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Far more than fundraisers

November 6

In general, University groups or clubs consider having a large membership a good thing. A club numbering more than 80,000, however? Not even Cohen Auditorium could accommodate that. Thankfully, though, the Tufts Alumni Association can - and is hoping to become even more accommodating by recruiting more members every year. "Tufts students make up a huge family that need to stay in touch to the greatest extent possible," said Alumni Association Vice President Ann Palmieri (J '77). "The goal is to expand the number of alumni that are involved and help Tufts advance its mission." The Alumni Association, which was founded in 1860, "operates as an umbrella organization for the entire 84,000-plus alumni in the world, from all schools including Fletcher, the dental and medical schools, the museum and fine arts schools, engineering, and liberal arts," Palmieri said. "The alliances and chapters around the country and world operate under the association." According to Alumni Relations Director Timothy Brooks, those alliances and chapters are growing: "Last year there was a calculation that of the 84,000 alumni we know about, 29,324 are actively engaged, and that number is growing quite a bit." "We have over 30 chapters of the Alumni Association in cities across the country and in foreign countries," said Alumni Association President Alan MacDougall (LA '65). According to MacDougall, the Association is governed by the Tufts Alumni Council, a group of nearly 200 members that are elected biannually and meet twice a year. Between Council meetings, the Association is governed by its officers and its executive committee. "Recently, there was an alumni meeting in London and a big meeting in June for all the regional chapters," Palmieri said. "Everyone is represented to the extent they want to be." For Palmieri, an active Association member since 1980, that extent is great: she will follow her two-year term as Vice President with a two-year term as President. Currently and in the future, Palmieri, who as a sophomore was the first female President of the TCU Senate, hopes to maintain the vitality of the Association, which she feels plays a highly important role in Tufts' development. "Tufts shouldn't be a place like a grocery store where you pick up an education and leave it behind," Palmieri said. "It will always be a resource for knowledge, people, ideas. It is a place you can always go to." The Alumni Association seeks to make Tufts such a place and employs many means to ensure that Tufts plays an ongoing role in its graduates' lives. The Office of Alumni Relations, a professional staff of thirteen people, helps the Association to do so. "One of the most common things we hear is the cliche saying that alumni only hear from Tufts when it needs money, and that is not true," Brooks said. "[The Alumni Association] offers many opportunities and benefits to alumni who don't have to pay any dues to join. We reach out to alumni and offer them so many things." One such thing is the "Tufts on the Road" program, which, said Palmieri, "involves alumni going across the country and hosting receptions so that alumni can see friends and learn." An additional program is the Tufts Institute for Learning. "[It] offers courses, including some online, so that alumni can keep learning," Palmieri said. "It is one of the many ways in which we try to increase participation." According to Palmieri, Tufts reunions are also becoming increasingly popular. "The number of people participating in reunions is going up," she added. "A lot of alumni were extremely involved and invested in their experience while at Tufts, and now want to come back and give." Additionally, alumni who wish to stay involved can join a variety of committees. (See box.) Many of the Association's prominent members credit advances in technology with helping to broaden the Association's reach. "The internet and technology have helped tremendously," Brooks said. "The most valuable tool is perhaps the online community." The "online community" is a network where alumni can access and find other Tufts graduates and communicate with them by email forwarding. Every graduate is given a free official Tufts alumni email address through which they can receives emails when an interesting or exciting event occurs at the University. Technology has also enabled the Association to statistically measure alumni engagement: "Every time an alumnus participates in an event, it is recorded electronically in a database," Brooks said. "Until about 6 years ago the association's business was transacted strictly in Medford, [but] this is no longer the case," MacDougall said. "Our active membership has expanded to include alumni as far as India. They participate in meetings and planning by conference call, webcasting, and email." "Nearly all committee meetings include participation by telephone," former Alumni Association President Elliott Lerman (E '65) added. "The most recent had at least 30 members 'attending' by telephone from across the US. Last spring's meeting was webcast." And without technology, MacDougall might not be President MacDougall: "I am the first person to be president who has not lived in the New England area -- I live in Alexandria, Virginia," MacDougall said. "Consequently I spend at least an hour a day on the Internet communicating with Medford or with alumni around the world." However, MacDougall's job does not begin-- or end-- with the Internet. "I participate in many meetings either by conference call or during at-least-once-a-month trips to Medford," MacDougall added. "I also visit alumni groups in other places. In the past year I have met with groups in Honolulu, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Maine, and London." But not all of the traveling done by the Alumni Association is business-related: some of it is, in fact, for fun. Through the Tufts Alumni Travel and Learn Program, a trip destination is selected. Then, Tufts professors with expertise in that area or culture present lectures on that particular location. "It started in 2001 and has been extremely successful," Brooks said. "Sixty alumni recently went to Tuscany."

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News

Alumni-in-Training?

November 6

Attention all students: The Alumni Association wants you. "Every student who is matriculated in Tufts is considered a future member," Alumni Association Vice President Ann Palmieri said. "You are a member, this is who you are, we love you, and we want you to be here." In an effort to reach out to current students as well as former ones, the Association is initiating numerous programs, events, and opportunities that offer students the chance to get involved. According to Director of Alumni Relations Timothy Brooks, students' attitudes towards the Alumni Association have changed "dramatically" over the past ten years. "Before, students would leave Tufts having loved the school and their professors, but not finding the student services very supportive," Brooks said. "There has been a great effort to upgrade these services and make them more accessible to students so that they feel like a part of the alumni network immediately." "I believe that the Association has become increasingly relevant to younger alumni," former Alumni Association President Elliot Lerman (E '65) said. "As Alan likes to say, we view students as alumni in training." The "Alan" to which Lerman refers is Alan MacDougall, the current President of the Alumni Association, who gives several examples of outreach to current students. According to MacDougall, the Alumni Association sponsors several on campus events, including "First Night" for freshmen, the "Welcome Back Seniors" receptions, career nights, and several others. The Association has also published a "full color walking tour of the campus booklet" for new students, Mac Dougall said. "There was recently a Tufts on Wall Street day, where current alumni working in some of the top nine firms in the industry held a reception to network with students and help them get a foot in the door," Brooks said. "Many alumni have found that giving students information about the industry before they graduate gives students a tremendous advantage. The Association also sponsors a program called "From Backpack to Briefcase," in which alumni share stories and wisdom with students about life after college, including how to manage finances and how to find a place to live, Brooks said. Another student outreach program is the Tufts Career Network, which, in conjunction with Career Services, offers internships and guidance to current students. "The Tufts Career Network is where alumni serve as mentors for students looking for their first jobs," Brooks said. "It is a very important resource." In additional outreach efforts, current seniors have recently begun to serve on the Association's various committees. Each year the senior class now elects four members of their class to serve five year terms as "transitional members". [Transitional members] sit on committees for five years and fully participate," Palmieri said. "The hope is that those [four] people will involve others in the Association." The Association also seeks to reward current students for service, academics, and other areas of achievement. "Each year we honor the most distinguished members of the graduating class with our Seniors Awards and an outstanding 'legacy student' with the Tufts Alumni Association academic award," MacDougall said. This award ran into controversy last year, however, when the Association revoked Liz Monnin's Senior Award for her actions during Former President George H.W. Bush's Issam Fares lecture. The Association viewed the revocation of Monnin's award as a difficult and controversial decision, especially in light of its efforts to promote honest expression from students regarding their experience at Tufts. "Tufts offers a lot to young men and women and I hope to see these opportunities grow for students," Palmieri said. "Hopefully we will see each other for the resources that we can provide because our lives are so interconnected." "Students really do have a big impact on the future of this institution," Brooks said.

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News

Bill threatens early decision

November 6

Early decision hurts minority enrollment and should be discouraged, according to Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, who has proposed a bill that would introduce federal penalties for institutions that allow the process. The bill singles out institutions that offer early decision, give preference to legacy students, or have minority graduation rates 10 percent below the national average. Schools that refused to comply would be forced to double financial aid offers to minority students on federal scholarships and create programs to improve minority graduation rates. The proposal argues that the early decision process favors richer, non-minority students because it requires a student to attend a university if admitted. "Low-income students cannot take advantage of early decision, because they need to compare financial aid packages from a variety of schools," the proposal said. The proposal quotes a Harvard study that claims applying early decision is equivalent to an additional 100 points on a student's SAT score. Candidates who apply early are more likely to be admitted than if they applied during the regular decision period. For this year's freshman class, the early decision admittance rate was 38 percent, and only 26 percent for regular decision. Early decision offers legacies -- applicants whose relatives attended the institution -- an increased chance of admission. "Early decision is... for the ultra-elite full-paying kid who may not be as smart as some of the other kids in the pool," said Harry Siegel, the director of college counseling at Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, NJ. "If the kid has a B average and his father went to Princeton, [early decision] is the only way the kid will get a fair look, otherwise he may end up... at the University of the Ozarks." Education officials have protested the bill, questioning the perceived encroachment of federal involvement. Higher educational organizations including the American Council on Education and Council for Advancement and Support of Education wrote letters of protest. "We don't think that the federal government has a role in being watchdog over college admissions," said Chris Simmons, Assistant Director of Government Relations at the American Council on Education. Siegel agrees. "If a University is dedicated to free and open exchange of ideas, they should be the ones to determine the nature of their student bodies," Siegel said. "[Statistics-based admissions] would set up a monster quota system that wouldn't level the playing field, but exacerbate [the problem]." Siegel also said the process of creating legislation could create unintended consequences. "There are so many publics to appease and too many forces pushing and pulling" on the legislative process, he said. "Wherever they ask a committee to design a horse, they will come out with a camel." Officials also questioned whether early decision or Legacy admissions affected minority graduation rates, as Kennedy claimed. While it can play an important role in the college process, Tufts Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin doubts that government legislation per se would directly affect minority participation. "The senator's intentions are good ones, and preserving access to a college education is obviously a goal I share," Coffin said, "but I am not convinced that ED processes and legacy admissions thwart such access." Coffin said he agreed with a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece by Princeton Dean of Admissions Janet Rapeyle. In the article, Rapeyle argued that reporting early decision information to the government would not improve minority admissions. According to Associate Director of Admissions Daryl Tiggle, early decision is an option for students with a clear first choice to receive a more favorable look by the admissions committee. The University benefits by admitting students early decision, Tiggle said, because they are more enthusiastic and more likely to contribute to the student body. Educators suggested the responsibility to diversify schools rests not only on colleges, but high school officials and the students themselves. "You have to change the mentality of the guidance counselors, not the law," Siegel said. "If your last name ends in a vowel, [many counselors] will at best point you to a third-tier school. The real change for the better would be for every college to admit everyone on a rolling basis, but institutions won't do this because it makes their U.S. News and World report ranking go down." With rolling admissions, a student is either admitted or rejected right when he or she applies. "Colleges and universities are doing well to make sure that all students are aware of the options open to them," Simmons said. "The responsibilities are on high school students to educate themselves about colleges and then understand what options are open to them."

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News

Development: A rest from the mundane

November 6

There's quirky, there's goofy, and there's just plain bizarre. Then there is Arrested Development, a hilarious and original amalgam of all three adjectives and then some. In some parts Malcolm and the Middle and others a modified television version of The Royal Tenenbaums, this new FOX comedy brings the dysfunctional to life, proclaiming that nothing is sacred in the family unit. Told through the eyes of Michael Bluth (Jason Batemen), Arrested Development is all about his family, a ridiculous collection of caricatures who somehow manage to coexist in the fractured world of television. At the top of the family is George Bluth, Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), a spendthrift and grandstanding real estate mogul who has recently bestowed the family empire upon his vapid, yet fashionable, wife Lucille (Jessica Walter), much to the chagrin of the hardworking and loyal Michael. Unloved and underappreciated, Michael lives in the attic of a model home with his socially awkward prepubescent son George Michael (Michael Cera), waiting for his chance to finally make it big in his father's company. But his father's financial carelessness does not go unpunished, as a celebratory banquet cruise is crashed by the FBI, SEC, and IRS, all ready to pounce on George Sr. for countless violations of many federal laws. Now, without their father's piggy bank, the rest of the family must cope with its newfound helplessness while Michael looks on in disgust and embarrassment. Leading the crowd of siblings is Portia de Rossi as the flamboyant activist Lindsay. Though she's hounded from the beginning by the Jewish Defense League for creating HOOP (Hands Off Our Penises), a group fighting against circumcision, Lindsay develops an even greater headache when her hotel penthouse, paid for by Daddy's expense account, is no more. Michael's two other brothers, George III (Will Arnett) and Buster (Tony Hale), are equally inept. The former is a failed magician, blackballed by his former associates for mistakenly revealing the trick behind one of his illusions, and the latter has wasted his father's money learning about ancient skills and cultures, though he knows nothing about everyday modern life. Even Buster's lessons in cartography fail to serve him well, as when the family attempts to flee the federal agents, he looks at the map and claims that "this blue area here is land." In the end, it's the simple randomness and quirky behavior of all the Bluths that will drive this show to its ultimate success. Whereas the dry humor of The Royal Tenenbaums singled out the extraordinary eccentricity of its titular family, Arrested prides itself on the underwhelming pathos of the Bluths. When George Senior's accounts are frozen, the family must move in together in the only vestige left of his real estate empire. The humorous conceit of Arrested should center on the loony and wacky behavior of this similarly characterized family. Writer and creator Mitchell Hurwitz (The Ellen Show) has designed a beautifully fractured and cartoonish version of the grown-up American family. If Malcolm and his brothers grew up rich, this would be their adult life. Hurwitz's brilliant script is exceptionally realized by the fantastic cast that producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have assembled. As the narrator and focus upon which all the other skewed familial lines meet, Batemen is perfect in his role as Michael Bluth. His role is probably the simplest, as he is the straight, sane man to his kooky siblings and parents. Even his son, played with the right amount of subtlety by the young Cera, outshines Batemen when he anxiously awaits rooming with his attractive adolescent cousin. As the father figure, Tambor places a loveable face on the Kenneth Lays and Bernard Ebbers of the world. His ability to fill the broad shoulders of such a falsely magnanimous character comes across in George Senior's carefree behavior. The actors who play his children are also well cast, especially Portia de Rossi (Ally McBeal) as Lindsay. Initially portrayed as a spoiled brat with little to do but support frivolous causes like HOOP, Lindsey still harbors a deep love and admiration of her brother, the sort that is usually found in cheesy afternoon sitcoms. Her husband, former doctor Tobias Funke (former because he attempted CPR on a sleeping tourist) is played by perennial sitcom guest star staple David Cross. Recognizable from his roles on The Drew Carey Show and Just Shoot Me!, Cross steals each scene he is in with his natural and infectious good-humored goofiness. Arrested Development is the triumphant culmination of the recent trend of dysfunctionality in television families. The Bluths follow in the footsteps of the most well known modern and clich?©d "dysfunctional family," the Simpsons, while combining their charm with contemporary cynicism and quirkiness. The Tenenbaums may have had extraordinary academic or physical skills, but the Bluths are mediocre in everything but their eccentricity.

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News

No laughs for Monstrous Regiment

November 6

It's not easy being a girl in the land of Borogravia. You can't wear pants, can't join the army, and certainly can't run away from home on a madcap quest to find your dearly departed brother and save the family inn -- at least, not unless you blatantly ignore public opinion and continue on your journey amidst the uproar. So begins Monstrous Regiment, as it sets out to satirize the military, the media, women and minorities who serve in the armed forces. The title represents the latest effort in British satirist Terry Pratchett's popular Discworld series, a set of semi-sequential novels that occur on an imaginary planet which is being towed through space on the back of a gigantic flying tortoise. Yes, that's right -- a gigantic flying tortoise. Though all the novels take place on the same planet, Discworld (which Pratchett often uses as a stand-in to satirize our own society), the books tend to rotate through various casts of characters from volume to volume, allowing the author to play with a variety of character archetypes and settings within the same world. Characters from one novel often pop up in another, and the author's most popular creations occasionally get featured tales of their own in the form of later books. Monstrous Regiment is unique among Pratchett's Discworld books because it features a cast and an environment created solely for this novel. It is set in the country of Borogravia, where the national pastime of waving to one's sons as they leave for war has only declined in popularity because of the drop in the number of qualified males available to fight. It is a place where the great god Nuggan has declared everything from women-owned businesses to onion farming to be an Abomination and therefore outlawed. The story begins when the protagonist, a young girl named Polly Perks, takes off in typical Mulan fashion and runs away from home, disguising herself as a boy so she can join the Borogravian army on a mission to find her long-lost brother. The story starts off in a promising enough fashion as the audience is introduced to Polly's fellow soldiers and the inanity of army life, but the humor gets old quick. It's easy to laugh at the appearance of the badly-disguised vampire, the Igor-like zombie, and the troll (the Borogravian army has a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to recruiting the undead), but the jokes wear thin even before the reader discovers the secrets of the remaining recruits. At its heart, Monstrous Regiment is truly a one-gag book, and this becomes evident so early on that one can easily predict the eventual conflict and resolution by the end of the fourth or fifth chapter. Pratchett's strength as a writer has always been in his ability to both humanize and satirize, but the lack of characterization in this novel and his failure to develop even his protagonist make his attempts to poke fun at the military's shortcomings fall far short of their goal. One-dimensional characters can't carry a story, and while stupid protagonists might be endearing given the right set of circumstances, plot constructions that rely on the audience being as unintelligent as the hero just make a pointless novel even more frustrating to read. At many points during the course of the story, it seems almost as if the subject matter itself is at fault. While the military lends itself to being easily satirized, there are only so many crazy 'Nam jokes one can make before the hallucinating vampire and the aging sergeant become wearisome. Pratchett is more than capable of poking fun at society's shortcomings, but in several instances the jokes in this novel are so infantile that they drag amidst his obvious talent. It doesn't help that the plot is so convoluted that it would be difficult to follow it even if the novel were clever enough to warrant the reader's full attention. There is no insightful commentary on society here, no intriguing characters, not even a gripping mystery to slip its tendrils around the audience. Rather, the book is a fairly simple parable that could have easily been told in 35 pages instead of 350, had Pratchett simply chosen to exclude a few of the more extraneous and confusing details. At its core, Monstrous Regiment lacks in the warmth and development that gives so many others Pratchett novels their soul. Clearly it is not the author's talent that is lacking here, but rather the convoluted story and poor choice of subject matter that make the novel seem so stale. Pratchett's fans can start praying now to the great god Nuggan that the popular author manages to bounce back in his next endeavor.

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News

Jumbos look to win third straight

November 6

The football team takes on Middlebury College this Saturday in a match up of teams headed in similar directions. Both are riding high off recent successes -- the Jumbos come into the game following two straight victories over quality teams, Amherst and Colby. The wins pushed Tufts' record to 5-2 and tied the team for second place in the NESCAC standings. Middlebury is coming off its best game of the season, a 55-31 blowout of Hamilton College. Both squads are looking to continue their success in what looks to be the last game of the season. Defensively, the Jumbos will try to limit Middlebury's potent offense which ranks at the top of the NESCAC. The Panthers are averaging nearly 340 yards of total offense per game, and last week they exploded for 611 yards. Despite the challenge posed by the Panthers' offense, Jumbos coach Bill Samko said his team isn't going to do anything differently defensively than it has done all season. "We're going to try to control the ball a little bit more," Samko said. "But it really all comes down to playing well. We've just got to play well." The strength of the Middlebury offensive attack is its passing, which has produced 221 yards per game and 14 of the team's 19 offensive touchdowns. Quarterback Mike Keenan has been very effective this year, completing 55 percent of his passes for nearly 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns. Last week against Hamilton, he found his rhythm, throwing for 343 yards and 5 touchdowns. Although the Middlebury game plan appears to play into the hands of Tufts' defensive strength, its secondary, Samko believes this isn't the case. "It all depends on the guys up front," Samko said. "If they can get some pressure on the passer, we'll be alright. Statistics mean nothing. The line's the reason the secondary has played well this year. With enough time, I could make the throws." On offense, Tufts should be able to move the ball effectively against a defense that has struggled this year. Middlebury is giving up 356 yards of offense per game, and last week against Hamilton it surrendered 530. The Panthers have been particularly shaky against the run, giving up more than 160 yards rushing per game. That could mean big games for Tufts senior Tim Mack and junior Steve Cincotta. Mack has played big in three straight games, averaging 114 yards, and Cincotta is finally healthy. Offensive coordinator Mike Daly is excited about the prospect of the two playing together, and said he wants to get Cincotta more involved in the offense. "We want to get [Cincotta] some early carries to get him into the flow of the game," Daly said. "I would hate to coach against them. Steve will pound you and as soon as you get used to that Tim runs right past you." Daly mentioned the necessity of controlling the ball to keep Keenan off the field, but said that they would not hesitate to take some chances down field. "We want to control the ball, and obviously a good way to stop Keenan would be to keep him on the sidelines," Daly said. "But we want to move the ball. We want to get first downs. We'll do whatever it takes to do that and get some points on the board." With a win the Jumbos would finish the season at 6-2 and in second place in the league. Both Samko and Daly said the game is important because of what it would mean to the team's seniors. "This win would be big for our seniors, Tim Mack, Ed Casabian, Matt Cerne, Justin Kelley, Adam Wiley," Daly said, referring to the offensive upper classmen. "I really want them to go out as the winners they are." "This game means a lot to me," Samko said. "With all the obstacles this team has had to deal with, 6-2 would be a real tribute to their heart. And it'd be a great way for the seniors to end their career. They're a special group and they deserve it."

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News

Jumbos looking to capture ECAC title

November 6

The men's cross country team has been saying all season that it is the deepest squad in New England. Though the team has been successful, it has not had the opportunity to show its depth off in a bona fide championship meet. The Jumbos will get that chance tomorrow. Tufts will look to back up its talk by trying to earn first place in the ECAC championship this weekend at its home Grafton Course. Over 40 Div. III schools from all over the region will compete. Coach Connie Putnam will rest his varsity for next week's national qualifiers in Southern Maine and instead run his second seven. Senior co-captain Jon Rosen and fellow classmates Pete Jurczynksi and James Lamoureux, sophomore Matt Lacey, and freshmen Peter Orth, Justin Chung, and Daniel Jones will suit up for the Jumbos. The seven will probably find themselves racing against the top runners from many of the smaller, less competitive schools competing and against the second string runners from rivals such as Amherst, Williams, and Keene State. Coach Connie Putnam said that although resting the Jumbos who will compete in the Nov. 15 qualifiers is important, it is not the only reason he runs his second seven. "From my standpoint, it's a chance to let more kids compete," Putnam said. In the past he used to run his top seven in both the ECACs and qualifiers. The Jumbos have finished fourth in the race the last two seasons after finishing first in both 1999 and 2000, which was the last time Jumbos ran in both the ECACs and the national qualifiers. "It's easy enough to brag about how deep our team is," Rosen said. "This is a great chance to prove it and get not a JV title but an actual championship title. Doing that [with our second seven] would be a testament to the program." Jones and Chung also expressed excitement at the chance to run this weekend in a championship style race. "It's a good opportunity to go out there and back up the NESCAC championship from last weekend," Jones said. "When it comes down to it, in cross country, it's great to have guys pushing the guy ahead of them over the course of the season, but in a race, only five guys score, and two displace," Rosen said. "So this is a chance to actually show our depth through numbers."

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News

Breaking out of the doll house

November 6

Most theater-goers are familiar with the Brechtian style of theater, in which a play attempts to get into the audience members' minds instead of their hearts. Such plans often reaching towards complex philosophical questions, following the style of the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. But a Brechtian punk cabaret? A local band is currently trying to create this entirely new genre of music. The music of these Boston locals, the Dresden Dolls, is a thrilling coalescence of rock, opera, and theater, incorporating the nuances of Broadway performance coupled the bitter angst that characterizes punk. Through the fusion of these two seemingly polar opposite styles, the Dresden Dolls are breaking the mold and imploring their listeners to take action. The underlying theme that defines their music is that of the bittersweet doll house. Their music is a vivid expression of girlhood gone wrong, complete with pigtails and broken hearts. Barbie, Ken, and Skipper may lack sexual anatomy and the capacity for human emotion, but the Dresden Dolls most certainly do not. The dark confessional psychology that pours out of their lyrics is powerfully candid. Singer, songwriter, and pianist Amanda Palmer is the epitome of the Broadway-esque diva gone femme fatale while drummer Brian Viglione adds his own maddening flair to the scene. All of which leave a pleasantly paradoxical tension for the listener to behold -- should one be singing along to the musical theatrics, or thrashing their head about wildly in mosh-pit style? A general solemnity colors the band's music, leaving song after song shaded with deep hues of aching honesty, anguish, anger, and pain. Staccato piano and jolting drum lines transport you to the Dresden Dolls' fantastical toy universe. The crazed theatrics of the duo during live concert performance are reminiscent of Queen's rendition of the Bohemian Rhapsody -- on acid. Whether this characterization remains true to their actual personalities or not, the musical vigor of the Dresden Dolls is certainly a force to be reckoned with. In recent months, the Dolls have rocked their way to the covers of multiple Boston publications, including Improper Bostonian and The Boston Globe. What's more, it should be noted that this band's recognition is not limited to homegrown fans; they have won numerous titles to their credit, taking the lead in WBCN's (104.1 FM) Rumble, a battle of the bands, as well as pinning down a listing among several Best of Boston music lists. The Dresden Dolls' self-titled debut album was released in September and features their hit single Coin Operated Boy. The song's opening lyrics are: "Coin operated boy / sitting on the shelf he is just a toy / but I turn him on and he comes to life / automatic joy / that is why I want a coin operated boy." Enveloped by Viglione's sharp drum strikes and Palmer's disjointed piano playing, this catchy tune will surely be in your head for hours. But that, friend, is the magic of the Dresden Dolls: their music welcomingly lingers without becoming irritating. There's nothing particularly doll like about what this band is trying to say, but it is this paradox that is mystifying and so vital to their sound. Barbie and Ken, watch out! Make way for the Dresden Dolls.

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News

Restoration of Anderson and Robinson Halls set for summer 2004

November 6

Tufts will spend between $3 and $4 million next summer on repairs to Anderson and Robinson Halls. The University has hired the Columbia Construction Company to replace windows, repair the slate roof, and restore the masonry and terracotta on the buildings, which house the School of Engineering and the Department of Physics & Astronomy. The restorations are part of the University's deferred maintenance program, which provides funds to improve facilities on all four Tufts campuses. Columbia expects the location and timing of next summer's project will make it challenging. "Working in the summer means working with a very aggressive schedule because the work needs to be done before students arrive back on campus," Johnson said. "Safety issues will also present some challenges. We need to make sure that the area is fully staged [for the workers] while still allowing access to the building [for the students and faculty]." In meetings between local residents and Tufts officials, some residents expressed concern about preserving the historical integrity of the buildings. The University assured residents they plan to maintain the buildings roofs, which are made from local slate. The cost of the project will be paid with funds from the school's annual budget. Columbia was selected via a competitive bidding process. Last year, the deferred maintenance program funded the installation of new sprinkler systems and fire alarms in Lewis, Miller, Tilton, Houston, and Hill dormitories. The program conducts a formal evaluation every three to four years to help prioritize the needs of each campus. "The deferred maintenance program addresses the capital needs [of the facilities on campus] to maintain the useful life of the structures," Roberto said. "It's an investment." This year, administrators are discussing projects for 2005, 2006 and 2007. According to Roberto, planned improvements include a new synthetic surface for Ellis Oval, at a cost of about $750,000. The University also plans on spending $4.5 million to renovate Pearson Hall's east wing, adding three new research labs and a teaching lab. Columbia Construction's past Tufts projects include building the Granoff Family Hillel Center.

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News

Depth could put women's XC near top of ECAC

November 6

With its top runners resting on the sidelines, the women's cross country team will have to rely on its depth at the ECAC championship tomorrow afternoon at its home Grafton course. The top seven Jumbos will be saving their legs for next weekend's Div. III national qualifier, leaving Tufts' eighth through 14th runners at the helm of the brown and blue charge across the 5K Farm Course. Tufts will host teams from across New England and the Mid-Atlantic, and Coach Kristen Morwick expects that most, if not all squads will be resting their top seven runners for the upcoming qualifiers. This is a big advantage for the Jumbos, Morwick suggested, because Tufts' "second seven" is far stronger than that of many other teams. The Tufts contingent competing this weekend will be composed of seniors co-captain Katie Higley and Katie Mason, junior Liz Bloomhardt, and freshmen Angie Lee, Julia Goldberg, Jenny Torpey, and Caroline Chow. "We have a great group running and this is their last race on our home course this season," Morwick said. "They should be ready to compete." While the Jumbos may have placed seventh at the NESCAC Championship last weekend, Morwick expects that at ECACs, her squad could beat several of the schools that they trailed last weekend. "Many teams ahead of us in the New England rankings drop off after seven, and oftentimes five [runners]," Morwick said. She predicted that NESCAC champions Middlebury and defending national champions Williams, who both have a wealth of strong runners beyond their top seven, "should be vying for the 1-2 spots." Otherwise, according to Morwick, Tufts should be near the top of Saturday's results, assuming that all teams run their second sevens. In the past, some non-New England teams have raced top runners in order to win ECACs, Morwick said. "The only thing that could stand in our way of the top three is if a team races varsity runners," Morwick said. Higley and Lee should be among the top Tufts finishers this weekend. In the regular season, Lee placed seventh or eighth on the team in many races, making her a likely alternate for the remainder of the season. Next weekend, the top seven Jumbos - senior tri-captains Lauren Caputo and Lauren Dunn, juniors Emily Pfeil and Katie Sheedy, sophomore Becca Ades, and freshmen Sarah Crispin and Sam Moland-will race at the Div. III New England meet in Cumberland, Maine. A fifth place team finish or better there would send Tufts to nationals. According to Morwick, the squad "responds well to rest," which is why the fastest seven Jumbos will sit out this weekend's competition. "This is the time of season when you don't need to be pounding races off," Morwick said. Morwick expressed optimism that Tufts could post strong performances and place well both this weekend and next. The 'home team advantage' of a short commute and a familiar course will not be the only factors that will work in Tufts' favor at ECACs, though. It is the team's depth that has the potential to set them apart from other squads.

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News

The Real Matrix

November 5

We may not be able to dodge bullets or jump over tall buildings, but let me assure you that all of us are certainly plugged in. "What are we plugged into?" you wonder. We are plugged into the virtual world that only exists in the language of 1s, 0s, and crazy radio waves all around our domes. You see, while our most hip and current cinematic hero Neo is plugged into the Matrix through a steel plug in his head, our Matrix is only a few years away from being just as extreme. Whether it's through a cellphone or a computer, we're all plugged in, and there's no turning back now. Look around you as you walk out of class. Before the lecturer even lets the class out, people have taken out their cellphones in order to plug in as quickly as possible. I can't help but wonder: "who is calling you between 10:25 and 11:40 on a Tuesday morning?" Furthermore, what is so important that you've got to know about it before you even make it out of the building? Between classes up on the Quad, you can see all the people, all the mindless bodies, just transporting brains that are plugged into the phone. See, before cellphones were so widespread, you could see a person walking towards you and know just where they were; they were there. Their body and brain walked together in harmony, both in touch with the reality of the current surroundings. Now, though, when you see a person walking and plugged into the phone, you just have no clue where their brain is. Their consciousness has been snatched away from the Quad and beamed on the airwaves, up to a cell tower, up to a satellite, and then back down to Earth somewhere in Westchester. Their consciousness is having a fight with a high school boyfriend! If the cellphone is our mobile portal to the Matrix, then we have also been successful at proliferating stations for easy plug-in. Computers. We've got computers in our rooms, in our houses, in the Campus Center. They are everywhere. As if the cellphone hadn't taken us away from reality enough, we now can fully seclude ourselves in front of a screen to plug into whatever may be going on in the Matrix. I believe there was a time when the first time people interacted in the morning was with an exchange of "good morning." As in, two humans would see each other face-to-face, and talk. Now, though, I think that all of us go through plenty of communication before we actually speak outloud. Something about this doesn't jive with me. Before we have cleared the shiz from our eyes in the morning we check to see who has left us IM's over night. Since the term is so commonplace now, it's important to think about the concept of IM: Instant. Message. Instant. This technology was designed to put people in touch instantly who are across the globe from one another. Or, in many cases, across the hall. In our world of the information superstructure that is the Matrix, our brains are instantly hotwired to other brains, completely skipping the steps of talking, listening, and giving each other "the pound." Now, however, we are so used to the Instant Message that it no longer needs to be instant, and we are content to leave people a message for when they wake up. See, another part of the Instant Messenger technology is the Away Message. The Away Message is the way that people maintain a brain-presence in the Matrix when they are 'Away' from it. In other words, as our bodies sleep, we have proxied our brains to the Matrix by telling all the other brains, "I'm sleeping." But the other brains don't mind; they'll just leave you a message. For when you wake up. This means that when you wake up the next day, instead of saying "good morning" to your roommate you can catch up to what your Matrixed Substitute Brain was up to all night. When things don't need to be Instant, though, we can always turn to e-mail. Again, it is virtually (no pun intended) impossible to imagine the world before e-mail. E-mail stands for electronic mail. Our brain dictates thoughts into 1s and 0s which are instantly transmitted God-knows-how, to wait in the mailbox of another brain. How many times a day do you check your email? Don't count. You'll only hang yourself. Because you plug in as often as possible. You've got to be updated. There once were havens for us humans that kept us out of the Matrix, unable to plug in. We actually spent time letting our consciousness reside in the same place as our bodies. But it seems that each oasis has been infiltrated. Class: you can get a text message. Sleeping: your IM collects messages for your sleeping brain. Eating: your phone vibrates to signal the arrival of someone's brain that wants to talk to you. On the toilet: wireless internet has no bounds. The Matrix has got us. Everyday life is not enough to contain our heads, and so we set up as many ways as possible to collect more information. As you sit in the back of a lecture hall trying to stay awake, your cell phone collects voicemails, your e-mail box is getting stuffed, and your Buddies are bombarding you Instantly, awaiting your return. You watch the clock tick, and you know that as soon as the final minute passes, you will plug the phone into your head. You must connect. As soon as you can. To the Matrix.

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News

Unnamed

November 5

I'd like to correct one point in your generally generous story on my talk at Hillel last Wednesday ("Professor Mufti advises direct US involvement in Israel," Nov. 3). I am quoted as saying that "now moral people blow themselves up to kill Israelis." My comment came in the context of lamenting the erosion of decency and moderation on both sides as a result of the escalating conflict. After talking about the Israelis, I observed that on the Palestinian side this erosion has reached a stage where suicide bombings are now being carried out not only by hardened radicals, but by apparently normal -- I guess the reporter heard "moral" -- people such as the female law student who blew herself up some weeks ago. My intent, in short, was precisely to highlight the corrupting effects of the conflict, and certainly not to describe the killers of innocent civilians as moral.

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News

Paying attention to the really great stories

November 5

It always amazes me how some of the most amazing stories in sports get overlooked by so many people. This is maybe the craziest story of the year, and I feel like most people missed it. Over the weekend, at the New York Marathon, a pair of British dudes finished their seventh marathon in seven days, on six different continents. For those of you who skimmed over the last paragraph, let me reiterate. Seven marathons. Seven days. Six continents. This is beyond absurd. It's beyond unfathomable. It's impossible, but somehow it's true. Of course the mission wasn't a complete success. The original plan called for the duo (Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud) to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, but engine trouble kept them from getting to Antarctica. What a bunch of losers. Honestly, if you're gonna do something, at least do it right. Fiennes and Stroud covered 183 miles on foot, and flew over 45,000 miles in a week. Forget about the physical impossibility of this trip, the sheer logistics of it are mind boggling. Most people have enough trouble booking one flight and getting to it on time. Try flying to six different continents in seven days while literally running a marathon every day. This is making me dizzy. They apparently got the idea after Fiennes called up Stroud and asked him if he wanted to climb Mt. Everest with him, but Stroud said he didn't have time and proposed a new idea. I can just imagine that conversation... Fiennes: Hey buddy, you wanna go climb Everest with me? Stroud: Love to pal, but I'm just swamped. How about we run seven marathons in a week instead? Fiennes: Hmm, well I had kinda wanted to challenge myself this year... I know! Let's run them all on seven different continents! But that's not even the half of it. Apparently Fiennes had double bypass surgery in June after he had a heart attack. They had to carry a mini-defibrillator on all of their marathons, just in case Fiennes had another episode. I know that my first move after I had a heart attack would be to go and run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. I mean, you can't let one minor setback control your whole damn life, right? And it's not like these guys were jogging through these marathons, either. They finished the first one in three hours and 45 minutes. That's a seven minute mile, for 26.3 miles. Not too bad for a 59-year-old man with a shaky heart. I'm not sure that I can run a seven minute mile for two miles. Such a great story, and most people in the United States missed it. This story was huge in Britain, as British media followed Fiennes and Stroud nearly every step of the way. But here we would never have heard of it if the two didn't finish up their journey on one of the biggest marathon stages in the world. We were too occupied watching Diddy run the city, I guess. There are so many great stories in sports, it's a shame that we tend to only pay attention to the ones with the highest paid athletes. It's funny how we always pretend to love the athletes who "just play for the love of the game," and then spend all of our time watching the ones with $100 million contracts. We pretend that players like Gary Payton and Karl Malone are making huge sacrifices by playing with the Lakers for only $1 or $2 million, just so they can win a championship. I guess if we really valued the athletes who play for no other reason than that they love to, we would have huge crowds at every Tufts game. We would show up by the thousands to watch the students, who spend hours every day lifting, practicing, and training, play games for nothing but the satisfaction of competing, and don't complain for two seconds about it. If we really valued the athlete who competes for the love of the game, we would turn out in hoards to watch ultra-marathoners run 100 miles across the desert for absolutely no money. But we like the show as much as we like the sport, so we spend most of our time watching millionaires jump around from team to team so they can make enough money to buy their seventh house and their 15th Hummer. And we don't pay attention to the really impressive things, like two guys running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, because they're not doing it just because they're in a contract year. I'm not saying that we should stop watching baseball or football or anything else just because it's on TV. Hell I'm as guilty as anybody. I'm just saying that we should appreciate the athletes who really do make sacrifices in order to participate in a sport. There are a lot of other sports in the world besides baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, and there are a lot of great stories in each and every one of them. So just keep your eyes open, and maybe next time when somebody does something crazy like seven marathons in seven days, we won't let it pass us by.

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News

Multimedia projector missing from Anderson Hall

November 5

Police have launched an investigation into the disappearance of a multimedia projector worth $7,000 from a classroom in Anderson Hall. Students discovered that the projector, normally bolted to the ceiling of Anderson 208, was missing on Monday afternoon. Bob Lind directs the Engineering Project Development Center (EPDC), which is responsible for maintaining equipment in Anderson. He said he will be contacting people who used the equipment to determine who saw the projector last. "If we found someone that used it Monday morning, that would be different than if the last person that saw it was on Thursday," Lind said. Lieutenant Domenic Pugliares, the investigating officer for the Tufts University Police Department, declined to comment on the investigation. The missing projector created problems in classes which include multimedia presentations. "It's something that instructors use a lot," Lind said. "It's really beneficial." Sophomore Greg Truhlar said the projectors are "a crucial part to many classes." "They enable professors to show videos related to class as well as to display notes in an easy to read fashion." On Monday, students in one class were due to make presentations, but the instructor brought in another projector and class was delayed by only 10 minutes.

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News

Tufts season comes to disappointing close

November 5

Last season, the women's soccer team dominated almost every team in the NESCAC during the regular season, earning the first seed in the conference playoffs and eventually going on to win their first ever conference championship. This year however, things were a little different. The team fought through numerous obstacles to sneak into the playoffs as the seventh and final seed. But to Tufts, that meant nothing. The squad was coming off two of its biggest wins of the season over the non-conference Keene State Owls -- the team that knocked them out of last year's NCAA tournament -- and the high scoring Middlebury Panthers going into the playoffs. This gave Tufts what seemed to be all the momentum they would need to succeed heading into November. However, the season came to a disappointing close 120 minutes after kickoff against second seeded Amherst. The Jumbos fell 4-2 on penalty kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless play. "We left everything we had on the field on Sunday," senior co-captain Abby Herzberg said. "That's all we can ask of ourselves. Sometimes, things just don't go your way I guess." The loss marked the end of the careers for Tufts' four seniors, Jessica Trombly, Becca Doigan, and co-captains Herzberg and Jessica Lovitz. "Soccer has been the most consistently positive thing I have done over the past four (and 18) years," Herzberg said. "It has been pretty much the most important thing in my life at Tufts. There is competition, huge wins and heartbreaking losses, but also amazing friendships that are irreplaceable." Despite their early exit, the Jumbos were proud of the way they played all season in fighting through the hard times. "I am so proud of our team, so proud to be a part of this team and the whole program," Herzberg said. "We have so much talent, drive and heart that it is really hard to sit here feeling like we could have gone all the way. But I am so proud of how we played throughout the season and especially this Sunday." Junior Sarah Gelb echoed Herzberg's sentiments. "Overall our season was really successful," Gelb said. "We overcame multiple adversities, beat some of the top ranked teams in New England, and avenged the loss to Keene State. Most importantly, by the end of the season we came together as a team, playing with heart, intensity, skill and cohesiveness. Our last game showed how much we improved throughout the course of the season." The 2003 season was one filled with highs and lows. The victory against Keene State and the final game of the season against Amherst were the two best games the Jumbos played all season. "I had never seen us play so composed before like we did against Amherst," junior Becky Greenstein said. "We worked as a team and everything we had ever worked on in practice came together. Our defense was extremely strong and despite not scoring, our offense created many opportunities." In addition, the team's chemistry increased tremendously from last season, and continued to grow as the year went on. "I love my team," sophomore Ariel Samuelson said. "On and off the field we always have a great time together, whether it be juggling before practice or spending time together at team dinners and before games." However, with the high points come certain low points as well. The team had to fight through injuries to almost its entire midfield, in addition to two girls quitting for personal reasons. "Any change like that disrupts the team," Greenstein said. "However we dealt with them superbly and it almost just brought everyone closer together." At times, like in years past, the Jumbos also had difficulty putting the ball in the back of the net and winning games that they should have won. "In a league like ours sometimes you need a little luck because all the teams are so good, and in some of our games, the luck just didn't come our way," Greenstein said. Throughout the entire season, Tufts was led by its four seniors. "All four of our seniors have had a huge impact on this program. They played every game with heart, leadership, composure and talent and motivated the rest of us to do the same," Gelb said. "All of them are amazing players, and we are definitely going to miss them next year." Trombly is the active all time leading scorer for the Jumbos with 58 points on 22 goals and 14 assists in 70 games played. She was tied for second on the team this year with 14 points (6G, 2A), switching between the forward and midfield spots. Doigan was the 11th player for Tufts this year, consistently coming off the bench to provide a spark for the Jumbos with her speed and smart play. She was sixth on the team with six points, and ends her career with 23 (8G, 7A). Lovitz and Herzberg, the two captains, were the backbone of a Tufts defense that has consistently been one of the best in the NESCAC. The duo led the team through its adversities and still managed to contribute to five shutouts on the season, including a stretch at the beginning of the year when they let just one goal get past them in five games. "I was so happy to play next to Abby and Lovitz this year," Samuelson said. "Not only are they great players, but amazing leaders too. They were the anchor of the team, and both our defense and our team would not have done as well without them."

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News

The Boston art world goes global

November 5

Whether you're interested in African war flags, Buddhist carvings, or the Mexican Day of the Dead, the world comes to Beantown this month in a culturally diverse exposition of art from various cultures around the world. Africa, South America, and the Far East are all represented this month in various art galleries and museums across the Boston area, offering a choice of exhibits for interested art fans to visit. Hamill Gallery of African Art The representation of the warrior can yield an intense impact: the current exhibit on display at the Hamill Gallery looks at the traditional form of the African warrior as shown through the art of the different peoples of the world's biggest continent. Traditional masks, shields, weapons, iron and bronze figurines, and war flags are all on display here as part of a colorful exhibit that traces the imagery associated with the warrior through a variety of different cultures. Outside the gallery's ground, a large collection of various museum pieces are on display making African art accessible to the community. Open Thursday through Saturday, 12-6 p.m. Located at 2164 Washington St., near the Ruggles T-stop on the Orange Line. No admission fee. Busch-Reisinger Museum The current exhibit at the Busch-Reisinger Museum examines the state of German art at the beginning of the 20th century. Entitled "Before Expressionism: Art in Germany circa 1903," the collection allows visitors to take a closer look at how German artists at the turn-of-the-last-century treated nationalism and symbolism in their work. This extensive collection of drawings and prints helps to provide a snapshot of a specific period of time in German history and culture. Also on display are some pieces which are contemporary to the German ones of display from central and northern Europe. Open 10-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. Located at 32 Quincy Street, near the Harvard Square T-stop on the Red Line. Admission is $5 with college ID. Equator Gallery Unique among New England art displays, the Equator Gallery's exhibits focus solely on Andean and Latin American contemporary fine art. Having recently opened a new branch in Boston, the gallery's collections feature a wide variety of items, ranging from Bolivian textiles and weavings to hand-carved wood reliefs from Luis Potosi, a native Equadorian artist. Those interested in the history of the region will want to make sure to visit their collection of pre-colonial antiquities, and all viewers can marvel at the extensive ensemble of paintings by Latin American artists. Open 10-6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Located at 450 Harrison in Boston, near the Boston Medical Center T-stop. No admission fee. Arthur M. Sackler Museum This month, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum features a pair of collections from the Far East. The exhibit, "Buddhist Art: The Later Tradition," showcases a variety of items from China, Korea, and Japan that demonstrate the artistic principles and ideals of the Buddhist world; a few pieces, including some of their sutras, date back as far as the 8th century. Also on display is "Where Traditions Meet," a long-term installation that is currently in its last month. This exhibit includes a variety of medieval paintings from India, which collectively trace the evolution of Indian painting under the Mughal emperors. The museum also has an extensive permanent collection of Asian, Islamic, and Indian art. Open 10-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Located at 485 Broadway in Cambridge, near the Harvard Square T-stop on the Red Line. Admission is $5 with college ID. Starr Gallery Colliding cultures often bring a new perspective to an artist's work, and the current exhibition going on at the Starr Gallery (hosted by the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center) examines this very phenomenon. Entitled "An Architect of Memory," the collection features the work of eight Jewish-Argentine artists as they integrate and express the different components of their backgrounds. Painting, sculpture, works of architecture, and prints are all on display here, helping visitors to further explore Argentine and Jewish culture. Open 12-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 12-2 p.m. Friday and Sunday. Located at 333 Nahaton Street in Newton Center, MA. No admission fee. Peabody Museum Celebrations associated with the Day of the Dead date back to the times of the Aztecs, and they come to Boston in a unique way this month through a new installation at the Peabody Museum. The exhibit is available by appointment only, but its altar, constructed with the help of many local Boston-area artists, offers a unique, colorful perspective on the non-traditional holiday. Those interested in Latin American culture might also want to check out the Peabody's extensive archaeological displays, which include detailed models of pyramids and temples. Open 9-5 p.m., seven days a week. Located at 11 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge, near the Harvard Square T-stop on the Red Line. Admission is $6 with college ID. To make an appointment, call 617-495-2269.

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News

Survivor 101

November 5

For some people, Survivor is an essential part of their weekly routine. Tests, dates, and parties all take a back seat to the reality show for the most dedicated. But the Survivor aficionados are a minority; most who watch are casual viewers. With the all the strategic plans, broken alliances, and distractingly attractive people, it can be hard to keep up with the story line. If you've missed the last few episodes or have yet to watch Survivor, here's the 411. With its pirate theme, this season added many twists to the previous Survivor's formula. The contestants were dropped off in the ocean off of the pearl islands unexpectedly early. They scrambled ashore to bargain with locals. The frantic season opener set this season up to be one of the most intense Survivors yet. While the premise and layout of Survivor is the same as before, there have been several surprises, such as the need to barter for living essentials. As usual, there are two tribes this season, Drake and Morgan, which compete in weekly reward and immunity challenges. Unique to this season, and its pirate theme, is that the winner of a reward challenge gets to "loot" an item from the other tribe. The contestants even get to search for buried treasure. Amongst this pirate backdrop, there has been the usual struggling not only to survive but not to not be voted off the island. From the beginning, the Drake tribe faired much better than Morgan tribe. To help all those who cannot seem to keep to the tribes straight, Drake's most memorable cast members includes Rupert, the scruffy but helpful provider, and Jon, the wanna-be crafty comedian. The most famous faces in Morgan are the ultra-attractive Osten and Nicole, and the concerned leader, Andrew. Thanks to Drake member Sandra's Spanish and bargaining skills, the Drake tribe started out with significantly more supplies. Furthermore, Rupert is an expert fisherman and has provided lots of protein for the tribe. Conversely, the Morgan team has been perpetually hungry. They suffered from intertribal bickering, waning enthusiasm and lost several rewards and every immunity challenge in the beginning, becoming an early underdog. However, all this changed when some contestants on Drake, growing tired of a tribe member threw the immunity competition. The plan was foiled when others were angered by losing the challenge and voted off the organizer of the loss. This not only switched tribe power positions but also marked a shift in morale. Consequently, the other tribe, Morgan, has won every immunity challenge since. Also, as a result to losing a challenge, Rupert was forced to spend some time with the other tribe. While there, he taught them how to fish and secured some friendships for himself. Due to his involvement with the other team, later in the season there was a movement to vote Rupert off. Like before, this scheme failed, putting Jon who voted against Rupert in a tough position within the tribe. With many twist and turns, this season was off to a good start-and then there was biggest surprise ever in Survivor history. With no precedent, last week's episode marked the reintroduction of all those who had been voted off the island. Labeled "The Outcasts", they also competed in the immunity challenge and prevailed over both tribes. Their reintroduction means that now when the tribal councils vote someone off, an outcast will now take their place in the tribe. Having someone who was voted off return, will spark up new controversy and make must-see-TV. The returning cast members will be revealed tonight at 8pm. With a merger happening soon, everyone is scrambling to secure their position within the tribe and will now have to compensate for this shocking development. So if the scantly clad contestants did not provide for enough viewers, this season's surprises certainly will. Be careful though, it is easy to get sucked in and become a fanatic.

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News

Fusion Express presents savory alternative to on Campus Dining

November 5

Chicken parms getting you down? Don't want to pay fifteen percent extra for Espresso delivery? Why not get off campus for a meal! You know you should, and off-campus dining is less of a hassle than you may think. Dining away from Tufts can be quick, enjoyable, and yes, even cheap. We chose to explore Fusion Express for a variety of reasons, including its affordable price, easy accessibility, and all-around yumminess. Located on Elm Street, Fusion is just a two minute walk from the center of Davis Square. The short trip is well worth the result. Fusion delivers a multitude of high-quality pan-Asian dishes that appeal to carnivores and vegetarians alike. On this trip we had the Crispy Pad Thai and some old reliable Chicken Fried Rice. Both proved to be good choices, both in quality and quantity, and certainly worked with our small budget. The Crispy Pad Thai (a mere $8.95) arrived as a mountain of pan fried rice noodles, accompanied by generous chunks of chicken breast and a side of Asian vegetables. The kitchen was very accommodating to special requests -- they were willing to adjust the standard options of meat, sauce, and spiciness to suit our desires. The Chicken Fried Rice (less than a Dewick lunch at $7.95) likewise was excellent, since the steaming pile avoided the overwhelming greasiness that the dish often falls prey to. The pieces of chicken were also abundant here, appearing in both sizes and quantity that were truly remarkable. Served with a small green salad, unless the diner is excessively ravenous, this one meal could easily stretch itself into a second. In terms of variety, Fusion offers an array of enticing dishes that range in price from the Spicy Tofu Pad Thai ($7.25) to the Tempura Soft Shell Crab ($14.95), not including the super economically efficient method of choosing from Fusion's diverse Appetizer, Soup, and Salad options, which range from the Vegetable Soup ($2.95) to the Combination Platter (only $9.95, including chicken and beef satay, fried shumai, fried dumpling, crispy triangle, and vegetable spring rolls). Prices (as well as portions) are lower on the lunch menu, so it would definitely be an alternate choice to the campus center. Fusion Express is also a pleasant dining experience because of the unique atmosphere the restaurant creates. Intimate, but rarely crowded, the small main dining room has recently been redecorated, featuring a new lighting scheme and delightfully kitschy art. Attire rests somewhere between Orleans and Underbones: one needn't be in full make-up or pressed slacks, but we're not talking bar-b-que, napkin-tucked-in-the-shirt either. Although our uniform for the evening consisted of jeans and t-shirts, Fusion's mood does allow for more formality of dress; certainly on weekends one's style could adopt a "night out in Davis" theme. The ambience was completed by the evening's soundtrack, a collection of eighties favorites, including "St Elmo's Fire", "Highway to the Danger Zone", and "Walk Like an Egyptian." It made a delightfully bizarre meal accompaniment, and we couldn't have been more thrilled. The only disappointing aspect of our dinner was the service. While our food arrived quickly and our server was quite hospitable, she could have been more attentive at the beginning and end of the meal. This was, however, anomalous with our previous Fusion experiences, when the service was extremely efficient. Overall, Fusion Express presents a fun, inexpensive, and delicious alternative to on campus dining. So if you're looking to escape from Dewick, Fusion Express is an excellent choice for both lunch and dinner. Visit Fusion for lunch Monday-Saturday 11:30 am-3:00 pm or dinner from Monday-Sunday 4:30 pm - 10:30 pm. With these hours and prices we say goodbye to Carmichael, Hotung, and the rest - get out in Davis and enjoy Fusion Express.

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News

A greater separation of church and state

November 5

France has long had a rocky relationship with its growing Muslim population, this much is not news. But the recent debate over students' religious insignia in public schools has removed the bandage to show just how deep this sore goes. In a country where nearly 10 percent of the population practices Islam, might it soon be illegal for a Muslim girl to wear a headscarf to school? Recent news reports have suggested that President Jacques Chirac himself is preparing a law that may bring this Orwellian situation to pass. Chirac and his prime minister are considering banning all religious symbols in schools: skullcaps and crosses included, but headscarves especially, it seems. And all this in the name of protecting the Republic from religious divisions! The roots of French national secularism date to the Third Republic, when Jules Ferry, the minister of education, instituted the ?©coles r?©publicaines. These state schools were based on three principles: they were obligatory, free, and secular. The combination of the schools' universality and the anticlericalism of Ferry and his contemporaries ensured a broad application of the code of secularity. As a result, the school reforms of the 1880's brought illiteracy down to negligible levels and set the French on the path to being one of the world's better-educated peoples. These successes would not have been possible without such a rigid insistence on la??cit?© ("secularism," from the Latin for "laypeople"). The campaign for la??cit?© may have some appeal to those Americans tired of hearing about Ten Commandments monoliths in Alabama courtrooms or of seeing increasing amounts of federal funds go into church coffers under President Bush's faith-based initiatives. But while France may seem to have taken the opposite tack from the US in this respect, I detect in both cases the soft rot of moral self-righteousness. In France, the reasoning behind the la??cit?© law strays well afar of Ferry's original intension of providing free public education to every French girl and boy. Indeed, the proposal seems to evince paternalistic and frankly anti-Muslim undertones. Supporters of the law have argued, for example, that the veils are forced upon young Muslim women, and are therefore shameful signs of female submission in a patriarchal and chauvinistic ("phallocratique") society. But the so-called moral obligation idea of saving people from their own culture has a long, dark history amongst Europeans, post-colonial regrets notwithstanding. Another objection to the veil seems to take its cue from the post-9/11 equation of Islam and subversive political activities. There are those in France who insist that the headscarf is a political rather than a religious symbol. Wearing a headscarf often represents "the propaganda of interest groups who are pursuing their own advancement," according to an article published in Le Monde by a figure no less important than former Prime Minister Alain Jupp?©. "The wearing of the veil is particularly worrying because it reflects a politico-religious militarism that goes well above the individual expression of piety or religious modesty," Jupp?© writes. It seems that Americans are not the only ones who have trouble distinguishing between Muslims as worshippers and Muslims as political radicals. And yet Jupp?© rightly points out that the state's conception of secularism has changed over the past century: the ideal no longer exists to prevent government submission to the church (in particular the Roman Catholic church), but now protects the right of the citizen to practice his religion without having other beliefs imposed on him. How, exactly, does the wearing of the headscarf violate this principle? Here emerges the unseemliness of the debate: never was la??cit?© so dearly held until Muslim religious insignia were at issue. The petty quarrels that have emerged over the unsuitability of the headscarf for sports classes only deepen the suspicion that the underlying discontentment has less to do with constitutional exigencies than with an ill-concealed hostility toward a certain segment of society. The French have realized in retrospect that when Jules Ferry removed the ecclesiastical element of education in the 19th century, he replaced it with a cult of the state. Children learned to read by reciting the glories of France; public education was aimed first and foremost at producing citizens, not thinkers. The new la??cit?© threatens to impose an even more mind-numbing type of uniformity, one that educates children to be citizens only of France instead of citizens of the world. Such an outcome would be a bitter irony for a country that served as the cradle of cosmopolitan culture, where education was the nursemaid of a still-legendary worldliness of spirit.

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News

Joey tracker expected by end of year

November 5

The University is investigating technology that would allow students to track the University shuttle, in response to complaints about the frequency of bus service between the campus and Davis Square. "A lot of people have come to the Senate complaining about the Joey," Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Chike Aguh said. "They have been frustrated with how there is no real schedule for the shuttle and many times people do not know if it will just be faster for them to walk instead of waiting." Over the summer, Aguh and other TCU senators investigated products that would allow the shuttle to be tracked using satellites. The project would involve installing a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver aboard the bus, which would transmit location information to screens at each of the shuttle stops, as well as the Tufts Today flat-panel screens located across campus. Senators hope that students will eventually be able to track the shuttle from their own computers. Aguh has met with Executive Administrative Dean Wayne Bouchard and the Department of Public Safety to determine the University's interest in the system. The bus-board equipment would cost approximately $2,500 and the screens at shuttle shops would cost $3,000 each. Bouchard was enthusiastic about the idea and said he hopes that it will be put in place. "Based on what I know about the technology thus far," Bouchard said, "I would say that there's a good chance that we will pursue this [project] further." If all goes according to plan, Aguh said, students will be able to track the shuttle by the end of the school year. According to Aguh, the Department of Public Safety is currently determining whether Joseph's Limousine, the company that runs the shuttle, is willing to install the equipment and assessing the legality of the project. The owner of Joseph's, Jerry DeBari, was not aware of student complaints about the shuttle and had not been contacted about installing the tracking device. Shuttle schedules are currently posted at the shuttle stops and on TuftsLife.com. The student portal also proposed a similar tracking system last year.

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