Opinion

Editorial

Some illuminating ideas

October 19

Blackouts rarely make for a good time. They make it impossible to charge phones, computers and iPods (every college student's nightmare), sneakily reset clocks and turn even the simplest tasks into arduous chores. These issues, however, pale in comparison to the inconvenience of last Sunday's blackout, which came complete with closed dining facilities (except for Dewick), pitch-black residence halls and malfunctioning key fobs.

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Opinion

There is no condom for the heart

October 19

Sex is a part of college life for many Jumbos. Often times, these sexual relationships leave unintended negative emotional consequences, which can affect the ability to maintain a healthy mental, emotional and spiritual balance necessary for having happy marital relationships in the future. While contraception can protect against STDs, sex is far from "safe." Contraceptives cannot protect against the psychological sense of loss and betrayal that accompanies hookups and breakups. Abstinence is a realistic and basic principle preceding sexual happiness that anyone could follow even with the expectations that come with college.

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Opinion

Is higher education ready to support preschool teachers?

October 15

Teaching since 1997, Denise delayed completing college when she had her first child. For the next 10 years, Denise continued to accrue "continuing education units" and "professional development points" that did not count toward a bachelor's degree. About three years ago, Denise again attempted to return to college and finish her bachelor's degree, but was told that she would have to complete several remedial courses in order to fulfill the requirements. Since she only makes about $23,000 annually as a preschool teacher, she cannot afford to take all the courses needed.

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Opinion

Generation Yupster and the dawning of the age of antithesis

October 15

As an expatriate Tuftonian stationed in Washington, D.C. on the eve of an election, I have had ample time to reflect on the relationship between politics and my generation. Washington is abuzz with such a case of election fever that even young people, with their traditionally low voter turnout, are not exempt from the symptoms. It is customary to discuss politics at a rally, in the workplace, at a dinner party, in a convenience store, out at a crowded bar, with your cab driver, in whispers at the movie theater or while you are being mugged. Politics is the subject of greetings, pick-up lines, coffee breaks and pillow talk.

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Opinion

Too soon for sophomores to decide

October 15

With the year barely underway, the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife)is already expecting some sophomores to map out much of the rest of their time at Tufts. We at the Daily think the process has been far too rushed.

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Editorial

The only person that matters

October 13

Two years after Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) stepped down from Congress due to a sex scandal involving House pages, his Democratic successor has become embroiled in a scandal of his own.

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Editorial

Give victory a chance

October 13

Defeat, as defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is "frustration by nullification or by prevention of success" or "an overthrow[,] especially of an army[,] in battle" or "the loss of a contest." This same dictionary tells me that success may be described as a "degree or measure of succeeding" or a "favorable or desired outcome." Lastly, and most importantly, victory is "the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist." Why am I giving you dictionary definitions, you ask? The above three words — defeat, success, victory — have been used with such great frequency in respect to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that one needs to understand when and how they may be used. Politicians on each side have preferred words, of course, most notably the Democrats who hail the war as a disastrous affair with impending defeat (some claim the defeat has already happened) and the Republicans who tell the American public that the war is a success, that in some ways we have already won. How is it possible that something of a concrete and tangible nature can have two incredibly different results?

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Opinion

Straight Talk Express derailed

October 8

    Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) calls himself a maverick. He claims that he is all about straight talk. According to Rolling Stone, he once said that he believed elections should be decided "by the examples [candidates] set, by the way we conduct our campaigns, by the way we personally practice politics." McCain said that in the midst of the brutal 2000 presidential primary campaign. Apparently, he doesn't believe in that doctrine anymore.     McCain is determined to win the White House — at any cost. With a month left to go until Election Day, the polls rank him second to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with 43 percent of the support compared to Obama's 49 percent. It seems that straight talk doesn't sell as well as it used to.     In recent weeks, McCain's presidential campaign has taken a decisively nasty turn, jacking up the number of personal attacks on Obama and drawing attention away from the issues at hand: the crumbling economy, Russia's recent aggression and the Iraq war. According to The Washington Post, a senior Republican staffer who requested to remain anonymous stated, "We're going to get a little tougher, we've got to question [Barack Obama]'s associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here."     McCain learned from the best. After losing the 2000 campaign in large part due to a smear campaign designed to destroy his character, he has engaged in the same tactics this time around. The change of tone in McCain's campaign is palpable. His new television advertisements focus on Obama instead of his own policies. They ask "Who is the real Barack Obama?" and charge Obama with voting for higher taxes 94 times, a claim independent sources across the board have called misleading at best. Other ads call Obama "dangerous" and "dishonorable." Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), at recent rallies, has spent much of her time tying Obama to former extremist William Ayers.     One could also feel the shift in tone during Tuesday's debate. McCain used the night to make condescending remarks about Obama's voting record and what he has done politically (or failed to do, according to McCain). He even gave Obama a new nickname that has already spawned a couple of t-shirt ideas. The name in question: "That One."     McCain has moved into desperation mode. His efforts to separate himself from the legacy of President George W. Bush have failed and he now finds himself standing on a crumbling political platform. It's time for America to prepare for an old-fashioned mudslinging competition, even if only one side joins in on the fun. What to do when straight talk fails? Take a page from Karl Rove and see what kind of "swiftboat" ads come out.     The gullibility of the American people will soon be tested. How long before another laughable accusation such as the Ayers-Obama connection is concocted by the diabolical political masterminds at the helm of McCain's campaign? The next thirty days will be marked by the lowering of integrity and the type of politics that McCain vowed never to participate in. McCain's Straight Talk Express has turned into the Spin Talk Express, and if he has anything to say about it, it will go full steam into the White House.  

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Opinion

Shame on Tufts for not investing openly and responsibly

October 8

Last week's Observer led with a two-page spread ("Brown and Blue Go Green," Sept. 29) patting Tufts on the back for all of the sustainable initiatives it is making in plain sight for all of us to see and feel good about.

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Opinion

Keeping state government functional

October 7

This fall, Massachusetts residents will vote on the ability of their state government to remain effective. On the November ballot, voters will consider Question 1, which proposes the elimination of the state's income tax. While many families could use additional money in these tough economic times, Massachusetts residents must recognize that taxes pay for vital governmental programs. In order to preserve these services, we urge residents to vote no to Question 1 and keep the income tax intact.

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Opinion

Palin falls short at VP debate

October 6

On Thursday, there was unprecedented buzz concerning the vice-presidential debates. In light of the abysmal interview, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) gave with CBS's Katie Couric, no one was expecting much of her. Republicans were anxious to see a performance that would put former Vice President Dan Quayle's now-infamous potato incident to shame. Democrats couldn't wait to see Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) tear the Alaskan hockey mom to shreds.

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Opinion

Corrections

October 6

An Oct. 3 article titled "Tufts Mountain Club looks to get Senate funding for Trips Cabin" incorrectly stated that the Tufts Mountain Club owns the Loj. The university owns the house, and the student organization operates it. The Oct. 1 article "TCU senators may get assigned districts" had an accompanying box that incorrectly stated that senior Ryan Pallathra would represent Hillsides. Instead, the proposal listed sophomore Ryan Heman as the representative.

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Opinion

A conflict of interest?

October 5

Anytime that oversight vacuums and taxpayer dollars come together, questions of whether conflicts of interest are involved always arise. Recently, United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote a letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requesting that they clarify the employment status of Dr. Marvin Konstam, who has been working as a senior adviser to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) while simultaneously retaining his positions at Tufts Medical Center and Orqis, a private medical device company. It is too early to pass judgment, but in the meantime, we support Grassley's efforts to get to the bottom of the situation.

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Opinion

Quilting is not a substitute for sexual assault education

October 5

On Sept. 26, a Tufts alum wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal lambasting female students at liberal colleges, and more specifically, at Tufts. Ashley Samelson recalls, with clear bitterness, the shock of joining the liberal community at Tufts after moving from the "reserved evangelical" community in her home town, Colorado Springs, Colo. She contrasts this college experience with her most recent college encounter, that of taking her younger sister to Hillsdale College in Michigan.

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Opinion

Low expectations

October 5

On Thursday night, family rooms and dormitory common rooms across the country were packed in anticipation of the vice presidential debates. With Sen. Joe Biden's track record of either horrific slip-ups or marvelous triumphs and Gov. Sarah Palin's abysmal interview with Katie Couric still fresh in the minds of Americans, supporters of Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) alike gathered around their television sets with bated breath and that buzzing excitement that comes with knowing that anything can happen. While it can certainly be agreed that neither candidate crashed and burned, success, as we all know, is relative and, in the case of Palin, it may have had less to do with her ability to answer tough questions honestly and effectively than the painfully low expectations many in both parties held for her.

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Opinion

Voting in college not as easy as it seems

October 1

Today, a typical American man sits at his desk in his office and contemplates which candidate will receive his vote on Nov. 4. He knows that this will be a very important election in the midst of a financial crisis, so he must weigh his options carefully. He might even be wondering how to get to the polls on Election Day, but his electoral worries do not extend much further than this. This man is a registered voter.

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Opinion

Making ourselves heard

October 1

This election is about us … or so all the political pundits tell us. We've all heard the phrase "the Democrats/Republicans could win if the youth vote turns out this time" ad nauseam at this point. But it is a big "if."

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Opinion

Mikey Goralnik | Paint The Town Brown

October 1

The instrumental solo has, sadly, long been one of rock music's most celebrated live gimmicks. It always kills me when the band clears out some space during a song for one of the members to literally mess around for a while or to play the same solo that's on the record and the person next to me geeks out like it's the most incredible thing ever.

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Editorial

From the Office of the Tufts Daily

October 1

Dear Tina Fey, As you prepare for your highly-anticipated debate with Joe Biden tonight, we at the Daily thought you might appreciate hearing a few pointers:   1) You might want to think about putting a stop to your impersonator, Sarah what's-her-face, who keeps saying things like, "But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that." She's totally stealing your act; the comically ignorant vice presidential candidate is a tough character to master.   2) Brushing up on your foreign policy experience couldn't hurt. Sure, video clips from your "SNL" days have made their way around the world via the Internet and you live in the cosmopolitan city of New York, but it's not real experience until you've met with world leaders. Try speed dating at the U.N.; we hear that's fun.   3) Put all that "Baby Mama" (2008) drama behind you. If there's one thing America hates more than an assault on the traditional ways of baby-making, it's when such actions are promoted via a Lorne Michaels-produced post-"SNL" flop. The world knows you're capable of getting pregnant, as you demonstrated in 2006, so maybe it's time to give that another go. Then give birth two days before the election and nobody would dare vote against (or interview) you. 4) Make sure you channel your mediating skills that worked so well for the high school girls in "Mean Girls" (2004). I mean, it's not like Joe Biden is going to call you a drug pusher (well, maybe), but it's good that you know you can hold your own (confidence is always a plus). Oh, and if you spill coffee on your sweater and need to take it off, make sure you don't take the bottom layer with it. Showing your bra on national TV might be embarrassing… The Arts Department has faith in you and is certain that victory shall be yours. Keep these pointers in mind, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow! Sincerely, The Daily Arts Department

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Editorial

Starting a needed dialogue

September 30

    Most Tufts students have their fair share of pet peeves. Some are even quite vocal about them. But even for the most miffed of students, Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators don't usually make it onto the radar. But senators are looking to change that, and we are cautiously optimistic.     The Senate is currently considering a proposal that would give each undergraduate senator a "district" consisting of at least one dorm to represent. This would allow them to further inspect the issues facing individual residential communities and would potentially open new avenues of communication between the Senate and the student body.     As part of the plan, senators would hold at least half of their office hours in dorm common rooms rather than in the campus center. They would be able to collect comment cards, hear student complaints and take those concerns to the Senate as whole. By having a more direct line of communication, they would be able to submit more informed and effective proposals to the Senate floor.     That is, as long as students talk to senators and they, in turn, create concrete policy proposals. There is a largely unnoticed but very real barrier of apathy separating students from their senators. Students care about the issues, but often lack the confidence that expressing opinions to senators can lead to change. Senators, for their part, sometimes get lost in the clouds and forget that it is with the meat and potatoes that they can win respect.     This new proposal has the right ingredients to keep the Senate on exactly that track. Tufts, for example, has numerous dorms that could benefit from an injection of student leadership. The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) has left many students dissatisfied, and there is certainly no shortage of problems to fix. By getting paired with dorms, the senators could become better advocates for residential issues and strengthen the residential communities.     The challenge ahead is the translation of the idea into a reality. This proposal is certainly not the most important to come out of the Senate recently, but it will serve as a microcosm of the body's interaction with students.     In this effort, perspective is important. In 2007, the Senate formed a liaison program that paired its members with student organizations. As part of the initiative, senators attended several club meetings to gauge how the Senate could better serve student groups. Despite the liaison program's potential, it ultimately did not achieve its goals. Individual senators were often wallflowers at meetings and the program is currently being restructured. The Senate must take great care moving forward with its new system to ensure it does not meet with the same fate. New communication channels must lead to improved student representation and clear action. Otherwise, they are irrelevant.     When Duncan Pickard was running for TCU president, he spoke of the need for a better flow of information between the Senate and the student body. We endorsed Pickard in part for this promise and are happy to see  him and other senators make attempts to follow through.    

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