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Changes to the SAT include essay, algebra II

October 29

Significant changes to the SAT mean that a score of 1,600 will no longer have the same meaning, but Tufts' director of admissions does not expect the changes will significantly affect the way the university evaluates applications. Instead of having only two sections -- math and verbal -- the test will now consist of math, critical reading, and writing sections. The analogies section will be eliminated in favor of more reading comprehension questions, and the math section will expand to include higher-level algebra, in addition to geometry. The writing section, which includes an essay and questions about grammar, will extend the length of the test by about 30 minutes to three hours and 35 minutes. A maximum score will also rise from 1,600 to 2,400. The College Board, which administers the SAT, PSAT, and Advanced Placement examinations, made the changes to "bring [the exam] more in line with high school curricula and focus on the skills students need to succeed in college," according to spokeswoman Kristin Carnahan. It plans to start administering the reformatted test in 2005. She said that the test will retain its function as a reasoning test but that the changes will better reflect what high school students are learning in contemporary classrooms. Director of Admissions Lee Coffin supports adding a writing requirement and the changes to the verbal and math sections. "The SAT has always been an aptitude or an assessment test, rather than an achievement test, and the proposed revisions would add more of the latter to the test," he said. It is currently unclear exactly how much the changes to the test will have on college admissions, but Coffin thinks that the changes will be minimal. "I don't expect that the new SAT will dramatically alter the way we review and select applicants," he said, emphasizing the holistic approach to evaluating applications. "Obviously, we will have some new standardized data to consider, and that is a good and useful change in a pool like Tufts' where the acceptance rate is so low," he said. "The more information we have in our file, the better our decision can be." Current high school sophomores will be among the first to take the test. Next fall, these students will take a modified version of the PSAT to prepare them for the new test. There is continued debate among some testing experts over the effectiveness of the SAT. "I don't think anyone believes that the SAT or even pure [IQ] tests are -- or ever have been -- a pure measure of intelligence," Rebecca Zwick, the former chair of the College Board's SAT Committee, told Time magazine. The SAT was originally created to predict the grades of freshmen at elite colleges, but some experts think that there are better ways to do so. The Time article featured psychologist Robert Sternberg's Rainbow Project, a test designed to replace the SAT. It tests creative and practical skills and was found to be twice as accurate an indicator of first year college GPA as the SAT. The test is still in the trial stages, but in its present form it asks students to dictate a story into a tape recorder and invent captions for cartoons, among other tasks. Critics have questioned the new test, particularly the section that will require students to write an essay. "Tests that require a student to write essays...are highly susceptible to the judgment of the grader," Nicolas Lemann, the dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, told Time. "They have low reliability." Some students will do better on the new test and some will do worse, and several are worried about the changes. "I'm really nervous about the changes, especially the essay," said Andrew Shaughnessy, a senior at Boston College High School. "I wish I could take it before they switch the test." Shaughnessy pointed out the lack of preparation options for the new test. "There are so many prep courses for the old test, but no one really knows exactly what to expect from the new test," he said. The College Board's website identifies several ways to prepare, including questions posted on their website and test preparation materials which will be sent to high schools. Carnahan said that field tests of the new format have made the College Board confident that average SAT scores will not decrease with its implementation. "The reactions to the changes have been very positive," she said.

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News

It's all in the words

October 29

William Shakespeare: coming to an answering machine near you. Throughout the past 400 years, thousands have adapted the literary master's work. But chances are Freestyle Shakespeare -- debuting at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway in Davis Square -- is one-of-a-kind. The Bard will barrel into the 21st century this weekend in a series of sketch comedy and solo pieces. The production is a next-generation take on scenes from Shakespeare, spiced with multimedia and personal tales linking the somewhat archaic language and work of Shakespeare to a new audience. Freestyle Shakespeare is the brainchild of lawyer and storyteller Michael Anderson. Though an avid fan of Shakespeare, Anderson is admittedly not expert on the playwright's work, which perhaps contributes to his belief in the timelessness and universality of Shakespeare's writing. He explains that he "was not a literature major. I'm not even particularly someone into theatre. All I know is that Shakespeare stays with me. Something germinates out of the language that makes me want to talk about it." For this project Anderson will collaborate with local storytellers, including Liz Appleby, Kevin Brooks, Libby Franck, David Ingle, Glenn Morrow, and Laura Packer. "Brother Blue" Dr. Hugh Morgan, the official storyteller of the city of Boston, will even make a cameo in a video clip featured in a skit likening Macbeth's "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" speech to the 1986 failure of the Red Sox at the World Series, and another sketch, titled "A Bloody Deed," explores the experience of performing the history Richard III alongside the tragedy of malfunctioning props. The producers here seek to highlight the accessibility of Shakespeare to every audience, despite the scholarly categorizations placed on each play. Anderson says he wants to demonstrate the ultimate comedy inherent in all of the Bard's plays. "You don't understand Shakespeare if you take the murder and tragedy at face value... Shakespeare intended to entertain his audience." He compares the violent scenes of Richard III as a precursor similar to the film Pulp Fiction, rather than The Godfather, as the classic botched mob hit. Anderson considers his production to be "irreverent, but substantial," and believes that it makes the same point that Shakespeare originally intended: to encourage identification with his characters. Citing the monologues and soliloquies rampant in the Bard's work as attempts to connect with the audience through language and characterization rather than the plot, Anderson asserts that the words themselves often take control of the character, stating that "the real story is in the language." The production reinterprets the traditional portrayals of the characters, as in a sketch featuring the witches from Macbeth as stage hands and their role in the theatre. Though he acknowledged that purists may not appreciate the humor, Anderson said "good Shakespeare is not just a museum piece about how [the production] would have looked at the Globe." Libby Franck, local storyteller, will relate the parallels of on-stage and off-stage romantic liaisons during a college production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in "Three Weddings, No Funerals: A Comedy." The production will also feature a grammatical deconstruction of Sonnet 65, Romeo and Falstaff as drug addicts, and a reincarnation of the Bard himself in the first sketch. Freestyle Shakespeare seeks to blur the line between Shakespeare in art and life. Focusing on the language and themes that are rampant today, the storytellers encourage the audience to love the words beyond their historical context, whether that may be in the theatre, in the classroom, or in the answering machine messages people may make. As Anderson jokingly remarked, "The language has a life of its own....It's all about failed communication."

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News

Gym etiquette: a user's guide

October 29

I was doing a set the other day and some jackass proceeded to stand directly in front of me and do some 6 lb. biceps curls. Could you please print some gym etiquette pointers so I won't have to smack the kid the next time he decides to stand in front of me to do his weights? --Very angry gym patron With the exercise trend rapidly inundating American pop culture, now more than ever there are those in the gym who are ignorant of common etiquette. It is a facet of the gym experience that is often overlooked, particularly by those who do not go on a regular basis. So, for you people who workout infrequently enough to be ignorant of polite practices in the gym, or for those of you who are new to the iron game, I will print some pointers that should help keep you from getting those dirty looks that are all too common these days. When someone is working in front of a mirror, DO NOT stand in front of him/her. I don't care how really, really ridiculously good-looking you are. The person working doesn't care. If you must, you may quickly step in front to grab a weight from the rack. Any longer, and you are breaking the etiquette code. Don't talk to people when they are in the middle of a set. You can wait two minutes for them to finish before you ask how many sets they have left. Asking them in the middle of a set will not only piss them off, it might even inspire them to do three more sets than they intended just to keep your inconsiderate ass from getting the machine. If you are a sweater (I don't mean the article of clothing, I am referring to a person who sweats profusely), be sure to wipe off the bench after you are finished using it. While sweat is healthy and usually the sign of a good workout, it doesn't do the person after you any good to sit down on a sweat-covered piece of equipment. Utilize the workout-wipes in the gym, or bring a towel. If you neglect this point, you will probably become known as "the sweaty kid," a stigma that no one wants. Keep the noise level down. Sure, we know you are having the most intense, painful workout of your life. But you don't have to scream like an ape while you are lifting. Some light, masculine (or feminine) grunting is acceptable. Bellowing and whooping like some crazed animal is not. When you see weights lying on the floor, always assume someone is using them. A great way to incur the wrath of a gym rat is to pick up his/her weights and start using them during a rest period. Ask a person nearby if they are being used. If so, wait until the person using them comes back and ask how much longer he/she has. Drinking copious amounts of water during a workout is advisable. Using an empty gallon container of Poland Spring as a water bottle is not, especially since you will have people wanting to throttle you as you stand at the fountain for 15 minutes filling it up. If you insist on bringing your own water bottle, make sure it is not sized to hydrate a family of five, and that no one is waiting while you fill it up. If someone is behind you waiting to take a quick drink, let him/her go in front of you. It's the polite thing to do. Rack your weights. I cannot stress this one enough. Too often I have seen some idiot throw seven plates on the leg press, bang out three sets with awful form, and jump up to do the next poorly-executed exercise without even giving a thought to taking their weights off and racking them. This is inconsiderate for two reasons: first, the students working behind the desk or the next user of the machine will have to take them off; second, what if someone who is physically incapable of taking the weight off wants to use it? It is unfair to leave that much weight on when a seventy-year old arthritic person wants to use the machine. No, Granny Smith cannot pull 630 lbs. of 45-lb. plates off by herself. So rack your weights. I hope these tips caused more than one of you out there to catch your breath and think embarrassingly, "Oh no! I was that guy!" Next time, keep these pointers in mind and you will drastically cut down on the amount of dirty looks shot your way when you go to the gym. Send any fitness questions to fitness@tuftsdaily.com.

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News

Cohen burglary derides Crime Prevention Month

October 29

Detectives are still stumped following the theft of over $15,000 of equipment from Aidekman Arts Center. The thieves cut the padlocks on fourteen total lockers were and tampered with five others. No University property was stolen. A student reported the theft to the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 18 when he discovered that his lock had been cut and the contents of his locker, including a saxophone, had been removed. According to police, the theft was committed sometime between 5:15 p.m. the day before and 9:42 a.m. that morning. A guard provided by Allied Security was stationed at the building between 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. that evening. Although the guard is usually stationed at the building's front entrance, they periodically tour the basement area, according to police. The guard only leaves the building once it has been evacuated and after securing all of the entrances. Because none of the building's locks were tampered with, "it is conceivable that this theft happened during the daytime," Director of Public Safety John King said. The Tufts University Police Department is working with local authorities on the case, but have yet to uncover any leads. An insurance and risk manager has been speaking with students whose equipment was stolen to collect serial numbers. Senior Nimish Dixit returned from a concert trip on Oct. 20 to discover that his trumpet, case, and other items had been stolen from his locker. He and his two friends lost belongings worth between $6,000 and $7,000. "Cohen is one of the most easily accessible buildings on campus," Dixit said. "It's used for so many different functions; [even] people from off-campus are invited." When asked if he would consider leaving his valuables in the Cohen lockers again, Dixit said: "I don't have anything to leave there anymore." Although King agrees that Cohen is an easy building to access, he said that one guard is enough. "I can't remember a theft of this nature in the past 14 years," he said. However, TUPD is conducting a formal security review -- the first such review in six years -- to determine how similar thefts could be prevented in future. "We're looking at the procedure," King said. "We assign lockers to students [at Cohen] and the students bring their own locks. Anyone using a typical Master Lock runs the risk [of being robbed]. I believe it is worth spending more money [on a better lock] to be more secure." After several thefts were reported from the lockers in Cousens Gymnasium, Tufts issued new locks and there have been no robberies since, King said. However, until the new security review is completed, it is not certain whether these same preventive measures will be taken at Cohen. The incident has made some musicians wary of leaving their instruments in the Cohen lockers. "Frankly, I just don't trust other people," freshman Alan Manos said.

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News

Novice crew finishes season strong

October 29

This past Saturday, the men's and women's novice crew teams gathered with other novice teams at Quinsigamond Lake in Worcester, Mass. It was here that both teams rowed their last race of the fall season in the 2003 Quinsigamond Challenge. The women's A-boat took second place out of seven boats in the Frosh/Novice 8 with a time of 14:49.01. The Trinity A-boat won the race with a time of 14:49.01. In the second Frosh/Novice 8, the Tufts B-boat took home a first place finish, out of four competitors, crossing the line 16:21.31. Despite a tough start in warm-ups due to cold weather conditions coupled with nerves, by race time, the team was ready. Getting off to an excellent start, the A-boat passed Wesleyan within the first 500 meters. Next, the team set its eyes on the Coast Guard Academy, who had a several second time advantage over them due to a staggered racing start. Keeping a steady pace, the A-boat was eventually able to catch them. "By the end of the race we made some excellent distance," freshmen, A-boat member Dora Levinson said. "We had a really good race, everyone seemed to be working well together." Freshman Britt Christian, who rowed in the five-seat this fall season was also happy with the team's results. "We had a phenomenal row, I felt like we really clicked. When we finished I didn't care what place we came in because I knew we had put our best effort into the race," Christian said. Saturday's performance, however, is not atypical of the Tufts novice A-boat. With four races under their belt, the team has recently made a name for themselves. At the first regatta of the year, the Riverfront recapture, they took home first place. "We didn't know what to expect, but we gave it our all and ended up with a first place finish," Christian said. The following weekend, the team raced in the junior/novice division, coming in second place overall and first place in the novice division at the New Hampshire Championships. At the Head of the Charles, the A-boat placed 38th in the Youth 8 division. "At about the half-way point a boat passed us, which had never happened before and we lost our focus." Christian said. "Our rowing fell apart and our finish was not as strong as we had hoped." But that only inspired the crew to work harder, which earned it their second place finish this weekend. "We have all rowed before and at pretty intense levels. So, we row with good spirit and are all excited about rowing," Levinson said regarding her teammates. Also participating in Saturday's regatta was the men's novice team. The A-boat finished solidly in the Frosh/Novice 8 with a fourth place finish in a time of 12:04.28, following close behind the Trinity B-Boat. Taking home first place was the Trinity A-boat (13:50.53). "We had a rough start because of waves from a nearby boat, but our coxswain, Ray Wu, did an excellent job of keeping composure. Our stroke, Jordan Chiu, did a great job of keeping pace," freshman A-boat member Mike Abare said. The Jumbos ended their season on a high note, avenging their late-September loss to Wesleyan at the Riverfront Recapture, by ousting it out of the fourth place spot. In the 2nd Frosh/Novice race, with a time of 14:55.47 the Tufts B-boat finished fifth, about a minute off of the first place Holy Cross A-boat. "During our race this past weekend, we were all psyched up because this was our last race of the fall," Abare said. "We wanted to maintain our streak from the last two races of being one of the top six boats." The team now looks to stay strong over the winter off-season with daily workouts and intensive weight training. This is all geared toward staying in peak physical condition for the competitive spring season.

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News

Kerry's daughter supports dad on national speaking tour

October 29

Emphasizing the need for student involvement in politics, Vanessa Kerry, the youngest daughter of Massachusetts Senator and presidential hopeful John Kerry, spoke to Tufts students on Tuesday as part of a national campus tour to promote her father's campaign. Sitting on a desk in corduroys and a brightly striped scarf, Kerry, a Yale graduate in her third year at Harvard Medical School, said she understands the issues of young people in politics. "I'm not different from you except that I'm a few years older and have a guy who's running for president on my speed-dial," she said. "Hear me as Vanessa Kerry the environmentalist, the medical student, the advocate for women's issues." Despite little previous involvement in politics, Kerry decided to take a leave of absence from medical school to travel around the country speaking to college students. "I was about to be swallowed up by the hospital but just realized that I just can't deal with what is happening, or rather, not happening in the country," she said. "I sat down and read my dad's policies from start to finish. It sounds so cheesy, but it gave me the shivers. "I was like, holy s**t, this makes sense!" Kerry has visited other colleges in Boston, and schools in Iowa and New Hampshire as well. She plans to make future stops in Virginia, Michigan, and Washington State. Kerry addressed her father's proposed domestic policy, including his environmental standards and plans for universal healthcare. She also spoke about his proposed public service program, which would include a community service requirement for high school students and would give government aid for college tuition or student loans to college students who completed two years of community service. Senior citizens who are active in their communities would also receive stipends, Kerry said. Additionally, she emphasized the need to reverse tax cuts for the wealthy and commit to funding education. Kerry also discussed what she called the "common misconception" that her father voted for the war in Iraq. She explained that he voted for the resolution to be taken to the United Nations in an attempt to mitigate the conflict through multilateral means. When the Bush administration decided to act unilaterally, she said her father was "unbelievably betrayed" to have "forty years of diplomacy turned back inside of two months." Kerry said that each time a US soldier is killed in Iraq, her father calls her "and is like, I just can't believe this is happening." Kerry also revealed her father's personal side in a series of several anecdotes. She recalled a family vacation to Hawaii where her father went surfing. "He thinks he's so cool," she laughed. "And then these surfer guys will come up to him, and say, 'dude, Senator, what's up? Nice shorts.'" "He's a very funny, ridiculous guy," she said. Kerry was optimistic about the likelihood of her father's selection as the Democratic Party's candidate, and she expressed confidence that he would gain support in the South. "He's a gentleman, and that appeals to [the southern constituency]," she said. Kerry also believes that his service in Vietnam will resonate with the South's many veterans. In addition, Kerry said that her father's moral character would appeal to voters. "He's the only candidate who's been a senator for four terms and has never accepted PAC [political action committee] money," she said. "The joke is you should never ask John Kerry where to go for dinner in Washington, DC, because he doesn't know. The lobbyists always take you to dinner." Regardless of which Democratic candidate is chosen to run, Kerry said, the others will support the Party's choice. "The main objective is to beat Bush" she said. Kerry repeatedly stressed the importance of student activism, citing the "PB& J Brigades" of the 1960s - when college students went to New Hampshire to knock on doors to dissuade voters from allowing Lyndon Johnson to run again. "The 18-30 demographic is huge," she said. "We can have a voice." Senior Ryan Loughlin, a member of Tufts Democrats who helped organize Kerry's appearance, said her speaking tour "offered a personal connection to students." Another senior, Liz Richardson, said it was "great to hear someone with feminist and medical perspectives and to see another young woman on the [campaign] trail. All over the state, it's feeling great."

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News

Random Thoughts

October 29

Some of the things I think about: -- Am I being stupid when I think that Vin Baker might be one of the best stories in the NBA this year? I mean, I know he looks slim and fit and he's power dunking like it's his job, but I just can't shake that feeling I have in my gut. It's hard to get past last year's 52 games and 5.2 per, not to mention his eventual breakdown and stint in rehab. But no matter how big that knot in my gut gets whenever I think about it, how much would you love to see Vin Baker get back to his old Milwaukee Bucks form? I think I'm gonna go ahead and predict Vin Baker in the All-Star game right now. Did I really just say that? -- How is it that CBA super-stud Mike James is starting at point guard over Marcus Banks? Wasn't Marcus Banks supposed to be the answer to all of our point guard woes? And wouldn't you much rather have kept Tony Delk so he could run the show instead of Mike James? Maybe I just missed too many preseason games and I don't know quite what I'm talking about (usually a safe bet), but Mike James? I don't know... -- Will the Celtics let my brother into the Fleet Center wearing a giant leprechaun mask? And by giant I mean about four feet tall by about three feet wide. Because he's got one, and I've got ten bucks that says they won't let him in. Could you imagine being the poor bastard who gets stuck sitting behind the yahoo in a leprechaun mask the size of Texas? Haha, and how do you get mad at a guy wearing a super-sized leprechaun mask with a giant smile on its face? These are just questions I have... -- Where do Marlins fans get off celebrating in the streets after the World Series? You guys don't care. You obviously don't care. If you cared, there would have been more than 15,000 people in your stupid ugly stadium that holds more people than Rhode Island when the Marlins were putting together the best record in the majors from May through September. The way I see it, the only people who should be allowed to celebrate a Marlins World Series are the 12 or so fans who actually watched more than one of their games before the playoffs. And if any of those fans were among the thousands who left the stadium before Alex Gonzalez smacked his 12th inning homer in Game Four, they can't celebrate either, because they just don't deserve it. Pudge Rodriguez deserves it. Jack McKeon deserves it. A bunch of Dolphins fans who have nothing better to do don't deserve it. It's just not right. I don't care what Wayne Huizenga did to your team in 1997. Trust me, it's nothing. Marlins fans have only existed for ten years, and they have two World Series titles. There are Red Sox fans and Cubs fans who are almost 100 and they don't have one. Don't insult me by pretending this actually means something to you. And yes, I'm bitter. And no, I don't care. -- How awkward was it to watch Jeffrey Loria holding the World Series trophy and pretending to be best friends with everybody on the team? I mean, he's clearly such a great owner -- he did wonderful things with the Expos, and I'm sure he had a whole ton to do with the Marlins' winning this year, you know, since he's been in Florida for what, 15, 20 minutes now? -- Was I the only one who was at a loss for an emotion when the World Series was over? I couldn't figure out how to feel. On the one hand, it was nice to see the Yankees lose, and it was nice to see Pudge finally win. But on the other hand, wasn't it just a little embarrassing to know that we needed the Marlins to do our dirty work? And it only took them six games! Come on! Couldn't they at least make it look like it was hard? Man, the Red Sox just about played themselves to death against the Yankees, and still lost. The stupid Marlins, half of them still in diapers, come along and make it look easy. Stupid baseball. -- How many of you woke up Monday morning and said "Thank God there's no more baseball to distract from all of this work," and then promptly sat down to watch Monday Night Football for at least two hours? Don't be shy... -- To all of the idiots saying that LeBron James's rookie season won't live up to the hype, I have two things to say: a) Duh. Nothing will ever live up to LeBron's hype. b) He's only played about 25 seconds in the NBA, so anybody who is just now coming to this conclusion is about as smart as the pulled pork sandwich I had for lunch. YOU CAN'T BASE ANYTHING ON THE PRESEASON. How many preseasons have you watched, in every sport, that turn out to be absolutely nothing like the regular season? This isn't rocket science here. This isn't even hooked on phonics. This is like knowing how to chew. If you can't figure it out, there's no helping you.

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News

The real catastrophic defect

October 29

"I received a call from a woman whose physician had discovered catastrophic genetic and developmental defects in the fetus she is carrying . . .she called with great anxiety to find out whether . . . the "partial-birth" ban . . . would mean that she could not come to my office for help . . ." I quote from an article written last week by a painfully forthright abortion doctor. (http://slate.msn.com/id/2090215/) I will not mask the depth of horror I felt; "What are "defects?" I wondered. "Does the baby lack limbs, consciousness, or senses? The doctor means that lacking these things makes a human defective; this judgment is abominable. Why is a 'defect' related to the value of this child? Do we merely value a specific genotype and set of physical capabilities? Isn't there something fundamentally worthy in a human that cannot be 'defective?' I discussed this with a friend; and she made a good point. "What about the hard life it will have? Maybe the parents aren't ready for that difficulty." The abortion doctor states that the pregnancy was "profoundly desired" (perhaps not profoundly enough to include the possibility of an 'imperfection'). But the objection has merit, and applies to the abortion argument in general. What about the "hard life?" Do we protect children by ending their lives before they can emerge from the womb? Superficially, it makes sense to intervene. By "hard life," people commonly mean a life incapable of enjoyment, with obstacles like poverty, lack of education and physical disability. As products of educated, economically self-sufficient families, this ethic that an unenjoyed life is not a life worth having feels reasonable. It does make sense, until we ask the entire Third World whether their lives are valueless because many of them don't have an opportunity to attain education or comfort by American standards. It would be offensive and wrong to suggest that Third World lives are less valuable than a comfortable American life simply because they often lack the enjoyment we have. Perhaps, then, life possesses intrinsic value, despite the difficult circumstances or the absence of happiness. Would you tell a poor, uneducated, or diseased person, "You should never have lived. Your life is hard, and you are unhappy, so you would have been better off had you never been born." Clearly not; our American ideal of a happy life is artificial and classist: it depends upon our status atop the economic hierarchy. This classism is degrading and immoral; would you tell a Third World individual, "I would have aborted you, because relative to American standards, your life would have been unhappy and therefore worthless?" The insidious truth behind this elitism is that we mean to homogenize humanity; we pretend to value differences, then turn and eliminate an "uncomfortable" life. The real "catastrophic defect" lies in this faulty reasoning. We decry genocide, then nod understandingly when one feels incapable of supporting a "defective" life. The unspoken assumption is horrifying: "That's too hard! Let's purge humanity of these defects-the disabled wouldn't want to live anyway!" This is elitism on the grandest scale; we arbitrarily choose a life unlike our own, and call it worthy of death. What happened to the ethos of the "noble struggle?" Why did the couple with the genetically "defective" baby give up so easily on that life? "But the fetus isn't a life!" my friend responded. It's certainly alive, in that it is composed of cells that are living, and function together as an organism with a unique, human DNA sequence. It also often has a blood type that differs from the mother's; Clearly, this life possesses an identity separate from its mother (suggesting that abortion is not a question of a woman's right to her own body; something fundamentally unique has been created). So a fetus is alive and human; yet some refuse to call it a human life! Some require consciousness, self-awareness, or some arbitrary intellectual capability for a definition of human life. What of the disabled adults who lack consciousness, intellect, and understanding, if we agree that to "purify" the human race of the disabled would constitute a genocide? Are the disabled not human because they differ from the norm in their capabilities? A fetus similarly lacks capabilities, but most would develop towards the norm! I find no reason to distinguish between life inside and outside the womb. The claim that abortion is amoral (not morally right or wrong) because the fetus is not a human life is false; the temptation to quietly still the beating heart of one of our "problems" is not amoral, it is genocidal. I do respect the concern for suffering behind the "hard life" argument, and I don't intend to sever emotion from the debate. I have two disabled brothers; one lost his sight at ten years old, and another was born with cerebral palsy and mental impairment. I have witnessed the suffering and struggle that does occur in a nontraditional human life, both psychologically and physically. I remember watching the second brother via sonogram. Only a small pocket of fluid around his head let him breathe. I know now that most parents would have aborted him. He was born prematurely, and was as vulnerable in the incubator as he'd been hours earlier inside my mother. My first instinct was to touch him; I put my palm across his tiny back, and he shivered violently. I put a finger on his palm, and he instinctively grasped it. I knew he craved protection and love, though he couldn't express that verbally. I've worked hard to provide that for Bradley, and my parents have worked even harder. I'll never tell anyone that caring for a 'disabled' life is easy or even always manageable, but I defy anyone to watch those sonograms and suggest that he could justifiably have been aborted. You could never justify killing my brother who was blinded after birth, nor could you justify killing my palsied brother before birth. It's murder either way. Reject the temptation of the easy, class-derived assumption that a hard or unhappy life isn't worth preserving. It's a function of our unconscionable wealth, and is not intellectually sound. As the modern era has shown, even those born into "normal," healthy, comfortable homes will confront hardship. It is not incidental that mental disturbances like depression plague so many; money does not, we find, equal happiness. The parents I mentioned at the beginning chose to eliminate their baby; what will they do with their next struggle? Will they divorce? Become depressed? Commit suicide? Fortitude is a lost virtue. Matthew Dysart is a senior majoring in English.

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News

Somerville tackles absentee landlord issues

October 29

Tackling the oft discussed absentee landlord issue, the Somerville Board of Aldermen recently passed a resolution that will make it more difficult for the city's next mayor to ignore absentee landlord problems. Nearly one third of Somerville properties are owned by absentee landlords -landlords who do not live in the building that they rent. The Board of Alderman hopes to create an absentee landlord task force that will solve problems created by this distance between landlords and tenants. Most Tufts students seeking off-campus housing will are likely find absentee landlords. The Medford fire that took the life of then-Tufts junior Wendy Carman last January was in a house owned by an absentee landlord. Despite calls for legislative action from the mayors of Somerville and Medford, until now, no significant legislation aimed at landlords was created. According to the resolution, the Aldermen will not confirm any mayoral appointments until the task force is formed. "The new legislation sends a message to the administration that the city needs to take an aggressive stance against this problem," Alderman John Connolly said. Issues associated with absentee landlords largely concern health and safety violations stemming from both careless tenants and negligent landlords. "Landlords do not sufficiently screen their tenants, and then allow them to disregard the basic courtesies of being a good neighbor," Connolly said. "At $500, 600, 700 per month per kid, the landlord's doing very well, and thus has a laissez-faire attitude to his tenants, at the expense of the neighborhood." Illegal living spaces, illicit boardinghouses, improper trash and waste disposal, and noise violations are among the most common problems cited by the city. "When you get seven to eight people living in a space meant for two to three, it becomes an illegal boardinghouse. This creates health risks and legal issues that, ultimately, the landlord is responsible for," Connolly said. As more and more Tufts students move off-campus, the issue of illegal living spaces has become increasingly pertinent. In addition, Somerville has a host of town-gown issues to deal with. "The student issue is one factor, but not the sole factor, causing the need for new city legislation," Alderman-at-Large Bill White, who sponsored the resolution, said. According to Connolly, who is responsible for the area of Davis Square, Powderhouse Square, and Ball Square, Somerville residents are particularly bothered by Thursday night parties. "I most often get complaints about excessive noise from residents with young children with school and work the next day," he said. Connolly, however, was quick to place the brunt of the blame on certain landlords who do not enforce the regulations, and not on students. Other serious problems that go beyond traditional town-gown sore points have been created by the common practice of charging monthly rent per individual tenant. This leads many tenants, especially those from lower income families, to lower their rent by increasing the number of people paying the bill. "In the most extreme cases, we're seeing greedy landlords allow people, including children, to sleep on mattresses in basements, with living spaces separated by clotheslines," White added. The Aldermen hope that the new mayor will take a hard stance on these issues and implement their resolution for the creation of a special taskforce. "A lot of the initiative rests on the new mayor's shoulders," Connolly said. "It takes an aggressive, collective effort to put those ideas into action. "If we went after five to ten property owners in each ward with inspections and fines, it would pressure other landlords to enforce the law or suffer the same consequences. It would improve the problem significantly," he said. Both mayoral candidates have promised to crack down on code violations and tax evasion from absentee landlords. They also hope to promote good neighborhood relations between Somerville residents and Tufts students. Mayoral candidate and Alderman-at-Large Joe Curtatone has identified this issue as a "high priority" and has proposed taking the taskforce one step further. He would like to create what he calls "impact teams" -- groups of inspectors that would patrol Somerville's streets and respond to reports of violations. "During my door-to-door campaign over the last few weeks, I've seen scores of code violations, able to be seen by the naked eye -- hazardous materials not properly stored, illegal businesses running out of garages, inadequate waste disposal ... it's not only an absentee landlord problem, but one that also pertains to residential and commercial property owners," he said. Candidate Tony LaFuente agreed. "It's not just the quality of life for the students, it's the quality of life for the community," he said. The University would like to discuss the possibility of creating additional rental property inspections following the selection of the next mayor, Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel said.

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News

Finding common ground with Somerville

October 29

When Somerville changes mayors, Tufts will have a unique opportunity to work with the city on an issue which affects nearly every student during their career at Tufts. Somerville aldermen recognize that many renters in the area are students and that there is a problem with landlord responsibility. For its part, Tufts wants to make sure that its students are living in safe conditions. And students want to live in an apartment that is clean, affordable, and close to campus. Tufts-area landlords do not have a good reputation among students for taking care of their properties. The city obviously has the same concerns, as it passed a resolution to create an absentee landlord taskforce. The resolution passed by the Somerville Board of Aldermen will make it more difficult for landlords to avoid necessary repairs or rent out unsafe and unsanitary living quarters. As we tragically saw last year, many buildings in the area do not reach any basic levels of safety. Other apartments are simply filthy. Anyone who walks into a number of houses on College Ave. can see walls that need to be painted, banisters and stairwells refurbished, and bathroom tiles and sinks replaced. Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel is working closely with the city, and she should receive student backing on this issue. Students should make clear their concerns about off-campus housing so that she is aware and informed when she meets with the next mayor of Somerville. Landlords who follow the rules will make students happier with their apartments. And even the landlords will benefit from the extra, but necessary, costs incurred. Students are more likely to treat a well-maintained apartment with respect, resulting in fewer maintenance and drywall repairs by the landlord. As the city, university, and students work together on the issue of negligent landlords, we can hope that dialogue will transfer to more contentious issues, such as parties and noise complaints.

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News

Something in the water

October 29

Do you know what the number-one selling product on campus is? Hint: it's in your bag right now. Or on the desk next to you. It comes in a bottle. And it's water. It's bottled water. Amazing. If we take a step back, the product called "bottled water" is hardly less ridiculous than "canned air." I mean it. There's actually no other joke you can insert there. These things are both necessary for life, and both are free and in plentiful supply all around us. Imagine it, people sitting in lecture, with tubes up their noses, plugged into a can of Diputs-brand air. (What's "Diputs"? Evian = "na??ve" spelled backwards.) Everyone dutifully taking notes, nodding in understanding, and breathing clean payed-for air at a price of about two bucks a liter. (Of course, store-brand air would be something like $1.50.) The above situation is no more absurd than what we have going on today. Look around the room. You can see probably five brands of water in the room. I've got news for you: it's all the same stuff. Just like canned air would be just air, the water from a bottle is just water. It's hard to believe that there are aisles in the supermarket that say "water," and that people pay money for large containers of water. I really enjoy going over to the "water" aisle when there are people there agonizing over their selection, and discuss it with them as though I'm a prospective water buyer. "Oh yeah, we are almost out of water. I was thinking about serving water with dinner tonight. Better get some." On the other extreme, water is also sold in packs of bottles that hold about 250 mL of water. This is approximately -- now this is a scientific definition -- two gulps of water. Please do not support the people behind this product who thought of selling two gulps of water in individual bottles. Now, this might totally blow your mind, but a piece of news: the stuff in the bottle is the same stuff that comes out of your kitchen sink. It's also -- hold onto your seat -- the same stuff that comes out of the sink in the bathroom, the water fountain in the hall, and the shower. It's... water! Now, I know what you're thinking, "no. My water is better -- worth the cash. It's pure." Unless you're one of our Environmental Engineering majors, I don't think that your definition of "pure" goes any further than "clear, and without stuff floating in it." Yes, that's right. Water. The same pure water that comes out of a sink. Or, there is an added bonus that some bottled waters have now: they're fluoridated. Awesome! Fluoride! Fluoride fights cavities that are bad things! Well, get this: do you know what other water is also fluoridated -- and always has been? The water that comes out of my Medford kitchen sink! I guess there are some good reasons to buy bottled water sometimes. Like, at lunch for example. You're eating lunch, want a drink, like water, buy water. Right. If you really want something in a bottle, though, there is a long-standing tradition on Earth called "juice," and I encourage you to join that trend. Say it: "juice." Or you can buy something more exciting like a crazy elixir that claims to make you smarter. Juice is giving you some fruit (you need five of those a day, you know), and that elixir is at least claiming to do something for you. If the bottle of water had to claim anything, it would say, "exactly the same as the stuff in a faucet!" If you really want water, then you can usually ask for some water, or walk to the place in the food-zone that has cups and a water container. Most food-zones have that. There are some great alternatives to buying bottled water. When you're eating at a place that serves food, you can usually ask for water. If you're on the go, fill up that old bottle with water from the fountain or -- if you're ready for it -- from the sink. When you have re-accepted non-bottled water back into your life, you can then graduate to the complete opposite of bottled water, both figuratively and literally: a water bottle. This is a bottle whose purpose is to hold water. They are very popular as you can see around campus - typically from the brand Nalgene. You can also just fill up an old Poland Spring bottle. They all work. Water. Unbottled, totally crazy, water. In a bottle - because you put it there. Into a water ... bottle. Beautiful.

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News

A return to Texas

October 29

The remaking of classic films is a risky endeavor. Time after time, countless projected box office hits have resulted in great failure, and although they come equipped only with the best intentions in mind -- remaining true to the original -- these attempts at film rejuvenation are often scrutinized for their attempts at renewed innovation. The remake's inherent stylistic differences are criticized harshly, the film's rebirth dulls in comparison and the fanatical filmgoer mourns the death of the original dynamism processed by its predecessors. Marcus Nispel's rendition of the acclaimed 70's cult classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ultimately fails in capturing the eerie oddities of the original, but one is reluctant to say that the film fails holistically. As all horror movies ultimately aim to do, the remake still manages to terrify, and it represents one of the scariest movies that has been released in some time. Though Nispel's rendition lacks Texas Chainsaw's original trademark portrayal of the grotesque redneck family of Texan cannibals gone mad, it makes up for this offense with sensational suspense and violence. Nispel places more of an emphasis on portraying the main villain, "Leather Face," and his killing spree than the original. Ostracized for his disfiguring skin condition who aims to seek out personal vengeance, the character slaughters anyone trespassing on his property and sees to it that their bodies are appropriately dismembered. Cheesy, predictable, 80's 'slasher' film techniques are utilized successfully, ultimately rendering the viewer scared enough to pull the good old "I'm covering my eyes because this is too damned scary, but leaving one eye open because it's still too good to miss" trick. In addition, traditional melodramatic orchestration accompanies the terrifying sequences for that typical horror flick feel. To those who might object to the film's abandonment of a deep sociological examination of the rural Texan landscape, you might be better off sticking to the original. But if you enjoy Hollywood-style suspense, terror, and classic chase scenes which keep you on the edge of your seat, you'll more than likely be able to look past Nispel's alterations in order to enjoy his film for what it really is. Although not nearly as graphic as one would have expected when compared to other horror greats, what the film lacks in artery sprays and close-ups of oozing lacerations is more than made up by its suspense. Star Jessica Beil delivers a rather sexy performance, as she is constantly chased by the terrifying Leatherface, often clad in white as it rains. In addition, she does a decent job portraying her character, as one dimensional as it may be. While this stereotypical portrayal of Beil's character subjects itself to feminist ridicule, one must not view this film with the expectation of a progressive innovative thriller. Simply enjoy it for what it is worth. Allow yourself to scream at the all too predictable surprise entrances of Leather Face. Feel free to watch through squinted eyes as extremities are separated from bodies. Skip Meatloaf's film d?©but in Rocky Horror Picture Show this Friday night, save one of the countless Halloween or Friday the 13th series films for another time. Don't squander this year's Halloween away: treat yourself to the horror of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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News

A look for every major

October 29

Just because you're in college doesn't mean you're too old to dress up for Halloween. However, if the usual ghost, witch and vampire looks aren't for you, the Daily has researched costumes for different majors and how to find them. Anthropology After taking Prehistoric Archaeology you know that those cave men and cave women had it pretty well when it came to clothing. To copy their fashions, dress in cave dweller suits, found at the Halloween Costume Boutique. Or just go down to Goodwill in Davis and find a leopard patterned sheet. Pick up a piece of bark to use as a bat and you'll look like you should be hunting and gathering. >American Studies To get a BA in American Studies you need to understand Native American dress. Halloween serves as the perfect opportunity to buy that Indian headpiece. Indian princesses can visit Trashy Lingerie to get the perfect suede set while Indian chiefs can look at Boston Costume for ideas. Comparative Religion Although you may not want to take the oath of abstinence, you can still look like a priest or nun this Halloween. The Halloween Boutique offers various priest and nun costumes. If you're on a budget, to become a priest, wear black slacks and a black dress shirt, make a collar out of construction paper and carry around some rosary beads. Buy Costumes also proposes a humorous approach with their pregnant nun costume as well. Education What is education without its students? Trashy Lingerie offers the sexiest school girl outfits. Or for a humorous approach, dress as your favorite professor and see if your friends can guess who you are. >Engineering Show off what you learned in Microbrewery Engineering this Halloween in your very own Beer costume sold at Buy Costumes. If you don't feel like spending that much, be creative: make a hat out of a 30 rack box and use the caps of the beer can to make a styling necklace. For all those engineers who took Gourmet Engineering, Boston Costumes offers food costumes such as Candy Kisses and Bananas. >Greek Whether you're in a fraternity or you're actually majoring in Greek, the toga is the costume for you. The best part is the ease. Simply go to Goodwill in Davis Square, pick up a sheet, tie a knot and voila! You are instantly transformed into a Greek God. To become a sultry Greek Goddess, make a two piece toga outfit. Tear the sheet in half using the first half as a mini skirt. Tie the second half as a top. Throw on some gold earrings and you're set. Japanese With a concentration in Japanese you can delve into the culture through kimonos and chopsticks. The Halloween Boutique supplies sexy Geisha Girl and fierce Black Ninja costumes. If you want to hide that freshman fifteen, try out the Inflatable Sumo wrestler costume. >Occupational Therapy After taking Occupational Therapy 102 (Gross Anatomy) you probably feel the need to show off what you've learned about the human body. Show your friends what a penis looks like with Halloween Unlimited's Big Jim costume where your body becomes a penis and your feet become balls. You can also pretend you are a penis in the six foot condom costume supplied at Nawty Things. Pre-Med Pre-Med students can play into their dreams this Halloween by dressing as a doctor or a sexy nurse. Boston Costume offers great surgeon outfits while Trashy Lingerie and Buy Costumes offer numerous naughty nurse outfits. >Spanish Se?±oritas can practice being Latin sensations in Trashy Lingerie's sultry Samba girl outfits. Se?±ores can become bullfighters with a red sheet or become actual bulls! Nawty Things offers a full piece adult bull costume. >Where to go: Boston Costume: 69 Kneeland Street (617) 482-1632 Buy Costumes: www.buycostumes.com The Halloween Costume Boutique: www.halloweencostumeboutique.com Halloween Unlimited: www.halloweenunlimited.com Nawty Things: www.nawtythings.com Trashy Lingerie: www.trashylingerie.com

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News

Halloween horrors to be had

October 29

Halloween is a holiday that goes by many names -- All Hallow's Eve, El Dia de Los Muertos, Samhain, take your pick. This holiday's history is as diverse as its many titles, as it is believed to have evolved from a unique blend of Celtic ritual, Roman conquest, and Catholic doctrine. Regardless of mystery that surrounds this annual event, whatever your take, Massachusetts is the place to be for it. The cities of Boston and Salem have more than their fair share of events to offer, so be sure to check out the following events and places to go. They'll be a surefire way to ensure that your Halloween is an evening to be remembered. Looking for a bewitching experience to get you off campus? Take a moment to explore the horrific remnants of America's puritanical past. Are witches fact or fiction? Come out to Salem and judge for yourself. Discover the truth about the likes of Ann Putnam, John Proctor, and Tituba the nurse while exploring Salem's witch museum, its witch dungeon, the town cemetery, and the gallows. Sure, Halloween may be little more than the opportunity to unleash your alter ego and indulge guiltlessly in your sugar fix for the evening, but make it all worth you while and cash in big. At the Victoria Station Restaurant in Pickering Wharf, and their costume contest holds a first prize of $200. There is no cover charge but those in attendance must be over 21 (call 978 745 3400 for more information). Finz Spooky Hollow Spectacle & Costume Ball, will also award prizes, this event begins at 10 p.m. so make sure to show up early (call 978 744 8485 for additional info). Salem's 23rd Annual Haunted Happenings Halloween Night Celebration is also an event worth mentioning. Festivities include the coronation of Salem's King and Queen of Halloween, as well as street performances, pumpkin carving demonstrations by local art students, pie eating contests, and more. Visit www.salemhauntedhappenings.com for more details. How to get there: You can get to Salem via the Newburry/Rockport Commuter Rail from Boston's North Station. If you have a car, take I-93 North to Exit 37-A. Stay on I-95 North to Route 128 North. Take exit 25A and follow Route 114-East into Salem. Back in Boston, for those not in the Salem mood, you can check out the city's haunted past with Beacon Hill's tours by foot. This time of year is celebrated with their Halloween Boo! Tour, which ranges in the $10-$12 range. Call 617-367-2345 for details. Or if you haven't yet had your fill of Bostonian ghost stories, take the Old Town Trolley's Ghosts & Gravestones Tour. $30 for adults and $18 for kids. Call 617- 269-2626. For the club kids who prefer to hit the dance floor or lounge it up, this weekend's Halloween plans are to die for. At the Middle East, the Groovie Ghoulies, Black Cat Burlesque, Flipsides, and the Humanoids will deliver their Halloween monster style mash ($10; call 617-864-EAST). Trek on over to the The Lizard Lounge, where the theme of the evening is superhero Halloween and Adonai and the Board of Ed will be gracing the stage (617-547-0759). T.T. the Bear's Halloween parties go on for two consecutive nights, Friday and Saturday (617-492-BEAR), so be prepared to party until you drop. Dance into the witching hour with the Strokes, playing at the Tsongas Arena on Friday, Oct. 31. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $29. Visit www.ticketmaster to get your tickets before they sell out. How to get there: The arena is located on 300 Arcand Drive in Lowell. Take I-495 to Exit 35C. Exit off the Lowell Connector at Thorndike Street (Exit 5B) and make a right. The arena will be in front after the eighth set of lights. WZLX is hosting its 8th annual Halloween Bash at Dick's Last Resort on Halloween evening. You can dance, eat and drink with your friends from 9 p.m. till 2 a.m. Go in costume and who knows? Maybe you'll win the $1000 costume prize! Visit www.dickslastresort for more details. How to get there: Take the Red line to Park Street. Change to the Green line and exit Copley. The restaurant is located in the Prudential Center. Prefer to pamper your guilty pleasure tendencies? Check out the numerous Halloween cult movie classics: On Halloween, the Harvard Film Archive will screen Tod Browning's The Blackbird and Mark of the Vampire ($8, $6 for students, seniors; call 617-495-4700). At the Brattle's, you can watch this year's annual screening of Evil Dead 2. Can't bare the thought of Halloween being over? The Milky Way extends the holiday to Nov. 3 with "Halloweird," a program of short films and videos ($5; 617-524-3740). Is paganistic ritual more your thing? While the Puritans may be rolling in their graves at the thought of this one, local Wiccans, warlocks, and other practitioners of New Age religion gather each Halloween to greet the pagan New Year in the Boston Common, located on Beacon and Tremont streets. The Boston Common Pagan Alliance, in conjunction with the Tremont Tearoom, convenes this ritual with a Witches' Circle at Parkman Bandstand (617-242-5642). Celebrate afterwards with occult professionals at the 67th annual Halloween gala at the Original Tremont Tearoom. Wiccans, warlocks, and witches are welcomed at this unusual gathering in the Tearoom (617-338-8100). On a more games oriented note, Spooky World is a Halloween amusement park. A longtime favorite it features Haunted Houses, rides, Halloween displays, celebrity appearances and more. The park opens at 6 p.m. every Friday-Sunday until Nov. 1. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $23.50. Visit www.spookyworld.com for more details. How to get there: Take Interstate 95 South to Exit 9 onto Route 1 South. Follow Route 1 South 3 miles to Foxboro Stadium which will be on your left. Although it's no Spooky World, Witch's Woods offers a fantastic frightening evening. For $18 you can experience the Halloween Screampark and Haunted Hayride every weekend in October beginning at 6:30 p.m. Visit www.witchswoods.com for more details. How to get there: Take Rt. 495 South to Exit 32. Turn left off the exit and make your first right onto Rt. 110 to Powers Road. The park will be on your left. Laugh your way through Halloween at ImprovBoston's Musical of "Barrels of Blood, Comedy, Music, and Havoc at the Office." The Halloween special is sure to make you squirm in your seats. Showtimes are 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved at www.improvboston.com. How to get there: Take the Red Line to Central Square. Walk north on Prospect Street and turn left on Cambridge Street. The theater will be on your right. At Halloween Happenings you don't have to dress up as a witch to be one. From 6 - 12 p.m., you can enjoy food, refreshments and psychic reading from some of the best psychics in Boston. To top off the night, you can participate in an actual s?©ance. Tickets are $45. Call 617-338-8100 to purchase. How to get there: Take the Red line and get off at Park Street. The Tremont is located on 48 Winter Street. For an athletic Halloween, you can join vampires, ghosts and superheroes and participate in the 9th Annual Halloween Fun-Run. The 5k run benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and will be begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 30th. For registration and details call Karen Kelly at 1-800-966-0444 xt.17.How to get there: Take the Red line to Park Street. Change to the Green line and get off at Government Center. For all you boat lovers, the Spirit of Boston hosts a Halloween Party cruise full of food, costumes, and dancing. The ship boards at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31 and you and your friends can boogie through Halloween until 12:00 am. Visit www.spiritcity.com for more information. How to get there: Take the Red line to South Station and go to corner of Summer Street and Dorchester Avenue where you will find a complimentary shuttle to take you to the World Trade Center Complex. In Mexico, El D?­a de los Muertos follows All Hallows' Eve, and the Consulate of Mexico and Harvard's Peabody Museum will host their own rendition of this traditional Mexican holiday with art exhibits on November 1. Enjoy music, food, and Aztec dancing. The event is free and promises to be quite the cultural experience (call 617-496-1027). In other commemorations of El D?­a de los Muertos, the Forest Hills Cemetery will be hosting a traditional bi-lingual Mexican celebration of Tzompantli/Day of the Dead on November 2 with candle-lit altars, music, and dance (free; call 617-524-0128). And at this risk of sounding cornier than candy corns, make your Halloween spooktackular!!

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News

It's time for real reform

October 29

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast with one of the leading Democratic presidential candidates (who shall remain nameless). The breakfast was hosted by a bigwig corporate executive at his home atop Beacon Hill. I was in attendance with a handful of business leaders from around Boston -- we were there to schmooze and to develop a fundraising strategy for the greater-Boston area. Needless to say, I was probably a bit in over my head. I must admit, though, that I quite enjoyed the event. How often do I get to have a butler bring me hors d'oeuvres while I talk it up with business leaders, Hollywood stars (John Malkovich, of all people, showed up uninvited), and a future-President? But the whole event just reminded me of the dire need for substantive campaign finance reform. Here we had some of the wealthiest and brightest entrepreneurs in the country assembled, not to brainstorm and debate new policy ideas and campaign strategies, but rather to debate the best way to raise boatloads of cash in a hurry. Could each person there commit to raising at least $10,000 in the next month was the first question. Then someone chimed in and suggested that $10,000 was an awfully low figure, that $20,000 should be easily attainable. Beyond being astonished at how readily those in attendance agreed that this goal was attainable, it was rather depressing that, by necessity, this was their primary concern. I'll concede that given the current system for financing campaigns, every campaign has to seek out corporate executives to raise money this way. But as a result, campaigns have evolved into little more than full-fledged fundraising organizations that happen to buy political ads on TV and the radio on the side. In the process, those executives that raise the most have gained an undue influence over our political leaders and their policies. We need a real alternative. There already exists a rather limited system for public financing (more like a system for public subsidization) of presidential campaigns. The system largely consists of dollar-for-dollar federal matching funds for every contribution a candidate receives up to $250. These funds, of course, come with strings attached -- namely in the form of rigid spending limits. It's a good first step, but it does little to remove fundraising from the center of our political process. The first step towards creating a more substantial system of public financing (and ideally of complete public financing) would require the creation of a source of revenue to fund a federally controlled campaign fund. The current system, to the best of my knowledge, is completely funded by checking that little box on your Federal 1040 tax form that asks if you'd like to contribute $3 to the "Presidential Election Campaign" fund. I'd assume that most scoff at the idea of voluntarily giving even a penny more than is required to the federal government. For this to really work, there would need to be a stable flow of revenue into the fund. It seems unlikely that a system for complete public financing could be funded by asking taxpayers to check an optional box on their tax returns. Currently the IRS withholds funds from everyone's paycheck for Social Security and Medicare, so why not do the same to allow for public financing of elections? Arguably, taking the money out of our political system is equally important -- probably even more important -- to the health of our society as Social Security and Medicare. And unlike those cash-cow programs, something on the order of $1 billion a year would likely keep such a fund solvent. The amount withheld from one's paycheck would be miniscule -- think about it this way, if we only had 100 million workers in this country (and the figure is certainly greater than this), only $10 per person would need to be collected every year to fully fund such a system. And since the wealthiest Americans and corporations provide most of the funds to candidates under the current system, we could maintain that spirit by exempting, say, the first $50,000 of one's income from this tax to fund campaigns. I'd suggest that then an independent commission could convene once a year to divvy up the funds. In a presidential election year, the commission could allot, say, $60 million to each presidential candidate for the general election, maybe $2 million per Senate candidate and $500,000 per Congressional candidate. Granted, it couldn't be this clear-cut; there'd likely need to be a graduated system of disbursing the funds depending on the district, the state, etc. It seems likely even that a mini-bureaucracy would evolve to adequately administer the fund. But I'd prefer that to the current system of candidates trolling for cash at every turn while selling out to the special interest groups with the fattest wallets. A hurdle to any kind of system of public financing, though, is that it cannot be mandated by law. The Supreme Court would strike down any such system in a New York minute. In this regard, such a system would need to be voluntary for the candidates like the current system for matching funds. But with an expanded program that could fully fund candidates and allow them to spend their time campaigning rather than fundraising coupled with a public desire for candidates to opt into the system, it seems that it could very well succeed on a voluntary basis. Any candidate that would choose not to abide by such a system would likely be chastised for doing so and would lose favor with the public -- and if for no other reason than that, a system like this could definitely work. Maybe this is just pie-in-the-sky, but I think that our nation would reap the benefits for some time if we rallied together and pushed for real campaign finance reform. The degree to which money has seeped into the system is repulsive and dangerous and it's time we change it. But in the meantime, I'll enjoy my schmoozing and my hors d'oeuvres while dreaming of a day when candidates for public office can ask voters to share their ideas, not their checkbooks. Adam Schultz is a senior majoring in political science. He can be reached via email at Schultz@tuftsdaily.com.

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News

Library works with new technology

October 29

Problems implementing the University's new paid printing system and wireless networks have been causing confusion for staff and students at Tisch Library and Eaton computer lab. Library staff says they are currently working to resolve all these problems. Since its activation this semester, technical problems have plagued the already contentious printing system system. "We have reports of the server sporadically not printing," said Library Director Jo-Ann Michalak. "We can't identify exactly what is wrong, but we are working on it and doing weekly reviews. Hopefully it will be resolved soon." Waiting in line for printing and the sporadic breakdowns has been stressful for many students, even those who expected service to improve with fee-based printing. "I thought that the printing process would be smoother than last year because we are paying for it now," sophomore Samuel Ronfard said. "But it is really frustrating for the printer not to print, or for something to go wrong. I do not have a lot of confidence in the new printing policy right now." Still, Ronfard was confident in Tufts' ability to resolve the problem. "I bet they will smooth out all of the problems. It is the first semester for this policy, so I want to see if it is improved by next semester," he said. Other students have been frustrated with Internet access issues in the library. Students connecting to the Internet through a wireless network from their laptops (known as WiFi) have complained about their wireless connections performing erratically and even cutting out mid-session. "It is annoying to be kicked off the network while I am working," said junior Jay Sherman. "[WiFi] is pretty slow too, so I do not use it all that often." According to Michalak, the popularity of the wireless net work may actually be the cause of the problem. She said students might feel that the wireless network is underperforming, but it is simply increased traffic that slows it down. Each network's given capacity is shared among all of the users associated with a single access point. However, Library staff is working to fix the problem. "We have added additional access points, and all public areas have the wireless network," she said. Technology needed to analyze the performance of Tufts' wireless network is emerging and will eventually be used to control network traffic. "There are only some complaints," Derek Fehrer, who works at the Ginn library, said. "Most of them are about the slowness of the wireless network, and that is due to the number of users."

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News

Tufts part of multiple major trend

October 28

Tufts is a leader in the recent trend towards undergraduates pursuing multiple majors, an issue that is becoming increasingly contentious and leading universities to debate where to draw the line. Universities are concerned that students with multiple majors may not be getting the well-rounded education that liberal arts schools seek to provide. According to the Chairman of the Tufts Educational Policy Committee, Todd Quinto, it is more important for students to have a full and in-depth understanding of one subject area than a cursory understanding of many. "If people take two majors they may be missing out on fully developing one or the other major," he said. "The big concern is that [students] have depth in the major and breadth in their overall curriculum." An Oct. 24 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education discussed the issue and noted Tufts' high percentage of multiple majors. With one in four graduates completing more than one major last year, Tufts sits near the top of the list. Although the Chronicle article claimed that Tufts was considering a ban on triple majors, according Quinto, this is not true. Quinto, who is a also a Tufts mathematics professor, said that the possibility of such a measure has been discussed at faculty meetings over the course of the last academic year. "We have at least discussed this, but it's certainly not a policy initiative at this point. The idea was brought up, but it was only preliminary discussions," he said. Other universities are having similar debates. According to MIT's Office of Undergraduate Education, 15 percent of their students currently double major. However, MIT banned triple majors in 2002, after the faculty decided that students pursuing triple majors were missing out on other important aspects of college life. "The faculty here have long thought that multiple majors do not justify the heroic efforts students put in to obtain them," Robert Redwine, MIT Dean of Undergraduate Education explained. "We find, in terms of helping students in the long run, that really, multiple majors don't do a whole lot. One degree is very important, but earning more than one is frankly not that important." Regardless, many students at Tufts are pursuing multiple majors. Much of the debate centers on whether or not multiple majors make graduates more competitive in the job market. Students tend to believe that multiple majors will impress employers, says Jean Papalia, Director of Tufts Career Services, but a double major by no means guarantees employment. "I'd like to correct an impression that a student's major or number of majors defines success in the job search process and/or ultimately in the workplace," Papalia said. "A liberal arts degree from a rigorous curriculum such as ours at Tufts equips a student for success in a wide variety of industries, organizations, and positions." Papalia believes that students should choose majors based on what interests them, not what might interest future employers. "Choosing a double major and minor should reflect a student's interest in these areas, rather than a perceived strategy to get an employer's attention," Papalia said. However, students often seem to find that two majors compliment each other. "I know that some people say that with certain combinations of majors it can be a plus. Of course sometimes multiple majors compliment each other, such as math and economics," Quinto said.

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News

BCS picture beginning to take shape

October 28

It's finally that time of year in college football when fans really get to see what teams are ballin' and what teams are fallin'. Northern Illinois effectively ended its improbable run to the Bowl Championship Series by losing to conference rival Bowling Green, 34-18. Fellow previously unbeaten Virginia Tech showed many weaknesses against a mediocre West Virginia team. Nevertheless, the Hokies went down big 28-7 against the Mountaineers, who only seem to play well against good teams. So we are left with three undefeated teams in Division I-A college football, the Oklahoma Sooners, Miami Hurricanes, and TCU Horned Frogs. Since the Horned Frogs play a weak Conference USA schedule, they pretty much have no shot at the BCS. But Oklahoma and Miami control their own fates. However, this may not be a good thing. Oklahoma must deal with in-state opponent Oklahoma State this week. Should it win out the rest of its games, it will still have to play the Big 12 Championship game. On the other side of the ball, Miami still has tough in-conference games against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech in order to compete for the National Championship. It's going to be hard for both of those teams to remain undefeated this year. College football has proven it's not about whom you lose to; it's about when you lose. Late season losses can kill any hopes of a National Championship because teams that lost earlier in the season have had time to rebuild their resumes. Classic examples of such teams are Florida State and USC. After losing "Mud Bowl 2003" to Miami 22-14, it appeared that the Seminoles National Championship hopes were shot. However, this is not necessarily true. While experts are predicting Miami must lose two games for Florida State to get into the Sugar Bowl, it is also possible that the rule of when you lose could paying high dividends to the Seminoles. Florida State will be favored in its remaining games against Notre Dame, Clemson, North Carolina State, and Florida, thus creating the script for an upset. However, if the Seminoles play their game they are the best team in the country. Florida State has a tremendous running back in Greg Jones, an above average and very athletic quarterback in Chris Rix, a touchdown scoring machine at wide receiver in Craphonso Thorpe, and a predatory defense led by linebacker Michael Boulware. On the other side of the country, at USC, the Trojans have quietly put together another solid season behind former New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll. Barring a stunning overtime loss against a below average California Golden Bears team, USC is still undefeated and possibly favored to get into the National Championship game. Still, due to an overrated Pac-10 conference, the Trojans could still get a crack at the BCS National Championship game. The one loss that the Trojans and the Seminoles each have blemishes their respective National Championship resumes. The Seminoles lost to a bona fide National Championship contender in Miami, but USC lost to a team that is even struggling to make a bowl. Currently Florida State and USC are ranked three and four respectively in the BCS, making a BCS bowl all but set, barring a major upset, but the National Championship is what both teams want. Luckily, neither Florida State nor USC have to play in a conference championship game, which could possibly cost each team another loss. What is bad news for them is that Miami doesn't have to play in one either. Now all the Seminoles and Trojans can do is keep winning, hope for the teams they have already beaten to win, and pray.

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News

It's Halloween, but I'm cheap and lazy!

October 28

It's Halloween, you're about to step out your door, and you've just gotten word that your favorite frat has instituted a costume check at the door before they'll let you in. Under normal circumstances, this might not seem like a big deal, but you've already used the "I'm going as a broke college student" excuse for the last three years and you don't think they're going to let it slide again. Need a last minute idea before you can head out for a night with witches and ghouls? No problem. Just remember -- it's not the quality of the costume that counts, it's the fact that you have one. All you need is a sheet and a safety pin to bring the fervor of Greek symposiums to your Halloween feast. Simply fold the sheet in half diagonally, then start with one corner on your shoulder and proceed to wrap it around your body and back up to your shoulder again, where you can secure it with the aforementioned safety pin (or duct tape, if you want to maintain that "I'm-a-college-student-and-I-did-this-at-the-last-minute" sort of look). If you're feeling especially creative, you can utilize the fruits of autumn and collect some leaves up on the academic quad to use as a crown -- just twine a couple of pipe cleaners together, arrange the leafs to your liking by striking the stems between the pipe cleaners, and tuck the ends around your ears. Enjoy dead Romans? Make some red Jell-O, melt it in the microwave, and then once it's cool enough to touch, slather away. With all those assassinated emperors, there are plenty of modes of death to choose from. Or, of course, if you want to show off how much you love our Classics Department, add an attribute or two (a stuffed animal for Artemis, a peacock feather for Juno, a tin foil thunderbolt for Zeus, a cheap plastic cup full of beer for Dionysus...oh, wait) and make everyone try and guess which god you are. Have a little bit of time to plan? Scrounge up one of those packing boxes that you so thoughtfully discarded under your bed when you moved in back in September. Re-make a box using masking tape, tear off the bottom flaps, then get a friend to help you cut arm and head holes at appropriate intervals. The possibilities here are endless. You can go as a robot (just cover yourself in tin foil and add one of those handy "We Recycle" bins that the janitorial staff so kindly provided at the beginning of the year to the top of your head), a box of French fries (packing foam works well for the fries themselves; or if not, you can easily use long strips of foam board) or a television set (head on down to the Crafts Center in Lewis to paint your box gray, then add pictures of your favorite TV show to the front "screen"). If you want to drive all the '80s kids absolutely nuts, go as a Rubix Cube -- wear all black, then cut out nine squares each of red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and white construction paper. Draw a grid on the box with a black marker and then glue all your squares on in random order. And one should never underestimate the creative ingenuity provided in one's own bathroom. Mummies are easy -- just secure yourself enough toilet paper (available for about $2.50 at Jumbo Express) and proceed to wrap up. A towel, a scrub brush, and a contorted look on your face are all you need for the ever-popular "Bather Abducted by Aliens" approach. If you look sour enough, you can even convey the impression that you've just been anally probed. For those seeking to look a bit less home-made, thrift clothing stores might be the way to go. Both the Garment District down in Kendall, a collection of various stores near Porter Square, and our very own Goodwill Shop in Davis offer a variety of cheaply priced secondhand pieces that are just waiting to be turned into an enterprising trick-or-treater's annual getup. If you want to join the hoards of teenaged girls across the nation who are still stalking Johnny Depp, some raggedy pants, a large belt buckle, a buttoned-up shirt and vest, and a head scarf are all you need to become the most fearsome freeloader ever to terrorize the Medford Main. You can add a hook to your pirate ensemble by turning a plastic drinking cup upside down and then squishing some tin foil into something vaguely curved, or make yourself an eye patch by cutting an oval shape out of black material or construction paper, gluing the sides together, and then threading a piece of string through the fold. Or you can go as something more retro. Hippie clothes and zoot suits are always easy enough to find, and the Garment District usually has a selection of old wedding dresses, some of which are even moderately priced. Get a pair of light fabric pants, belt them up above your knees, and add a dress shirt to go as a colonist, or just rip some clothes up and tell everyone that you're a survivor of nuclear annihilation. Planning to wait until the absolute last moment on All Hallows Eve? You can always turn to your closet for inspiration. Dirt-covered clothes and an oddly shaped rock (or is it an ancient Etruscan slingstone?) are all one needs to go as an archaeologist, or you can just dress entirely in one color and tell everyone that you're the adult version of one of the Rainbow Brite kids. If you're still mourning over the latest defeat of your beloved Sox, just deck yourself out in your favorite team's gear and go as a long-suffering fan -- or dress entirely in black, borrow a friend's Yankees hat, and see if you can convince everyone that you've sold your soul to the devil. And if all else fails, just place a call to some of your friends over in Cambridge and see if you can borrow one of their Harvard sweatshirts. After all, nothing's scarier on Halloween than a college student who couldn't get into Tufts.

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News

Music Writer Lectures on the Future of Folk Music

October 28

Is there anything to folk music worth lecturing about? When acclaimed music writer Scott Alarik stepped into the Commanders Mansion in Watertown last Friday night to deliver a talk on the subject, his hard-weather expression indicated that this man would never spend his time on anything not worth its weight. Gayle Rich of Revels, a Cambridge-based theatre and culture organization, lauded Alarik's depth of knowledge of industry, music, and history. Revels sponsors monthly "salons" at the Mansion, and October's topic, "Folk Music in the 21st Century: The Road from Here", featured Alarik's theory and extensive knowledge. Alarik, a thick-set man in his early fifties, entered with stern eyes and not a trace of a smile. The only signs of folk on him were the guitar he had strapped around his neck, and the chunk-heeled cowboy boots that clacked authoritatively on the floor as he took his place behind the podium. This man treats folk music and its connections to literature, history and society as a discipline of academic importance. "Only Gayle Rich can get a bang out of sponsoring folk music," he said wryly, thanking the audience for having him. With the spirit of a true acoustic veteran, he went right into a folk song, interspersing his chord-wandering fingers with comments like, "People say folk music is stupid." He played a song whose chorus was a string of nonsense words, then explained that the song had originated in Ireland. The "nonsense" was actually "Irish sung by people who don't speak Irish". It had been a song of bitter revolution in Ireland, but had made its way west during the American Revolution, where "people were having better times, so it took on a major key". He explained that the majority of American folk songs, particularly those from the Revolutionary War, started in Ireland, mostly because the Irish came to America to fight on behalf of the patriots. "So, you say we get to shoot British?" he imitated in a mock-brogue. "No, no, no need to explain, we'll be right over." Even cowboy songs which American children learn in elementary school, along with stories about the pioneer days, were written by the Irish, who immigrated to America, fought in the Civil War, and then had nothing to do but move West for cattle-herding and railroad-constructing. They were joined by newly-freed African-Americans and Mexicans, and Alarik pointed out traces of Mexican lilt and African rhythm in some of the traditional cowboy songs. The meter of folk music, mostly determined by the rhythm of horse-hooves at a gallop, was fertilized by folk-life more than by imagination. Alarik's authority and knowledge was prevalent in synthesis as well as in the sheer number of facts, dates, and names he could pluck from memory like strings on the guitar. Alarik, originally a singer-songwriter himself, has been writing about folk music since he moved to Boston in the early '80s. Within a few years, he was in charge of the folk beat for the Boston Globe. He has worked not only to gain recognition for individual singer-songwriters, but to keep the media's attention on the genre itself. His recently-published book, "Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground," is a celebration of a folk revival that began in the '80s with the emergence of what he calls "the Boston folk singer" -- someone not necessarily from Boston, but whose lyrics and demeanor convey the earnest sincerity and interest in connecting with the listener that Beantown's most famous folk legends have mastered. What exactly is a folk song, Alarik asked. Without a default political cause like the Vietnam War (or, perhaps, without the passion to find one), modern folk singers are focusing more and more on connecting with the listener and Alarik repeatedly used Dar Williams as an example of a revivalist folk singer whose lyrics draw the listener in through common experience, and then use that common space to explore broader societal issues. Indeed, the folk industry's interest in fans comes across in the attention radio stations pay to their listeners and folk singers pay to their list serves. While the MP3 is the bane of any pop singer's existence, folkies can download an MP3 from each other and then travel to the nearest coffeehouse that weekend to buy an autographed version of the album, right out of the travel bus. The folk singer attitude is, as Alarik says, "I'm not coming here to sing for you, I'm coming here to make music with you." This differs from the relationship between larger-than-life pop stars and their millions of adoring teeny-bopper listeners in that it attracts a following of all ages, even adolescents. Rather than depend on the music industry for their promotion, these singers work off pop music's decline. When Alarik played a song, his otherwise stern expression would soften into whatever the song's speaker was feeling. He made eye contact with the audience, as if telling a story, and he invited the audience to sing along. The last song he sang was "Sweet Rose of Allendale". I knew it, I sang along, and already I felt a part of the Revels community. The Revels Salon is presented by Revels, Inc., a non-profit cultural organization that promotes the appreciation of folk music, customs and rituals from around the world. The next salon, "Jean Ritchie: The Folk Music of Appalachia", will be held on Nov. 21 at the Commanders Mansion in Watertown. Tickets are $20 and include wine, light food, and entertainment. For more information, call 617-972-8300 or visit www.revels.org.

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