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Read any good books lately?

March 31

Once upon a time, whenever I was in need of a good book and seeking a little direction, I would turn to the Best Sellers List of The New York Times. Until recently, it had been my most reliable source of literary guidance. More concise than the newspaper's book reviews, the Best Sellers List allowed me the luxury of skimming through several titles, selecting the most intriguing, and leaving a book store with novel in hand, feeling reasonably secure that I had made a wise purchase. And then, rather inexplicably, all of this changed. Instead of finding the kinds of authors who had won Pulitzers and National Book Awards, suddenly I was faced with a compilation of names that resembled a list of invites to what I could only envision as a trashy costume party. Dean Koontz, Mary Higgins Clark, Nora Roberts, Stephen King... I wasn't looking for horror, suspense or love scenes. At least not those of the third-rate, made-for-Lifetime variety. How can you help but wonder about the literary integrity of authors who spit out books averaging 300 pages every three to six months? The kinds of authors interviewed by the likes of Larry King and Charlie Rose, those who dominated the Best Sellers List in its glory days, struggled for a minimum of three years just to publish one novel. These were the kinds of novels I wanted to read - novels that would challenge my mind and change my life. With very few exceptions, the Best Sellers List no longer seemed to offer that kind of novel to even its most loyal readers. I was faced with the realization that I would have better luck finding a good read by walking into the book store with my eyes closed and selecting a novel at random than by checking my sources at the Times before setting foot out of the house. And I was not happy. I understand the need for an easy read as well as the next person. Complex novels require a particular investment of time, energy, and personal involvement that makes it difficult to restrict oneself to those novels that gain critical acclaim within the most elite of literary circles. I am not suggesting that those be the only kinds of novels anyone reads. Easy reads, however, should be an occasional indulgence, not a habit. Judging from the kinds of authors that regularly appear on the list, sometimes even occupying two spots in a given week for different novels, the American readership has fallen into the routine of picking out the easiest reads it can find. This shift in habits is disconcerting: the easiest conclusion is that the public simply no longer has the capacity to read a novel that is more complex than a Hallmark greeting card. I'd prefer to think that this is a manifestation of our increasingly busy lives. The novels published by these authors are not only easy to read but remarkably similar as well. Recurring themes include the spurned lover, the quest for revenge, adultery, and the crime so horrendous it is simply unspeakable. Part of what makes these novels so easy to read is that they are so alike - each novel you read is easier than the last, because you are already familiar with the plot, the characters, and the conclusion.Whatever it is that lies at the root of this upsetting change in readers, the fact remains that novels are like stocks - you have to diversify. Limiting yourself to only one kind of novel - that kind being the easy kind - creates a numbness and ignorance of the boundless literary genius that exists despite its absence amongst the best sellers. Many of the best novels are inconspicuous and unassuming; it takes a discerning literary eye to pick these novels out from the rest. Easy reads are a habit that is frighteningly effortless to slip into. Once you do, it's almost impossible to get out. It is unfair to generalize and say that none of the novels on the Best Sellers List are worth reading. Sometimes a novel will make an appearance on the list, however brief, that is truly worth the distinction. I'm not talking about the latest addition to Oprah's Book Club, which more often than not garners its position as a result of publicity and not actual literary brilliance (although the latest is currently holding the fourth spot and is an impressive, noteworthy work of fiction). When novels like Carl Hiassen's Basket Case and Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay challenge current literary trends and make an appearance on the list, I remember that The New York Times is incapable of entirely failing me. Somehow, there are times when an author manages to make enough of an impression to snap the public out of its easy-read stupor to read something new. And when this happens, I return to skimming the titles in the Best Sellers List and give The New York Times, and the public, another chance.

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News

ASET receives approval for unionization and collective bargaining

March 31

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided that Tufts' Teaching, Research, and Graduate Assistants are eligible for unionization and collective bargaining, the Association of Student Employees at Tufts (ASET/UAW) announced at its Monday meeting. The forum was held to address questions and assuage confusion about the ongoing graduate student unionization debate. PhD candidate Tiffany Magnolia opened the forum by announcing the NLRB's decision, which ASET had received earlier in the day. The NLRB made its decision based on Tufts' TAs, RAs, and GAs' official status as employees. Undergraduate students and "casual employees," such as graders, are excluded from this group. Forum panelists included undergraduates, faculty members, and graduate students from Tufts and other universities who have had experience with the unionization process. ASET/UAW member Joe Ramsey was pleased to see high attendance at Monday's forum. "It was great to see such a turnout on the same day that our labor was officially recognized" Ramsey said. "This is the start of an important dialogue on campus, a necessary discussion to improve our position." The first panelist, Andrew McDonnell- a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science- provided the audience with a brief history of the ASET/UAW. The ASET/UAW filed with the NLRB in December, and a graduate student vote on the issue is expected by the end of this month. The University is required to release a list of voters ten days prior to the election, and a majority is required for a UAW chapter and bargaining rights. In December, members of the group had contacted 80 to 90 percent of the 400 to 500 graduate students on campus who said they supported unionization. Sudhit Mahadezan, a New York University (NYU) cinema studies graduate student, described the unionization process currently underway at NYU and the gains that have been negotiated in stipend minimums, yearly increase rates, health care coverage, and job security. James Shaw, a UMass-Amherst psychology graduate student and president of Local Chapter 2232 of the UAW in Western Massachusetts, also served on the panel. Shaw reinforced the advantages of involvement with UAW, highlighting "legal and professional resources." He also explained that he chose to attend UMass for graduate school because of the better financial package it provided as a result of unionization. Two Tufts professors also contributed to the forum. Modhumita Roy, an associate English professor, described her experience working to establish a union at her alma mater, a State University of New York (SUNY) institution. She participated in strikes and helped to take the state of New York to court. Roy refuted arguments that a union will cause tension between faculty and graduate students. In fact, she said, it will help attract students and create a stronger graduate program. She emphasized that the administration "constantly tries to blur the line" between academic and employee issues, and that it must recognize that unions apply only to the latter. Frank Ackerman, an assistant research professor in the global development and environmental institutions department at Tufts, presented economic figures surrounding the issue. He estimated that the University currently spends less than $2 million of its $450 million budget on TAs and RAs, and questioned how much a 10-perecent increase would really help. History graduate student Jill Clark and and Senior Sarah Marcus rounded out the panel. Marcus compared the fight for a graduate student union to SLAM's (Student Labor Action Movement) campaign for better wages and benefits for Tufts janitors. "The University always takes an anti-union stand, silencing the power to collectively vocalize," she said. The forum concluded with a lengthy Q&A session that addressed questions about implementation time and possible tuition hikes to fund the desired changes. Jenny Tam and Jason Walker, graduate students and members of the anti-union group Why Have A Union at Tufts? (WHUT) were vocal during the Q&A section. Magnolia said she was frustrated by "a couple people asking lots of questions," but was pleased with the forum overall. It "brought a wide representation of people to Tufts, brought many issues and information into the open, and dispelled myths of unions," Magnolia said. Tam disagreed with Magnolia's sentiments. "To really discuss wanting a union, we need to understand what we are getting into," she said, adding that unionization will have a negative effect on the atmosphere of the campus. She said that UAW affiliation makes the ASET subject to many rules and regulations. "What happens to grad students who don't want to be part of the union? What happens to the undergrads when their teachers go on strike," Tam questioned. Last semester, the ASET chose the UAW as their union affiliate because of its democratic practices and experience with graduate student unions. "UAW has been instrumental in successful campaigns to organize TAs and RAs at UMASS, UC Berkeley, UCLA and NYU," the ASET/UAW website states. The UAW is currently aiding Brown, Columbia, Cornell and University of Southern California. ASET/UAW has raised issues of increased stipends, subsidized insurance, and job security, but stresses that once the vote is finished and, hopefully, a graduate student union is formed, a committee will be assembled to poll students and assess what problems need to be discussed with the University.

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News

Jumbos run, throw, and jump to a first place finish

March 31

Against Ithaca College at last year's Tufts Invitational, the women's track and field team finished in third place. This weekend, against that same Ithaca squad, it was apparent that a year made the difference. In a close meet in the Gantcher Center on Saturday, the Jumbos finished in a first place tie with the Bombers. Tufts' fate ultimately rested on the outcome of the shot put. As long as freshman Katie Antle remained in third place and Ithaca's Cory Lipp stayed sixth or below, the Jumbos would tie Ithaca with 123 points. The alternative was a respectable second place finish in a field of 13 teams. In the end, Antle would throw a personal record (PR) of 38' 2 3/4'' to clinch third and Lipp would be kept at bay at sixth. "I knew that if I threw my best everything would be fine," Antle said. "There was a little bit of pressure, but there were also so many people cheering. I had the support of everyone and it really pushed me on." While the first-place tie was a welcome success, it wasn't necessarily expected. Coach Kristen Morwick placed athletes in events in an effort to qualify more Jumbos for the upcoming Division III and ECAC Championship meets rather than to top Brandeis. Also, freshman Shushanna Mignott was out with an injury and many runners and jumpers were not competing in their best events. "We won the meet with PR's and gutsy performances," Morwick said. "When I told the Distance Medley Relay they had to get at least third and the throwers that they needed to do well on the shot, they all stepped up and did it." Antle's heroics late in the meet helped seal the team's impressive finish, but there were several other quality performances. Fellow thrower and sophomore Gwen Campbell achieved a PR in the weight throw of 34' 81/4'', good enough to snatch third place. The 1000m run saw sophomore Lauren Caputo finish second with a time of 3:09.52, three seconds shy of the Div. I Championship meet qualifying mark. Senior Ellen Adams (3:14.07), freshman Emily Pfeil (3:14.21), and senior Heather Ballantyne (3:16.79) placed sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, in the same race, qualifying for the Div. III meet in the process. In the 1500m run, junior Mary Nodine ran an indoor PR of 4:55.94, earning herself an invitation to the ECAC Championship meet. The 4x200m relay team won the event in a blistering 1:49.56, the second fastest time in New England this season, second only to rival Wheaton College. The 4x200 squad is comprised of junior co-captain Myriam Claudio and a trio of freshmen-Ayako Sawanobori, Sika Henry, and Claudia Clarke. The 400m race also proved a strong event as Claudio (59.66) qualified provisionally for Nationals while racing to first place. Clarke (61.9) had a PR and Sawanobori (63.71) finished strong, as they placed fourth and sixth, respectively. "We set a team goal early on of setting as many personal bests as we can each meet, and we keep overshooting that part," Claudio said. "Everyone's starting to get really focused because they see the results. It's great to watch." Additionally, sophomore Jessica Trombly took second in the 200m dash (27.00) and qualified for the Div. I Championships with a third place finish in the 55m hurdles (8.92). Senior Sarah Leistikow continued competing the pentathlon events, tying for second in the high jump with a 5' leap. Joining Leistikow in pentathlon competition this weekend was freshman Melissa Graveley, who impressed in her first ever 800m race. The tandem of sophomore Emily Bersin (1:22.31) and freshman Katie Sheedy (1:23.70) captured fourth and fifth in the 500m race, as Sheedy raced to a PR and both qualified for ECAC's. The team currently boasts an undefeated NESCAC track record and also have yet to lose to a Div. III team - two marks that it will look to extend at this weekend's Tufts Invitational. The meet will feature healthy competition, with Williams, Plattsburgh, Stonehill, Bryant, and Bates slated to come the Gantcher Center. Entering the meet with the goals that have been integral throughout the season - among them staying healthy and setting PR's - the Jumbos hope to end the last indoor regular season meet on a high note. "We will rest some, try to get more people qualified, and get people sharp for the championships," Morwick said. "There are many teams with strong individuals out there, but it will just depend on who wants it the most."@s: Team prepares for competitive Tufts Invitational

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News

Women's swimming suffers first loss of season

March 31

The women's swimming and diving team saw its undefeated streak come to an end this past Saturday. Hampered by injury and fatigue, Tufts lost to Bates 192-106. "I think we were just tired," freshman Sarah Ferranti said. "We have just come back from the training trip and this was the third meet in the two weeks. We have been practicing hard and there is a lot of illness on the team." The Jumbos got off to a rocky start in the 200 yard medley relay. The section A team, including sophomore Kierstyn Thayer, freshmen Katharine Ferguson, Ferranti, and anchor Katelyn Stevens, touched the line in second place, with a time of 1:59.57. They lost to the first place Bates team by three seconds. This was the theme for the rest of the meet with only a few exceptions: a string of second and fourth place finishes. The next race up was the 1000 freestyle. This season the Jumbos have found a huge boost in the distance races with freshman Kathryn Sweeney. In past years, this has been an area of competition in which the team has struggled. Unfortunately for the team, Sweeney's boost on Saturday was only enough for a second place finish with a time of 11:17.85 - seven seconds too late. The Jumbos scored one of their three first-place finishes in the other long distance swim, the 500 freestyle. Freshman Erica Weitz raced to victory with a time of 5:23.43, four seconds ahead of Bates freshman Nicole Sparks. Weitz has stepped up her role on the team since coming back from the break. In the previous back-to-back meet weekend, Weitz brought in two first-place finishes and three second-place finishes. Sophomore diver Beth Wecksell came through for the team once again with first place points. She won the one-meter diving with a score of 241.35 and came in second in the three-meter diving, scoring 212.18 points. The only other first-place finish for the Jumbos occurred during the last race of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay. Ascoli, Stevens, sophomore Amanda Bloom, and anchor Thayer touched the wall in 1:46.05, three seconds before the Bates relay team. In the middle distance swims, Tufts knew it was entering the meet at a disadvantage due to the loss of one of its top swimmers. Sophomore Mika Sumiyoshi, the only swimmer to qualify for nationals last winter, is out with a knee injury. In the past, the team could rely on Sumiyoshi to help out in the relays and the middle distance swims, particularly the individual medley. In the 200 freestyle, freshman Susan Ascoli racked up a second-place finish with a time of 2:04.17, losing by three seconds. Ferranti followed in the next race with a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:06.25), again losing by three seconds. Senior tri-captain Sarah Hertzog also scored second place points in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:21.42. The Jumbos went into this meet with a different racing strategy than that of past meets. "Up until this meet of the season, we have been focusing on individual times," Stevens said. "This meet we were more focused on having good races for the team rather than individual times. It was a hard loss to have since it was the first of the season. However, it really built team unity. We weren't focusing on the meet that we lost, but instead on some of the great races we had." Coach Nancy Bigelow expected Bates to be a challenge for Tufts. It was the team's real test of the season, except for its victory over rival Wellesley. Tufts has lost to Bates for the past two years, although by smaller point margins. Bates was an even stronger team this season due to key contributions from freshmen. Seven of the races in this meet were won by freshmen. Fatigue and illness were factors in the loss: the Jumbos haven't taken a break since coming back from their training trip over the winter break. They returned to face Wesleyan and Trinity in the same weekend, followed by a full week of training. However, the focus of this type of training is not for these specific meets but for the NESCAC championship at the end of the season. The swimmers will taper their training and rest up for this meet in hopes of achieving personal bests for the season during that meet. The Jumbos will not have much time to rest before their next meet against MIT on Tuesday night at home. "We just need to keep our spirits up," Ferranti said. "We still have the rest of the season and we will be training hard for the championships. I'm confident we will have good times ahead."

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News

Internet access, anywhere, everywhere

March 31

Laptops can make your life portable: you can do your work wherever you go, even from the comfort of your own bed... until you have to get up and use someone else's computer for their Internet connection. Of course, you can get the Internet on a laptop, but keeping it plugged in eliminates the portability. The modern solution? Wireless internet connections so that students can work without cords or outlets. Keeping up with the times, the University is striving to provide wireless connections on campus. Unfortunately, setting up a wireless connection requires a bit more than clicking on the Internet option on your computer while you're away from a port. More importantly, the rapid evolution of wireless products means that any wireless card that students buy will have to be updated in nine to 12 months. "We're facing a lot of challenges in coming up with a final wireless policy - secure, encrypted, with support structures," Associate Director of Tufts Communications and Computing Services (TCCS) Doug Herrick said. "The systems are constantly changing. We don't want people to go out to buy these connection cards and then find, when they come back in September, they've updated the system, and their card is out of date." To use the wireless Internet, students will have to buy wireless Ethernet cards, which cost from $80 to $200 - not to mention a laptop, if they don't own one already. After the purchase of regular Ethernet cards for the connections in dorm rooms and in the library, a wireless Ethernet card is an extra expense that tight-budgeted college students might want to spare. Herrick leads the wireless effort at TCCS. Currently, he is conducting pilot programs around the three campuses in Ginn Library, Tisch Library, and Health Sciences Library. Wireless access points have been created where students can, after checking out wireless cards and installing the necessary software, experiment with the wireless Internet. A drawback in the efficiency of the wireless system is that the new system is not as fast as the Ethernet connection that students and faculty are accustomed to. Wireless Internet works by beaming a signal from installed access points to the wireless Ethernet cards in range. With a normal connection, the entire signal would go directly into your computer. The wireless system, however, divides the signal amongst all of its users. Therefore, the connection slows down as more people make use of it. The issue of wireless reception complicates things further. The closer your computer is to the access point, the stronger the connection and speed. When the computer is farther from the access point, the signal grows weak and can even cut out. On the other hand, wireless internet allows students to access the Internet from everywhere. Not having to deal with tangled wires can be convenient when transporting a laptop from one location to another. Other large institutions have instituted comprehensive wireless connections to their Internet system and have suffered huge security issues with their networks as a result. Wireless connections are very insecure: anyone with a wireless card can drive on campus and park near the library or another access point signal to gain access to our network. They can then send "spam" e-mail, distribute viruses, and even gain access to our networks. To prevent this, Herrick wants to establish an encrypted system. "The person who drives up and grabs the [encrypted] signal will only be able to read gibberish," he said. With encryption in place, wireless connections should be as secure as wired ones. Student opinion over the necessity of wireless Internet connection on Tufts' campus is mixed. Sophomore Vera Tatel thinks that wireless Internet, while not a necessity, would be useful. "It's a luxury - a lot of things are at college. Just having Ethernet connection in our rooms is a luxury, but at the same time it is convenient," Tatel said. Not all students think they would use the wireless option. Sophomore Melanie Blake, a chemical engineering major, said that it wouldn't be cost effective to buy enough memory for a laptop to run the software she uses for her classes. "It's very worthwhile for most people, but I don't think it's worthwhile for most engineers," Blake said. "Most of us just probably wouldn't use it." Other students like the idea of wireless connection but do not see it fitting into their working, established systems. Sophomore Danny Kleinman has a laptop, but he is already accustomed to plugging it into the many Internet ports on campus. "There is no reason why I would need a wireless Internet connection. I think it's cool, but I don't think I'd need it," Kleinman said. "I've just kind of gotten used to being in places where I can plug into whenever it's necessary." Previous use of the Internet via a wireless source may also influence student's desire to use wireless Internet at Tufts. Freshman Vincent Ebhojiaye has a wireless connection at home and a laptop at Tufts. He supports the University acquiring wireless Internet. "I believe it provides an opportunity that will allow students to be more mobile. It's really ironic that people have laptops, yet they are still restricted to having to use their laptops in certain places," Ebhojiaye said. Freshman Ali Meisel does not have wireless internet connection at home, but she does have a laptop at Tufts. She primarily uses her laptop in her room for work. When she has research to do in the library, she does her research and then goes back to her room to work. "I don't see the necessity for it because they have the jacks in the library and the jacks in your room. I guess if they had it I'd use it, but I don't feel like there's something missing," she said.

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News

Senate elections uncontested

March 31

For the second year in a row, spring Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate elections will not take place because too few candidates ran for the allotted seats. The TCU constitution calls for 28 senators, with seven representing each class. Some high-ranking senators chose not to run for re-election, citing different personal reasons. Assistant Treasurer Nick Abraham reportedly wants to focus on his studies, while historian Suman Rao has decided to run for the Committee on Student Life (CSL) instead, for "a matter of personal reasons and time commitment." "CSL is a better fit for me," Rao said. A number of other senators chose not to run for re-election so they could study abroad. Senate elections follow a "vicious cycle," according to former senator Pritesh Gandhi. He said there is not enough student interest because the Senate keeps a low profile. "[The Senate] needs an active president who will cause controversy," Gandhi said, adding that the current Senate is "not willing to take risks." TCU President Eric Greenberg does not think this situation differs from previous years. "[Uncontested elections] happen most of the time," TCU President Eric Greenberg said. "There's not an uproar to join Senate." Freshman senator Adam Koeppel, however, called the lack of interest "a tragedy." "Elections are the most important part of the Senate."

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News

Students choose from various Passover options

March 31

For Passover, the eight-day observance that commemorates the freedom and exodus of Jews from slavery in Egypt, families traditionally meet for dinners called seders where the holiday's story is retold through readings. The seder is the main focus of the holiday, with its abundance of food, music, and readings. Last night, the first night of Passover, provided an array of Tufts seder options for students to attend. Students participated in a variety of seder dinners, some even with a theme, while others sought for a more intimate setting dining with Jewish families in the area. Last night, Hillel sponsored a liberal, traditional, and a social justice themed seder. The liberal seder featured singing, creative English readings, and progressive interpretations of the Passover Haggadah. Senior Seren Levinson, who participated in the liberal Passover seder for the first time at Hillel, enjoyed the friendly and comforting atmosphere. "There is always a really warm community at Hillel, always welcoming and inviting and this Passover Seder was no exception," Levinson said. Levinson estimates that 50 students attended the service. The conservative seder included singing, discussion, and "questions and interesting answers," according to the Hillel Passover 2002 web site. Both seders took place in the Hillel Center. For students stuck at Tufts for the holiday, the Hillel service made it easier to be away from home and family during the holiday. "In the liberal seder we took turns participating so everyone was involved, and that was reminiscent of my seder at home where everyone takes a part," Levinson said. She adds that an amiable atmosphere is always present at Hillel. "What's nice about Hillel is that there is always someone there to invite you to sit with them," she said. "We tried to maintain all of the major traditions, including hiding and finding the Afikomen." The Afikomen is a piece of matzoh hidden in the middle of the service and is later searched for at the end. The person who finds the Afikomen wins a prize. A unique seder provided through Hillel was the Peace and Justice seder, which kept the traditional framework, but added readings and themes about issues connected to social justice. The dinner took place in the Faculty Dining room of Mugar Hall. The service had the same prayers as the other services, with Hebrew readings focused on social justice related injustices of the slavery of the Jews, to broader themes of inequality, economic distribution, or environment. Junior Laura Horowitz attended the Peace and Justice Passover seder and found connections of the Jewish exodus and freedom from slavery to issues of social justice today. "My family always tries to liven up the Passover seder, and every year we try to incorporate contemporary things to our seder. So I like the non-traditional seder," Horowitz said. She estimates that 40 students participated in the dinner. The readings at the seder pertained to the core of the Jewish holiday. "Passover is a holiday about freedom... so the peace and justice connects the theme of freedom with ideas of social justice, parts of the Jewish tradition to broader campaigns for social justice throughout the world," Horowitz said. "Passover happened thousands and thousands of years ago - how are you supposed to connect that to things in your personal life?" Horowitz explains that the Peace and Justice seder did just that, by making the themes of Passover relevant to today. Alternative seder options for students included a seder dinner in South Hall. Sophomore Lauren Weintraub, who had never previously attended a Passover seder at Hillel, particpiated in Hillel's traditional seder to remind her of home. "[I went to the traditional seder] because it mostly closely resembles the one I go to every year. I wanted something that was most familiar," she said. While there were over 100 students in attendance at the traditional seder, Weintraub says that Rabbi Jeffrey Summit tried to make everyone feel at home. "The rabbi at the beginning said that he understands that most people would rather be home with family... he encouraged conversation at the tables and tried to make a family atmosphere." Weintraub felt that Rabbi Summit was successful in making the seder like home, except for the food. "The food doesn't even closely resemble home-cooked food, but in general it was a nice atmosphere and it was a good substitute," Weintraub said. "Not the real thing, but comes close, a good way to celebrate on campus." Other students went off-campus for a more homey seder dinner. Students visited the homes of friends who live in the area, or were set up with a local Jewish family through Hillel. Students who wanted to hold a seder at their home away from home could purchase a Seder Kit To Go, which has eight Haggadot, a Seder plate, matzah, grape juice, and other materials to help you personalize your seder. The kit, from Hillel, enables students to lead a seder in their own home.

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News

Only the song remains the same

March 31

When there isn't something new to sell you might as well start selling something old again, and music outlets are doing just that. Greatest hits collections are popping up everywhere from everyone: Barenaked Ladies? Smashing Pumpkins? William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy? I can't make these things up. And you can't avoid them. CDNOW is hyping hundreds of greatest hits CDs at only $9.99, insisting that now is the time to "stock up" while hinting at upcoming gift-giving events. (A lesson: don't listen to CDNOW's advice. Air Supply's Greatest Hits Live: Now and Forever strikes me as a pretty baffling wedding present). Moreover, these discs appeal to all kinds of people - from teenagers just getting into classic rock, to collectors that must have everything, to aging hipsters in the throes of nostalgia, to the very cheap. Why not? There are a lot of incentives to get a compilation rather than an album. Buying a greatest hits CD is much cheaper than the old-fashioned route of collecting a band's entire catalog, and far less risky if you're just trying something out. Led Zeppelin's Complete Studio Recordings (complete with spiffy cube case and good biographical info) will hit you for at least $100, while the two-volume set of Early Days and Latter Days runs closer to $30. Buy three times as much music and save space and reduce the risk of costly disappointment? What a bargain! But the diehards will tell you that it isn't really a bargain because you're not getting the full experience, and they're right. So much gets lost in the transition between actual albums and greatest hits ones that it can be hard to stomach. Greatest hits collections take songs out of context and cram them together onto one disc, forgetting that albums are works of art just as songs are. Look at the Early Days:Best of Led Zeppelin collection that came out in 1999 (and spent eight weeks on the Billboard top 100). It includes five of Led Zeppelin 4's eight tracks - including the first four tracks - yet it doesn't even put them in their original order. Why? Because the label wanted to close Volume 1 with "Stairway to Heaven," the most famous of all Zeppelin's songs. An album stands alone as a concrete artistic statement. It holds certain songs - all in a certain style, recorded at a specific time with specific people - and it puts them in a deliberate order. Nothing about an album is accidental, and tearing apart its components to make something new ignores all of the care that went into the original. Making a musical "collage" may seem charming - and I don't think it detracts from the artistry of Britney if that's your thing - but imagine tearing a couple of tracks out of Dark Side of the Moon or Tommy to make such a compilation. It's not just the context that's missing, however: Early Days cuts out some amazing songs from Zeppelin's first four albums. "Going to California" gets axed while the grating (albeit intriguing) "Battle of Evermore" makes it? Where's "Gallows Pole," "Tangerine," or "That's the Way?" You miss something - a lot, it seems - by cutting 36 tracks down to 13. If this collection covers everything you know from Led Zeppelin 1 through 4, you're missing a lot of golden material. Why let the label decide what songs are "greatest" and what songs are expendable? But while one may impeach Atlantic's choices, it's hardly the label's fault that some songs had to fall by the wayside. Led Zeppelin made too much great music to cut his catalog down by more than 60 percent. There isn't enough fat to trim out to make a greatest hits compilation feasible. (Don't even get me started on the red-and-blue Beatles collections. Summarizing the Beatles on four CDs is a laughable proposition.) And don't overlook the coin's other side: there are greatest hits CDs overwhelmed with fat, too. Not to be too blunt, but Soft Cell - famed for "Tainted Love" - does not need a greatest hits CD (and if anyone wants to buy mine off me, let me know). It's a thin, weak record that capitalizes on the drawing power of one hit. Yes, record companies are out to make a buck. Guess what? They're companies. That's what they do. If recording and selling music wasn't profitable, those big-shot label executives would run off and do something else. This doesn't make them evil. It does mean, however, that they put money ahead of art. If something devoid of artistic merit will get 15-year olds to shell out $15 - or get nostalgic 40-somethings to cough up even more - don't expect a record company to decline on "artistic grounds." And shell out you do. Once again, the rules of capitalism make things simple: these albums are there because you want them. If you didn't want them, you wouldn't buy them. If you didn't buy them, the companies wouldn't make them. Case closed. But America does want greatest hits CDs, just like it wants car chases, punchy commercials, flashing neon signs, piping-hot homogeneous chicken nuggets, and everything else that is fast-paced, cheap, and remotely pleasing. But these albums are sneaky. They're fast food masquerading as legitimate cuisine; they're the Boston Markets of the music industry. Boston Market would love to convince you that its food is up there with a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. After all, the same ingredients are there; they're just repackaged into a convenient premade, single-serving dish. The food is not the same, however, and no amount of tasty mac 'n cheese should convince you otherwise. Greatest hits albums are not evil, and neither is Boston Market. They're just fast alternatives that take the original and make it more marketable. I'm happy to eat at Boston Market, but I'm still going home for Thanksgiving. I'm happy that people like their Smashing Pumpkins greatest hits CDs, but I'm going to hang onto my collection of albums, thank you. So while the advantages being touted in the stores today are true, don't consider any greatest hits album a replacement for an original. If you're serious about an artist's music, you're going to want the real deal someday - and when that day comes, you'll wonder what the hell you're going to do with that useless greatest hits CD you bought.

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UCCPS new grant programs focus on faculty initiatives

March 31

As part of an ongoing initiative to engage faculty members in community programming and curriculum development, the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) has announced the creation of two grants to be instated later this spring. With these new grants, UCCPS Educational Programs Director Robert Hawkins hopes to further the college's mission: "to create students who will go on to become lifelong active citizens." "The program will develop a leadership cadre of faculty members," Hawkins said. "They will work with their own department and leaders of other departments to mold their curriculums to better incorporate the UCCPS ideals of active citizenship." The Faculty Active Citizenship (AC) Fellows Program will be the first grant available to Tufts professors. Fellows will receive $30,000 over two years to hire additional staff and to increase funding for their projects. The extra funding is also intended to free up time so faculty members can concentrate on adjusting their curriculum and research in accordance with UCCPS guidelines. The new grant program is not intended to act as a source of funds for community service exploits but will be geared instead toward faculty members who have consistently assumed a leadership role in conceiving active public service programs both within and outside of departmental curriculums. The Faculty AC Fellows Program also promises to utilize this faculty network as a resource for future UCCPS endeavors. Hawkins hopes that the program will build a lasting relationship even after the two-year funding period ends. The UCCPS is also introducing Research and Curriculum Development (RCD) grants that will be smaller than the Faculty AC Fellows grants but available to more faculty members. Ten faculty members who submit proposals will be awarded RCD grants twice a year, in both May and November. Hawkins praised the grants for their projected benefits. "The RCD grants allow room for faculty to be more creative in their methods to focus on civic engagement," Hawkins added. "These ideas will be given the freedom and the support to grow into larger programs as time progresses. Ultimately, the programs could be sponsored by the Faculty AC Fellows program." Selection committees are being put together in order to judge faculty members' grant proposals. A group of about six faculty members and two students, both Omidyar Scholars, will meet following the April 1 proposal deadline to select six Faculty AC Fellows. A similar committee will meet later in May to select RCD grant recipients. These new initiatives are part of a plan to fine tune the activities of the UCCPS. Though the temporary suspension of the student-based Education for Active Citizenship (E4AC) grants may imply that the college is refocusing its target from students to faculty and curriculum-based transformation, Hawkins and others in the UCCPS would argue that this is not the case. "We're just making a couple of adjustments. It has been our plan all along to encourage both student and faculty project development," Hawkins said. "We're just tweaking it a bit." In the past, the UCCPS has sponsored student programs through E4AC grants and the Omidyar Scholar program. Both provide leadership training or guidance as well as the funds needed to initiate and support community service programs. There are currently 47 Omidyar Scholars and about 14 E4AC funded projects. The UCCPS has received most of its funding from the initial gift from alumni Pierre and Pam Omidyar that helped to establish the college in 1999. Through the watchful eyes of President Emeritus and co-founder John DiBiaggio and Dean Robert Hollister, the UCCPS has become a cross-curriculum advocate for integrating values of active citizenship into the Tufts education. Now, as DiBiaggio completes his last year at Tufts, Hollister, Hawkins, and the rest of the UCCPS staff are charged with the task of expanding the UCCPS to fit its intended purpose. Hawkins described UCCPS as "a three-legged stool," explaining that the college will prepare students through peer learning and civic engagement, interaction with agencies within the three Tufts communities - the Medford/Somerville, Grafton, and Boston campuses - and by encouraging the faculty to develop programs, research opportunities, and curriculum options for "civic-minded students."

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Grab Those Number Twos

March 31

For many college students, the SAT is a part of the college application process they'd rather forget. Those who felt stressed by mere math and verbal questions will be glad to know that they completed the SAT before the College Board decided to add additional material to the exam. According to the College Board, possible additions include a writing sample and multiple choice questions in the writing section, reducing the analogy section, and including more advanced math like trigonometry and algebra II. Experts in the field of test taking and college admissions say that these changes have little academic purpose, and that they instead serve purely political and financial functions. Professor of Child Development David Henry Feldman, an authority on the history and development of standardized tests, believes that the SAT is not the best measure of a student's academic abilities. He doesn't think the changes will improve the effectiveness of the SAT I. According to Feldman, the SAT was designed to predict the grades of freshmen at elite colleges. Those who scored high on the test would supposedly do well in college, and higher scores were supposed to indicate higher intelligence. "If first-year grades represent intelligence, then the SAT is a decent measure," Feldman said. "I think most of us would agree that intelligence encompasses more than how you do as a freshman, though." Feldman sees the changes as a response to the University of California President Richard Atkinson's threat to eliminate the SAT as a requirement for admission. The College Board has acknowledged that this criticism affected the decision to revise the SAT I test. If the University of California drops the SAT I test as an admissions requirement, the College Board will experience a drop in the number of test takers. "The possible changes in the test are... driven by business considerations and have little to do with changing perspectives on the nature of intelligence," Feldman said. Howard Greene, president and founder of Educational Consulting Centers, Inc and premier personal educational counselor, agrees the changes being considered have a purely financial basis. "They're really basically reacting to the potential loss of a significant number of test takers, especially if the California system stops taking the SAT I," Greene said. "They're non-profit but they're driven by the membership and the number of people who take these tests." The University of California system is the largest public university system in the US and generates more SAT test takers than any other system. It has threatened to create its own test for admissions to replace the SAT. Chiara Coletti, Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for the College Board, denies that the change is a business decision. "There are really no losses to us," she said. "The SAT II is something [the UC system] would want to use more of. A test all of their own is something we could help them develop and they certainly invited us to do so." Coletti claims that the changes are actually financially detrimental to the College Board, as opposed to being a way of keeping the bottom line steady. "If we change the SAT as we may well do, it will be very expensive for us... because developing tests is a very costly thing," she said. "It's enormously expensive; however, that's never stopped the College Board from changing its tests." Tufts Dean of Admissions David Cuttino is disappointed in the failure of the College Board to involve its membership in the creation of this proposal. Cuttino says that as a member of the College Board, he has been given as much information about the proposed changes as anyone who reads the newspapers and visits the College Board web site has been given. "The board has made an announcement without engaging its membership, so we're all left wondering what we are really talking about," he said. "So what you'd like to have are proposals that have some documentation and study behind them that reflect why you want to move in this direction or what you're trying to fix." Cuttino says that the College Board has not shown its members any regression analysis on testing or any evidence that the new test will maintain the statistical validity of the previous format of the SAT. Cuttino has not had the opportunity to speak with the College Board directly about this issue, but has had some brief conversations with people involved in the College Board. "We're hoping to be able to bring together a group of people to try to engage this conversation so we can have an understanding not only of what's being discussed, but also the possibility of raising a voice," Cuttino said. According to Coletti, a writing sample was considered as far back as 1990. The proposal to create a writing sample portion of the test was defeated because some members of the College Board felt that minority students who speak English as a second language would be at a disadvantage. Coletti does not believe this to be an issue. "There are organizations that say [any standardized] testing is detrimental to students who speak English as a second language," Coletti said. She added that she does not believe testing should be eliminated for this brand of reasoning. But Greene believes that the writing sample will create a significant obstacle for high school students who speak English as a second language and for disadvantaged students whose high schools may not offer opportunities for extensive writing. "Anyone for whom English is a second language will find writing is the single hardest task," Greene said. By adding these sections, which are intended to focus more on classroom learning, the College Board will create a test that closely resembles the ACT and overlaps with the SAT II writing test, according to Greene. Greene believes that in the end, problems with standardized testing could be alleviated by eliminating the SAT I completely, and focusing on the SAT II. "The SAT I has very little correlation with predicting college success," he said. "The SAT IIs have more positive predictive value." Greene added that when he served as an associate director of admissions at Princeton University, there was an unofficial policy that greater emphasis should be placed on the SAT II's than the SAT I. "The SAT II's really do reward students who have worked hard and taken an enriched high school curriculum," Greene said. "The SAT I doesn't have any real value in showing that." Cuttino agrees that the SAT IIs reflect solid academic performance, but added that students from advantaged backgrounds who attend higher caliber high schools tend to perform better on the SAT II tests than do minority students and disadvantaged students. "The advantage of the SAT Is is for students who have aptitude but may not have had the same kind of opportunities as other students," he said. "What is the achievement of the student? That is the best indicator. It tells you about willingness to take advantage of opportunities."

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Peer leaders ready to offer guidance

March 31

Every student comes to college with anxieties: The freshman 15, Friday morning classes, a difficult class, or that first frat party. While Tufts offers centers and counselors to deal with many of the large problems, it is often these concerns that can cause stress. Tufts is unique, however, in the opportunities it creates for its students to receive guidance in the first semester. The Peer Academic Leaders (PAL) program designates upperclassmen to serve as advisors to small groups of freshmen during orientation, and the Explorations and Perspectives classes match the two for an entire semester. Yesterday, 235 students finished training to serve as peer leaders this year. These upperclassmen are in a unique position to help students with an array of problems. "A big part of the transition to Tufts is not only the academic but also the social," Orientation Coordinator Melissa Callan said. "It's important to meet with your academic advisors, but for the full picture you really need both sides."According to senior Sarah Stroback, who is a peer leader for the third time this year, the fact that PALs have lived through these worries may make them more capable of addressing students' fears. "It's often much easier to open up to students your own age," she said. "I've noticed a difference between sessions led by deans and ones led by students. I think peers offer many more realistic solutions to problems, especially in questions involving drugs and partying." These social questions often prove the most worrisome to incoming freshmen who do not know what to expect from Tufts and the Boston area. "During training they encourage us to talk about every social opportunity that is on campus. Tufts isn't a party school but there are definitely a lot of parties on and off campus. You say if you want to come out with us you can," Stroback said. PAL Jen Chang agreed. "We're young, we do have some experience but it's a lot easier for them to relate to us and us to them. They trust the advice we give them - especially social advice." Some may wonder if after only two days of training, peer leaders will have learned enough to expect the unexpected and handle students' heavier concerns. But Associate Dean of Student Services Jean Herbert says that PALs will at least know where to direct students for help. "The strength of Tufts is that we have many layers for the students," he said. "We have trained them but they also know the resources which are available to them if they're not comfortable dealing with problems on their own." During this training, peer leaders were taught ways to answer typical questions from incoming freshmen. They learned how to address scheduling and credit concerns, and how to teach new students to decipher Tufts' mysterious block schedule. "They talk a lot about the resources on campus. You'll find out about these resources eventually, but it's nice to have someone present it to you all at once," Callan said. On top of these responsibilities, Sophomore Sangeeta Parekh said, peer leaders also discussed signs of depression and what to do about drug use, sexual assault, or rape. The training manual describes the position of a PAL as an "enormous undertaking" with "'intangible' responsibilities." Though many upperclassmen could dispense advice to freshmen, the PALs have been specifically chosen for their roles, and the application process is quite competitive."I think it's a privilege to be a peer leader," Callan said. "They've been chosen from a number of applicants. They're being trusted by the University to welcome these new students." Applications for the position are due each spring and reviewed by Associate Dean of Student Services, Chris Nwabeke. Nwabeke reviews these applications, choosing PALs based on GPA, involvement with extracurricular activities, short essays, and references. "Ultimately, it becomes [Nwabeke's] decision," said Herbert. Nwabeke was unavailable for comment. "I know quite a few people who were rejected by the program," Stroback said. As a returning peer leader Stroback faces extra scrutiny, as she must rely on a reference from one of her previous advisees. But Stroback says the personal paybacks that the position offers keep her applying year after year. "It's rewarding to see students show up at events you recommend and see them get excited over activities at Tufts," said Stroback. Chang agreed that it was this giving-back-to-the-community attitude which had attracted her to the role. "I had such a good first year experience here. I felt it was something to do to reassure incoming freshmen that it's not scary," she said.

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Hockey future looks bright despite losing season

March 31

When the men's ice hockey team entered the NESCAC this season, players and coaches alike knew that wins would be harder to come by. After all, the league has produced six of the last seven Division III National Champions and houses perennial powerhouses like Middlebury. This titanic step-up in competition, coupled with the loss of many star players - the nation's leading scorer, Jason Boudrow, all-star defenseman Dan Mahoney, and key contributors like Natan Obed, Scott Hayes, and Justin Picone - did not spell success for the Jumbos' campaign. But despite his team's 4-12 overall mark and a 3-10 record in the new conference, coach Brian Murphy has seen bright spots. "When you only win four, you can't be happy," Murphy said. "That being said, we've drawn some positives. I think that one of the biggest positives has been the play of the freshmen." Murphy referred mostly to three of his first-year forwards, Gino Rotondi, John Hurd, and Shawn Sullivan, all of whom rank among the Jumbos' top five scorers. Rotondi, a 5'8" graduate of scholastic hockey factory Andover Academy, has seven goals and eleven assists on the season. "Gino is a speed guy," Murphy said. "He also has a lot of strength. He has the unique ability to make people miss. I think the fact that he played at such a high level in high school gave him a bit of an advantage coming in." Junior co-captain and fellow forward Mike Carceo, who leads the team with 26 points, echoed Murphy's sentiments. "Gino fits great into the style of play in the NESCAC," Carceo said. "He's good on the power play and is a really tough kid." The 6'1", 200-lb. Hurd, a product of local high school Arlington Catholic, has netted 9 goals and tallied 7 assists on the season so far, which ranks him third in scoring. "John is the prototypical power forward," Murphy said. "He has one of the best shots on the team. He's big and strong, he comes from a great hockey family, and he's a nice compliment to Mike on the first line." Defenseman Chris Martin, a junior co-captain, also had praise for Hurd. "I think the strength of John's game is that he really sees the ice well," Martin said. "He's a strong player and plays really physical." Another product of a Massachusetts high school is Sullivan, a three-time all-scholastic recipient and the all-time leading scorer at Saugus High. He has 15 points so far this season and is a player with a huge upside. "Shawn has the biggest adjustment to the program because he's a center," Murphy said. "The center has a special emphasis in our system, especially relating to defensive responsibilities. He has the potential to be one of the best players in the league, but this season is a big step up for him as far as competition goes." "Shawn is a true playmaker," Martin said. "He's so aggressive, he plays hard and has great hands." All three new Jumbos had their best games in the season's opening contests. Rotondi had a four-point outing in Tufts' second game of the year, a 6-4 win over St. Mt. Michael's, while Sullivan and Hurd tallied three points each in November games against Framingham State and Connecticut College respectively. Such early season success from freshmen, according to Murphy, is typical. "What you usually see with freshmen is great play in the first six or eight games," Murphy said. "Then there's a big drop in the middle of the year. It's a huge adjustment for first year players, not just the hockey, but the life here at Tufts. There are big changes in diet, in time management and in travel. It's not easy, but by the end of the season the freshmen usually end up playing a lot better." In his years of playing and coaching at Tufts, Murphy has never had a squad so dependent on the production of its first year players. He further attributes the team's mid-season lull to the reaction of his players, especially the freshmen, to losing on a regular basis. "Losing is tough for everyone, nobody likes to lose. But I think in a lot of ways, the losses this season have been tougher on the freshmen. The older guys won a lot; they know we'd still be a top team in the ECAC. The older guys understand where we've been and where we're trying to go. I think they have more perspective. I think the rookies got down a bit. Luckily they're starting to come out of it." As the Jumbos enter the final third of their season, the goals are quite simple. "We can win any of these last seven games," Carceo said. "We have Babson and UMass this weekend, those are both games we could grab. We basically just want to get going on the right track, the future is bright." Murphy agreed. "We like where we're going," Murphy said. "We've taken some knocks, but our entering this league is what allowed us to successfully recruit these types of freshmen." And with an experienced core of sophomores on his roster next year - namely Rotondi, Hurd, and Sullivan - another crop of freshman should provide an even bigger boost as the Jumbos climb the rungs of the NESCAC.

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With Tufts Invitational behind it, men's track team focuses on championship

March 31

One week prior to its biggest meet of the season, the men's track team competed Saturday in the year's final Tufts Invitational. For Tufts, the meet - which in a preview of next week featured Div. III powerhouses Williams, Bryant, Plattsburgh State, and SUNY-New Paltz - was significant primarily in terms of individual performances.Now, with the final tune-up for the highly-anticipated Div. III meet behind it, the men's team has nothing but next weekend's championship at Bates College on its mind. This past Saturday, team points were not counted, as runners got a last chance to keep their legs warm before the championship. "I thought we had a good weekend, given that the meet was non-scoring and so close to the championship season," sophomore Bryan Pitko said. Pitko's results more than speak for themselves. With a victory in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.77 seconds, he's one of several Jumbos seemingly ready to peak for the championships. After posting a solid third-place finish in 7.96, freshman Nate Thompson will be joining him in the same event next week. "We are obviously saving our best performances for the D-III championships this week," Pitko said. "This weekend is the culmination of a season of hard work and perseverance, and we expect our performance in this meet will reflect our effort." Focused strictly on getting the necessary qualifying times, coach Connie Putnam did not take risks or overdo his lineup last weekend. Junior quad-captain Greg Devine took home top honors in the 400 (49.85). Fellow captain and senior Ben Smith finished second in the 1000 in a qualifying time of 2:37.91. The Jumbos turned in strong performances in the 1500, as sophomore Ian Joseph finished with a flourish and qualified for next weekend's meet with a time of 4:00.03. Meanwhile, in the 5000, senior Jason Mann turned in a solid fourth place finish (15:33.98). Like the runners, the jumpers - a unit consisting primarily of underclassmen - appear poised for the upcoming championship weekend. Sophomore Patrick Taylor had a solid second-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 13.46m. In his signature event, the long jump, Thompson placed second (6.43m). In another team strength, Tufts won the 4x800 relay, qualifying for next weekend's event easily with a time of 8:29.31. Coach Connie Putnam's squad is relaxed and confident, buoyed by its consistency throughout the year. "We've prepared for this weekend's meet since September," Devine said. "We are going to make a big impact on the D-III's, and other teams aren't going to be happy that we're there. "We've had a great season as a team and numerous individuals have repeatedly proven themselves to be standout athletes. We are confident." As the leaders of this team have professed all year long, this weekend represents the pinnacle of the season. Through a balanced line-up, the Jumbos have demonstrated their prowess as a legitimate top three team in the Div. III Northeast. Now, the stage has been set; and with their best performers on display, it is up to the team to perform.

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Squash ends tumultuous season on positive note

March 31

After a season of significant obstacles and a scattering of high points, the women's squash team closed out its season on a positive note. Though the final performances produced some disappointment among team members, most said the squad's overall finish was strong. The team officially wrapped up the season this past weekend by sending senior co-captain Anne Montesano to the Singles Nationals competition in New Jersey. Montesano won her first match in the B Flight Championship over Wesleyan's Tarsah Dale 3-0 on Friday morning, but fell to Bowdoin's Kristin O'Brien 0-3 that afternoon and lost her consolation match on Saturday by the same score against Haverford's Abby Stern. "I played really well [against Bowdoin]," Montesano said. "It was a great way to end the season." For coach Coach Doug Eng, Montesano's finish appearance at Nationals was a positive note on a season that underwent a rocky start. "The season started out tough," coach Doug Eng said. "Our first trip was difficult because we were traveling without several players. The freshmen didn't know what to expect, and there were a lot of nerves. We lost to teams that we could have beaten at full strength". Those losses included falling to Bowdoin college 5-4 by just two points on Jan. 27, and losing to Connecticut College 5-4 on Feb. 10. Injuries proved damaging, too. Included in the list of missing players during the early matches was the team's top player, junior Winne So. Eng said everyone felt the loss of the number one player and that it put the team in a tough position. Montesano agreed, saying that "when she was gone it was a challenge for all of us because we all had to move up to a spot we weren't familiar with." As a result, each Tufts athlete competed against more challenging players than usual. Eng also said that So's absence resulted in a change of focus for the team. While goals had been set last season to win the division at Nationals, the team felt differently without its top player in place. "Our goals became more qualitative," Eng said. "We weren't playing by the numbers; we were playing well in matches for players to win their matches." Nevertheless, the team did see some high points in So's absence. On Dec. 2, the women beat Wesleyan 7-2. And on Nov. 17 when So, sophomore AJ Crane and freshman Nida Ghouse were all absent, the team lost to a strong William Smith by just one point. Knowing that the team could continue to play strong without its top player was crucial. "That was what made the Wesleyan win so big for us," Eng said. When So returned, the team's confidence picked up. Players no longer felt they were in a losing position, and were able to think positively. So admitted to playing an important psychological role on the time. "I kind of have to step it up sometimes and help out other players when they're having problems, but I don't mind," So said. For most of the team's players, the season ended on the weekend of Feb. 15-17 with wins in two of its three Howe Cup Tournament matches. Montesano said the meet ended an up and down season on a decidedly up note. "Everyone came together at the end of the season and was playing solidly by nationals," she said. "We all wanted to end up playing strong and I think we did." So, who won all three of her matches that weekend, felt differently. "Personally it was kind of a disappointment, but I think everyone gave their all," she said. Now, the women are looking ahead to next year. The team will lose Montesano and senior Justine Kurland, while sophomore Leigh Checchio will take a leave of absence. The team is looking at a couple of recruits, and junior Abigail Cushman will be back at number two. "It will be pretty much the same team as at the end of this season, so it will be solid," Eng said. "[This year we were] very deep in the middle of the lineup. Next year we will be more spread out". So said the most important thing next year is team confidence. "We're still a very young team," she said. "Some of the players have just picked up squash in college, so they might not have the right mindset. They get intimidated when the other player is strong."

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Brown and Brew cools customers with Denise's desserts

March 31

Campus coffee spot Brown and Brew has made life tastier for Jumbos with a sweet tooth by adding Denise's Homemade Ice Cream to its food menu. And Brown and Brew accepts Dining Points and Dining Dollars, a feature not offered by the Denise's ice cream store, making it an even more convenient option for students. The deal has been in the works for some time and was finalized over the summer. Brown and Brew Manager Dave Ford said the high quality of the ice cream and the variety of unique flavors, such as chai tea, were reasons for offering Denise's. "We discovered an extremely good product in Denise's ice cream and felt it would be a nice addition to our product line." Denise and Stanley Zafran try to use ingredients that are natural and of the highest quality, Ford said. The ice cream is made at the Davis Square store in Somerville. Brown and Brew will offer vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and coffee ice cream every day, and that eight rotating specialty flavors will be offered on a weekly basis. The coffee shop will also serve what Ford called "substantially tall" frappes, and two specialty desserts, called the Brownie Brew Royale and the Midnight Delight. At the new ice cream station, customers can also order frozen blended coffee, espresso, and chai drinks, which were added to the menu this summer. Brown and Brew has also created a new sandwich menu.Conveniently enough, Brown and Brew is located just yards from the Tufts gym.

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Sox take three of four from Yanks

March 31

The eyes of New England, and much of the baseball world, focused on Fenway Park last weekend, where the mighty New York Yankees brought their $124 million pay roll to Boston to take on the revamped Red Sox. The series began Friday night and concluded with an 11 a.m. Patriots' Day start on Monday. The Sox won three of the four games played, with the most exciting coming on Saturday, when second-year third baseman Shea Hilenbrand went yard on Mariano Rivera to give Boston the victory. While Joe Torre's squad is far from hitting the panic button, the weekend series was important for Boston, which, with new ownership and coaching, is intent on asserting itself as a contender in the AL East. Fielding woes continued to plague the Bronx Bombers. New York leads the American League in errors, and costly defensive mistakes by Bernie Williams, Alfonso Soriano, Robin Ventura and Derek Jeter contributed to the Yankees' losses last weekend. Williams and Jason Giambi, both better than career .300 hitters, have struggled mightily in the early goings of 2002. With John Burkett and Dustin Hermanson on the disabled list, the Red Sox' pitching will only improve. And with Manny Ramirez and Tony Clark due to start clubbing homeruns, things are looking up in Boston. The NL East has been baseball's toughest division so far, and don't expect that trend to end anytime soon. The distance between the first-place Mets and the cellar-dwelling Braves is a mere 2.5 games. The Montreal Expos, expected to be miserable, have played near .500 baseball, while the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins both hope to make the playoffs. Baseball's best story has been the Cleveland Indians. After losing Roberto Alomar and Juan Gonzalez from last year's team, Cleveland is 11-1 so far in 2002. Jim Thome is a big reason for the success; the first-baseman slugger was the AL's player of the week, hitting .350 with four homeruns and 11 RBIs. The contributions of ageless outfielder Ellis Burks and the newfound offensive prowess of shortstop Omar Vizquel have also helped the Indians' winning ways. But what the Indians finally seem to possess is a deep and talented pitching staff. C.C. Sabathia, the big lefty fireballer, is proving that last year, his rookie season, was no fluke. Bartolo Colon has been impressive despite a waistline as big as his ERA is small. Chuck Finley, the lefty veteran, has been solid despite a public domestic incident with his wife, and newcomer Danny Baez has the stuff to be a star in the league for some time to come. The Detroit Tigers have been baseball's worst team, despite a new ballpark and a semi-talented roster. A few years back, with Tony Clark and Bobby Higginson, the Tigers had two potential superstars on their roster. But Clark, who battled injuries and media criticism in his years in Detroit, departed for Boston in the off-season, and Higginson has never fulfilled his vast potential. The Tigers are a team without an identity, nor a direction. Their "best" pitcher is Jose Lima, who pitches like he's supposed to give up homeruns. There is no indication that the Tigers will turn things around in the future, and it will most definitely be another losing season for Detroit.

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ResLife director to be named soon

March 31

A new Residential Life Director may be identified as soon as next week, as the search committee has only one candidate left to interview. Out of approximately 45 initial responses to the nationally advertised vacancy, four candidates have been identified from various institutions and backgrounds. Once the committee has made a recommendation to the administration, the University will engage in negotiations to secure the applicant. Associate Dean of Students Marisel Perez chairs the committee and said that the results so far had been excellent. "They all have experience in the living and learning environment," Perez said. "This is one of the most important aspects that we're looking for in a candidate." According to Perez, the three out-of-state candidates are from Ohio, Alabama, and North Carolina. The other is from a "local, large university." All are at the Associate or Director level in their respective residential life programs, but only one is from a private institution. Each of the four candidates has spent a day at Tufts with students, administrators, and residential life staff members. Many of the RAs and administrators will provide the search committee with feedback on their experiences. After processing that information, the committee will make a decision on a candidate and recommend him or her to Dean of Students Bruce Reitman and Dean of Academic Services Kristine Dillon. Residential Life has been without a permanent director for a year and a half and, according to Perez, "needs leadership and support." The director - replaced on an interim basis by Lorraine Toppi - will be instrumental in implementing the pilot programs designed to make the residential life system stronger. These programs coincide with president Larry Bacow's larger plan to increase the "community feel" of the Medford campus; other aspects include new dorm designs and the Taskforce on Undergraduate Education. Perez said that the prospective directors had been shown Daily articles about these initiatives in order to better acquaint them with the changes planned at Tufts. "We presented our current situation and asked what strengths they will bring with them," Perez said. "They talked about how to get students to buy into this initiative and how will they go about strengthening residential life." Perez said that the candidates are currently in "exciting positions" and come from "solid, comprehensive" residential-life systems. "They seem to come up with very creative approaches," she said. "One thing that stuck in my mind is that they are reaching out to alumni who have a connection to a house or a dorm. They've gotten them to sponsor things, even things like lounges." The committee screened the initial 45 candidates and narrowed the list to 10. It then reached a consensus and ranked the applications. After more discussion, the committee chose the top four candidates and invited them to campus. After offering one person the position, Tufts will negotiate with the candidate. Though all of the candidates have expressed interest in Tufts, there are no guarantees that any one will accept the offer once it is given. Perez said that salary was not the only item that might be discussed. The perspective director might want other concessions or guarantees should he or she accept the job, so expectations must be realistic. While the University will try to be accommodating, there is the chance that a candidate might ask for something impractical for the school. "We can't wave a magic wand to provide everything they need," Perez said.

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News

Cruise, Crowe, and Hackman headline strong film crop

March 31

In the last of a two-part series, the Daily examines best and worst of the winter movie season. Encompassing an unusual scope of diverse thematic material, these last films range from the traditional love story to the more abstract art films. Vanilla Sky3.5 out of 5 stars It's one thing if someone tells me a movie isn't worth my money or my time. It's another matter when someone tells me it's not worth the time it takes to buy the ticket to a movie. They're not exactly fighting words, but they're enough to make me anxious. Either this movie must be really awful, or brilliant... or, better yet, neither. What we have here is a mis-advertised, misunderstood movie. Tom Cruise plays David Aames, a publishing playboy who can have pretty much whatever he wants. He has a fabulous girlfriend (Cameron Diaz), a best friend that caves in to his every whim (Jason Lee), the company his dad left him, and any toy he wants. His world also has hidden dangers, as an early dream sequence shows a completely empty Times Square with David lost and helpless. Or is it a dream? Soon, there is reason to doubt everything David says or does, as the film crosscuts between a conversation with a therapist (Kurt Russell), life before and after a major accident, and David fighting for control of his company. All of this has something to do with a woman named Sofia (Penelope Cruz), whom Cruise spent the night with before the accident. Does she love him? Is she teasing him? Does she even exist? You have to ask yourself what you would rather see: a studio film that tries to be a little smart and risks failing, or one that sticks to being dumb and slick? It's all what you bring to the movie, what you know about it and expect from it. The person who told me it wasn't worth their ticket-buying time summed it up like this: "It's a murder mystery where the murder never happened." Or, you can see it as something more than a thriller, as a film that actually takes a stab at larger questions of life. Though slightly arrogant and without the payoff you'd hope for, it's a genuine attempt nonetheless. Or you could interpret it any number of other ways. So, what is it? American Psycho or Eyes Wide Shut? Both, I suppose. I walked in hearing from many that they hated it, and one person who had seen it twice and loved it. I didn't know what to expect. What I got was something a bit above the bar, and some very interesting performances combined with amazing shots. There are locations here that have been filmed many times in many ways, but never like this. The Times Square sequence deserves some kind of award, and I've never seen a dance club portrayed more vividly or filled with dread. Cruise does very good work and takes big risks here -if you're known for your pretty face, it takes serious guts to scar it up and still carry a movie. Kurt Russell and Cameron Diaz turn in amazing supporting performances, and Cruz goes the extra mile by not screwing it up (she almost single-handedly ruined Johnny Depp's Blow) Once you see the solution to the movie's puzzle, you will either feel elated or ripped-off. I thought it was clever. The clues play fair, and while it's no Fight Club or The Usual Suspects, it's smarter than the average thriller. (Did you see Travolta's Domestic Disturbance? Neither has anyone else, because the trailers told you everything that happened.) Unless someone gives it away, Vanilla Sky is packed with surprises. You may not like the way the movie twists and turns but at least you probably didn't see it coming. For a Tom Cruise movie, that may be enough.Mullholland Drivestars not applicable Mullholland Drive is not a film, it's a piece of art. I'm not trying to be arrogant or artsy, and I don't mean "art" to imply that it's head and shoulders above all mainstream films. It is "art" in that it is not a plot- or character-driven story but a moving canvas - an artifact, meant to be studied but not understood. An object. That's not exactly fair to the actors, who were originally working on something that was going somewhere. Robert Forester, Dan Hedaya, country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, Ann Miller (an old musical star)... all show up and then fade away into the fog of mystery that surrounds everything in this movie. There's room for mobsters, detectives, pool men, mysterious cowboys, film directors, a bum that looks like a monkey, and two girls who are trying to figure out who they are. Literally. One of them (Laura Harring) can't remember who she is, and stumbles into the life of plucky Betty (Naomi Watts) who just moved to Los Angeles and wants to be an actress. Maybe. Halfway through the movie, a small blue box is opened and suddenly everything is different -identities shift, fates reverse and nobody, no audience member or actor knows what the hell is going on. The movie originated as a television pilot for ABC, and I can imagine what happened shortly after it screened for the executives.Executives: What the hell?! We can't air this! No television audience will understand it! We've wasted untold piles of money!Director David Lynch: (evil cackle) Excellent. Perhaps you'd like to talk about selling the footage... And so Lynch bought the footage of the pilot, filmed about 20 minutes more, re-edited it and issued it out for the film-going public's confusion. This film has been placed on top of many lists, receiving many awards. While it is worthy of praise, I don't think it deserves best movie of the year. Most movies try to tell a story: how characters get from point A to point B. In this film, not only is the journey in question, but there may not even be any points A or B. I'm not saying all films have to follow all the rules, but that it's unfair to draw comparisons with such dissimilar work. I'm sure Peter Jackson could have cranked out a completely upside down version of Fellowship of the Ring, if he'd really wanted to. Lynch has always been one to experiment with film. He single-handedly deconstructed the classic Dune in such a way that even hardcore fans were bewildered (the Sci-Fi Channel's version may make a lot more sense, but did not linger in the mind nearly as much). He explored the depths in suburbia in Blue Velvet, which paved the way for the more straightforward American Beauty years later. He changed TV with Twin Peaks, and made me throw the remote at my television with Lost Highway. Of all of these, there was at least a story to tell (well, maybe not in Lost Highway). But this time, he has done something truly bold. He has taken a television idea, destined to be shelved forever, and turned it into an expressionist film. The mystery is not the point. The point is the reactions he draws from you. Setting up expectations, poking at possible plot directions... messing with you. Perhaps the greatest tease of the movie is the establishment of a very true, very real romance between the lead girls (both of whom turn in amazing performances) and then completely mixing everything up. You want the characters to get back together, but they are now different people. Literally. Or maybe not. Who knows? I give up. Call me when you figure it out. Would I recommend it? How do I recommend a painting? It is as fascinating as a bizarre dream that you remember in vivid detail, and I'd say it's definitely worth a long, hard look. But if you want an escape, a nice story, a good mystery or a chilling thriller, stay away. Lynch is driving, which means there may be no destination at all.A Beautiful Mind5 starsA Beautiful Mind may not be the best film of the year, but if it wins for best picture, I'll have no complaints. It has a wonderful story, is masterfully directed and written, and has amazing performances. A Hollywood wet dream - a movie with something for everyone that still remains a very specific, original story. Romance! Intrigue! Action! Mystery! Debilitating Disease! And best of all, based on a true story! It is all these things and more. Based on the life of Nobel Prize winner John Nash, it follows the mathematician from graduate school to his award ceremony. Nash is played by Russell Crowe, who ages convincingly some forty-seven years in what may be the performance of his career. Ironically, he may not win this year because he won last year for Gladiator, which still has people grumbling that Tom Hanks was robbed for Cast Away. Of course, the only reason that Hanks didn't win was because he had done so twice before and so... anyway. Politics are politics. He'll be nominated and deserves to win. Nash wins the prize for his economic theories, which he develops while at graduate school. He is a recluse, with no close friends except for his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany), who takes pity on him and tries to coax him out of his shell. His other classmates are not so kind. They snigger and make jokes about him until one of their snide comments inspires his theory. The scene in which he explains it is priceless, and may feed the suspicions that even brilliant men have but one thing on their minds at all times (even Nash needed to get laid). Two important people enter his life simultaneously: one is Alice, a bright student who seems impossibly attracted to him and actually listens to his prattling about numbers. The other is a man named Parcher (Ed Harris), who works for the defense department and wants to hire Nash to find coded Russian messages in publications. Nash gets married, and the couple are happy for a time. But soon his professional and private lives collide, as he tries to help raise his child while evading Russian car chases at night. Those paying close attention might notice that certain characters seem omnipresent, or never really change their clothes. There is a reason for this. More I will not reveal, except that Nash suffers from schizophrenia and is subjected to some horrific treatments. They make him better but break his spirit, and soon he is in danger of losing everything. Faced with two choices he cannot make, he creates a third: he will reason his way out of his disease. The moment he makes his breakthrough rivals that of any other movie like it. Director Ron Howard makes very good choices with his handling of the disease, framing characters and showing how Nash sees the numbers. Special effects are wisely kept to a minimum -the story and acting are strong enough to carry the film. The cinematography is crisp but straightforward. Perhaps the biggest trick the movie pulls is making a legitimate actor out of Russell Crowe. Though many thought he was simply a piece of meat that got carried in the Gladiator push last year, this film destroys all of that. His accent may be occasionally shaky, but his mannerisms and conception of the character are brilliant. Playing a realistic deranged genius is a fine line, and Crowe treads it well. The film, the director and lead actor all deserve those gold statues that they give out once a year.The Royal Tenenbaums4 out of 5 stars Director/Writer Wes Anderson may not always make perfect films, but at least he goes to the trouble of making them interesting. The Royal Tenenbaums is not a great movie. It is uneven, bizarre, occasionally slow and crowded. It is also original, layered and often hilarious. That's more than a lot of the summer movies can say for themselves.Evolution, for instance, was a fun movie. Watching it was like hanging out with good friends while they goofed around, making it a low-key Ghostbusters III. But while I laughed, it was often not as funny as it could have been. The jokes worked, the characters worked and the story worked... but it did not go beyond that point. The extra effort that would turn it from a B/B+ Road Trip into an A/A+ Animal House was not there. At least it was funny. Scary Movie 2 attempted the same mission, and failed badly.The Royal Tenenbaums is often belly-achingly, teeth-cringingly funny. Its eccentricities are so weird, bizarre, and not of this earth that you can do nothing but laugh. There are also too many of them. Between estranged father Royal (Gene Hackman), the three siblings, Danny Glover as the white-haired accountant, and two completely pointless characters inhabited by Bill Murray and Owen Wilson (who co-wrote the script), the film has enough material to be a sizeable book. In fact, the film is presented as a book: chapters of a book are shown to mark time in the movie. Royal has not talked to his family in seven years, until he learns that account Glover has proposed to Royal's wife. Stirred by a long-buried longing for his estranged spouse, he is determined to stop the wedding. His solution: he tells her, "I'm dying. I have six weeks to live." This brings together the three Tenenbaum children: Richie (Luke Wilson), a former tennis pro, Chas (Ben Stiller), a financial whiz and safety nut, and adopted daughter Margot (Gweneth Paltrow), a playwright whose constant state of depression may be directly related to Royal always addressing her as "my adopted daughter." All of this is guided together into a mishmash of love, hatred, confusion and whimsy that lurches along from scenario to scenario as Royal tries to get to know the family he has ignored for years. The performances are mostly brilliant, with the exception of Bill Murray (a funny actor trapped in a very small role) and Owen Wilson (a funny actor trapped in a poorly-defined role) Their presence feels like an afterthought, though, as if the director said, "Nah, it's not quirky enough. More, MORE!" Gene Hackman, Luke Wilson, and Gweneth Paltrow deserve the most credit. While not his best performance, Hackman has a lot of fun being a bastard, delivering perfectly the funniest and most blunt lines to be heard this year. "What'd you think of my play?" asks 9 year old Margot. "It was crap. There was no characterization, they were animals up there for God's sake," he replies, then adding, "but don't take that so hard, honey." Paltrow dives into unchartered territory, playing a very morbid and dense character that can cause a laugh by simply standing and smoking. And Luke Wilson's tennis-playing, sister-loving weirdo is probably his best performance to date (not that Blue Streak was a great acting vehicle for anyone). In the end, the film is too weird and formless to call excellent. Anderson's camera tricks get old after awhile, and the film lacks the depth and sharpness of Rushmore (his previous effort). That doesn't detract from the originality of the script and vision, however. Tenenbaums may not be all it could have been, but it tries harder and reaches farther than any other comedy this year, and that's worth high praise.

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News

Dwarves, soliders, and Muhammed Ali

March 31

This past summer was classified as a lackluster movie season with only a handful of memorable films. But with few exceptions, this winter's selection may be just what Hollywood needs to salvage the film industry. Here, in the first of a two-part series, the Daily takes a look at the best and the worst movies that opened over winter break.Behind Enemy Lines, 1 1/2 stars out of fiveBehind Enemy Lines is a profoundly goofy military movie. It is to soldiers what Driven was to racecar drivers, or what Vertical Limit was to actual climbers. Over-the-top dialogue, completely unbelievable events, forced action, and overly "intense" cinematography make for a giant pile of cinematic crap. It'd make a great drinking game - players could easily get happy taking a sip every time the film either gets overly patriotic or blows something up. Damned if I don't have some kind of sick affection for it. Loosely based on the real events of Lt. Scott O'Grady (in the same way that O Brother Where Art Thou was "loosely" based on the Odyssey), it tells the story of Owen Wilson as a hotshot, snot-faced pilot and Gene Hackman as his admiral. The tone of the movie is set early on, as Pilot Snotnose whines, "I want to fight a real war! I've spent the last seven years serving my country!" Admiral Hackman growls, "You wouldn't know the first thing about serving your country! Dismissed!" And so on. Soon afterward, Pilot Snotnose and his co-pilot Mr. Doomed get shot down in what is a good mix of models, computers, and live action. It proves to be the movie's high point. It's Christmas Day, and the aggressors are the evil Serbs. Here's a handy guide to the villains in this movie: anyone who is not American is evil (unless if they are wacky and quote hip-hop lyrics- more on this later.) Seems our flyboys strayed from the flight path and photographed some mass graves, and the evil Serbs had to take them down. The pilots try to call for help, but are soon intercepted and co-pilot Doomed is killed by the Blue Jumpsuit Guy. He appears from out of nowhere, carrying a sniper rifle and taking orders from the Evil Serb Commander. He knows everywhere that Owen Wilson will go, and can appear and disappear at whim. In fact, he can do anything he wants except hit Owen Wilson with a bullet. Meanwhile, Hackman tracks his every move, clashing with the wimpy NATO commander and suddenly caring that Pilot Snotnose is in danger. Wilson can be a wonderful actor in the right parts: take his spaced-out cowboy in Armageddon or his stint as Ben Stiller's fashion sidekick in Zoolander. Hell, the man even pulled off a Jackie Chan movie successfully. But when he's out of his element, he can sink faster then Kevin Costner in a certain movie with Elvis impersonators. He's majorly out of his element here. It doesn't help that the screenplay calls for him to do most of his running in broad daylight, making one dumb move after another. Or that it calls for him to meet the Wacky Hip-Hop Serbian guy. You see, he wears an Ice Cube T-shirt and loves Public Enemy! What a wild and crazy guy! He also gives him a bottle of Coke when he asks for water, and Wilson actually says, "This is really good." God, I love the movies! Gene Hackman can bring credibility to any role, but he can also betray exactly what he thinks of the project he is working on. Here, he manages to wear the same expression, scene to scene: "My paycheck better not bounce, you bastards." While he was probably was able to buy a new house with what he got for this clunker, he probably has the same shudders at night that Halle Berry had after her peep show in Swordfish. You can almost see his eye twitch as he yells, "We've got a man out there! Behind Enemy Lines!" I like a bit of patriotic silliness now and then. I maintain that Armageddon was a great trashy spectacle of America kicking some serious asteroid butt. But even a post-Sept. 11 environment shouldn't allow for crap like this, which takes something as serious as genocide and the military and reduces it to the level of a bad video game. Dumb action movies are fine, but don't expect me to take a mysterious assassin in a blue jumpsuit seriously.Ocean's Eleven, 4 1/2 out of 5 stars Many have written off Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven as an entertaining but otherwise "light" movie, unworthy of serious praise. Roger Ebert wrote, "I enjoyed it, but now it's time for Soderbergh to get back to work." To this, I say - Stuff it, Roger. If, say, any of the popcorn movies this summer were as well made, well acted and as much fun as this new Ocean's Eleven, maybe you'd have a point. But no, this has been the year when the Epics sank (Planet of the Apes, Pearl Harbor), the Big Important Movies sucked (A.I., anyone?) and even the quality of the usual movie trash was poor (Tomb Raider, Behind Enemy Lines). This has been a year with a few very good movies and lots and lots of bad ones. This is a year that you treasure something as good as Ocean's Eleven.Danny Ocean (George Clooney) gets out of jail, and immediately reconnects with fellow con Dusty Ryan (Brad Pitt). The plan: get nine other guys and rob three casinos simultaneously. Each of the other nine are played by amazing character actors, including Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, Don Cheadle, and Korean acrobat Shabo Qin. Oh yeah, and Matt Damon for no reason other than that he's Matt Damon. Why not? Indeed, the spirit of the whole movie is "Why not?" Assemble the most talented group of actors since Magnolia, only without the seriousness? Why not? Bring in incredibly high tech gadgetry that makes James Bond look like a Radio Shack reject, only to have it all be throwaway gags? Why not? Bring in Julia Roberts for no reason other than she's Julia Roberts and should fall in love with George Clooney? Why not? The movie is neatly divided: the first half sets up the heist; the second half is the heist. This is exactly the right mix - we learn enough of the plan to feel aware, but are still left with surprises by the time the movie ends. Hollywood's newly re-discovered star director Soderbergh, who knew it was time to take a break from seriousness after Traffic, assembles all of this with a steady hand. He pulls it off almost flawlessly. The buildup is great fun and the heist sequence is amazing. The only misstep is near the end, when things get a little over-sentimental. These guys are bank robbers, not heroes, and the movie forgets that. But one false step can be forgiven for two hours of pure entertainment. Clooney has never been more self-assured, Pitt has never been more relaxed and Andy Garcia has never been a more perfect jerk. Everyone had fun making this movie; you can feel it in every scene. Ocean's Eleven is a giant party, and if a casino should happen to lose a few million dollars through its success, why not?Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, 5 starsWhatever small complaints you may have- the film is a little long, slightly confusing at times- they have the same impact of chucking rocks into an ocean. Pick if you want, but it won't take away from the sheer enormity of the achievement that New Line and director Peter Jackson (The Frighteners) have accomplished. In the hands of another studio and director, costs might have been cut and egos might have gotten in the way - Spielberg would have ruined this movie. In fact, virtually every studio did pass on this project until New Line, which threw caution to the wind and spent $200 million to film all three parts of the trilogy back to back. It has paid off. What vision and ambition it took to make this movie! There are shots of huge towers and caves, thousands of evil creatures working giant machines, a destroyed dwarven city... the visuals go on and on. They make every similar epic for the past three years look puny. The creatures are beyond amazing; the Harry Potter beasts look like Claymation comparatively. The battle scenes easily dwarf Episode I (or any other epic in a long time, for that matter) in terms of pacing and effect. The story delivers the promise of the book while moving along swiftly, captivating us for all three hours. Most importantly, the actors disappear under their makeup and emerge as flesh and blood characters that are actually interesting. Compare this to Planet of the Apes, where good actors like Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter were reduced to walking make-up kits. Ian Mckellan embodies the wizard Gandulf so completely that he will be remembered for this role more than any other in his film career. (He also gets the best moment in the movie, screaming "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" at a demon.) To call this the best movie of the year is inaccurate, and diminishes the impact the film will have. Memento or Moulin Rouge could be named better specific achievements in originality; Shrek or Monster's Inc. set new bars for what can be done with humor and storytelling in animation, and I had more fun with Snatch and Ocean's 11. However, with a few exceptions, those movies will be remembered specifically for 2001. Fellowship of the Ring will be remembered for the decade. This is a case where the achievement overshadows the individual take on the film. This is a Godfather, an Indiana Jones, a Back to the Future that is indicative of the era that spawned it. Partnered with The Two Towers and Return of the King (which I have no doubt will be of similar if not higher quality), Lord of the Rings will stand as an achievement that will spark endless dissection and imitation. (How long did it take after The Matrix for the first parody/rip-off of the 'bullet time' effect?) It will become a milestone for our popular film culture. I can't say everyone will love it or think it is great, but I will say they cannot easily forget it. How High, 3 out of 5 stars How can you defend a movie like How High? How can something so aggressively stupid, so ineptly plotted and poorly made still be a good movie? Ask yourself this: would you actual want a straightforward, semi-realistic, and tasteful movie about two rappers smoking weed that makes them smart so they can go to Harvard University? Does anyone want to see this? All I ask of a movie like this is that it be a) funny and b) not too obvious. After a slow start, the movie keeps building in both the ridiculous and the hilarious. The first five minutes of this movie are enough to make you turn and walk out. Method Man and Redman play two interchangeable losers/stoners who are about to make a last ditch effort to get into some kind of college. Between Redman's bossy mother and Method Man's even-bigger-loser friend, the movie is just as awful as it looks in the posters. Soon, however, one of their friends somehow becomes completely engulfed in flames, falls out of a window screaming, and gets hit by a bus. Method Man, so distraught over his friend's death, uses the ashes as fertilizer and... anyway, the point is, the friend comes back as a ghost and gives Method Man and Red Man the answers to the test and they ace it, but they can only see him when they're smoking him and... oh, never mind. At the 15-minute mark they're already at Harvard (which looks nothing like Harvard whatsoever, but who cares). Who cares, indeed? Character, plot, editing - all of these are thrown aside in the name of the jokes. And the jokes are funny, some of them surpassing Animal House in terms of randomness and raunchiness. You don't see a lot of it coming: you expect the crew team captain to be a jerk and be snobby, but you don't expect the coach to say to our heroes, "I've hated this kid for years. Keep cutting him down and you'll make the team." You expect the guys to have the usual pot-smoking hallucinations, but not for other people to see them as well. (When Redman's mother appears to berate him, the crew team captain screams, "Who is that huge bitch in the sky!?") And when they lose their ghost-summoning stash, we get the predictable montage of lets-study-and-ace-this-on-our-own! But they fail anyway. And that's before the random pimps show up and start slapping the bejezus out of everyone in sight. Look, was it trash? Yes. Was it stupid and tasteless? Yes. Was it funny? Oh, mercy, yes.Ali, 2 out of 5 stars Ali is an enigmatic failure. The film has a solid central performance and great actors filling in all the side roles. It had the budget, the backing and a bad-ass subject to study. And yet, the question keeps coming in your head: Why? Why are important details left out? Why are we left confused and underwhelmed after so many scenes? Why does the film assume we already know who every character is? Events unfold with little impact as we are told little and shown less, and yet the film runs two and a half hours (and feels longer). In the trailer, there was a scene where Jamie Foxx's character briefly introduced himself to Ali. That scene has been cut in half, and there is no further explanation of his character. He's lucky - most of the characters are all introduced in throwaway moments or not at all. It takes three or four scenes before we even catch their names. Jeffery Wright, Ron Silver, Joe Morton, Mario Van Peebles, and Jada Pinkett Smith are left stranded, trying to stay afloat even though we're not sure why they hang around. Only Jon Voight triumphs as Howard Cosell, managing to carve an impression through his accent and face makeup. But if the film is taken as the real story of Ali, then his closest friend and confidant was... Howard Cosell. None of his other friends get close. Strangely enough, the problem isn't Smith - he does a good job of transforming himself into a credible boxer, and handles the newsreel footage re-creation scenes smoothly and passionately. He has the public Ali down. It is in the private scenes that the character completely falls apart, as he is sullen and unresponsive until he gets on camera. If this is true, why not draw attention to it and explore it? Was he really only alive when he is on camera? Or could they just not think of what he would say? It seems as though director Michael Mann left out most of the back story in favor of artistic montages of Ali training and running. After two and a half hours, I have seen enough artistic montages to last a lifetime... and yet I know nothing more about the man himself. You learn he fought some people, became the champ, fought the courts briefly, had women problems and then went to Africa. And he was quite the card at press conferences. Then a title card comes up, saying he got divorced two more times. The movie ends. If you've ever seen footage of the actual man (or better yet, the documentary When We Were Kings) you can see the impact Ali had as a public figure and icon. He would not compromise and would not back down to anybody. The movie shows no real insight into this public figure. It's not that the movie doesn't have the answers, it's that it doesn't even ask the questions.

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News

Globe' journalist, alum reflects on time in Afghanistan

March 31

Boston Globe reporter and Tufts alumnus Pat Healy (LA'93) highlighted his experiences as an American journalist in Afghanistan when he spoke with students Tuesday night in Barnum 104. Healy, who has recently resumed his post as the higher education beat reporter for the Globe, spent November through January covering the war abroad. Healy related experiences of living in Afghanistan in the midst of the US attack on the Taliban. Keeping with Globe policy, he was constantly accompanied by a hired translator and an armed guard during his six week stay. He said that other than being pelted with rocks and butted with a gun, he was overall not treated violently. He also noticed disparities between men and women in the area - some military men refused to talk to women, and rumors of rape were constantly circulating. Healy said the recent murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearle by a Pakistani terrorist group made a significant impact on nearly everyone in the field of journalism, but especially those who spent time in Afghanistan. "It made younger journalists lose the feeling of looking for an adventure and experience, and made everyone more serious," he said. About eight or nine other people who were not accompanied by armed guards have been killed, he said. Following the speech, audience questioned ranged from Healy's experiences in Afghanistan to journalism in general. Regarding the war, questions were asked about Afghanis' views on Americans, and on Healy's thoughts about the prospect of peace in the area. Senior Stephan Lukac said the event was worthwhile, and that he valued the opportunity to hear the perspective of someone who has been in the area. "I'm very cynical about the modern media and them being honest with us in their coverage," he said. "This way, things don't get blown out of proportion." Healy is a former Daily Editor-in-Chief and English major. His first job was at a conservative daily newspaper in New Hampshire, and he later wrote for the weekly Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington DC. But Healy missed the rush he felt when working for a daily paper, and ended up landing his "dream job" at the Globe, one of the country's most prominent newspapers. He found his way to Afghanistan after the Globe sought volunteers to send overseas in the wake of Sept. 11. Healy said he was apprehensive about the trip, but couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity. After six weeks overseas, though, he said he was glad to be back. The Jumbo Media Group, a newly-formed club for students interested in different areas in communications, brought Healy to campus. President Sarah Friedman was in charge of organizing Healy's talk, with the help Susan Eisenhower of Tufts' Communications and Media Studies program. Eisenhower keeps in touch with alumni in the media field, so when the group inquired about a speaker involved in current events and media, she directed them to Healy. Healy, who has covered Tufts stories for the Globe, said he enjoyed being back at Tufts and reminisced about taking two classes in Barnum. "It was a pleasure to speak here, and the questions were excellent," he said.

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