tied for last in their division. But coach Jim Fassel has pulled them from the depths before. The Jacksonville Jaguars gave their home crowd something to applaud with a victory over the heavily favored and highly efficient Indianapolis Colts. Byron Leftwich had his coming out party and Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith looked like the pair that helped the Jags go 14-2 in 1999. In one of the more marquee match ups of the day, one of Florida's other teams, the Miami Dolphins, didn't show up to Tennessee as the Titans rolled to a 31-3 victory. And it was even uglier than that score indicates. Brian Griese looked lost, and their once suffocating defense was giving Steve McNair all the time in the world to throw and lots of cushion for the receivers once he did throw. Apparently the Fish didn't want to wait until December to take a swan dive this year. At 5-4, they are now two games back of the idle Patriots in the AFC East. And for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the panic button has now been flirted with after their loss to the NFC South leading Carolina Panthers. Simeon Rice had even guaranteed victory this week. Unless you can play on both sides of the ball, such predictions are sometimes better left unsaid. One More Thing: Since when do the Green Bay Packers lose at home on Monday Night Football? While the 4-5 Pack has some explaining to do after giving that game away in the rain, the Philadelphia Eagles are the most "How did they do that?" 6-3 team in the league. They have even been outscored this season. But Donovan McNabb came up big on the final drive, and he is starting to gain his respect as a football player back.

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News

Belle and Sebastian show off new style tonight

November 12

Tomorrow the world will be a better place. But tonight, witty folk-rockers Belle and Sebastian perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, promoting their new album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. But B&S purists be forewarned: Waitress marks a stark departure from the group's signature ethereal chamber-pop style. With their longstanding cellist Isobel gone, Belle and Sebastian were forced to generate a new style relying more on peppy guitar than lingering strings. Produced by Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Tatu), the album is bouncier, pop-pier, and more polished than past Belle and Sebastian records. The songs on Waitress perhaps do not have the reflective appeal of their angst infused landmark song "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying" or "If You're Feeling Sinister." But they do hold their own charm, if only because Belle and Sebastian have kept their listeners along in the approach to their new style; the group has always alluded to a purer rendition of 1960s pop in their other albums. "Step into My Office, Baby" and the title track, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" kick off the album, and 1960s pop aside, they are disconcertingly catchy. One wonders if the band is a cheap imitation of the greatness it once was. However, "If She Wants Me" should satiate the purists' hunger as singer Stuart Murdoch croons, "If I Could Do Just One Near Perfect Thing I'd Be Happy". This track could have easily been Fold Your Hands Child, and it comes as a comfort to those fans who enjoyed B&S as they used to be. Belle and Sebastian's songs of old allowed the listener to be transcended to a surreal pop-folk world where it makes perfect sense to feel giddy, obsessed, bored, and lonely all at once. They remedied sadness with melancholy. Now, the band unabashedly pushes forward, into material ?  la the Carpenters and the traditional pop and soul music the group used to only hint at. "If You Find Yourself Caught In Love" is a perfect example of Belle and Sebastian's new pop tinge and perks up the latter half of the album after "Lord Anthony," which seems to pay tribute to "Mary Jo" and other early material. These Scottish kids always have managed to have a sinister sense of humor, and now the instrumentals seem to be having a bit of fun as well. Although the music might be upsettingly mainstream for some fans, it is still quite entertaining. In "I'm a Cuckoo", one might even be tempted to start singing "The Boys Are Back in Town," but whoops... wrong song. The group's lyrics peak with the fun folk-romp "Piazza, New York Catcher". This track features Murdoch accompanied by a lone acoustic guitar, questioning Piazza's preferences of the sexual variety. Murdoch sings, "Elope with me Miss Private and we'll sail around the world/ I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl/...Oh elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze/ A trail for the devil to erase". B&S are entirely loveable with their quiet resolution to provide the world with desperately needed innovative music. And they do this without self-promoting themselves or appealing to major labels. If you go: Belle and Sebastian perform at the Orpheum Theatre tonight at 7:30. Rasputina opens, tickets are $30.

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News

Elect-able Dean

November 12

Yesterday, Rodrigo de Haro's column claimed that Presidential Candidate Howard Dean would have great difficulty being elected in a national election. This is not the case. In fact, the uniqueness of his campaign makes him the strongest potential challenger to President Bush. Polls, such the ones conducted by Newsweek on Nov. 6 and 7 (the most recent available) contradict this. They state that Dean is faring nearly identically against Bush as his competitors. In fact, there are many reasons to think that Dean is the most elect-able candidate. An all too common misconception of Dean's candidacy is that his successes are based solely on an "anti-war, anti-tax cut stance." One could incorrectly infer that Dean's platform is for loony lefties, and that it would be unpopular with the independents who decide elections. This analysis belies fact. Howard Dean is not anti-war in that he does not oppose the use of force across-the-board. Although he opposed this particular war in Iraq, he supported the war in Afghanistan. He supported the Kosovo intervention. He supported the Persian Gulf War. These positions are very much mainstream. It is not a liability. In fact, his opposition to the war may prove to be his strength. Since Iraq's reconstruction is unfortunately proceeding poorly, criticism of the war is very popular. A clear majority of people were against allocating the $87 billion for reconstruction. Most people disapprove of Bush's handling of the war. As time wears on, more people become opposed to the war. While many of the other major candidates struggle to find coherent positions, we find that Dean is crystal-clear, and best able to criticize the current administration's policy (or lack thereof). Dean also appeals to non-liberal constituencies. He recently garnered the support of two of the most important unions, whose members are very much in the political mainstream. This includes people outside of the Democratic Party -- see www.deanindependents.org or www.republicansfordean.us, for other examples. While serving as a governor for five terms, Dean's policies were seen as very conservative for a Democrat. The centrist Democratic Leadership Council routinely praised his pragmatic governorship until he came out against the war. He is a fiscal conservative determined to balance the budget. Although he supports common-sense laws, such as the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill, he is pro-states rights on guns, as well as other issues. He is pro-death penalty. These stances will be key to wooing independent and conservative voters, for which Dean is uniquely positioned. Another criticism is that Dean served as a governor before running for President, while his serious competitors have all held positions in the federal government. This implies that they would be seen as more qualified in the realm of foreign policy. History would deem this an asset, not a liability. The only Presidents to be elected directly from Congress were John F. Kennedy and Warren G. Harding. The fact that Dean can speak English, unlike his opponents (who often seem to speak a dialect of Washingtonian), will serve as an asset when appealing to "ordinary" voters. Money is one of the most important parts of a successful campaign. Howard Dean is, beyond a doubt, the most financed candidate. He does it through contributions of under $100 from hundreds of thousands of people. This is the most success any Democrat has had in fundraising in history. From the end of the primary to the convention in August, Dean will be the only candidate who would be able to spend money against Bush, due to current campaign finance laws. During these months, Bush could, (and probably will) attempt to paint his opponent as soft on terrorism and unpatriotic. Bush has almost raised $100 million, and will probably double that figure by next November. Dean will be the only candidate with the resources to be able to fight back. Howard Dean does not face an electability gap. In fact, he is the best-suited Democrat to contend for the White House. His policies are well-defined and match up well against Bush's. No candidate can match his fundraising or his appeal to rural voters. The question is not "can he beat Bush?," but "will the Democrats let him?" Eric Newville is a freshman with an undeclared major

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News

It's all in the chase

November 12

Where is the line between romantic pursuit and stalking? When does interest become intrusion? Playwright Rebecca Gilman incisively explores the nature of stalking in her play, Boy Gets Girl, which is at the end of its New England debut run at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell. Charles Towers directs and actress Gloria Biegler leads the cast as the protagonist Theresa Bedell. Boy Gets Girl is about an intelligent, independent woman who has more than succeeded in her fast-paced career as a journalist, but does not enjoy the same success in her personal life. Isolated from her family and having few to no social relationships, she accepts a blind date with a guy named Tony. Mimicking the standard awkward procedure of every failed date, the two are clearly not suited for a relationship -- at least by Theresa's standards. Her subsequent rejection of the bumbling, seemingly benign Tony ignites a situation that quickly and uncontrollably escalates into one in which a threatened and vulnerable Theresa must choose whether to abandon her life in order to save it. While the plot may be in many senses typical to the situation, it serves as a stable framework from which the singular characters discover the weakness within themselves. The physical absence of Tony after the exposition highlights the psychological menace that he has become to Theresa. Unable to cope as prey, she becomes shrill, defensive, and unprofessional as her sense of self quickly crumbles under the weight of her paranoia. She badly handles a simple interview with a laughable soft-core porn director, Les Kennkat, which reveals how Theresa feels increasingly threatened by all the masculine figures in her life. Her behavior only increases her sense of isolation, and she becomes an unflattering caricature -- harassed, brittle, afraid, and hostile. Could she possibly be "afraid of intimacy," as Tony contends? Mercer Stevens, a coworker of Theresa's, guiltily admits that he had entertained his own crush on her, and at one point attempts to tactfully remark that a certain conception of traditional romance is based on an assumption that the suitor demonstrates his devotion through pursuit. Does a man have a natural instinct to pursue? These questions deepen the play and highlight the complexity of the issue. Charles Towers is the artistic director of the production and a cast that collectively boasts nine decades in the Actor's Equity. After having joined Merrimack Repertory in 2001, he has directed several productions such as The Drawer Boy, The Woman in Black, Fallen, Gun-Shy, Short Haired Grace and Three Days of Rain. This is Gloria Biegler's debut with Merrimack Repertory Theatre, but she has experience on Broadway with roles such as Cordelia in King Lear. She was awarded the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress for her role in Great Day in the Morning, and has made television appearances in Law & Order, All My Children, One Life to Live, and Guiding Light. The cast also includes Kyle Fabel as the stalker Tony, Jim Mohr as Less Kennkat, the aging lecher, and Derek Stone Nelson as Theresa's colleague Mercer Stevens. Gilman has become known for her willingness to explore controversial issues. Her play Spinning into Butter explores cloaked racism at a small New England college, in which an intellectual must come to terms with her own cultural biases and limitations. The Glory of Living is an affecting character portrait of desensitized perversity, in which a socially-stunted young woman procures random girls for her and her boyfriend's erotic games, which result in the ultimate murder of each girl. Gilman has received favorable reviews on her work, and has received several awards in recognition of her talent. The Glory of Living garnered the Joseph Jefferson Citation for Best Play in Chicago and the American Theatre Critics Association's Osborne Award for the Best New American Play. At the Royal Court Theatre in London, Gilman was recognized with the George Devine Award and is the first American ever to be honored with an Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright.

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News

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist says Iraq is a massive failure

November 12

Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour M. Hersh criticized the Bush administration's operations in Iraq as a "massive failure" during a lecture at the Fletcher School yesterday. He is the winner of a Pulitzer-Prize and regular contributor to The New Yorker. The biggest problem, according to Hersh, is that "there are no weapons of mass destruction [WMD]." Hersh found it "unnerving" that US authorities sincerely believed in the existence of WMD in Iraq. "A lot of people I like and respected really thought there was an issue there, but I don't think so," he said. Hersh believes the majority of the weapons in Iraq were gone by the early 90s, most by 1991. "How come in twelve years we never figured out what really happened? It's an amazing failure," he said. Hersh said what the US now needs to do is accept the truth that Saddam did remove his WMDs more than a decade ago. He said this also raises a reliability question on the US intelligence information on North Korea other regions of the world. Speaking on Bush's stance on the war, Hersh said "Bush is gonna hold Iraq. It's the super arrogance of the American power. And the President believes that that's the mission of America." The President's plan had included a vision of significant regional impact beyond Iraq, the journalist said. "I think the initial plan was very grandiose. They thought, maybe get a regime change [in Iraq], then certainly Iran would change, and this would take the pressure off the Israelis, and Sharon would make a more progressive move," Hersh said. "The picture," however, "is gloomy in the short-run. Our allies are bailing out like crazy," he added. Hersh predicted "real trouble" for the President in the 2004 elections. "You have a war fought by the underclass, financed by the underclass and for the profit of the upperclass," He said. "I think Bush's going to lose [the election], unless he makes some radical change, which he's not going to do." The operation in Iraq has put pressure on the President, Hersh said. "Bush's got money troubles, troop troubles; he's going to have to hold it. I just don't see any way out." In the past weeks, problems within Iraq have increased. 40 US soldiers have been killed in the past 10 days. 116 soldiers were killed during the entire war, which ended officially in May. On the current situation in Iraq, Hersh said "it's a mafia economy on the street level. That's way below the level of our operations." Hersh spoke of riding gangs and oil being smuggled in from Turkey. "It's worse every day, we are basically nowhere." He also pointed to the potential danger of leaving US troops in Iraq. "In the army, the only thing that matters is loyalty to your fellow soldiers." As the soldiers watch their friends perish in Iraq, "they are going to start taking it to the people and to the wrong people." He ended the lecture with a sarcastic remark. "I'm glad to share my joy with you." During the Q&A session, Hersh also spoke against the notion that without the US presence, there will be wild chaos in Iraq. "But there is wild chaos now," he said. "What I would really like to see is peacekeeping forces, not American forces, who speak the language," Hersh said. After the lecture, Leila Fawaz, Fletcher's Issam M. Fares Professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies, said Hersh "had a lot of courage to face unpleasant roof. I thought he did it in order to help the US come out on top. I hope his message is heard." Roham Alvandi, a second-year Fletcher student and an Iranian, said he agreed with Hersh's views on the improving US-Iran relations. "It's a privilege to hear him speak. He's an insider," Alvandi said. Hersh won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his reporting on the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. The speaker was presented by Richard H. Shultz, Professor of International Politics at Fletcher.

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News

Buying brilliance

November 12

France could only sustain a few centuries of cultural preeminence -- its well of genius is in danger of running dry. Or so a few disgruntled freelance artists might lead you to believe, after their union tweaked its generous rules on unemployment insurance. The striking artists, called intermittents, have expressed a fear that French culture may become a "Star Academy" culture, referring to the hit reality television show in which attractive youths strive for pop-stardom. It is the government's responsibility to encourage the creation of art by putting money directly in the artists' pockets in between projects, they claim. The French train system is living proof that government subsidies can be quite effective -- just compare France's extensive, timely, and efficient train network to Amtrak. But public transportation and cultural vitality is not the same thing -- how far should a government go in financially supporting its artists? Is it even the government's place to subsidize creativity? This debate has become increasingly visible in French cultural life since this summer. I happened upon one of the union's demonstrations during my first few weeks in Paris, when a mass of eccentrically dressed, pot-and-pan banging demonstrators was blocking my metro stop. It looked more like a parade than a protest. The shopkeepers in Saint-Germain were all standing in the street with arms folded, watching as their afternoon business was swept away by the tide. When I asked one about the scene, she rolled her eyes. "Actors," she said. "They say it's about wages but they're really just trying to get people to look at them." An occupational hazard, I suppose. The intermittents are a special class of workers -- ranging from theater directors to birthday-party clowns -- who some might say have found a cozy loophole in the French system. They often work only a few months per year, and the rest of the time they live off unemployment insurance provided by the state. Over the past ten years, the number of these workers has doubled to 100,000, as has the expense of supporting them. In 2001, the French state paid 800 million euros in unemployment indemnities. The recent troubles started in July, when the rules were tightened on who was eligible for unemployment benefits to try to limit abuse of the system. The policy still remained the most generous in the world, according to The Independent newspaper in Britain. But the reforms led to an outcry from the art world -- or at least those who depended on the indemnities for a good part of the year. The intermittents showed that they, too, could eat away at French culture by striking and causing the cancellation of a number of summertime arts festivals. And recently, the grievances of the intermittents were brought to six million French television viewers -- fully ten percent of the country -- in a particularly direct way: on Star Academy itself. Two actors and two directors found their way onto the stage of the live program with a banner that at first seemed undecipherable. Fortunately, the program's host came to the rescue: "You could at least put your sign the right way up," he instructed the intruders. Duly executed. The sign read "Eteignez vos t?©l?©s" ("Turn off your TVs"). Though the demonstration remained peaceful, the shock proved to be too much for a number of children in the audience, who started crying during the interruption. The reaction of the general public has been less dramatic, however. Indeed, it is hard to have sympathy for the strikers and protesters when some of them are indeed abusing an already-generous policy. And these actors and directors already make their livings in a fashion that tends to inspire envy in the rest of us. I still find this recognition that the artists cannot live on creativity alone a rather noble -- if slightly misguided -- commitment to art on the part of the French. The way the French see it, the dearth of modern-day Medicis necessitates state support of those who keep the culture vibrant. Though it sounds crass, money can be the single most important thing an artist can possess (aside from talent, perhaps). But in her famous meditation on women and fiction, A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf contests even this: "It may seem a brutal thing to say, and it is a sad thing to say: but, as a matter of hard fact, the theory that poetical genius bloweth where it listeth, and equally in poor and rich, holds little truth." What writers need to produce great literature, Woolf says, is to be released from the daily battle of providing for one's basic needs. "That is it," Woolf writes. "Intellectual freedom depends on material things. Poetry depends on intellectual freedom." By financially supporting freelance artists between projects, the French government gives them the means to produce meaningful work. The details may need ironing out, but the idea is to be admired: give a few thousand artists rooms of their own, and the galleries and theaters will reap the benefits.

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News

Inside fitness bites

November 12

Due to the recent and inexplicable surge in Inside Fitness' popularity, I have been suddenly inundated with questions. In order to address them all, I have taken the questions that can be easily answered in a few sentences and printed them here. I give you: Inside Fitness Bites. I have a great body. Can I go to the gym and workout shirtless? It's about time the guys gave the ladies something to look at --"Jumbo" athlete No. I have lost about 30 lbs. doing the Atkins diet, but I am having trouble losing the last 15 lbs. to get down to my target weight. Any advice? --- Jared Go to Gantcher and pick up a brochure for the TPPP program. You will be set up with five free personal training sessions. Your trainer will design a program specifically to help you shed those final pounds. I want to gain some muscles. I hear American girls like big triceps. Should I take creatine? What protein shakes do I buy? -- Foreign student For a beginner, supplementing with creatine and protein shakes is rarely a good idea. First develop sound training principles (strict form and appropriate exercises) and proper anabolic nutrition (roughly 50 percent carbs, 35 percent protein, 15 percent fat). Once you establish good fundamental mass-gaining practices, you can look into protein supplements. However, I should note that the only benefit of protein shakes is convenience. Eating non-powdered protein (lean beef, chicken, fish, eggs) will give you similar benefits without all the processing that protein powder goes through. As for creatine, that is a personal decision I can't influence. If you choose to do it, make sure you do some research on potential side effects, as well as the most effective brands. I do a lot of cardio, but it gets really boring. Is there any way I can make staying on the bike for 45 minutes more interesting? -- Girl on bike You can listen to music. You can talk to the person next to you. You can bring a book. Or, you could simply get your backside off the bike after 20 minutes and do something else for the next 25. Try biking for 20 and jogging for 20. Or, my personal favorite, jump rope for ten minutes, run for ten, jump for ten, run for ten. Sure, it only takes 40 minutes, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than just sitting and pedaling for 45 minutes. I usually go to the gym around 4 p.m.. However, I hate the fact that it's so crowded. What times are not so crowded? -- Frustrated Freshman The mornings and midday are usually pretty empty (from 10 a.m. to around 2 p.m.). You can get up earlier and go before 10 a.m., I am sure it isn't crowded then, either (though I have never been awake that early to find out). After 2 p.m., the crowds start to pick up, peaking around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. After that, it starts dropping off, and it gets pretty empty again after 8 p.m. until closing. Where did you learn so much about weightlifting? -- Curious Gym Patron I owe much of my knowledge to Mike Pimentel's Advanced Principles of Exercise Class. Outside reading has contributed, as well. However, I must admit that most of my more advanced knowledge has been generously imparted upon me by Elliott Wiley. Man, that kid knows his stuff. What, in your opinion, is the most important part of a workout? -- Alexei W. While this question can be answered, and convincingly, in a number of ways, I will say that the most important part of a workout is what happens just before. I am talking about the warm up. Proper warming up and stretching is imperative to any successful exercise program. Ride the bike for ten minutes, stretch for ten minutes, and you are ready to go. However, failure to warm up properly and thoroughly greatly increases the risk of injury due to tight tissue and improper form. So, before you do any sort of exercise, warm up! E-mail questions to fitness@tuftsdaily.com.

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News

Coffee Talk

November 12

Though 700 international students attend Tufts, the challenges of integration can still be intimidating. To aid in overcoming issues of language and culture, the International Center has set-up an inter-cultural conversation group. Called "Coffee Chat," its weekly discussions are open to anyone and led by students who live in the International House. The inter-cultural conversation program was specifically set up to help integrate international graduate students into the Tufts Community. The program sets up partnerships between international graduate students and American faculty, staff, and students. According to Monica Rodriguez, the International Student and Faculty Advisor and the head of the program, the partnerships are informal, volunteer-based, and meet for one hour a week. These partnerships are meant to help students improve their English and produce cultural exchange. Previous discussion topics at Coffee Chat have included societal customs, politics, pets, and dating and marriage. During the discussion on societal customs, attendees discussed the different standards of personal space, how to greet people, and how to express affection in their various cultures. To facilitate the discussions, handouts detail each topic. On the front, the theme is broken down into smaller questions. For example, the handout on Dating, Marriage and Gender Issues included the question: "Are marriage partners ever arranged in your country?" Another question from this handout was: "Do you feel women are treated equally in your country?" One discussion leader, junior Kei Shakamura, explained the usual procedures that the discussions take. "We go through the conversation topics, but we are flexible. If we go on a tangent, that's alright," Shakamura said. The tone of the meetings is not always serious. The group holds special events for major holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The Wednesday before Halloween, for example, the group carved pumpkins while discussing the American custom of trick-or-treating. The handouts also list popular American slang and abbreviations. On the dating and marriage handout, for example, ASAP, RSVP, UFO, and IQ were defined. Waidehi Gilbert-Gokhale is Fletcher student who works part-time at the International Center and also helps to organize the program. She stressed the idea of partnership, as opposed to solely academic relationship. "It's not one person teaching the other," Gokhale said. "They just get together to talk." She believes that this communication of differences is key. "That's where the exchange is," she explained. "Learning different things that are acceptable in different countries in certain situations." The weekly Coffee Chat provides an organized setting for the partners to meet. However, attendance is never mandatory. "It's somewhere for the partners to gather, drop in as they can," Rodriguez said. "And it gets the I-House involved." Although Coffee Chat was set up with the partnerships in mind, they are open and intended for the entire community. Rodriguez is eager for more people to get involved. "We want to build diversity," Rodriguez said. "It's fun for internationals to meet other members of the community. They get to practice their English, but Americans learn about other cultures so it is fun for us too." Coffee Chats are every Wednesday from 12-1 p.m. at the I-House, located at 13 Sawyer Ave. ase.tufts.edu/icenter

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News

Newsom proposes charity to be associated with Naked Quad Run

November 12

Senior Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Randy Newsom announced at Sunday that he had developed a unique fundraising idea to go with an old school tradition: streaking for charity. Newsom's plan, detailed at this week's senate meeting, will benefit the Special Olympics of Massachusetts through donation pledges for the Naked Quad Run (NQR). "I wanted to find a way to help increase the substance behind the Naked Quad Run besides just fun, and really have some type of purpose other than pure enjoyment," Newsom said. The run -- which occurs the first night of reading period before final exams -- has come under increasing scrutiny by the administration after several alcohol-related accidents during last year's event. The senate is currently in the process of negotiating and planning out the details of the event with the administration for this year. Over the last few weeks, Newsom spoke with representatives from the Special Olympics and with the Tufts administration about his proposal and both parties have been receptive to his idea. Dean of Students Bruce Reitman has taken to the idea. "It's heartening for me to see students' genuine concern for safety during the NQR," he said. "Any way to see it other than just as a means to get drunk is a good thing." Newsom has already finalized the majority of the details for the NQR's fundraising aspect. "I have a quick and easy form, and people can go to their friends, parents, grandparents -- that ought to be a fun explanation -- and whomever else they can to get a few dollars here and there to support them running for such a worthy cause," Newsom said. "I talked to my director at SO [Special Olympics], Jackie Burkhart, to make sure they were okay with the whole idea," Newsom said, "and so far so good, there hasn't been any negative feedback." Newsom has already raised $50 in donations, and his goal is for Tufts students to contribute over $1,000 for the Special Olympics this year. "Basically, I want to get a bunch of people who like to streak, get them to take 15 minutes out of their lives to get donations, run in the NQR and have a lot of fun, and in the process make money for a fantastic organization," Newsom said. About half a dozen of the TCU senators have already shown a strong interest in joining him in the fundraising. Sophomore Senator Jason Bauer is fairly certain that he will be running alongside Newsom. "The question I've been asking myself is, 'why not'? If I'm going to be running around in a naked frenzy, it might as well have a positive outcome for the community at large," Bauer said. Newsom expressed confidence that a sort of grassroots campaign on campus --largely via word of mouth and postering -- will encourage enough students to participate and raise $1,000 for the organization. He views his concept of streaking for charity as an example of the "new face" of fun at Tufts. "I think it really expresses the spirit of Tufts by combining fun with philanthropy and makes for not only a great idea, but a program I hope that will be hand in hand with the tradition of the Naked Quad Run," Newsom said.

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News

An Alcohol Incident

November 12

Hate the new alcohol policy? Well, guess what? We got them on this one! The following is not just another rant on why this semester's alcohol policy and its enforcement suck, which, by the way, they do. The events told here are completely true, and are actually in the process of transpiring while you read. I was written up for holding a beer in a fraternity, of which I was not a brother, the first night I got back to school. The party was being broken up, a few students were grabbed at random, and I was unlucky enough to be one of them. My ID number was taken by a TUPD officer, who told me that it would be reported to a dean. Weeks later, however, I had not been contacted by any police or administrative members, so I assumed that the incident had been forgotten. A few more weeks later, I still had not heard anything, so I was positive that I was in the clear. Now, last week, I received e-mail notification that I was in some small amount of trouble and was to comply with one of two options: either take an online alcohol education course (most likely similar to one that I took last year), or meet with the Alcohol and Drug Counselor. Figuring a meeting would be quicker than a course, I scheduled an appointment with the counselor. Our meeting will be at the end of the month. OK, so that is where we are at so far. Now let's review the situation. Take a look at part of the e-mail I received: "As you know, you were recently involved in an incident that violated the Alcohol and Drug Policy.... Our primary concern lies with the overall health and wellness of the Tufts community.... We also take seriously our role as medical and mental health professionals to regard any violation of the Alcohol and Drug policy as a potentially serious situation -- perhaps involving addiction and/or unhealthy risk-taking." Shall we examine each excerpt shown here? Oh, we shall. I think that I am somewhat at odds with the university on the definition of being "recently involved" with something. A week after the incident, two weeks, maybe even a month would be alright, but two months? Over half of the semester had passed before I was notified of any action being taken against me. Why should that matter, you might ask? Well, since the university cares about the "overall health and wellness of the Tufts community," they would probably want to contact someone who might have "a potentially serious situation -- perhaps involving addiction" pretty quickly so that he/she could be seen by a specialist, right? Right. Is three months, the time from knowing about the incident to the time of the appointment with the counselor, a quick response? You can decide that for yourself, but I will still answer for you: no. I find almost the entire experience to be one big stinking piece of bureaucratic hypocrisy. If the administration cares about its students and their potential alcohol problems, you would think they would handle an issue like this in a timely fashion. We are not talking about much here, people, just a 20 minute meeting with an underage student who might not know the true consequences of alcohol and could be headed down a dark and dangerous road. Fortunately, I am not an alcoholic by any means, and that is not denial you are hearing; I drink on the weekends sometimes, I know my limits, and I actually have bartending certification, so I am pretty well-educated on the subject. However, there are students out there, on our campus, who might have alcohol addiction or be on the verge of it. Maybe one of them has undergone an occurrence similar to mine. Anybody else think that giving them an extra three months to kill their body, mind, grades, social life, potentially family life, and anything else that they had going for them, would be a bad thing? I cannot hear you, but I will assume you are cheering enthusiastically right now. Still not convinced? What if you walked in on a friend of yours who was in the middle of a suicide attempt? You would probably go ahead and try to schedule some counseling for your friend. Let's say two months later, you got a call from the counselor thanking you for helping your friend. This counselor then goes on to inform you that the meeting will be in four weeks. That is a long time to let a depressed, suicidal person go without help. Why should an alcoholic be treated any differently? Alcoholism is a disease just like depression and needs to be treated at the first sign of symptoms. There is no way that the university could know for certain that I am not an alcoholic, so the only other option left is the university's laziness, or stupidity, or whatever derogatory terms you want to throw out there. Obviously, the administration has come under a lot of fire for its new alcohol policy since things are quite a bit stricter this year. But if that is the way it is going to be, they need to actually care about the health of the students, and not just say that they do. This one slipped through the cracks, and luckily no harm was done. But for whoever is in charge of the alcohol disciplinary and counseling proceedings (since the two are connected, as the e-mail told me), you aught to be ashamed of yourself. You f----d up big time. Joshua Cohn is a sophomore majoring in Music

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News

Women's activism in Iran finds voice in Our Times

November 12

The Western world has painted a tragic portrait of women within the Islamic Republic of Iran. To many, these women are simply a veiled sisterhood; oppressed by the archaic vestiges of a culture that time forgot. Director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad strives to smash this notion by highlighting the incredible diversity of Iran's women in her latest cinematic work, Our Times. This weekend, Our Times and several of Bani-Etemad's other works will debut during the MFA Film Program's annual Festival of Films from Iran. The festival is a month-long series that will run from Nov. 14 through Dec. 14, and the films this weekend provide a moving glimpse at the human lives that are touched by an Iran that is undergoing rapid change. Bani-Etemad's documentary is a two-part series that highlights the quest of zealous female university students to re-elect liberal reformist Muhammad Khatami. Later, the film delves into the precarious mission of a young mother (Arezoo Bayat) turned presidential candidate. In Our Times, a youthful sense of passion guides both the university students and this heroine as women's activism within Iran finds a visual face. Arezoo Bayat, featured in the film's second half, is an attractive woman in financial straits, battling both fierce political opposition to her candidacy and the day to day fight to simply stay alive. Single motherhood, the difficulties of providing health care for her blind mother, and the fierce political opposition of Iran's 2001 elections are no walk in the park. There were 411 candidates in that last election, of which only 48 were women: the stakes were grim. Our Times is poignantly clear when it comes to delivering this message. Director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is a vocal proponent in the movement for women's political expression in Iran. Born in Teheran in 1954, Bani-Etemad went on to study film at the University of Dramatic Arts in the Iranian capital. In 1973, she joined the staff of Iran's national television station as a script girl. She was later promoted to assistant director, then producer, and then manager. In 1977, she went on to direct her first documentary films for television. It was then that her deep love for the documentary medium was spawned and it continues today to serve as a pervasive influence in her work. In 1991, Bani-Etemad was the first woman to win the Best Director award at Iran's premier Film Festival, the Fajr, for her work Nargess. Bani-Etemad's name is now recognized internationally as her works continue to spark interest of audiences all over the world. Although women's roles continue to teeter vulnerably in the tenuous balance of complete repression and moderate liberalism within the republic of Iran, Bani-Etemad's work has given a powerful voice and means of expression to the silent. In addition to Our Times, the program will include several other Iranian pieces: the work of feminist director Tamineh Milani (The Fifth Reaction), the experimental film Black Tape, and Silence Between Two Thoughts, a film by Babak Payami, a director who lives in self-imposed exile.

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News

Best of Guided by Voices presents mixed blessing

November 12

At heart, fans of Guided by Voices are masochists. As any of these people will tell you, their favorite band -- a band that emerged with the Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Pavement, the best and most beloved in indie rock -- is at its finest when putting them through a veritable musical hell. For GbV's lead singer/songwriter Rob Pollard and his ever-changing cast of back-up musicians, this means releasing literally hundreds of songs a year, the majority of which are half-finished cast-offs that most bands would hesitate to call demos. Yet, wading through the four-track tape hiss of the early recordings and the sheer immensity of Pollard's later-era side-projects to ferret out the fleeting moments of pop-genius that is GbV's daunting catalogue is half the fun of being a fan. With this in mind, Matador Record's newly released Best of Guided by Voices: Human Amusement at Hourly Rates is a mixed blessing. On one hand, the compilation, which distills thirty-two of GbV's best songs into an hour-long disc, will certainly garner the band a slew of new fans. After all, this is a band that, if nothing else, has the ability to write a catchy, hook-laden pop song. Classic tracks like "My Valuable Hunting Knife" and "Game of Pricks" are guaranteed to win over anyone who has ever hummed a Beatles song hours after hearing it, bobbed their head to the Who, or sang along with the Cars. Yet, it doesn't seem particularly fair for these new fans to be introduced to Guided by Voices by a best of; a format that, by its very nature, eliminates whatever filler or mediocrity might have marred the original albums. The filler -- the strange, formless song fragments that float throughout GbV's records like flotsam in a polluted river -- are just as essential to the overall listening experience as the more fully formed and accessible songs. Fortunately, Pollard, who chose the songs and sequenced the compilation himself, at least attempts to make his band's best-of feel more like a cohesive record than a haphazard collection of singles. On Human Amusement, all twenty-three half-baked, surreal seconds of "Hit" sit proudly next to "Glad Girls," one of the band's most sweeping and dynamic songs. Likewise, concise but undeveloped tracks like "Non Absorbing" and "Drinker's Peace" rub shoulders with more fully formed and ambitious songs. Pollard's stab at cohesion creates some problems though. Because the tracks are sequenced for effect and not by chronology, new fans will probably feel disoriented bouncing between the band's early and late material. For although Pollard's songwriting has remained essentially the same throughout his nearly twenty year long career, the sound quality of his recordings have varied wildly. Guided by Voices's first albums, released in the late 80s before the band even had a record label, are so poorly recorded and lo-fi that they border on being impossible to listen to. The sound quality improved as the band's popularity grew, but until 1997's Mag Earwhig!, the Dayton-natives were firmly entrenched in the lo-fi indie rock scene. But unlike fellow scene-members Unrest and Sebadoh, the shoestring production of GbV's early recordings weren't a willful defiance of mainstream music's over-produced glossiness, but rather the product of financial constraints. Always a band that wanted to be bigger than they actually were, to sound like the Who when in actuality they sounded more like a long-forgotten psychedelic garage-band, Guided by Voices began releasing better produced records as soon as record labels gave them the money to do so. Both periods of the band's history get equal time on Human Amusement. However, because of its lesser production values, the early material ends up sounding inferior next to the later tracks, since their sheer loudness will likely capture more listeners' attention. More than anything else, this is the compilation's biggest injustice, since the band's best songs really are the earlier ones. In the end though, Human Amusement is a success. Not only will the album earn the band a flood of much-deserved new fans but it will remind old fans why they started buying GbV records in the first place. The ultimate appeal of Guided by Voices might be experience of slogging through their quantity to get at some quality, but it's nice to be reminded that there's plenty of quality to find.

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News

More on Dean...

November 12

I had a lot of readers respond to last week's column in which I drew parallels between Gov. Dean and President Bush. For those who missed it, I encourage you to search for "Who is Howard Dean?" on tuftsdaily.com. Most of the responses were from Dean supporters who acknowledged that I made some valid comparisons between Bush and Dean but that they loved Dean anyway because, as one reader wrote, he truly represents fundamental change. But does he really? I don't think so. The general themes that I usually hear from Dean supporters are that he speaks his mind, he takes principled stands, he opposed the unjust/hateful/illegal/you-name-it war with Iraq, he'll repeal Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, and he'll bring jobs back to America and fight to keep those jobs here that haven't yet left. Even if all of these claims were true, I'd contend they don't represent fundamental change. No candidate running for president, short of Dennis Kucinich, represents truly fundamental change. Kucinich wants to create a Department of Peace and has avowed many times that he will immediately withdraw from NAFTA and the WTO upon taking office. Kucinich also opposed the war on Afghanistan and would withdraw Americans from Iraq, replacing them immediately with UN forces. Now that's fundamental change. At a speech at Drake University in February of this year, Dean made the following remarks: "I agree with President Bush - he has said that Saddam Hussein is evil. And he is." He then went on about Saddam's slaughtering of dissidents, his use of chemical weapons, his violation of United Nations' resolutions, and then stated the following: "He [Saddam] has tried to build a nuclear bomb...Saddam Hussein is a menace. The world would be a better place if he were in a different place other than the seat of power in Baghdad." In all fairness to Dean, he goes on to tell his audience why, despite these claims, he thinks that war with Iraq is a bad idea. He simply thinks that it's the wrong war at the wrong time - he's not opposed to the war on principle. Just like Gen. Wesley Clark, and former candidate Sen. Bob Graham, Dean at the time was opposing the war because he felt that the resources needed to fight the war were better spent fighting al-Qaida and finding Osama bin Laden. But this is a far cry from the near-pacifism attributed to Dean by many of his supporters. Dean's image of being a straight-talker is also misleading. Check out this quote from a speech Dean gave to the Council on Foreign Relations just four months later (when, not coincidentally, more and more Americans had started to turn against the war): "I stood up against this administration and even when 70 percent of the American people supported the war, I believed that the evidence was not there and I refused to change my view." Well, Mr. Dean, I can do nothing but use your own words against you: "Saddam Hussein is evil...he has failed to account for all of his chemical and biological weapons...he has murdered dissidents...he has tried to build a nuclear bomb." It doesn't sound to me like he was refusing to believe that there was credible evidence a month before the war started. This is called a flip-flop, a change in position. And let's face it, all politicians do it. But to those Dean supporters out there, this is only one of many instances when Dean has done this, can we stop putting him on a pedestal for his so-called principled stands and his straight-talk? He's only been given that label because of his off-the-cuff blurted statements (which I talked about at length last week). Dean is no more principled and no more of a straight talker than your typical Washington politician - he's just less refined. And on a range of other issues, from trade (Dean advocates stricter but 'enforceable' labor and environmental standards), to Bush's tax cuts (Dean advocates rolling back all of the tax cuts - even those which Democrats fought hard for that are Clintonesque 'targeted' tax cuts aimed at alleviating the tax burden on the middle class), to the need to internationalize the Iraqi operation, to expanding healthcare, to energy policy and the environment, Dean hardly differs from Gephardt, Clark, Kerry, Edwards, or Lieberman. Sure, there are slight differences. Most of the others mentioned support rolling back Bush's tax cuts for those only making, say, above $200,000 a year, as opposed to a complete rollback of even middle class tax cuts like Dean. On trade, Gephardt is more critical of NAFTA and the WTO. And Kucinich even more so. Dean is right in line with Lieberman, Kerry, Edwards, and Clark on trade. And none of the Democrats running, with the possible exception of Lieberman, would be averse to internationalizing the Iraqi operation sooner rather than later. Let's face it, the differences among the mainstream (this is my own designation and no one else's) candidates - Dean, Kerry, Lieberman, Clark, Edwards, and Gephardt - are marginal at best. None of these guys represents fundamental change. If you like these candidates, the only intellectually honest way to distinguish them is by personality and temperament, by resume and background, or by some calculus of their electability. For Dean supporters to place him on a pedestal of uniqueness and for them to claim that he's some kind of outside-the-beltway savior who can save the party and bring fundamental change is intellectually dishonest. And in this whole mix, I keep coming back to one thought: I feel bad for Dennis Kucinich. All of these traits that have somehow been attributed to Dean can actually be found in Kucinich. If you want fundamental change, look to him. If you want a centrist Democrat who is apt to fire-off inappropriate comments and get angry easily, then look to Dean. All quotes attributed to Dean in this column are pulled directly from transcripts on his own website, www.DeanForAmerica.com. Adam Schultz is a senior majoring in political science. He can be reached at Schultz@tuftsdaily.com.

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News

Fighting for Tufts' beliefs

November 12

The decision made by Tufts in 1997 to not accept credit for classes taken in the Reserve Officers Training Corps program at MIT is the best possible because protects the university's non-discrimination policy while allowing students to pursue a career in the military at Tufts. The ROTC Task Force convened in 1997 examined the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military and concluded that the Department of Defense's policy contradicts the University's non-discrimination policy. Despite Tufts condemnation of military's policy, the university continues to accept money from the Department of Defense for ROTC students. Many ROTC students say that if the University is willing to take money from the military, it should grant them credit for the classes they take. In fact, the University was on the verge of not accepting scholarship money from the ROTC program. Only in 1997 did Tufts decide to continue to accept money from the DoD, regardless of whether or not the policy was changed. There are a number of reasons why Tufts should accept the government money. First, refusing the ROTC scholarship would deny a number of students valuable financing for a very expensive Tufts education. Second, if Tufts were to refuse financial aid from the Department of Defense, then it would have to examine the policies of all third-party financial aid donors. In some cases, this would require the university to refuse scholarships from churches and other groups. An ideological difference should not require the university to deny students the opportunity to attend Tufts. The ROTC scholarship money does not include conditionalities that would require Tufts to change the application of its non-discrimination policy. The only risk would be a student who came out losing a ROTC scholarship, and consequently the sufficient finances to attend Tufts. The university protected against this eventuality by adopting recommendations of the ROTC Task Force. Following two paths, Tufts is allowing students to take advantage of military funding to pay the tuition bill and protecting the rights of all its students to not be discriminated against. At the same time, it remains active in opposition to the DoD's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Part of this protest is not accepting credit for courses taught in the ROTC program. Applying the policy adopted by Tufts' ROTC Task Force to all credit-transfer issues causes dilemmas. Will the university accept courses taken by a transfer student from the United States Military Academy or an institution like Bob Jones University? It should, because once students transfer to Tufts, they sever their relationship with the other institution. In the same way that Tufts will accept third-party financial aid from groups unaffiliated with Tufts, but whose policies are divergent, it should accept classes taken at an accredited university if the student has ended ties with that institution. The 1997 ROTC Task Force said that Tufts should take a lead role in advocating change in the Department of Defense's current rules and regulations. Once the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is changed to a policy of acceptance that is in-line with the university's non-discrimination policy, Tufts should grant credit for ROTC courses. Until then, Tufts should be more vocal in its efforts so that ROTC students at Tufts understand their sacrifice.

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News

Somerville police curtails access to reports

November 12

In a sharp change in policy, the Somerville Police Department no longer makes police reports available to the public. According to Public Information Officer Paul Trant, the department decided to block public access to arrest reports after he learned more the legal requirements. Trant attended a public records class hosted by the Medford Police Department and found that police departments were not required to release detailed reports. Basic information, such as the name and address of the person being charged and the specific charge, is still available, Trant said, but "[the public] is used to getting more information." The first problem with the new policy arose when The Somerville Journal requested an arrest report and was denied access. "Most cities and towns have given the newspapers the reports [but] in the course they said that those reports are not public record as defined under the law," Trant said. Faced with this sudden change in police policy, the Journal filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the Somerville Police Department on Nov. 4. The Journal now has the right to appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records at the Secretary of State's office's Public Records Division, Trant said. The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) also has a policy of releasing limited information to the public. "Generally right now we don't release any names of individuals - victims or arrestees," TUPD Captain Mark Keith said. Because TUPD is a private department, it is legal for the department to decide how much information to release. "One difference between us and the municipal departments is that we're a private organization, so we consider Tufts Police Department reports University property," Keith said. "We don't just arbitrarily release them or the information in them." TUPD, however, provides some general information to the public in the form of statistical data rather than individual reports. "There are certain requirements for us to release information...when we have crimes on campus -- we need to release the types and numbers and that general information," Keith said. The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) made a similar decision to Somerville's regarding the release of their records last July. Although HUPD spokesman Steven Catalano told TheHarvard Crimson that the move by HUPD was in the interest of student privacy, the Crimson responded by filing a lawsuit against HUPD in an attempt to force them to release detailed crime reports. The lawsuit is still pending, but Harvard did form a committee of students, administrators, and an outside expert to evaluate the department's privacy policies, according to the Crimson.

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