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Harvard confirms Summers next president

March 31

As Tufts continues its own search for a new president, former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers passed the final hurdle to become Harvard University's 27th president. Acting on the recommendation of the presidential search committee, the Board of Overseers confirmed his appointment yesterday afternoon at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan. Summers will replace current president Neil H. Rudenstine, who will step down in June after steering the 355-year-old university for a decade, according to The Harvard Crimson. Sources close to the search committee say that Summer's close ties to Harvard's undergraduate population - stemming from his nearly ten years as a professor there - were among the chief reasons for his selection, according to The Boston Globe. The economist was well regarded as treasury secretary under the Clinton administration. He served in that position for just over one year, after four years as deputy secretary and two years as undersecretary for international affairs. When he left the White House with the rest of the Clinton administration, Summers became a fellow at the Brookings Institute, a renowned think tank. His position, however, came with no binding commitments. Despite his many years spent in the political world, Summers is no stranger to academia. He graduated from MIT in 1975 and received his doctorate from Harvard. At age 28, he received the distinction of becoming Harvard's youngest tenured professor. He served as a domestic policy economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers and, in 1993, won the John Bates Clark Medal, presented every two years to the most outstanding American economist under the age of 40. He also served as chief economist for the World Bank from 1991 to 1993. Summers was one of four finalists identified by Harvard's search committee. Initially, many media outlets had focused on University of Michigan President Lee C. Bollinger as the front-runner for the job. The Harvard Independent even ran a profile of Bollinger in its most recent issue, with the explanation that "The Harvard Independent, working in collaboration with the Michigan Daily, has received information... [that] leads us to believe [that Bollinger] will be the next president." But Bollinger was not the only candidate being seriously considered, as The Daily Princetonian reported in a Feb. 6 article that Princeton Professor Amy Gutmann was "at the top of [the] list" of Harvard's candidates. Now that the Harvard community knows for sure that Summers will be its next leader, many have expressed their approval. "I think he'll do a pretty good job," Harvard sophomore Kate Greenthal said. "Although he has been in politics in the past few years, he was in academia before." However, one student organization, the Harvard Progressive Student Labor Movement, was not so happy with the selection and plans to protest the nomination of Summers because of economic policies he supported while serving working at the World Bank. Though various media outlets have been following the search closely, Greenthal did not feel as though Harvard students were very interested in the process. "In general I don't think students have been following it," she said. When Harvard began its search for a new president, a number of media groups said that other presidential searches would have to take a back seat until the nation's most storied institution made its selection.

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News

Excerpts from rules regarding the Election Boards

March 31

The TCU constitution - Article IV: The Elections Board A. Roles and Responsibilities1) Organize and conduct a) Campus-wide elections to the TCU Senate, TCUJ, and Committee on Student Life (CSL). c) Student referenda. 2) Insure fair elections. 3) Be the arbiter of any disputes concerning an election. 4) Resolve all ties and grievances. 5) Uphold and defend the word and spirit of this Constitution and the by-laws of the Elections Board. Elections Board by-lawsElection Day...Poll workers selected by ELBO will man the poll stations. The method for verifying a student's right to vote will be determined by ELBO before the election process... Votes will be collected and held in headquarters until they are counted and the winner is determined. Candidates may not campaign within 50 feet of a polling station. Counting the Votes: Each ballot shall consist of one vote. The counts shall be conducted solely by ELBO members or its designated officials, none of whom are candidates. The candidate(s) with the most votes will be declared the winner(s). A count of the total votes cast must also be maintained. Arbitration: Candidates have the right to ask for arbitration if there is a dispute they wish to contend regarding the election. ELBO has the right to make rulings on such appeals. Appeals: Appeals must be made within three academic days of the election. Appeals will be heard by ELBO at a meeting. All appeals decisions are final.

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News

McCullough, 'Truman' author, to receive diploma

March 31

Two prominent individuals will join keynote speaker Jim Lehrer in receiving honorary degrees at this year's commencement ceremony, Tufts announced yesterday. Biographer and journalist David McCullough and literary critic Helen Vendler were selected for the honor because of their roles as public intellectuals who embody fundamental Tufts values, University officials said. "These three people are among the rare breeds of intellectuals in this country," Provost Sol Gittleman said. They represent "every walk of life, of things we cherish at the University." Gittleman said this year's selections are particularly important because they are highly respected in the world of academia, but are also extremely influential in the daily lives of the general public. "Public intellectuals are people of the highest intellectual merit, but who speak to the public, and that is what a university is all about," he said. Like Lehrer, McCullough is a prominent figure for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and is known for his popular series, "The American Experience," which airs daily. "I can only offer my own personal view - McCullough's PBS show is the only news I listen to each day," Gittleman said. The provost praised the PBS show because it attracts viewers of all ages. "You can be ten or you can be 60 and watch the show... [McCullough] embodies what life-long learning is all about." The renowned academic and graduate of Yale University is also the author of a number of books, including Truman, which earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for its controversial depiction of the former US president. McCullough has also participated in the White House presidential lecture series and speaks occasionally in America and abroad. McCullough will share the stage with Harvard University English Professor Helen Vendler, one of the country's most respected poetry critics. Vendler has authored more than ten books, which include in-depth critiques of the works of John Keats and Wallace Stevens. Like Lehrer and McCullough, Vendler is recognized not only for her work as an academic but also for her role in the public arena. "She is perhaps the most respected literary critic in the New England region and yet she writes for The New Yorker - she speaks to the public, she teaches," Gittleman said. Vendler has received 16 other honorary university degrees, including diplomas from Columbia and Yale. The renowned academic has drawn praise from an array of newspapers and journals nationwide. "Helen Vendler puts herself entirely at the service of the poets she is talking about. Although she writes too well to be invisible, she does not compete or pontificate either," wrote Anatole Broyard of the New York Times. "What she does is offer the poetry to you." Honorary degree recipients are chosen by a committee of trustees. The committee members, however, look to students, faculty, and other trustees for inspiration in the selection process.

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News

Challenging race perceptions at Tufts

March 31

On the first night of orientation for members of the Class of 2006, members of my advising group and I listened to the performances of the campus' six a cappella singing groups. As I saw each group perform, I was quite impressed and inwardly pleased. The Orientation Committee had implemented and made part of its permanent programming the inclusion of all of the recognized a cappella groups, one of the recommendations that the Task Force on Race had made in its report issued in 1997. I had been a member of the Task Force Subcommittee on Student Life and was pleasantly surprised that our efforts were becoming institutionalized. Yet, listening to the six ensembles and then reading the Daily's news analysis of The Princeton Review's ranking of race relations on the Tufts campus reveal to me the ongoing complexities and ironies of discussions and perceptions of race relations and interracial contact on campus. There is far more contact and cooperation between and among individual members of racial groups and between and among student organizations and campus offices than either ThePrinceton Review ranking or the Daily article would suggest. I have read the Tufts profile in The Princeton Review (which is quite laudatory). Yet, the ranking of respective campuses on a wide variety of issues is contained in an earlier section of the profile compilation. Any student of survey data or polling opinion, however, could point to any number of shortcomings in the presentation of the ranking system. First, a careful reader would take issue with the phrasing of the question about interaction among races as "race interaction" is largely presented as "black/white" interaction only. Secondly, the editors of ThePrinceton Review provide no full explanation of methodology or criteria used to determine ranking. A reader of the list realizes that many of the campuses ranked "poor" in terms of "little race/class interaction" are smaller, private institutions of elite status, schools with 5,000 or fewer undergraduate students. However, many of those institutions ranked "good" in terms of race/class interaction are very large public and private institutions (NYU, Boston University, UCLA, University of Miami, and Florida State, for example). Might there be a correlation between overall campus population and opportunities for interaction between members of different groups? The Princeton Review editors never explore that probability. The Princeton Review rankings aside, why do so many individuals on this campus who comment upon "poor" race relations focus their opinions upon tables in the dining halls occupied by students or upon the nature of some targeted programming by several of the centers? That many but not all students of African descent or Asian descent sit together in dining halls is a matter of voluntary choice that friends and acquaintances make. Such seating arrangements, contrary to semantic presumptions, are not forms of "self-segregation." Moreover, the ongoing commentary that the existence of such tables is an indication of "poor" relations between students of different races without concurrent commentary about all other seating arrangements among friends and acquaintances (again voluntary choices) unfairly places the onus upon students of color for their "unwillingness" to interact. There are many more indicators of interactions between students of different races-from casual acquaintances to close friendships - from roommate assignments that go beyond the first year, from involvement in clubs, campus organizations and on the several athletic teams. Consider, for example, the Third Day Gospel Choir. I have personally witnessed the evolution of "Third Day" from a small group of students of African descent to its current composition of one-hundred plus voices-male and female-from all racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds. What unites the members of Third Day is their individual and collective love of singing music from a Black Christian tradition, a reversal of traditional notions of interracial contact in which students of African descent were or are expected to join groups or activities heretofore all-white or predominantly white in membership or origin. Secondly, consider the relationship between "Essence" and "Shir Appeal." For the past three years, these two singing groups have sponsored several joint concerts yearly in which each performs music from African diasporic and Jewish diasporic traditions. Lastly, even with the acrimony and tension of last year, the fact that several student-led panel presentations on race were held are signs that healthy and passionate discussions (which in and of themselves are forums for interaction) can take place. To those who view the culture centers as promoting "segregation" on campus, there is a tendency to gloss over the bridge building work done by each of these offices. While each center as part of its mission provides programming, particularly during orientation, which is earmarked for its student constituency, such programming is not the sole undertaking of the individual centers. As someone who has worked closely on programming initiatives with each of the current center directors, I can attest to their ongoing efforts at outreach. At every public gathering, the respective center directors encourage ALL students to visit culture houses and to attend, when possible, public events sponsored by the respective centers. Thus, for example, students from all races are invited to attend "Asian-American Jeopardy," take a walking tour of Boston's Chinatown, take part in Asian American Month activities, attend Latino Film Festivals, listen to speakers sponsored by ALAS and the Latino Center, celebrate Latino Heritage Month, attend Black History Month programs, attend the Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by the Pan-African Alliance or the African diasporic film festival. For the past several years, the "Remembrance Day Observance" sponsored by the Asian-American Center has involved both faculty and senior administrative staff in academic discussions of the impact of the internment of Japanese Americans, reactions to the interments by other ethnic and racial groups, and current discussions of racial profiling. In addition, the Africana Center and the Hillel Center have presented several programs examining "Black-Jewish Relations" or presenting the musical traditions and religious experiences of indigenous Jews in Uganda. While opinions of "poor" race relations or "little" contact between students of different races may be noted by those both inside and outside of Tufts, to those involved in programming and to those many Tufts students of all races who avail themselves of the genuine and many opportunities for interaction, the realities speak otherwise and merit a far more positive ranking in terms of race relations. Gerald Gill is a professor in the History Department.

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News

Public health risk: The food technology crisis

March 31

Should we fear our food? In my opinion, yes. An article was recently published in The Daily regarding food technology and all it has to offer ("Genetic engineering of food: For the test tube or your dinner plate?" 4/3). However, the negatives surrounding this issue were tip toed around and I believe everyone should be aware of what's happening to our food. The three main controversial points to genetically engineered (GE) food are environmental harm, public information, and regulation. You would assume that the government only allows technologies to be implemented that have been thoroughly tested and proven to do no harm. But this is not the case regarding GE foods and the environment. For example, the corn that produces its own pesticide, Bt corn, has toxic effects on monarch butterflies. Also, RoundUp Ready Pesticide has been shown to threaten at least 74 endangered plant species as well as possibly cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. GE crops can lead to pollen drift, which results in genetic pollution of non-GE crop fields as well as super weeds and contaminated soil. In the 20th century alone, approximately 75 percent of genetic diversity within agriculture has been lost. These affects are only the beginning. In case you haven't noticed, your food does not have labels on it informing you that there are GE ingredients within the product. Consumers do not have the choice to avoid eating these ingredients. For those of you who don't think this is a problem, let me convince you with three examples: First off, vegetarians may be consuming animal products that have had their genes spliced into a vegetable. Secondly, Jews who keep kosher may be unknowingly eating pork products. And most frighteningly, people allergic to nuts and other food products may be eating those life-threatening foods without even knowing it. This last example has already occurred when Brazil nut genes were spliced into soybeans with no label on the product. There is ongoing research investigating two dozen possible allergic reactions in people who consumed StarLink corn this past fall before it could be recalled. How safe does that sound? In my opinion, government regulations are there to protect the public first and foremost, not the corporations behind the technology. The three big organizations that regulate food products are the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At this point, the USDA only requires minimal ecological tests during field trials and is one of the biggest funders of biotech research. The FDA considers GE foods substantially equivalent to traditionally grown food and therefore requires no safety testing or toxicological analysis. The EPA looks out for potential environmental and human effects, but does not require labeling. The biotech industry is so powerful and economically influential that government organizations are not pressuring it to be cautious. This may be boosting the biotech companies, but it's hurting the farmers who are becoming more and more dependent on the companies to supply them with seeds and chemicals. Where will the government draw the line? While I applaud the efforts of biotech companies to help solve world hunger, creating more food is not the priority at this point. The real priority is distributing it more equally. Also, that ever-so-wonderful Golden A Rice that you've been hearing so much about is not solving any problems. For a child to receive the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A, he would have to eat eight pounds of this rice per day, which is completely ridiculous. Also, GE foods may be considered more nutritious at times, but that positive factor is cancelled out by all the chemicals used to produce the food. You may be wondering how much of our food contains GE ingredients. The current estimate is 75 percent of processed foods contain GE ingredients, including brands such as Gardenburger, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. GE foods are everywhere and there's no avoiding them unless you eat 100 percent organic food, and that's not necessarily a guarantee. So what can you do to help change the future of our food? I have some suggestions to become active in this battle. Try checking out some informative websites for GE food activism and ways to get involved (www.cleanwateraction.org -the Safe Foods Campaign, www.thecampaign.org, www.gene-watch.org) and possibly start an activist group on campus to remove GE foods from Dining Services. You can petition local government officials to get GE foods labeled in the supermarkets and support three upcoming bills in the Massachusetts Legislature regarding GE foods. Also, boycott local supermarkets, like Shaw's and Star Market, whose storebrand food has tested positive for GE ingredients (their parent company in England banned all GE ingredients several years ago). These are some of the many ways to get involved. Just a few more facts: The US is one of only two major industrialized countries that allows GE foods into the food supply. Most of Europe has banned it and will not import a large majority of our crops. In case you're still not convinced of the potential risks of GE foods, I'd like to leave you with a quote from the director of corporate communications for Monsanto (a leading biotech corporation), Phil Angell. He said, "Monsanto should not have to vouch for the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible" (New York Times Magazine, 1998).Alison Patti is a senior majoring in biology. She is working on the Safe Foods Campaign at Clean Water Action in Boston.

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News

Calling all cell phone users

March 31

There are three obvious downsides to studying at Tisch Library. They are the humming of the fluorescent lights, the quality of the lighting, and the illegal use of cell phones. The humming puts me to sleep. The poor lighting strains my eyes. And the cell phone users annoy the hell out of me. Each time I venture to Tisch I take measures to guarantee that my stay will be as productive as possible. A can of Red Bull keeps me awake. Window seats provide me with the only adequate lighting in the building. It becomes practically impossible to focus, though, with the incessant ringing of cell phones throughout the library. "All cell phones must be turned off in the library," reads a Tisch sign. This makes sense. The library is a quiet place to study. Yet on President's Day, one of the busiest study days of the year, the sound of phones ringing, in the form of Beethoven and other catchy tunes, resonates through all levels of the library. Cell phones are loud. The people who use them are even louder. I understand that there are a host of reasons not to miss a phone call. Students are waiting for return phone calls for internships and summer jobs. Others may just have evening plans. I can be reasonable, though. Let's compromise. Why not put your phone on vibrate? So what if you have to run to a designated area with cell phone in hand to receive a call. Nothing is more amusing than seeing an overworked Jumbo sprint the 50 faster than Barry Sanders to reach an appropriate area for cell phone usage. Not only is it amusing, it also guarantees that the phone call isn't missed. I give these Jumbos a lot of credit for respecting the other students around them.Cell phone designated areas are located by the pay phone outside of the reading room and by the pay phones to the side of the reserve desk. These areas were chosen because they don't amplify sound. Once again a compromise has been reached between students who wish to study and those who need to use their cell phones.Many students don't abide by the designated study area guidelines either. The stairwell is not a designated study area. One needs not be a physics major to see the logic behind that: The stairwell projects sound. This problem is further exacerbated when cell phone users talk louder because they think the stairwell muffles their voice. These users couldn't be more wrong. They end up distracting three levels of students instead of one.Tisch Library needs to be a sanctuary for studying. It can be extremely difficult to get work done in the dorm. Between the kid next door learning to play the guitar and AIM going off every five seconds, there is just too much distraction. This is proved by the fact that throngs of Jumbos flooded the library on President's Day. So many, in fact, that work space was scarce. Obviously, I am not alone in my frustrations.The library administration has been very flexible in striking a balance between convenience and productivity in the library. The library compromised on e-mail stations to free up computers for research. Students still use research-designated computers for e-mail. Bottled drinks were outlawed to preserve the cleanliness of work areas and texts. Snapple bottles still abound. The library administration can pass any rule it wants and people will always break them. A library free of cell phones is a healthy studying environment. Only students can guarantee that the work place of others remains productive, free from annoyance and distraction. There can be no more compromise beyond what the current rules permit. Cell phone use in the library cannot be tolerated even if it is more convenient for the user. All Jumbos deserve more consideration than that.Valentino Caruso II is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.

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News

Of golf and Braveheart

March 31

"This hole's fairly straightforward," Chris told me, and I had to believe him; he was one of the few people I knew that had played here. I tried to take a grip on the foreign 3-Wood I had grabbed from the bag. The clubs weren't mine, the bag wasn't mine, in fact, the country wasn't mine. The grip on the club was a bit slippery, which wasn't surprising, considering the unwavering rain slanting right into our faces.Of course the choice to spend a semester abroad in Scotland was made with the knowledge that I would have four straight months of rain slanting into my face.Why did I choose Scotland? That's what they asked me in the application essay, and what I ask myself every time I come home with rain in my shoes. I'll give the same two answers now that I wrote on my essay: golf, and Braveheart. Simple enough I think. But people usually laugh when I tell them my reasons, thinking that it's a canned joke I use on everyone who asks the same question. "Wrong," I say, as I stare at them straight-faced.I came here because Braveheart is a very cool movie that takes place in Scotland, though to my eternal disappointment, I recently discovered that the majority of it was filmed in Ireland. Apparently, it's cheaper to film movies in Ireland, no American will know the difference, and the Irish army has nothing better to do than serve as extras in the war scenes.More importantly, though, I came here because Scotland has more golf courses per person than any country in the world, and is the only country in the world that has St. Andrews' Old Course, which I am determined to play.Let me explain the situation that faced me on a recent weekend. The aforementioned Chris is a 16-year old from St. Andrews whose parents and four brothers I stayed with for a few days. Second, he had been kind enough to take me onto St. Andrews' New Course for a few holes in the driving rain. Of course, heaven to me is the Old Course. It's the pinnacle of golf, the Mecca. It's Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, and Ebbets Field all wrapped into 18 holes of history and beauty. I wasn't on heaven, I was on one of six other courses that had been built to surround heaven, but if I hooked my drive enough on the first hole, Chris told me, I would have gotten to play my second shot from the third fairway of the Old Course. Lord knows I tried, but somehow I was abandoned by my annoying hook, which is sometimes nicknamed my annoying slice, though my golf coach doesn't approve of the "s" word, preferring 'power fade.' His fade is Arnold Schwarzenegger powerful. I took my stance, looked one more time at what appeared to be a patch of bushes, glanced over at Chris _ who again assured me I was aimed correctly at the fairway _ and started my backswing. The downswing was anything but graceful, as I merely tried to bring weaker than average arms, a larger than average gut, and about average legs down through the ball at the same time. I've never much cared how I look upon impact, as hopefully I'm moving too quickly for anyone to take note. Rather, it's the dignity of the follow-through that has always been of primary importance to me. When I take practice swings in the mirror, it's the follow-through that I stare at. It's the part of the swing that stays in people's memories. No one saw Michelangelo paint the Sisteen Chapel, we just admire the final product. I try to model my follow-through after David Duval's (one of the top golfers in the world not named Tiger), as he brings his chest square to the target, then stands in a pose of power and strength that seems to will the ball to move where he wants _ and it usually does. Like I said, I try to do that. What happens normally is that the emphasis I put on rotating around usually causes me to lose my balance, and my ball is never quite as intimidated by a 5'10" 20-year old who needs his club just to stay on his feet. So it was with this attempted grace and eventual clumsiness that I managed to lace into the ball, and send it screaming towards the fairway, it rose... just a bit though, and came screeching to a stop in the fairway. And that was the start of my journey, which is far from complete. Imagine, for a second, dying with the knowledge that most likely you'll end up in heaven. When you get up there, you're given a tour by an angel, you're allowed to walk around the place, you even get to have a cup of coffee and stop into the souvenir shop, but then you're told you'll have to wait four months for another chance, but thanks for buying the souvenir pin. That's how I felt after seven holes with Chris. I made a bogie on that first hole, which is what I did on the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, before we turned in because Chris' parents were due to pick us up. All we had time for was one hole _ the eighteenth. I really wanted a par to mark my first time on a Scottish golf course. After a good drive I found the fairway, and with a seven-iron landed on the green, so I was in great shape to get down in four. But then, as it tends to do in pressure situations, my putter decided to head to the pub instead of helping me to finish the hole, and I three-putted my way to my seventh straight bogie. "Oh well," I said to Chris. "I'll save the pars for the Old Course." "And the birdies and eagles, as well," he replied in the perfect Scottish accent that you see in movies and try to emulate, but just can't make it sound right. It's the kind of accent that allows you to say "a wee bit" or "cheers" and not sound foolish. I will save them for the Old Course, I told myself, as long as I can get into heaven next time.

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News

Animals and Plants' confusing, dark, and off the mark

March 31

Adam Rapp's debut play Nocturne impressed me so much that I'm hesitant to write Animals and Plants off as a self-serving jumble of loosely-related ideas about searching for identity, betrayal in friendships and some other nonsense. There must be concrete answers as to why particular lines or scenes are included, and as to how they relate to the other scattered themes in the play. Pre-curtain, a screen fills the length of the stage, on which a campy postcard-style picture of Daniel Boone with the words "Greetings From Boone, North Carolina" is projected. I fill my theatergoing partner in on the basic plot: Two guys are sent to Boone to exchange money for drugs. She tells me, "It's true, drug trade is big there because of college students." I give kudos to the playwright for coming up with an accurate basis for his storyline and settle down into my seat as the house lights go down. Our conversation contained the only rational statements made for the next two hours. The screen rises to reveal a themed motel room featuring pictures of Daniel Boone and his dog, with various expeditions and abductions depicted life-sized across the walls. A bed occupies much of the stage, and empty pizza boxes are set in piles. Snow is seen streaming diagonally past the window of the hotel room and on the fuzzy television screen set up on the dresser -- the redundancy of which is the subject of one of the few laugh-out-loud moments in the play. Dantly (Will Lebow), the elder of the two characters, is sprawled lethargically on the bed, head propped on the backboard. Get familiar with this scene -- he rarely moves for the remainder of the play. On the contrary, his polar opposite Burris (Ben Evett) never stops moving or talking. The scene is wonderfully set up, and the possibilities for comedy seem endless. Burris wears a Kid Rock muscle tee and boxers, with silver hoops in each ear, and his hair is dyed an unnatural blond. Floppy tan socks complete the look. But despite absurdly comic situations that follow -- Dantly injuring himself by sticking an ice scraper down his pants -- the only laughs that come are nervous titters at the lewder lines ("I shaved my ass this morning"). The duo continues discussing a variety of subjects, several of which focus on their body and bodily functions. It becomes known that they have been working together for ten years -- a decade, Burris spells out for Dantly. Burris often flings language around, and it is apparent he likes doing so. Whether or not he is accurate is another issue (he defines "truculent" as "booger-y translucence"), but he speaks with utmost confidence in his knowledge. The banter continues, ebbing and flowing as Dantly aims to place himself higher than animals and plants on the hierarchy of life. Amongst the queries of existence and the crises that Dantly incurs through the play are countless exchanges about penises, Right Guard, getting laid, and drug use. The central point of the play is that Dantly feels he is a void -- he is certain that he takes up no room inside anybody's head. And he knows that there is a void in his pants that he tries to continually occupy with something, whether it be an ice-scraper, a remote control, or a loaded gun. Despite his attempt to fill his time with girls and with words, he has no control over these personal vacancies, such as the one that his tooth left when it inexplicably came out of his gums. His memory is likewise full of holes -- he has difficulty remembering the name of "that plant that grows in the desert," or even his age. Conversely, Burris is confident, goal-oriented, and knows exactly what is down his pants, as is indicated by the red bull's-eye target on his briefs, enhanced by a sock. He boosts his presence by being overactive -- he scuffles with the pictures on the wall, uses the Ab Roller, and swigs beer. The remainder of the play involves bear bongs, a failed seduction of Burris, a mysteriously dangerous Burning Man, and a surprising twist when Dantly controls not only his fate, but Burris' as well. You won't "get it" when you walk out of the theater, and you may not even enjoy your night, but Rapp's skilled writing examining the dark underpinnings of human identity and inquisitiveness will haunt you in the hours or days to come.Animals and Plants, The Hasty Pudding Theater (Harvard Square), through April 15, Tickets $25 - $59, 617-627-8300, 2 stars.

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News

Lots of Losers in Lindros and Peca non-trades

March 31

The NHL trade deadline came and went on Tuesday, and the biggest story surrounds two players who have not played, and will not be playing this year. Disgruntled superstars Michael Peca of the Buffalo Sabres and Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers, who were both team captains last year, are currently in heated disagreements with their respective team managements and are refusing to suit up and play. Both demanded to be traded to contenders and in both cases the many offers dissolved into nothing. The Saint Louis Blues showed serious interest in Lindros but decided to go another way, trading with the Phoenix Coyotes for left winger Keith Tkachuk. Similarly, the Dallas Stars were in negotiations with the Sabres for the rights to Peca. In the end the deal could not be worked out because Peca demanded a lofty salary, and the Sabres wanted ample trade compensation. The difficulty in trading these two players has come in the form of protection for Philly and Buffalo. While Lindros and Peca wanted to land with contending teams, the Flyers and Sabres want to avoid dealing them to a conference opponent they might face in the playoffs. Philadelphia and Buffalo are currently ranked fourth and fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, respectively, and have looked to the West for possible trades. This way, a meeting between the trading partners would only occur if both squads landed in the finals. Regardless, the Flyers and Sabres were not going to be forced into an unfavorable trade. They demanded to be compensated with players that would have greatly improved their team both this year and down the road. If Lindros and Peca will not play for their current teams - which are performing well without them - the best option for these squads is to keep them off the ice in any city, which has resulted in the no-trade option for either man. These players have provided much entertainment in the past with their quality of play. Now, when both players are still in their prime and both teams are doing well, the two sides are arguing, leaving the sport without a pair of its brightest stars.Blues on the Rebound? The Saint Louis Blues may finally be back on track. After winning only twice in 13 games, including the latest streak of seven winless games, the Blues topped the Minnesota Wild 1-0 in overtime on Wednesday despite a season-low 15 shots. In his first game with the Blues, wingman Keith Tkachuk did not have an impact on the game, but coaches are hoping that the acquisition of Tkachuk from Phoenix will inspire their team to play better. They are also hoping to see improvement when their injured players, such as Chris Pronger (expected back by the start of the playoffs) join Tkachuk in the lineup. The Blues were in control of the Central Division back in December and January, but their current tailspin, combined with superb play by division foe Detroit Red Wings, resulted in the Wings' ascendancy to first place in the division. While the skid was ugly, the Blues have been fortunate not to slip from the playoff scene altogether. They are currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference and still have a nice cushion of ten points between themselves and the fifth place San Jose Sharks. Coming up for the Blues in the next week are two games against weak opponents, the New York Islanders and the Calgary Flames. Wins over these teams would give St. Louis needed confidence for its bout with the red-hot Colorado Avalanche next weekend. The playoffs are right around the corner, and if the Blues are not careful, they might be looking at an early exit.

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News

EPC has not taken a stand on schedule change

March 31

To the editor: As co-chairs of the Education Policy Committee (EPC), an Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (ASE) committee of faculty and students, we would like to correct some misunderstandings in an article that appeared in The Tufts Daily on Wednesday, Feb. 21, about the proposed schedule change. Contrary to the article's headline and implications, the proposed change is an initiative of the administration, not of EPC. One source of confusion could be that Dean Inouye, an ex officio EPC member who was interviewed for the article, was representing the administration, rather than EPC, in his interview. EPC has not taken a position for or against changing the block schedule, although it has provided the administration with comments on the schedule, and has forcefully advocated that there be extensive consultation with the entire campus community. Such consultation is vital because changing the schedule has important implications for learning, teaching, and scholarship, and any new schedule will need student and faculty input in the coming months. Only after such widespread consultation will EPC consider taking a position on the desirability of the change.Eric Todd QuintoDepartment of MathematicsRoger TobinDepartment of Physics

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News

Men's track coasts to victory at Tufts Invitational

March 31

The men's track team scored 271 points and easily outdistanced its four opponents this past weekend for a first-place finish in another low key home meet, the second Tufts Invitiational of the season. The meet afforded the team another opportunity for improvement before facing the difficult portion of its schedule, which begins with a meet at Bowdoin this weekend. At the Tufts Invitational, the Jumbos faced small schools Hartwick, Worcester State, Salem, and Westfield, none of which provided them with much competition. " They [the last two weekend meets] have been nice warm-ups, but we haven't faced anyone that's given us a test," junior John McGuire said. Although the victory did not require a trying effort, several Jumobs had impressive performances. Among the high points of the afternoon was senior David Patterson's first place and national qualifying time of 14:52.37 for B Standards in the 5000 meter run. Two more Jumbos who qualified for postseason meets were sophomores Greg Devine and Ben Smith. Devine's victory in the 55 hurdles (7.89) was a Div. III nationals qualifying time and also a Div. I New England qualifying time. Smith's win in the 1000 (2:37.37) qualified him for ECAC's. In addition to the postseason qualifying times, several facility records and career bests were also topped during the meet. Both Patterson and freshmen Stanley Egbor established Gantcher Center records in their races, Patterson in the 5000 and Egbor in the 200 (22.27). Junior Jacob Berman also set a career best, winning the 1500 with a time of 4:09.95. Another Jumbo whose improvement has impressed his coach and teammates was freshman Patrick Taylor. With a first-place finish in both the long jump (19" 4') and the triple jump (42" 3'), Taylor proved that he will be able to assist his team in an area in which it definitely needs help. "He's becoming more consistent in the long jump and he's going to be a big help," coach Connie Putnam said. Considering this past weekend's results and the improving health of his team, Putnam expects Saturday's Polar Bear Invite at Bowdoin to be a close meet. It will feature Tufts, Bowdoin and Springfield. Despite a tight battle during last year's Bowdoin meet (219 overall points for Bowdoin and 201 for Tufts), Putnam feels this year will be even closer. "This weekend's meet will be more exciting [than last weekend]," he said. "We're going to be nearing full strength for the first time this season." The Jumbos have been missing several key athletes since the beginning of the indoor season. Sophomore Brian Pitko has been unavailable due to a shoulder injury, McGuire has refrained from racing due to a hamstring injury, and junior Andy Benedict has been out as well. This weekend, all three hope to return to the line-up, though they will not be running at full strength. Pitko and Benedict will return to the hurdles races and McGuire hopes to ease back into the season and participate in the 1000. "Pitko's a great athlete and it'll help out a lot to have him back," McGuire said. "As it will to have Benedict back. I'm looking forward to getting back too. My hamstring hasn't raced all year so I just want to get my feel wet." Though the Jumbos will not all be at full strength, the team will be stronger than it has been all season. Heading into the Polar Bear Invite, Putnam has no specific strategy planned. "I'll just be setting up the team to the best advantage of our development," the coach said. While Putnam sees improvement as the main goal for this meet, he and his athletes do feel a certain pressure to win. "It's important for us to run well," McGuire said. "They're the first school with quality athletes we'll meet. It'll be the first step of the season for us."

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News

Spurs and Lakers: Get Used to it

March 31

Two teams from the Western Conference are surging into the postseason. Two teams playing different brands of basketball, opposites in nearly every way, look to be set on a collision course in the Western Conference Finals. It just might wind up being a classic rivalry. The San Antonio Spurs have been the NBA's nice guys - on and off the court. With teamwork and discipline, the Spurs have been consistent winners. In the other corner, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, have had an up-and-down season. The Lakers characteristically flashy, but often chaotic, style of play occasionally gives way to turmoil. But on the strength of two superstars and ten role players, the Lakers have returned to form and are poised to dominate again. With the NBA's best record at 57-23, the Spurs are methodical, and sometimes boring to spectators, but they play smart and they win. It starts with the sometimes quiet but always effective post players Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Duncan, averaging 22.4 points and 12.3 boards per game, anchors the team with his no-nonsense style, draining long jumpers while drawing his defender out of the key, creating lanes for the guards to drive the basket, and always crashing in for an offensive rebound. Robinson's sharp defensive play and tenacity on the glass have provided an apt compliment. The new element that makes this Spurs team even better than the one that took home a title two years ago is Derek Anderson. Anderson, rescued from obscurity (i.e. the Los Angeles Clippers) this off-season, has brought athleticism and quickness to the Spurs - areas where they were once sorely lacking. Anderson has proven he can be a capable scorer, too, averaging 15.7 points per contest. More importantly, Anderson adds flare, taking the ball to the rim, and dunking it over the tallest man he can find (just as he did last month over 7'6" Shawn Bradley). The Spurs guard play has been a vast improvement over that which they rode to the championship in '99. In addition to Anderson, Terry Porter, and Antonio Daniels have been major contributors. While Porter is a step slower and wasn't all that quick in the first place, he picks his spots. He quietly drifts to the corner and winds up with an open three, or manages to find the open man, delivering the ball in the right place at the right time. Daniels, once an erratic turnover-waiting-to-happen, is now a reliable scorer off the bench, and is finally realizing his potential. The back court, which was once the Spurs weak link has become yet another solid piece of the chain. As a team, the Spurs shoot 46.3 percent from the field, and have six players in their rotation shooting over 40 percent from three point range. The Spurs faced the Portland Trailblazers last night, and will play in Seattle tonight in their season finale. The Spurs will face a very strong eighth seed in the Minnesota Timberwolves for their first-round match-up. The Spurs won the regular season series with the T-Wolves three games to one, though the games have all been close. In Los Angeles, in spite of a 55-26 record, this Laker season has fallen short of expectations. Last year, aside from a serious scare in the Western Conference finals against Portland, the Lakers looked downright dominant. And with the leadership of players still in their mid and early 20s, the word dynasty was already on the tip of the tongue. But with injuries, discontent between MVP center Shaquille O'Neal, young All-Star guard Kobe Bryant, and guru/coach Phil Jackson, and the rest of the Western Conference improving rapidly, the Lakers experienced some turbulent times. But the team has pulled out of it just in time. Point guard Derek Fisher may prove to be the steadying force on this team. Since his return from injury in early March, Fisher has averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 assists per game. More importantly, he's been hitting his mid-range jumpers. The Lakers have won their last seven games leading up to last night's match-up with the Denver Nuggets, and are in a tie for second in the Western Conference with the Sacramento Kings, though they have the tie breaker. If the seeds hold through Wednesday, the Lakers would be playing the same Trailblazers who, despite a bad finish, split their season series with the Lakers, 2-2. As it stands, the Western Conference should be as competitive as it has ever been. No two teams are separated by more than two and a half games, but the Spurs and Lakers, the last two NBA champions, appear a cut above the competition. If the seeding holds true, then we're in for another exciting Western Conference showdown.

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News

Sec. Richardson considered for presidential spot

March 31

Once considered a possible vice presidential running mate for Al Gore, former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson is under consideration for Tufts' presidency, and interviewed for the position in March. But despite an expressed affinity for his alma mater, it seems unlikely that Richardson will replace University President John DiBiaggio when he leaves Tufts either this year or next. Richardson, who holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts and also attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, was interviewed by members of Tufts' presidential search committee in the Boston-based law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C. Trustee Irwin Heller, chairman of the search committee, serves as a managing partner of the firm. Though Tufts initiated the interview, there has been little contact between Richardson and the University in the intervening months. And recently, the search committee has reportedly narrowed its candidate pool significantly. "We would be excited to see the process come to some conclusion this academic year, although there are no guarantees," said one member of the presidential search committee. Yesterday, Richardson would neither confirm nor deny his interest in assuming the presidency, but said he had not closed the door on the opportunity. Nor has he ruled out the possibility of returning to Congress as a representative from New Mexico, a position he held for seven consecutive terms before becoming the US ambassador to the United Nations and eventually former President Bill Clinton's energy secretary. "I think Tufts needs a highly visible figure," he said, adding that the president should have the prestige of a politician and the intelligence of an academic. "Somebody who is a public person brings a national prominence which is good for the school, fundraising ability, which is important in a college president, and an ability to attract the best students and faculty." But when suggesting possible candidates, Richardson did not look beyond the University's Medford campus. "My ideal candidate would be someone like [Provost] Sol Gittleman," he said, praising the provost's "solid scholarship, great administrative experience," and reputation in American academia. Gittleman, however, has shown no interest in the position. "I'm not even close to thinking about it," he said. "I never felt presidential." Richardson "would make a good president," according to Gittleman. "He's got academic credentials, national visibility... that's what you look for in a candidate," he said of his former student. Last May, DiBiaggio called Richardson the smart choice for Gore's running mate. "I'm not surprised that he's one of the people under consideration because he is a very competent administrator and he was a super congressman," DiBiaggio said at the time. Richardson speaks Spanish, was raised in Mexico City, and is especially popular among Hispanic voters. Many considered Richardson to be Gore's top choice, but a controversy regarding nuclear secrets at Los Alamos severely deflated his prospects, leaving the door open for Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman. Yesterday, DiBiaggio said he is not involved in the presidential search, and would not comment about Richardson, except to say, "I know Bill, I'm very fond of him. I thought he would have been a great vice presidential candidate." Since leaving his cabinet post when President George W. Bush took office, Richardson has traveled the country delivering speeches. He now holds a visiting professor position at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he teaches a course on political management. In his class, Professor Richardson asks students to merge practical experience with theoretical political science and international diplomacy. For his most recent assignment, Richardson had his class present the most effective methods of dislodging an incumbent politician, advice he could find useful should he run in the 2002 congressional elections. But the former energy secretary, whose father also attended Tufts, has by no means severed his connection to the University. Since graduating, he has visited numerous times to deliver speeches, see former professors, and even be married in Goddard Chapel. As an undergraduate, Richardson studied political science, was active in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and excelled as a pitcher on Tufts' baseball team. He now serves on the Fletcher board of directors. "I have very fond memories of Tufts as a student and a Fletcher graduate, and I believe that Tufts has a bright future as one of the best schools in the county," he said. "I have nothing but warm feelings for my experience there." And while Richardson would not say if he would accept an offer to become Tufts' 12th president, he seemed to encourage the University to hire a candidate with broad name recognition; a person "with the scholarship and intelligence of Sol Gittleman combined with the political prominence of someone like Senator Bill Bradley," he said.Emily Chasan contributed to this article.

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News

Sumiyoshi makes a splash on national stage

March 31

Freshman Mika Sumiyoshi competed in the NCAA Division III National Championships in Buffalo, New York this past weekend as the sole representative for the women's swimming and diving team. She swam in three separate races, highlighted by a ninth place national finish in the 400-yard individual medley (IM). In the preliminary round on Thursday, Sumiyoshi finished 9th with a season's best time of 4:38.17, missing the finals by just one place. But in the following day's consolation round, the freshman blew the competition out of the water, touching the wall at 4:34.88. The time was nine seconds off of her best time during the regular season, and enough to win the round and place her ninth overall. Sumiyoshi also competed in the 200 individual medley, where she came in 24th place in the preliminaries (2:12.19), and the 200 backstroke, in which she placed 22nd with a time of 2:11.56. In her first year of collegiate swimming, Sumiyoshi put together a successful season. Throughout the year, she was counted on to swim in a wide variety of events and excelled in many of them, including her national-qualifying 400 IM race at the NESCAC Championships. Her time - 4:43.80 - was a second faster than the cutoff time. "When I looked up and saw my time, I was so surprised," Sumiyoshi said. "I never thought I could do it." Although only a freshman, Sumiyoshi has been swimming since the fifth grade, and is no stranger to competition. In high school, she was an all-area and all-state swimmer, and in her senior year garnered All-American consideration. Her high school team, Branford High School in Branford, Connecticut, won three state championships during her tenure. Sumiyoshi also set a school record for the 200-yard individual medley. "I've been swimming for as long as I can remember," she said. "I loved the water and I always swam for fun. I love competing though, and I love being on teams. There is lots of support. My team was very close in high school. It was great." Sumiyoshi was looking for a similar athletic atmosphere in college to the one she had in high school. The swimming program, she said, was a large factor in her choosing to matriculate at Tufts. "I really like the coach [Nancy Bigelow]," Sumiyoshi said. "I expected the same thing as high school, a very close team and a lot of friends." If it was team camaraderie that Sumiyoshi was searching for, then she found it at Tufts. Sumiyoshi had to continue training for Nationals in the two weeks following the regular season, and many of her teammates trained with her despite the fact that their seasons were over. "Everyone has been so supportive," Sumiyoshi said. "Everyone has been writing me cards and sending me emails. It really helps." Sumiyoshi set personal goals for her trip to Nationals; she wanted to keep her times where they were at the NESCAC Championship and to be in the top eight in the 400 individual medley. Although she narrowly missed the top eight performance, her time far exceeded what she had expected.

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News

Vote 'yes' on culture reps

March 31

We the resigned culture reps would like to voice our opinions onthe importance of giving culture reps the full vote. By not having a vote, we felt that our work was not valued and was unappreciated. In turn, we felt discouraged and frustrated, which resulted in our resignations. Currently culture reps have the same voicing power as someone who speaks at open forum. Open forum is a time allotted at the beginning of Senate meetings for any member of the Tufts community to voice a particular concern. Essentially, culture reps have as much influence as any other member of the student body. Senators are elected by the student body and their objective is to represent the entire student body. However, they represent the views and demands of the Caucasian straight community at Tufts and at large. In the average Senate meeting, minority issues are almost exclusively brought to attention by culture reps and those actively involved in CECA, the Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs Committee. A common argument against culture rep voting is the issue of double representation. However, this is not the case. The fact is senators represent their class, not their culture. Culture reps on the other hand represent their culture, not their class. Hence, the argument for double representation is invalid. Policies are a reflection of a community's values and commitments. By not allowing culture reps a full vote, we are implying that the Tufts community is not fully committed to the issues and concerns of minorities on this campus. We are asking you to take into consideration how the administration and the student body take into account issues facing the minority community and diversification. Please come and show your support by coming out to vote 'Yes' on the amendment on April 25th.Tracy BulterKat CheungAnabella Nieves

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News

Some have concerns about online registration

March 31

Prior to online registration, students had no choice but to see their advisors - in person - to obtain a signature of approval, before waiting in line outside Eaton to register. But with the inception of online registration last spring, neither personal visits nor waiting on lines is necessary. Many students felt that the old registration process unnecessarily took time out of their chaotic schedules - time which could have better been spent elsewhere. Now, students can simply go online at their convenience - once their registration time has passed, of course - and complete the entire registration process by computer. Registration still requires advisor approval for class choices, but this is done through electronic approval posting. Students do not necessarily need to set up meetings with their advisors every semester to register for classes. No one seems to doubt that allowing students to register for classes online saves time. But some students and faculty are concerned that online registration prevents a one-on-one relationship between students and advisors. Some students, such as freshman Mike Blea, argue that if students don't have to go in person to meet with their advisors, they will fail to develop personal relationships. Subsequently, students won't talk to their advisors openly about their problems. Blea isn't completely against the idea, though. "I think [phone meetings are] fine as long as the advisor is okay with it," he said. Advisor and Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Steve Chapra wouldn't even consider approving a student's schedule without a face-to-face meeting. While the approval process can technically be completed by telephone, Chapra doesn't know of any professor that posts approval without physically seeing his or her students. "What's the point?" he asked. "You could just be a machine." Chapra also believes that advisors are needed for more than just class selection. For example, his department often helps coach upperclassmen through the job process. While junior Justin Lewis has yet to ask his advisor for job help, he would still prefer to have a meeting every semester. "I always go and see [my advisor] - just to see what he thinks about what classes I'm taking," he said. And though many students agree that they can complete the whole advisor approval process over the phone, few actually choose that option. "I've never heard anyone actually call their advisor for their approval," freshmen Dave Metz said. If someone has important questions about classes, Metz thinks they should take the time to meet with their advisors personally. But those without registration questions do not have to waste time meeting with their advisor. "Students will go to their advisor if they needed help, so the issue is irrelevant," Metz said. This is especially true for students who have not yet declared a major. Since advisors and incoming freshmen are randomly paired, some say it is pointless to meet with an advisor who doesn't have any knowledge about his or her advisee's academic interests. Regardless, most advisors still require personal meetings, and have not changed their ways with the advent of online registration. And most students, such as freshmen Mark Tilki, say that online registration as good system. "It's definitely beneficial for Tufts since it saves time and makes everything much easier for all," he said.

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News

Jumbos can't withstand Middlebury

March 31

The men's lacrosse team lost a hard-fought game at the Ellis Oval Wednesday to the defending National Champion Middlebury Panthers. The Panthers dominated the first half on their way to a 13-8 victory over the Jumbos. Tufts (5-4, 1-3 NESCAC) once again received great performances from co-captains senior Dan Kollar and junior David 6Supple. Kollar recorded a hat trick, while Supple added two goals in the loss. Senior All-American Holt Hopkins had two goals and an assist in the victory for the Panthers (7-1, 4-0), who came into the game ranked seventh in the nation. Junior Jon Zissi had the Jumbos rolling out of the gate with the first goal of the game. But it was not long before Middlebury freshman Greg Bastis took the ball in from midfield and scored a breakaway goal on Tufts goaltender Kirk Lutwyler for the Panthers. The defining moment in the game later in the first period, with the Jumbos down by only one (4-3). Coming out of a timeout, Middlebury was playing one man down, and Tufts had the ball near the Panthers' net. The Jumbos turned the ball over, however, and let Middlebury cruise in for an easy goal. "That was a turning point," Supple said. The Panthers added another goal 30 seconds later to end the period with a 6-3 advantage. Middlebury carried its first-quarter dominance into the second, building up a 9-4 lead heading into the half. The one bright note for the Jumbos in the period came when sophomore Alex Kerwin sacrificed his body for an impressive goal. Kerwin curled to the front of the net and was able to jump in the air and unload a shot just before taking a big hit from the Middlebury defense. Following a Panther goal early in the third, sophomore Mike Morley and the Jumbo defense stepped it up a notch to shut out Middlebury for the rest of the period. Offensively, Kollar put one in the net for the Jumbos off of a nice assist from Kerwin, sending the team into comeback mode. In the final period, the Jumbos again played the confident Middlebury team evenly, but it was too little, too late. "We went into halftime not happy," said Kollar. "It was 4-4 in the second; we wish we came out with that intensity." Two goals late in the fourth by Kollar and Supple had the crowd back into the game and the Jumbos within five. But the Panthers' large first-half lead was enough to secure them the game. The Jumbos left the field knowing they could play with the Panthers, but were alarmed by the number of simple miscues. "We gave up so much on our mistakes," Kollar said. "They made goals because we couldn't control the ball. We dug a whole in the first half and we couldn't get out of it; they're a good team." Freshman Matt Malatesta echoed his captain's feelings. "In a few key situations, we hurt ourselves, we dropped some balls, and we didn't have as many good possessions as we should have," he said.

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News

Kee Kar Lau v. Rose's Chinese Restaurant

March 31

Your parents love the dining halls. Accept it. No matter how foul you think Carmichael's tofu bean ravioli and vegan walnut brownies are, your parents will gush over the selection. "This is great!" "Do you realize we couldn't even choose our food?" "Do you get to eat like this every day?" Despite the endless praise, you know that eating in the dining halls can get monotonous. For those of you who do "get to eat like this every day," it's time to branch out a bit - and we don't mean the oh-so-bold Carmichael Dewick switch. No, when Friday night rolls around, you'd better find something more inspiring to consume before you go out and party... and unless you want to go invest in some cookware, that means going out or ordering in. With so many varieties of off-campus food, it's not always easy to decide where to go. If you're feeling like a little Chinese food and the Hawaiian chicken in Hodgdon won't cut it, you've got more options than you can handle. This week, the Daily puts two popular Chinese food joints head-to-head: Kee Kar Lau in Somerville and Rose's Chinese Restaurant in Medford. With huge containers of everything from fried rice to egg foo young, both restaurants should be able to satisfy your hunger. The question is: which one deserves your money more?Selection Study these menus long enough and you may die before you decide what to get. You may also notice that they look rather similar. Both Rose's and Kee Kar Lau feature an array of nearly 160 different dishes, featuring everything from pork to lobster to tofu. Both restaurants cover the essentials: fried rice, lo mein, and sweet and sour anything. In fact, both feature a chicken dish named after a general - General Hso at Kee Kar Lau, General Gau at Rose's - and Chinese generals must have liked the same kind of food, because these dishes are hard to tell apart. Besides the entrees, there are appetizers galore and exactly 34 combination plates (all of which include pork fried rice) at each restaurant. Rose's deserves a special nod for its daringly named "Strange Flavored Chicken," and Kee Kar Lau should be ashamed that there's no shrimp toast available, but there's no fair way to distinguish most of the items on these menus. In fact, if you look at the pictures of the food on the menu, you'll notice that apparently both restaurants use the same china pattern. However, don't forget the second menu at Rose's: the sushi menu. Kee Kar Lau has nothing even close to sushi, while Rose's has lots of it at decent prices. The winner is clear.Advantage: Rose's Chinese RestaurantQuality In theory, quality should be the most important factor in choosing your food. In theory. Whether you care or not, though, Rose's has a punishing advantage over Kee Kar Lau. It's rare to find truly bad Chinese food in the world, and so there's nothing at Kee Kar Lau that's worth complaining about. However, if you want a tastier crab rangoon or a meatier piece of sesame chicken, Rose's is the one to call. Also noteworthy is the quality-gap in pork fried rice. As a dish that comes with every combination dinner known to man, it's essential to get it right, and Kee Kar Lau's can be a bit dry. Bottom line: if you've been eating Kee Kar Lau all this time, give Rose's a try, just so you can realize the quality you're missing. Advantage: Rose's Chinese RestaurantPrice With such similar menus, it's easy to price-check before you order. Unfortunately, it's not going to help you much. The differences are so small that you usually don't even save the cost of tipping a deliveryman. Rose's has a noticeable $1.25 edge on the large crab rangoons, but that's the largest gap you'll find. The quarters here and there may add up if you're ordering for thirty people, but the advantage varies from dish to dish. So despite what your neighbors may tell you, there's actually no price advantage to Kee Kar Lau -if there's any distinction, it falls in Rose's favor (not to mention that you can go eat at Rose's and save yourself the tip from delivery).Advantage: Rose's Chinese RestaurantFacilities What's to wonder about? Rose's is an actual restaurant. You can go in, sit down, eat an actual meal, and not have to deal with your roommate's laundry or the weird stains on the carpet in the lounge. Sure, it isn't romantic (don't go on a date to Rose's), but it's clean and it's easy and it smells great in there. Kee Kar Lau? If you want to sit on the curb outside and eat, they're not going to stop you. Actually, come to think of it, they might. Takeout or delivery only - and good luck fending off hallmates who just want "a bite."Advantage: Rose's Chinese RestaurantSpeedTechnically speaking, there shouldn't be much difference. They're both off campus, on opposite ends - neither one is very far. Sometimes (and don't ask why), though, Kee Kar Lau is incredibly fast. Compared to pizza places like Espresso's, these two are both vast improvements. Put head-to-head, Kee Kar Lau comes out a little bit on top - unless you're willing to walk to Rose's to eat and cut out the delivery delay. One significant worry for deadbeats: getting blacklisted. Snub the people at Kee Kar Lau and they may stop delivering to your phone number for the entire year, and then you won't care how fast they deliver to everyone else. The solution? Either order with a cell phone or stop falling asleep when you have food on the way.Advantage: Kee Kar LauHours Let's be honest: the hours of a delivery restaurant make or break it. Rose's relies on some lunch business with its tables - it's open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays. That's perfect if you want to buy some lunch, but not so good when you're cramming for an exam at 1 a.m. Kee Kar Lau is open 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. You may not be able to get lunch, but you'll get rangoons at 2 a.m. no problem.Advantage: Kee Kar LauFinal Score: Rose's Chinese Restaurant takes first place with a crushing lead of 4-2. Kee Kar Lau may be something of a recognized name around campus as well as a late-night favorite, but Rose's should always be your first option if you're planning to eat even remotely close to meal time.

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News

Scheduling Block

March 31

Tufts' block schedule works, but the administration seems to have an undying urge to tinker with it. Of all the academic concerns at this University, administrators would be better off evaluating faculty salaries, Tufts' usage of technology, and its course offerings. Yet instead of focusing on the quality of our classes, our top minds seem mostly concerned with when they're offered. Sitting in student-faculty committee meetings, one hears little of any other academic initiative.While well intentioned, Tufts has focused too much manpower - including VP Bernstein, deans, and faculty members - into a project to fix a system that doesn't need fixing. Why? It's unclear. There are four main arguments circulating in favor of changing the block schedule, but none of them are particularly persuasive.Some believe that a simpler schedule would benefit students trying to get internships or off-campus jobs. But by moving to a stricter schedule in which students are likely to have classes five days a week, people will find it harder to achieve this flexibility. In the models being explored, classes that meet two and three times a week are offered on separate days - that means students who take both kinds of classes, which is most students, will have instruction every day. This will make holding an internship nearly impossible. While there is relatively little information known about the proposed schedule, it seems a step toward reducing student flexibility. Proponents of a new schedule point out that students often can't fit classes in their schedule because two or more meet at the same time or in overlapping blocks. But missing from this argument is that at any college, no matter what scheduling system employed, there are bound to be times when two classes meet in the same block - that's why students have eight semesters before commencement. Other advocates of reform assert that classes are offered disproportionately between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., leaving less classroom space available during peak hours. This is logical, though, as between ten and two is when most students choose to take classes, affording them a little nightly rest and allowing for participation in sports and other extracurricular activities in the afternoon. Moving more classes out of this time block would throw a real kink into students' schedules.A final argument in favor of a new schedule is that when Tufts creates an automated scheduling computer system, the cost of using a non-traditional schedule will be prohibitively expensive. This is well-reasoned point, but is not compelling enough to justify a change to a simpler, but less-attractive schedule. Most of the faculty, moreover, stands diametrically opposed to any change in the block schedule. This includes members of the committees that have examined the proposals, most noticeably the Education Policy Committee (EPC), on which I sit. Some less informed faculty and staff, however, object to any change prima face. Those people must make a rational argument in their defense; it isn't sufficient to object because a change may prove cumbersome. The faculty has as much of an obligation to make a reasonable argument against a new system, as does the administration to make a sensible case for a new schedule. The administration should continue to communicate with the faculty, and the faculty should continue to voice its concerns, because if the faculty does get to vote on this matter - a point currently in contention - the administration will want to the decision-making process to be smooth. Students, on the other hand, have been given little information about proposed changes. That will likely change when both Dean Kristine Dillon and Vice President Bernstein set out to gather student opinion. Before they take their case to the student body, however, they should assemble a compelling argument for change. When administrators do take their case to the students, and if they put forth a convincing argument, students should examine the proposal and then voice an intelligent response - administrators will listen.Whether Bernstein is correct or not in the need for a new schedule, the administration faces an uphill battle in proving its case, both to students and faculty. Every time reasons are put forth for changing the block schedule, the question comes back to why the schedule needs to be changed in the first place. In the meantime, Tufts most important priorities - quality professors, creating useful academic programs, and incorporating technology into the curriculum - are not getting the full attention they deserve from administrators and student faculty committees. If financial consideration is the only viable reason for changing the schedule, the administration will not be able to sell its proposal. If it is not the only reason, a more compelling case must be promulgated soon, so focus can return to Tufts' real academic issues.

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News

Parking revisions receive positive reaction

March 31

After several winter snowstorms, students are familiar with the automated phone message from the Tufts police telling them to park their vehicles in a safe spot. Though the message is often ignored by students who have no car, for those who do, it creates a scramble to find a legal parking space. Students have long complained that parking on campus is a nightmare, but the most recent in a series of changes to campus parking regulations has somewhat alleviated student discontent. Parking for sophomores was expanded over the course of the past year. Vehicles displaying either the yellow or silver "S" decal may now park during the day and overnight in the Cohen, Hill, Miller, and Carmichael lots, in addition to at Cousens. Last fall, students with a yellow decal gained the privilege of parking in residential lots. When this measure proved successful, it was extended to all sophomores. The Department of Public and Environmental Safety has been tinkering with parking policies since last fall, when the opening of the Dowling Hall parking garage freed up a large number of parking spaces on campus. As throngs of commuters and faculty began to utilize the Dowling facility, the parking demands in other lots decreased, and new spots were reallocated for student parking. "The revisions this year have changed the very long-standing policy of students parking exclusively in the Cousens lot," Director of Public Safety John King said. "We have the students' safety in mind as our number one priority, but we're also looking to make things more convenient for them as well." Starting Nov. 1, the Department of Public Safety counted of the number of parking decals sold to sophomores. When it found that students with parking decals that provided access to up and downhill parking were not flooding the available lots, the department decided to extend sophomore parking privileges to those students with either yellow or silver parking decals. But sophomores who did not purchase parking decals before Feb. 6 are only allowed to park at Cousens. The new regulations have been successful in easing sophomores' parking woes, according to King, who said his office has only received one student complaint about campus parking. "Usually, students are pretty responsive," King said. "We've received really no positive nor any negative feedback _ it's still a look and see sort of process." Sophomores agree with King's assessment that the changes are beneficial: "It's so nice being able to park near my classes and near my dorm," Mary Ann Kuruvilla said. "I feel a lot safer now that I don't have to walk all the way uphill from the Cousens lot by myself at night." "I think that the new parking enforcements are great," Kim Trabka said. "The only problem is that I don't have the opportunity to park in the available spaces because I didn't purchase a decal in time. I still have to search for parking along Boston Ave." While sophomores seem pleased with the parking revisions, some upperclassmen complain that they are experiencing a parking shortage because sophomores are taking their spaces. "I've already received three parking tickets this year," said Alex Alexiou, a junior. "I'm down at Aidekman a lot and don't even bother with parking anymore because nothing's ever available. When I'm in a rush to get to class, it's a real pain to have to circle around the lot searching for spaces." The goal in formulating parking regulations, according to King, is to create options that are as efficient and safe as possible. The task is difficult, he said, and it is often impossible to please everyone. Prior to the revisions made last November and this February, the Department of Public Safety heard several student proposals for parking policy changes. "One consideration is that every change made will positively affect one thing and adversely affect another," King said. "The goal here is to try and maintain some sort of balance." Sophomores are prohibited from parking in the Latin Way and Jackson Lots, a provision which King hopes will accommodate upperclassmen who park on campus. In addition to this new development, the Department of Public Safety has tried to be as lenient as possible with students parking in areas where they are not designated to park, like on Professors Row. "We are very understanding of the concerns students present to us _ if someone parks in an undesignated parking zone at the beginning of a semester, we'll let that slide, but if it happens during the middle of the year when the rules have already been clearly laid out, then that's when we have to enforce the regulations," King said. Public Safety also decided not to close the Cousens lot overnight because it is still convenient for some members of the Tufts community like sports teams who leave their equipment there for easier accessibility. "We allowed greater flexibility for "cross-campus" or "out of designated area" parking during weekends and off-peak hours," King said. "It just seemed like the right thing to do from a customer service standpoint.... The philosophy here is not 'Let's tag people and fine them' _ that's a negative tool of enforcement," he said.

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