The star of ABC's latest cop show, "Castle," is the notorious mystery writer Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion), a womanizing, irresponsible single father who is not very good at playing with others. "Sir, he is like a nine-year-old on a sugar rush: totally incapable of taking anything seriously," detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) tells her superior.
John K. Atsalis' op-ed on March 3 ("Why I am not donating to the Tufts Student Fund") questioned "just what 'active citizenship' is and whether we are truly stepping up or only going through the motions." This question, in my opinion, is completely irrelevant. I cannot speak for all of those who supported the TSF, but I can tell you that my intentions were, and still are, legitimate and earnest. I personally know 14 of the 19 sponsors of the full-page Daily ads and I can tell you that their intentions were also sound and that they were not, as clearly exhibited by their actions, just "going through the motions." Atsalis also brought up the issue of "what 'active citizenship' is," yet he never answered it. I'd like to lend my voice to that discussion.
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama promised to build electric grids "that feed our commerce and bind us together." This inclusion signaled a growing understanding of the importance of energy infrastructure (the physical structures that produce, transport and deliver power) in the highest chambers of power. The importance of revitalizing our national infrastructure, however, may still be lost on many people who don't necessarily equate the word "infrastructure" with daily activities. The reliability and sustainability of our power supply, however, are two concerns that all Tufts students should share and it is the theme of this year's Tufts Energy Conference, sponsored by the Tufts Energy Forum.
On March 4, after months of deliberation, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. He is facing two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for the violence he has orchestrated in Darfur. The ICC refrained from indicting him on charges of genocide, claiming that there was not sufficient evidence to support this charge. This marks the first time that a sitting head of state has been indicted by the court and is a small success that many anti-genocide groups, including Tufts STAND, have been working toward for years. It seems that the international community has finally decided to take a stand for Darfur and tell the government of Sudan that killing one's own citizens is not acceptable.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will give the university's Commencement address for the Class of 2009. We at the Daily commend the governor's selection as speaker.
The ongoing conflict over stem cell research took a new turn on Monday as President Barack Obama issued an executive order that lifted strict limitations on embryonic cell study imposed by the Bush administration. As reported by The New York Times on Monday, it took the newly sworn president just over two months to fulfill another campaign promise with this initiative into scientific advancement. The president hopes to use calm and direct discussion to advance the ongoing popular dialogue about the moral, religious and human rights issues surrounding embryonic stem cell research.
Lately, I keep hearing the argument that minorities on campus are self-segregating. Before I get into things deeply, let me do a little introduction. I have a very diverse family. While I am of mixed Asian-European ancestry, I have first cousins who are black, white, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latino. No joke. I have a somewhat androgynous gender expression and identify as androsexual. My drag persona, Venus Dementia, is Tufts' only Asian hip-hop drag queen, and she has performed at five engagements this school year alone. Since I know this is going to come up, I do work at the LGBT Center, facilitate weekly meetings for Queer Men's Group and live in the Rainbow House.
University endowments have been in the news frequently in recent months. In November 2008, the Tufts community learned in an e-mail from President Lawrence Bacow that the university's endowment value had fallen as a result of the recession. Later, we learned that Tufts, along with other institutions of higher learning, had fallen victim to Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme, losing about $20 million, or two percent of its investment value. The most recent information that the community has access to is that Tufts is hurting; indeed, since President Bacow's e-mail last semester, the endowment has probably lost even more value, and it is not unreasonable to predict that things will get worse before they get better.
In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, President Barack Obama stated that he believes the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan and that he would be open to having the U.S. military negotiate with more moderate members of the Taliban, hopefully imitating the success of negotiations with Iraqi Sunni militants. This does appear to be an enactment of one of Obama's most controversial campaign promises — namely, to be open to negotiations with "terrorist" countries without preconditions — and while it is certainly still a large unknown, it is certainly a step toward stabilizing Afghanistan. With the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003, much of the attention that was devoted both militarily and politically to Afghanistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the aftermath of Sept. 11 shifted to Saddam Hussein and Iraq, especially when the situation in Iraq didn't clean up quite as nicely as was hoped. Much of the trouble in controlling Afghanistan stems from the fact that the country is in many ways disunited with a range of views and loyalties to tribes, governments and ethnicities. President Obama hopes that in opening talks with the Taliban, as General David Petraeus did with Sunni "radicals," he will be able to isolate and negotiate with more moderate and open members of the Taliban and its supporters to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and understanding between Afghanistan and the United States. We at the Daily wholly support President Obama's openness to talks with an "enemy" of the United States — if nothing else, these potential talks present an opportunity to promote understanding, if not agreement, and respect, if not friendship. President Obama's openness to dialogue, for those who are in agreement with Gov. Sarah Palin's accusations during the presidential campaign that President Obama would be "palling around with terrorists," shows the world that his administration really is committed to reaching out and closing the cultural and political gaps that provide support for organizations like al-Qaeda. It is a demonstration that Obama is willing to go beyond rhetoric and catchphrases and bring the change he advocated for during the presidential race. It is through the use of dialogue, the promotion of understanding, and the openness to both that the United States can hope to resolve the issues that still fester in Afghanistan and maybe, with some luck, lessen the grip of extremism and fundamentalism that clouds negotiation and taints political relations. And while this is certainly not a guarantee of peace, negotiations or even talks between the United States and Afghanistan, it is at least a step in the right direction.
Out of my stereo came his startling, other-worldly voice, the sound of someone enraptured -- or maybe possessed. He seemed to embody his dire ballad, rather than to merely perform it.
We have a lot to congratulate ourselves about here at Tufts, and we often do. One statistic that is often ignored, however, and that requires more introspection, is our alumni giving rate. US News and World Report, which provides statistics for various colleges and universities across the country, reveals that the alumni giving rate at Tufts is 23 percent. For private institutions of higher learning, particularly among Tufts' peers, this number falls short. In comparison, Brown's alumni giving rate is 40 percent, University of Pennsylvania's is 38 percent and Dartmouth's is 53 percent. Tufts considers these schools its "peer" institutions in terms of academic rigor and types of applicants, yet they significantly outperform us in terms of alumni giving rates. Why are their alumni so much more willing to give back to their school than those from Tufts?
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday, Sudanese officials responded by quickly demanding that Western aid groups cease their operations in the country. Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 bloodless coup and ultimately assumed the presidency in 1993, had been the source of much international juridical scrutiny, but it wasn't until February that the ICC judges approved a warrant for his arrest. Still, despite Bashir's close association with a conflict that has displaced millions of Darfurians and resulted in the violent deaths of countless others, the court stopped short of charging Bashir with genocide, like the prosecutor had requested. Instead, the ICC charged Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity and for playing an "essential role" in the murder, rape, torture, pillage and displacement of a number of residents of Darfur. Although this decision has received opposition from both sides — for being too weak or, more specifically, for not charging Bashir with genocide, and for alternatively being so strong as to incite a backlash from Sudanese officials intent on sending a message to the West — that single order will ultimately prove significant. It attaches a price tag to crimes against humanity. It creates a deterrent for slaughtering civilians. And it sends a message that the international community is paying attention — however peripherally — and will not continue to sit by idly. Bashir has clearly been wary of the ICC's ruling, which has manifested itself in his attempt to counter it — in this case, by harming aid organizations. In the short term, the ruling seems a poor tradeoff. In addition to cutting off these aid groups, a move that will affect millions of people, some Sudanese government officials have threatened violence in reaction. On the other hand, the ICC has little leverage with which to actually carry out the ruling. It has no police force of its own, and additionally, the United Nations peacekeepers in the country do not have a mandate to detain war crimes violators. Nonetheless, the ruling will not only have an ideological and symbolic impact, but on a more practical level, it may also yield a tension in the country that will ultimately result in the type of justice the ICC originally hoped for. It is likely that, eventually, other Sudanese leaders, unhappy with the country's international image, will turn Bashir over to international authorities. In any case, yesterday's ICC decision may have resulted in short-term problems in the country, but in the long term, it will hopefully destabilize Bashir's power while at the same time deterring future human rights violators.
President Barack Obama's Feb. 24 speech in front of a joint session of Congress not only represented a change for America, but for the Democratic Party. The candidate of change appeared intent upon returning the Democratic Party to its traditional beliefs and policies. He introduced a plan that would follow more in line with the progressive approach of both Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson than his moderate Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton.
Dear Editor, Chas Morrison's and Sam Wallis' op-ed in yesterday's Daily concerning the Tufts Student Fund (TSF) entitled "A more perfect community" was long on high-minded rhetoric and short on hard information. Instead of explaining the mechanics behind the TSF, they simply echoed the populist, fluffy sentiments of the March 2 op-ed written by Neil DiBiase, Nathan Render and Matthew Shapanka entitled "Why we're giving." From bemoaning Tufts' low alumni giving rate - maybe this exists because Tufts hounds alums even as they work to pay off astronomical student loans - to sympathizing with students who have to fill "out the complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid" (FAFSA), Morrison and Wallis say little of substance. My family has filled out the FAFSA three times and is hoping to receive aid for the first time next year. While it is certainly a long application, my father and I have never asked for a gold star for filling it out. Have they ever applied for financial aid? They should be more concerned that Tufts collaborates with the College Board to fleece students of $25 each year when they apply for aid. In addition to the FAFSA (key words: "Free Application"), Tufts requires the CSS/PROFILE application, which comes with the $25 fee. If paying for an application for financial aid is not oxymoronic, I do not know what is. The question on everyone's mind is how the student who receives the funds will be chosen. A Feb. 27 article in the Daily entitled "Fundraisers reach out to students" indicates that the financial aid office will choose the recipient. Morrison and Wallis note, "The money raised will go directly to a fellow classmate." I should hope it directly goes to a student! Thanks for clearing up that it is not going to "administrative decision-making" or the endowment, but I think it is safe to assume that we the students took that for granted. Fun fact for the duo: Full-page ads in the Daily cost between $200 and $250, and the TSF has had one for each of the past seven days -- how do you justify those administrative costs? Again, we are reminded that the TSF "is about helping your roommate, teammate, fraternity brother or sorority sister, and classmate stay at Tufts." Again, thank you for choosing hyperbole over facts. Active citizenship is not just donating money to some "great" cause. Active citizenship is making sure that we are not simply going through the motions. It is about accountability. It is about following every dime you donate to charity and making sure it is put to good use. Tufts students deserve to know that the TSF will be put to good use. Who will choose the recipient and on what basis will they be chosen? I hope to see quantitative answers in the upcoming days. Sincerely, John K. Atsalis Class of 2011
The Feb. 19 article "Theta Chi fraternity brothers sell pins, shave heads to benefit American Heart Association" said that Ben Rubinstein (LA '05) told the Daily in 2006 that he lost his father to heart disease. In fact, the March 10, 2006 article to which last month's article was referring, "Theta Chi's charity heart pins, coming to a dorm near you... or not," incorrectly reported that information. Rubinstein's father actually died of cancer.
These are dark days for the newspaper business. Newsrooms are shedding jobs by the hundreds; major metropolitan newspapers such as The Philadelphia Inquirer have cut their foreign desks (according to The New Republic, only four U.S. newspapers now have one); and whole sections are vanishing, as evidenced by The Boston Globe's recent decision to do away with its weekly stand-alone Health/Science section.
During a visit to Israel yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the new American administration believes that "moving toward the two-state solution, step by step, is in Israel's best interests…But obviously, it is up to the people and the government of Israel to decide." While it is true that the onus always falls most heavily on the involved parties, Secretary Clinton and President Barack Obama's administration should be wary of taking a position that negates a strong American role in the determination of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The financial meltdown of the past six months has changed everything from our financial institutions to the way we invest to the products we buy. The world as we knew it in early September no longer exists. Unfortunately, the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better, and we are still a long way from the bottom. However, amid the pessimism and the gloom, we as a community have an opportunity to make a profoundly positive statement and alter the life of one of our friends by contributing to the Tufts Student Fund.
In the 1960s, students at universities and colleges across the country took advantage of their right to assemble and held protests, fighting for civil rights for African-Americans. They proved that protesting can be an effective way of reaching out to the authorities and administrations. With well-based claims and nonviolent actions, raising awareness about issues can be attainable and supported.
Op-ed submissions are an integral part of our connection with you, our readers. As such, we would like to clarify our guidelines for submitting op-eds and what you can expect from the process.
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