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THE TUFTS DAILY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2010

VOLUME LX, NUMBER 49

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Independent website to provide off-campus housing information BY

AMELIE HECHT

Daily Editorial Board

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

A new study shows that having a sister could lead to greater happiness.

Above, senior Soshian Sarrafpour with his sister Syena Sarrafpour, a junior.

Sisters bene icial to emotional health BY

WILLIAM C. WINTER AND WILLIAM K. WINTER Daily Staff Writers

The bonds of sisterhood may provide more than just relationship advice and friendship for the involved parties.

According to a recent study by Tony Cassidy, psychology lecturer at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, sisters improve the emotional wellbeing of their siblings. The study, which involved roughly 600 young adults, found individuals with sisters to be significantly more optimistic and happy than those without sisters.

“We decided to investigate this area because of an incidental finding in a previous study which suggested that following family breakup, girls who had sisters showed higher levels of achievement motivation than those who had brothers,” Cassidy told the Daily in an e-mail. “We

believe the mechanism through which this occurs is expressiveness. In other words, girls generate a more open and expressive environment in which issues are discussed.”

Freshman Elizabeth Moynihan, who has an older sister and two younger brothers, was not surprised by the study’s results.

“My sister and I can talk about anything,” she said.

Moynihan feels that having a sister with different interests than her own has helped define her own identity.

“It’s helped me find out who I am by our differences,” she said.

But those without sisters aren’t necessarily out of luck, according to Cassidy.

“Having female friends, particularly in the early years, is likely to have a similar effect,” he said. see SISTERS, page 2

As the rush to find the most desirable off-campus housing heats up, upperclassmen now have a new resource to aid them in their search.

Dan Wolchonok (LA ’05) in September launched a website that aims to offer Tufts students a more reliable source of information about potential apartments and landlords.

RentMaps.com allows users to post reviews of off-campus houses and apartments. Students rate apartments between one and five stars in several categories and can contribute written comments for further description.

Wolchonok said his experiences as a student inspired him to create the website.

“I have lived off campus at Tufts

MESSURI

Daily Staff Writer

Tufts’ most recent graduating class has reported higher levels of student debt but remains below the national average, according to Patricia Reilly, the director of financial aid and co-manager of Student Financial Services.

The Class of 2010 had an average student loan debt of $15,000, a record-breaking amount, Reilly said. This remains significantly lower than national averages, she said, crediting financial aid programs with keeping debt figures in check.

Nationally, the average student loan debt was $24,000 for college students who graduated in 2009, a 6 percent increase from the national average in 2008, according to a report released last month by the Project on Student Debt.

Approximately half of Tufts undergraduates have student loans, according to Reilly. Tufts ensures that students receive the best possible loans for their circumstances, helping to make sure their finan-

information they need and do so in an altruistic way to help tenants and landlords.”

The website, Wolchonok said, gives apartment seekers the inside information that is often unavailable to them.

“In an ideal world, you would get to talk to the people that currently live in the apartment you are considering, but the problem is that often you don’t have access to the current tenants or you don’t have time to track them down and talk to them,” Wolchonok said. “The website gives the user the ability to research on their own for apartments.”

Apartments are rated based on several criteria, including the presence of rodents, noise level in the neighborhood, reliability of hot water, water pressure, laundry options, landlords’ responsivesee LANDLORDS, page 3

Major: Undecided, Cheap Sox laugh and love for a cause

MEREDITH KLEIN/TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore David Schwartz, center, and senior Harrison Stamell, right, of Cheap Sox last night pretended to be a baby and mother at the annual Laughs of Love comedy festival, which benefited the nonprofit Seeds of Peace and was hosted by Cheap Sox and Major: Undecided in Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall. The festival continues tonight.

Student loan debt hits record-breaking levels, remains below national average

BY VICTORIA

and in other apartments around Boston, and each time the apartment search has been a painful, difficult process,” Wolchonok told the Daily. “I thought it would be great for everything to be publicly available online, so people can do their own research.”

Wolchonok compared RentMaps. com to Yelp.com, a website that provides user-based reviews of local businesses, and Carfax.com, which provides reviews and histories of used cars. RentMaps.com is designed to give tenants as much information as possible about their future homes.

Wolchonok said that there is currently a shortage of websites offering housing ratings.

“No one has really focused on apartment reviews, or if they have, it is not their primary focus,” he said. “I think there is a big opportunity to connect people to all the

cial needs are fully met, she said.

“Federal loans, funded by the federal government, typically carry better rates and much better repayment provisions,” Reilly said.

Repayment of a federal student loan starts six to eight months after graduation, according to Reilly. Federal loans offer a program, Income-Based Repayment, in which students can pay a percentage of their income every month, Reilly added.

Reilly said that non-federal loans have fewer controls on interest rates. Private loans, she added, should not be a “first resort.”

In addition to having less student loan debt than average, recent Tufts graduates also have a lower loan default rate.

The cohort default rate for Tufts is 0.8 percent, which means only 0.8 percent of students are having trouble paying back their student loans, according to Reilly. The national cohort default rate is about 5 percent, she said.

“That says our students are borrowing reasee DEBT, page 3

Inside this issue

Admissions of ice ramps up international outreach BY

ANGELINA ROTMAN Daily Staff Writer

SAT scores, grades, extracurricular activities, teacher recommendations … and one’s hometown? Increasingly, admissions officers are emphasizing geographic diversity in their recruiting, hoping to create a geographic kaleidoscope in the student body, according to Director of Admissions Susan Garrity Ardizzoni.

“Part of our responsibility as the Admissions Office is to create a community that is really reflective of the outside world,” Ardizzoni said.

Recently, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions has amplified its efforts to widen the applicant pool, both internationally and nationally, seeking out students from underrepresented states, Ardizzoni said. The geographic distribution of the Tufts Class of 2014 has benefited from this endeavor and represents 45 states and 39 foreign countries — up from 42 states and

38 foreign countries for the class of 2013 — and the admissions office will continue to send college representatives to locales that produce relatively few Tufts applicants, particularly abroad, according to Ardizzoni.

“Certainly in our case, we have always traveled nationally and internationally, although we have expanded internationally,” she said. “This is the second year we’ve had someone traveling in Africa, and we’ve expanded our reach in Asia and Latin America.”

Senior Kofi Aninakwa, who is from Ghana, believes that both the university and the international students who learn about Tufts from its representatives abroad benefit from Tufts’ initiative to expand its representation geographically.

“The rich academic programs and the welcoming student population make studying here exceptional,” he said. “And the school benefits, too. The international see ADMISSIONS, page 3

Today’s Sections

With the interdisciplinary studies major, students can stray off the beaten path and pursue their own interests.

Cee Lo Green makes a name for himself with unique voice and big personality.

see page 2

see ARTS, page 5

News | Features Comics Arts | Living

1 4 5

Classifieds Sports

7 Back

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THE TUFTS DAILY BENJAMIN D. GITTLESON Editor-in-Chief

NEWS | FEATURES

Friday, November 19, 2010

Interdisciplinary studies major offers students opportunity to mold their own academic path

EDITORIAL

BY VICKY

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RATHSMILL

Contributing Writer

Sophomore Demi Marks plans on majoring in children’s entertainment — and she will be the first to do so at Tufts. Marks is one of a small number of students on campus who have decided to design their own interdisciplinary studies major through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS).

When she arrived at Tufts as a freshman, Marks already knew that she wanted to minor in Communications and Media Studies (CMS). CMS Program Director Julie Dobrow suggested that Marks consider the interdisciplinary studies major as an option.

Marks is still waiting for approval from the CIS Faculty Committee, which makes its decision in the spring of an applicant’s sophomore year. Her unique major would combine child development and sociology with communications and mass media studies. “[Dobrow] has linked me with the right people … [and] encouraged me to forge relationships with certain people,” Marks said.

“It’s important to figure out who has done research in your field, who understands the nature of the [CIS] board, who is willing to help you and who will work well together.”

Only a small number of students apply to design their own interdisciplinary majors, according to Kristina Aikens, assistant director of writing resources at the Academic Resource Center.

“Generally speaking, there are one or two interdisciplinary studies majors per year,” Aikens, who helps applicants prepare their proposals, said. “Some years there are no proposals, and very occasionally, we’ll see as many as six. However, usually the number is one or two.”

In the Class of 2012, there are three students pursuing interdisciplinary studies majors, Aikens said.

While some stigmatize interdisciplinary majors as what students choose to study when they have no clear academic direction, CIS Director Gregory Carleton explained that interdisciplinary majors actually require an immense amount of work and planning.

Usually, only students who can identify exactly what they are interested in studying are accepted into the program.

“They are intellectually driven, highly selfdisciplined and motivated ... [and have] com-

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

Not every student’s individual interests are covered by Tufts’ list of majors. Instead of settling, they can simply create their own academic concentration. pleted some solid preliminary or preparatory coursework pursuant to the topic,” he said.

Before being permitted to declare an interdisciplinary major, applicants must develop a program proposal that describes his or her individual major, plan for each semester’s coursework through his or her senior year and find three faculty members to serve as major advisors. Additionally, the proposal must include a proposed topic and title for a requisite senior thesis.

“Each of these three professors must write a letter of support, agreeing to advise the student and supervise the student’s senior thesis,” Aikens said.

Students designing interdisciplinary majors must also plan a curriculum that encompasses disciplines from at least three academic departments, including at least two traditional fields of study, such as arts, humanities, natural sciences, mathematical sciences, social sciences and engineering.

For students who are passionate about an area of study that is not covered by Tufts’ curriculum, an interdisciplinary studies major can provide a student with just what they were hoping to get out of their degree, Aikens said.

Topics of past interdisciplinary studies majors have included urban design and development, psychology design, humancomputer interaction and photojournalism, she said. One junior is currently pursuing a major focusing on the intersection of medicine and culture in China, according to Carleton.

“The interdisciplinary study major provides a wonderful opportunity for combining fields in dynamic, exciting ways and for exploring connections across traditional boundaries,” Aikens said. “For the student who sees interesting combinations among fields and who has a specific research focus that does not fit into traditional majors, this can be a very exciting and fulfilling path.”

But interdisciplinary studies majors are not for every student, she said.

“One of the important things to keep in mind about these topics is that they are liberal arts topics,” Aikens said. “The interdisciplinary major is meant for exploration of the liberal arts, not for preprofessional or business-related endeavors.”

Additionally, a major as individualistic as see INTERDISCIPLINARY, page 3

Study: People with sisters often happier than those without SISTERS continued from page 1

In light of this finding, he said, parents should try to ensure that their toddlers have a diverse group of friends in terms of gender.

Chi Omega President Lizzie Langer agrees that female friends can fulfill the roles traditionally played by sisters, which is why she joined a sorority.

“Due to the belief system we share as members of Chi Omega, women with different backgrounds and life experiences can relate on new levels,” Langer said.

“I believe the term ‘sisters,’ used for the members of Chi Omega and other sororities, is very appropriate.”

Langer explained that living together in a house affords many sorority sisters a relationship more similar to biological sisterhood than some female friends achieve. Still, she said, sorority sisters who do not live in the house are conceptualized as sisters by the rest of the group as well.

“As I have experienced both living in and out of my sorority house, I can attest to the fact that not only does Chi Omega provide a welcoming and comfortable home for sisters who live there, but it also serves the exact same purpose for the sisters who do not,” Langer said.

Cassidy believes that parents’ gender

expectations may be responsible for his discovery, citing examples like parents organizing their daughter’s fantasy tea parties while gifting toy guns and footballs to their sons.

“Despite modernization of parenting, we still socialize boys towards more stoic behavior. Girls, on the other hand, are socialized toward more expression of emotion,” Cassidy said.

An earlier study performed at Harvard Medical School in 2008 found that happiness correlated not only with having sisters but also with having siblings in general. The study, which examines the contagious nature of happiness, found that when a person is happy, his or her siblings living within a one-mile radius are 14 percent more likely to be happy than siblings living farther away. The study, which surveyed more than 5,000 people over a period of 20 years, found a high correlation between happiness and the perceived happiness of nearby friends and family.

At the same time, there is such a thing as having too many siblings, according to a study of nearly 40,000 British households by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, which found that an increase in the number of siblings within a child’s home correlated with a decrease in the child’s happiness.

Professor of Child Development Fred Rothbaum said that the correlation between number of siblings and happiness is not as straightforward as it may seem, though.

“Statistics say that larger families tend to be poorer families, so it could be related to poverty instead of to sibling size, [or] it could be related to the amount of attention,” Rothbaum said.

“It might be great to have a sibling support group, but if that sibling support group is really large, that diffuses how much parents and other adults are able to give the kids.”

In Rothbaum’s experience, he has not found that people with siblings are always happier than people in singlechild families. Still, he said, there is some validity in recognizing the potential benefits in having a sibling with whom to share childhood.

“The meta-analyses I’ve seen on only children do not show that they’re less happy, so I’d be curious to look more closely at [the University of Ulster and Harvard Medical School] studies,” Rothbaum said. “But, having said that, a sibling is a lifelong companion. We are programmed to be in groups, to belong, and if we have a sibling, there’s a natural group to which we belong. I can see that to be a source of support.”

Corrections The Nov. 12 article “Jumbos work to build a solar-powered birthing ward in Haiti” incorrectly stated that Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at one time contributed funding to the Sustainable Energy Access for Haiti trips but later pulled the funding. In fact, EWB never contributed funding for the trips.

The caption of the photo accompanying yesterday’s article “Guster drummer and Tufts alum Rosenworcel talks about his journey from Bush Hall to stardom” incorrectly identified the individual in the center as Brian Rosenworcel. In fact, the individual was Ryan Miller.

Friday, November 19, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

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NEWS | FEATURES

Alumnus’ website offers students a resource for inding off-campus housing LANDLORDS continued from page 1

ness, access to public transportation, availability of parking and area safety.

“I did research into what sort of information people think is most important to know about a new apartment,” Wolchonok said. “I tried to pick metrics that don’t already exist on other sites.”

Students browsing the site can narrow searches by location, number of bedrooms and rent. Wolchonok eventually hopes to add a feature that would make available landlords’ contact information.

“I don’t have the functionality yet to reach out to landlords and acquire their personal information,” he said. “But that would be a great feature — it would work for everyone, landlords and tenants.”

Contributors to the website are currently anonymous, though Wolchonok hopes to add a function that would identify posters.

“I am interested in later versions to incorporate social aspects to the website so that students can see if they know or have friends that know the people who previously lived in the apartment,” he said. “That might impact their perspectives of the place.”

Wolchonok reviews each submission personally to ensure a level of respectfulness and objectivity.

“I want to make sure that it doesn’t turn into a site that allows people to bash on their landlord,” he said. “The complaints should be fair and should be factual.”

Wolchonok is also considering a feature that would allow landlords to defend themselves and refute claims made by students.

He is focusing his marketing on the Tufts community for now, though the website allows users to post reviews of apartments regardless of their location. He has received

submissions from Cambridge, Mass., and Boston residents, as well as a few from New York and New Haven, Conn.

As of yesterday, Wolchonok had received approximately 150 submissions, about onethird of which came from the area surrounding Tufts.

“I am working on getting as many submissions as possible from the Tufts community at the moment, though members of other communities have started contributing as well,” Wolchonok said.

Wolchonok is also an alumnus of Tufts’ Theta Chi fraternity chapter. He said he is receiving marketing support from current Theta Chi brothers.

“I have talked to a lot of people who have already looked around for houses, and I recommended the site to them, and they have all been really enthusiastic about it,” Theta Chi Public Relations Representative Krishna Soni, a sophomore, said.

Soni, along with junior Joel Greenberg, is spearheading Theta Chi’s marketing efforts for RentMaps.com. He said that they are considering offering coupons for local restaurants to students who submit the best reviews with the goal of attracting reviewers to the site.

Wolchonok said that he is largely relying on students to voluntarily submit reviews. He appealed to what he called students’ “good nature” and desire to help other students.

“I would love it to become something that people would want to do to contribute back to undergrads,” he said. “There are lots of people who feel taken advantage of or who want to pass on a great house.”

Some students questioned the website’s ability to successfully solicit reviews.

“Similar to the Tufts professor reviews website, the apartment review website sounds very helpful in theory, but I always find myself as the reader and never the poster on that sort

LANE FLORSHEIM/TUFTS DAILY

Students gather outside an off-campus apartment near Tufts. A new website launched by a Tufts alumnus provides students with reviews of local apartments and landlords. of site,” senior Abi Benudis said. “The website would have to find a good way to prompt people to post, because I don’t think that many people would go do it of their own accord.”

Senior Charles Skold said that the website might only attract contributions by students who have particularly strong feelings about their apartments.

“It could be skewed towards either really good or bad experiences, but those are still helpful,” Skold said. “Anything that gives us more control and info about off-campus housing is good.”

Sophomore Lynne Koester said the website’s central idea appealed to her. She plans to live off campus next year and said that she would consider making use of RentMaps.com.

Admissions office expands international recruiting ADMISSIONS continued from page 1

community offers a different experience to the student population and helps promote diversity.”

Considering the percentage of Tufts students from Massachusetts — by far the state with the highest representation — the admissions office feels the need to place greater emphasis on drawing students from underrepresented states and regions of the country, Ardizzoni explained.

Much of the time, the admissions office’s task is a matter of getting the university’s name out in areas where it might not be very well known, she said.

“I’d say in some parts of the South and in some parts of the Midwest — places like Chicago — we’re very well-represented, and Florida, but some of the smaller states, we’d like to have more of a presence there,” Ardizzoni said.

She added that the office is keeping its eye

on areas where the population is going to continue to grow, including Texas, California and Florida.

Sophomore Ben Van Meter, however, feels that Tufts’ emphasis on diversity should be centered on socioeconomic factors rather than geographic ones.

“The problem is, you’re still picking from the upper segments of society, even if you’re getting geographic diversity, rather than socioeconomic,” he said. “I think of that as more harmful than just having people from the United States.”

Van Meter believes creating a diverse student body by fostering geographic diversity alone is somewhat misguided.

“If you think about why you want diversity for a different educational environment, people from different social strata will express much different views,” he said.

Often, though, geographic location does roughly dictate the socioeconomic background people come from, as well as a

specific cultural aspect of their upbringing, sophomore Alissa Resnick believes. Though it may look as though the admissions office is focusing on geographic diversity alone, location often correlates with many other factors of diversity, she said.

In addition, she said, different regions of the country have different traditions and cultures, which are important, as American citizens, to learn about.

“Just as a diversity through race, socioeconomic class and religion is important, geographic diversity exposes you to completely different people who have had very different experiences than you,” she said.

“I had no real concept of the South until I met a girl from Alabama who became one of my best friends. I like having friends from Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire and even Beijing. Their experiences growing up were different in so many ways, and I feel like we have a lot that we can learn from each other.”

College graduates nationwide face increasing student debt DEBT continued from page 1

sonable amounts,” Reilly said. “It also says when they leave here they’re doing okay.

They’re getting jobs; they’re repaying their student loans.”

Students who are in graduate school, she said, have loans in deferment.

“The percent of students who can’t repay their loans is really, really low, and we’re really proud of that,” she said.

Although recent Tufts graduates are doing better than the national trend in terms of student loan debt, they are also seeing the effects of the economic recession on unemployment, according to Tim Brooks, executive director of alumni relations. The national unemployment rate for recent graduates stands at a record-breaking 8.7 percent, according to the report.

“With the economy being so bad and jobs being hard to come by, many students have turned to graduate school to obtain a master’s degree,” Brooks said. “But in some respects, that helps to build up the debt even higher.”

The job environment is now very limited, he said.

“I hardly meet anyone that doesn’t personally have a friend or family member dealing with the impact of the recession,” Brooks said.

A bright spot comes in the form of recent

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Despite Tufts’ record levels of student loan debt, recent Tufts graduates are better off than average students nationally. research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, according to Jean Papalia, director of Career Services. The association predicted in a report this month that it expects college hiring activity to increase for the Class of 2011 over last year.

The Tufts University Alumni Association’s career services, according to Brooks, provide a valuable resource for recent graduates looking for employment.

“When the economy took a nose dive in 2008, the requests to our career services office quadrupled,” he said.

Recent Tufts graduates had mixed opinions about rising student debt and unemployment. Sarah Porter (LA ’06), now a student at Tufts’ Boston School of Occupational Therapy, worked as a preschool teacher before returning to the Hill

for graduate school.

“It’s not fun to think about all of the loans I had to take,” Porter said. “A lot of my friends initially worked and then decided to go to graduate school.”

Porter added, however, that none of her friends had a problem obtaining a job after graduating from Tufts.

Adam Kornetsky (LA ’10), who is now working as a health care consultant, echoed Porter. He said he and his friends had not felt the effects of the recession to a great degree.

“For a lot of my friends, it took a little bit more time, but all of my friends did ultimately get jobs,” he added. “For some of them, it took a bit more time, so the most important thing is to be patient and to ultimately be willing to apply to as many jobs as you can.”

“I think it’s an excellent idea because trying to wade through off-campus housing without much guidance can be really hard,” she said.

“It’s hard to find out important things, like if the landlord is really a good landlord.”

Sophomore Rachel Kornetsky agreed. She said that during her housing search, she had to rely on friends who were seniors to learn about available apartments.

“It’s really hard for students to keep bothering their upperclassmen friends to get names and numbers of landlords and have to interrogate them about the quality of their landlords,” Kornetsky said. “It would be much easier and more efficient to have somewhere central to go and learn about available houses and landlords from previous tenants.”

Students design individualized courses of study INTERDISCIPLINARY continued from page 2

interdisciplinary studies comes with some obstacles, according to Aiken.

“It can be isolating and confusing not to have a specific departmental affiliation,” she said. “In addition to passion for the topic, this major requires the ability to work independently, a strong capacity for selfdiscipline in unstructured situations and a great deal of initiative.”

Marks agreed, saying that when she was deciding whether to pursue an interdisciplinary studies major, she took into account the likelihood that she would have no one with whom to discuss her curriculum, unlike students pursuing majors in more conventional departments.

“It’s difficult sometimes for people to take you seriously … and it’s hard to relate to others because you’re the only one on your specific path and therefore don’t have those friends to fall on if you’re struggling,” Marks said.

But Marks explained that attending Tufts, even though it does not offer a major in her field of interest, is as important to her as her course of study.

“Could I transfer to a communications school? Sure, but I think being at Tufts has given me the unique experience of being one in 1,000 instead of just another face,” she said. “I also think that I will graduate a more rounded person than if I had gone to a specialty program, and I think that will only help me.”

After graduation, Marks hopes to develop and market major motion pictures or television programs for children and teenagers.

Her passion for the career path she is pursuing is ultimately what will allow her to buckle down and complete the major she took on, she said.

“I arrived at this through multiple internships, class experiences and my gut just telling me that this is what I would be totally thrilled to be doing for the rest of my life,” she said.

“You really have to want it for it to become a reality. Certainly, people at Tufts are more than willing to help, but it’s up to you to figure out what you want from your education because you are designing everything from what is required of you to graduate, who is going to help you get there and how you are going to go about doing it.”

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COMICS

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THURSDAY’S SOLUTION

MARRIED TO THE SEA

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Lasting as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for more than a year

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Thursday’s Solution

Ellen: “You have to crawl under the table and stick it in.”

Please recycle this Daily.

Arts & Living

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ALBUM REVIEW

Cee Lo Green thinks that you should know his name BY

ASHLEY WOOD

Senior Staff Writer

Everyone knows Gnarls Barkley, and if they don’t, they’ve at least heard a version

The Lady Killer Cee Lo Green Elektra and Roadrunner of the musical collaborators’ hit song “Crazy.” And yet, until the song “F**k You” went viral on YouTube this past August, no one seemed to know Cee Lo Green.

The voice behind Gnarls Barkley and two solo albums, Cee Lo admitted in a pre-“The Lady Killer” release interview that he has spent his music career feeling like an underdog.

Although his last solo album, “Cee Lo Green… Is the Soul Machine” (2000) was met with critical acclaim, it did not garner the superstar success that the artist was looking for. This series of mediocre responses led to a strategy shift, making his third solo album what Cee Lo refers to as a compromise, and what others might call a sell-out.

However, when the early release of the first single off “The Lady Killer,” “F**k You,” hit the Internet, no one seemed to be complaining. Playful, shocking and dangerously catchy, the single gave Cee Lo the last push

he needed to gain long-awaited fame and notoriety.

Although the rest of the album does not quite live up to the wildly popular status of “F**k You,” fans of the single can expect to hear Motownworthy R&B with an added contemporary twist, carried

by Cee Lo’s unique voice and larger-than-life personality.

Anyone recalling 2006’s “Crazy” can attest to the fact that the artist’s voice is not nearly as smooth as the typical Boyz II Men singer, but Cee Lo plays this to his advantage, and it is exactly what makes his sound so pleasing to the ear.

Now, don’t be confused by the album’s title. “The Lady Killer” is by no means a simple retelling of a rapper-turnedsoul-singer’s sexual conquests.

Although songs like “Cry Baby” and “Bodies” suggest a certain “player” status, Cee Lo’s slowjam cover of Band of Horses’ 2008 song “No One’s Gonna Love You” is a sincere and emotional tribute to love. And if anything, the hit single “F**k You” demonstrates that the artist at least knows what it means to get dumped.

Despite the variety of attitudes toward love displayed in the lyrics, “The Lady Killer” is a mostly upbeat and feel-good album. Even with aggressive lyrics like, “F--- you and f--- her too,” one still gets the feeling that Cee Lo is enjoying himMCT

see CEE LO, page 6

Cee Lo Green’s newest album, ‘The Lady Killer,’ mixes traditional motown with the artist’s unique style.

MOVIE REVIEW

GALLERY REVIEW

Boston-based artist explores the city and its dynamic forms

BY SHOSHANNA

KAHNE

Contributing Writer

Landscape is a staple of nature, an omnipresent aesthetic. Place is something we rarely consider in the moment, but it is

Matt Hosey: 3-Dimensional Urban Paintings At the Grove Hall Branch, Boston Public Library through December 11 41 Geneva Ave. Dorchester, Mass.

617-536-5400 MCT

Russell Crowe at the New York premiere of ‘The Next Three Days.’

‘The Next Three Days’ features strong cast but weak plot BY

ROBERT GOTTLIEB

Contributing Writer

Paul Haggis’ latest effort, “The Next Three Days,” packs a weak punch despite the presence of a strong cast.

The Next Three Days Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde Directed by Paul Haggis The film is a remake of the French thriller “Pour Elle” (2008) but seems all too familiar and is essentially a weak rehash of Fox’s “Prison Break” (2005-09) with Russell

Crowe, higher stakes and a bigger budget.

All this is despite the fact that the film boasts star power aplenty — Haggis is the writer of Oscar-winning films “Crash” (2005) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), and Crowe is joined in the cast by Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson.

In this latest project, Haggis steps away from the heart-wrenching stories that drive his other work and instead picks up where his last screenplay for “Quantum of Solace” (2008) left off: the everyman thriller. Lara (Banks) and John Brennan (Crowe) seem to lead normal, happy lives with their son (Ty Simpkins), until Lara is suddenly convicted for the murder of her boss. see THREE DAYS, page 6

all around us. Matt Hosey’s works are snippets of a feeling, of an interaction with the urban landscape.

Hosey’s nine works hang on the white walls of the newly built Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library. The library, a vision of cleanliness and order, sits on a street lined with parking lots and well-worn buildings. All around it, life rattles on, but inside, all is calm and still.

The most striking piece upon entering the gallery is a triplet of giant splintershaped forms, varnished with a thick gloss, hanging over the elevator entryway. It was not until I saw the rest of the show — with almost all of the other pieces at eye level — that this struck me as significant: the three forms are a skyline, or at least convey the sense of a skyline.

The bulk of the show is located on the second floor, weaving around bookshelves, computers and desks.

Throughout all of Hosey’s works are sculptural forms that question the format of conventional paintings, exploding them into the three-dimensional.

There are angular cutouts, jetties and

inlays. Pieces jut out of the wall and in onto themselves.

Because the primary material of construction used is plywood, there is something hardy and imposing about this presentation. Sawed, gauged, shellacked and sanded, the planes of textured wood intersect and diverge in compelling ways. The question of which is the front of the painting and which is the back is not an easy one to answer. In fact, answers are precisely what Hosey is not offering the viewer. Hosey is offering his way of moving through the city.

The landscape addressed here is not that of domineering skyscrapers and multitudinous office buildings. It’s the landscape of walking around, of riding the T every day to work or of growing up in a topography shaped by bulldozers and wrecking balls. see GALLERY, page 6

COURTESY MATT HOSEY

Matt Hosey’s work defies the limits of a conventional 2-D canvas painting.

THE TUFTS DAILY

6

Friday, November 19, 2010

ARTS & LIVING

ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

Elizabeth Banks and Russell Crowe star in Paul Haggis’ new thriller, ‘The Next Three Days,’ a weaker follow-up of to the director’s earlier work.

Crowe’s newest effort in ‘The Next Three Days’ fails to live up to his pedigree THREE DAYS continued from page 5

Despite the incredible amount of hard evidence against her — fingerprints, blood stains — Lara’s husband insists on her innocence and decides to break her out of prison.

A middle-class community college professor, John devises his plan meticulously and turns to Damon (Liam Neeson), a former inmate who managed to escape, for ideas. Meanwhile, John confides in Nicole (Olivia Wilde), and Lara attempts suicide, which makes John’s efforts even more urgent.

Despite a dramatic premise, the most effective moments of the film are the subtle ones — when John tests out various homemade tools or makes innocent

mistakes trying to forge documents, we watch him fail and narrowly escape being caught or killed.

Crowe works hard for our sympathy, but his overall performance is disappointing and uninspired. More Bruce Willis than Harrison Ford, Crowe’s professor-turned-action hero character delivers some very cheesy lines.

“The Next Three Days” makes you wonder — or perhaps, moan — “What ever happened to Russell Crowe circa 2001?” It has been almost a decade since Crowe had a gem like “A Beautiful Mind” (2001) or “The Insider” (1999) in which he could really shine.

Neeson and Banks, too, are clearly better than this movie. Neeson, like Crowe, has recently been stuck in a slump, and

Banks seems to have sought a break from her successful comedic ventures through this film. Despite their talents, both of their performances fail to get anywhere beyond acceptable.

Haggis’ screenplay does not give the actors much leeway — the most frustrating aspect of “The Next Three Days” is its implausibility. In a film that is predicated upon the appeal of its resourceful, “ordinary man” narrative, the characters are not as clever as their typical archetypal predecessors. One is left asking: John is so “current” that he uses an iPhone and YouTube to figure out how to make his breakout toolbox, yet he leaves a paper trail. Why does John open up to Nicole if it could jeopardize his whole operation?

Regardless, Haggis sells out by resort-

ing to stylized, computer-generated shots, explosions and overt product placement usually reserved for ho-hum thrillers starring Denzel Washington — John’s Toyota Prius even becomes a major clue that the otherwise incompetent police force uses to find him.

Looking at the structure of the film, it appears that Haggis decided to take the cutesy route, cementing the ridiculousness of his concept and reducing further the slim chance of eliciting in his audience more than a mild interest in his protagonists’ futures.

Aside from the last half hour, which admittedly is intense if one ignores all rationality, the film simply cannot make up for its first three-quarters that drag on for far too long.

Hosey engages with urban landscape, reproduces sense of city spaces

Cee Lo Green’s album does not measure up to breakout single

GALLERY

CEE LO

continued from page 5

continued from page 5

The processes of demolition and renovation specifically inspire Hosey. To accomplish this aesthetically, he uses only materials found in hardware stores. All of his tools are the technical tools of builders, architects and handymen.

The mechanical precision of the angles contrasts with the delicate attention to finish.

Glosses and stains break up the dominating presence of wood.

Finished edges and buffed surfaces give the tread-marked and scarred wood façades a feel of intention and care.

This focus on tools contrasts with but also draws inspiration from Hosey’s undergraduate experience. Hosey told the Daily that he studied photography as an undergraduate, but going into graduate school, he wanted to do something more hands-on.

Hosey doesn’t take pictures of his inspiration anymore. He just sees something — electrical wiring, roof lines, filled-in holes in the sidewalk and street — and he carries that feeling back to the studio with him. It’s not about recreating the shape that so fascinates him;

self with every word. And that enjoyment is contagious.

Cee Lo tries his best to leave no fan behind. For listeners desiring a more traditional sound, the song “Old Fashioned” is exactly what the title suggests — an old-fashioned R&B throwback worthy of a group like The Temptations. On the other hand, fans of Cee Lo’s Gnarls Barkley days can turn to “Bright Lights Bigger City,” a synthfilled dance song about going out on Saturday nights and having a good time. And finally, for fans of his previous solo work, the artist has released an entirely separate free mix tape named “Stray Bullets,” consisting of songs that didn’t make it on the “The Lady Killer” album because of their more limited marketability.

Although it may seem like Cee Lo has a song for everyone, the nearly constant cool, upbeat sound of “The Lady Killer” comes dangerously close to being monotonous. For example, the song “Wildflower” is memorable only because

COURTESY MATT HOSEY

Matt Hosey’s ‘Datum’ is an example of his exploration of urban landscapes. it’s about recreating the feeling.

Hosey started out creating little wooden squares inspired by the shapes he saw in his daily life, and from there, these new, far more dynamic pieces evolved.

Generating emotion from texture is a nuanced problem. In one piece, thickly caked paint is sandwiched between two boards, which are then pulled apart and anchored together in an open “V” shape. The paint pulled and stretched as the boards separated, leaving behind fields of little craters.

Another work leans against the wall and, when viewed from the front, looks simply like a single red panel. It is only as you move around it to step back into the elevator that you notice the second and third panels, hidden from the front. Taken together, these panels form a cave, like an alley.

The art only becomes more relevant as you move through the city and head back to Tufts. Shapes and intersections you wouldn’t normally notice seem glaring and obvious. It is truly a more active way to experience Boston.

of its extremely forgettable nature. Luckily, darker, slower songs like “Bodies” and “No One’s Gonna Love You” save the album from feeling entirely one-dimensional and add badly needed depth to Cee Lo’s happy-go-lucky repertoire.

Overall, “The Lady Killer” is a must-hear album for Gnarls Barkley fans who wish to get better acquainted with the voice behind the 2006 Danger Mouse-produced album “St. Elsewhere.” For those who spent their childhoods belting out oldies like “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Shotgun,” Cee Lo delivers an enjoyable contemporary version of Motown classics. However, true fans of the R&B singer’s music won’t be able to avoid noticing Cee Lo’s sacrifice of creative freedom in exchange for attention.

In “Bright Lights Bigger City,” Cee Lo admits his desire for notoriety when he sings, “Sometimes you wanna go where everyone knows your name.” After a single like “F**k You,” Cee Lo’s going to have a hard time finding a place where people don’t.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Friday, November 19, 2010 Housing 3BR Apt for Rent Furnished, quiet and bright 3 BR Apt- 21 Day St, Somerville (near Davis Sq), avail 2/1/11, space for 3 students or family + living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer, hard wood floors, 1 car off-street. pkg, $ 2.175/mo excl. electricity and gas.

Contact: bernhard.ehrenzeller@ unisg.ch Apts for Rent Well located. Available school year 2011-2012. 4 bedrooms. one 5 bedrooms. one six bedrooms. call 617-448-6233

Housing 42 Bromfield, 5 BR APT This great 5 bedroom apartment is conveniently located and just a few steps to campus nearby to Lower Campus Road & Dearborn Road. It has hardwood floors throughout the apartment, along with a new fully appliance kitchen with a dishwasher, disposal, fridge, stove & over the stove microwave. Non-coin-op laundry and additional storage in basement. Off-street parking included. $3,250/month. Available June 1, 2011. Call Angela at 617-852-2215 or e-mail: angelam@darinassociates. com to set up for a showing.

7

SPORTS

Housing

Housing

4BR Apt for Rent 4 Bedroom Apts. for Rent.

Available June 1st 2011 located on Ossipee Rd. Call Maria for more information: 781-942-7625.

42 Bromfield Rd, 4 BR APT Somerville, nearby to Lower Campus Road & Dearborn Road.

It has hardwood floors throughout the apartment, a new fully appliance kitchen. Non-coin-op laundry and additional storage in basement. Off-street parking included. $2,800/month. Available June 1, 2011. Call Angela at 617-852-2215 or e-mail:angelam@darinassociates.com to set up for a showing.

Apt for Rent well located. available. 5 bedroom + 4 bedroom equals 9 bedroom in same building. Also, 6 bedroom+4 bedroom equals 10 bedroom same building. call 617-448-6233

Housing

Wanted

College Ave 5 BR Apt 2 1/2 Baths, kitchen, living room, off-street parking, w/d basement.

Available June 1, 2011. Rent: $3250. First and last month rent required. Tenants pay utilities.

Larger apts available. Call Guy (617) 590-7656.

$$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Become a California Cryobank donor and earn up to $1,200/ month, receive free health and infectious disease testing, and help people fulfill their dreams of starting a family. Convenient Cambridge location. Apply online: SPERMBANK.com

CLASSIFIEDS POLICY All Tufts students must submit classifieds in person, prepaid with check, money order or exact cash only.

All classifieds submitted by mail must be accompanied by a check. Classifieds are $15 per week or $4 per day with Tufts ID or $30 per week or $8 per day without. The Tufts Daily is not liable for any damages due to typographical errors or misprintings except the cost of the insertion, which is fully refundable. We reserve the right to refuse to print any classifieds which contain obscenity, are of an overly sexual nature or are used expressly to denigrate a person or group. Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

Equestrian squad scores an impressive 44 points at last weekend’s BU show EQUESTRIAN continued from page 8

COURTESY DEMI MARKS

The Tufts Equestrian Team is having one of its best seasons ever, evidenced by its current first-place standing atop the Zone 1 Region.

its last competition at Stonehill tomorrow.

Though the season does take a small intermission before the spring semester starts up, the Jumbos have been invited to the Tournament of Champions to be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian in North Carolina the first weekend in December. The tournament is held twice a year and is one of the most prestigious tournaments offered to equestrian teams across the country. At St. Andrews, the Jumbos will likely compete against the likes of Michigan, Penn State and other schools with varsity teams.

“We are very excited to be invited back,” Christiansen said. “It’s really exciting because we are usually the only club team that gets invited, and this year they are accepting even fewer teams than usual.”

The team hopes to finish atop its region in March so that it can advance the entire team to zones, where it can compete against teams outside of the region and test its strength against a variety of competitors.

Men’s squash squad, ranked 20th, hopes to maintain its national prestige MEN’S SQUASH continued from page 8

other schools ranked closely to them, a task that won’t come very easily.

“We will never be able to beat teams like Harvard and Yale ranked in the top 10,” junior Chris Mutzel said. “We will compete most closely against teams ranked between 14th and 25th in the rankings.”

In addition to 14th-ranked Brown, the Jumbos face seven teams ranked between 14th and 25th — including Stanford, Amherst, Hamilton, St. Lawrence, George Washington, Colby and Bowdoin — in the regular season.

For the Jumbos to stay in the C Division at the end of the season, they will have to win many of these matches against equal, if not better, competition.

In regular season squash matches, Tufts ranks its top nine players to go up against the top nine from an opposing school.

Each time an individual player wins, he earns a point for his team. After all the individual matches are over, the school with the most points wins the overall match.

With this format, the ninthranked player on Tufts’ ladder is just as important to the team as the top player. Thus, it will be up to the young players, including four freshmen who are in contention to start right away, to provide depth and fill the void left behind by the five graduating starters.

The Tufts lineup, although it will likely change throughout the season, currently has Gross at number one, followed by

senior Ben Rind, junior Henry Miller and freshman Michael Abboud, according to Eng. Senior Andrew Kim is currently fifth on the ladder, followed by two more freshmen, Jeremy Ho and Tesfa Hailu. Mutzel, junior Will Salisbury and freshman Ben Briggs are all being considered for the eighth and ninth spots in Tufts’ starting lineup.

Although the Jumbos’ lineup is full of new faces, one thing that hasn’t changed is Gross as the team’s top gun. Playing at the number one spot as a junior, Gross was voted to the All-NESCAC First Team for the second consecutive season and qualified for the College Squash Association Individual Championships, where he finished among the top 100 players in the entire country.

Koo, Barba and new coach Velez to lead fresh faces into battle WOMEN’S SQUASH continued from page 8

“They show a lot of potential,” Koo said of the newcomers. “Hafsa played in high school, so she definitely has experience, and Risa and Caitlin are very athletic and show good squash instincts. They’re improving very quickly, and I think they’ll do well this season.”

The Jumbos are just as optimistic about their new head coach as they are about their new players. Velez, who was an assistant coach last year under previous head coach Doug Eng, has ranked as high as No. 84 in the world and has coached in Ecuador and the United States. Velez will work exclusively with the women’s team while Eng remains as head coach of the men’s team.

“She’s very enthusiastic about the team, and we all have been getting along with her really well,” junior co-captain Mercedes Barba said. “Our drills have been very effective, and I think everyone’s really excited for how the rest of the season is going to turn out with her.”

In the offseason, the team practiced twice a week with an emphasis on honing fundamental skills as well as conditioning.

“We have been doing a lot of rails and deep shots because that’s the most basic

shot in squash, and if you don’t have that down, you’re at a disadvantage already,” Koo said.

“We’ve been doing a lot more fitness this year,” Barba said. “We’ve been doing a lot more weights, pushups and strength and conditioning, which we really didn’t emphasize in past years, and it’s definitely going to help us in our matches.”

Koo noted that creating strong team bonds and maintaining a positive attitude will be crucial to success.

“Our team spirit is very good right now, and I think everyone’s hitting very well because everyone likes the team a lot this year and we have a coach that we feel much closer to,” Koo said. “Everything combined, we’re very positive about the season, and I think that will make us play harder.”

This weekend’s Boston Round Robin will be the first big test for the team as the Jumbos will play six matches in total, three of which will be against NESCAC foes, including Bates, Conn.

College and Williams.

“My goals for the team are to definitely qualify for the C Division, and my biggest goal is to win the D Division,” Barba said.

“After this weekend, I think we’ll be able to tell a bit better what our odds are of achieving that goal.”

“Alex really grew last year in maturity,” Eng said. “He defeated a couple of Harvard and Cornell players at Individuals. He’s developed a big man’s game with cutting off, volleying and aggressively controlling the T. He controls the ball with more fade and feel.”

The Jumbos will be relying on Gross’ services even more this season. As captain, he has already imparted his squash knowledge to the team’s many young players.

“I want to get our young players and those new to the top nine comfortable on court in a competitive match,” Gross said.

“I’ve learned that being confident and comfortable on court can make a world of difference.

This confidence can come from knowing what one’s strengths and weaknesses are and under-

standing strategy for each point and game.”

Mutzel has already seen the value of Gross’ leadership skills in practice.

“He’s a great captain who is willing to help everyone on the team get better,” Mutzel said.

Although the Jumbos will be less experienced than in years past, Gross believes that with steady improvement over time, the team can still have a very strong season.

“Losing five starters is tough and will require us to approach this season slightly differently than my three previous years,” Gross said. “We have a lot of new players but so do other teams. I think if we set appropriate goals, for the team and individuals, this season can be a success. We will see how it all plays out.”

SCHEDULE | Nov. 19 - Nov. 23 FRI

SAT

SUN

Men’s Basketball

vs. Skidmore 7 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

vs. Lasell vs. TBA at Eastern Conn. at Eastern Conn.

7:30 p.m.

TBA

Ice Hockey

at Middlebury 7 p.m.

at Williams 3 p.m.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

vs. Bates 6 p.m.

at Conn. College w/ Middlebury 3 p.m.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

vs. Bates 6 p.m.

at Conn.

College w/ Middlebury 3 p.m.

Men’s Indoor Track and Field Women’s Indoor Track and Field Men’s Squash

Women’s Squash

vs. Brown at Harvard 6:30 p.m.

Boston Round Boston Round Robin Robin Noon 1:30 p.m.

vs. Brown at Harvard 6:30 p.m.

Boston Round Boston Round Robin Robin Noon 1:30 p.m.

MON

TUES at Regis 7 p.m.

vs. Curry 7:35 p.m.

Sports

8

INSIDE Schedule 7

tuftsdaily.com

MEN’S SQUASH

Inexperienced squad hopes to continue winning ways Men’s squash team graduated most of last year’s squad but hopes to be nationally competitive BY

MATT BERGER

Daily Staff Writer

In very few sports do Tufts teams compete with and beat Div. I schools on a regular basis. The men’s squash team, however, is one of those teams, maintaining a ranking in the top 25 nationally for the past 10 seasons alongside D-I powers such as Stanford, Brown and Northwestern.

The Jumbos enter the 2010 season ranked 20th in the nation by the College Squash Association, the sport’s governing body for intercollegiate play in the United States. The team hopes to maintain its national prestige despite a lack of experience in its lineup.

“We lost two-thirds of our starters from last season,” coach Doug Eng said. “This year, we are very young. There’s good talent, but it may take a while to develop.”

“Anytime you lose more than half your

starters, it is tough to maintain your ranking, especially because those guys all played highly on the ladder,” senior captain Alex Gross said. “That being said, our returning players and freshmen have been working very hard on and off the court. I have been very impressed with the improvements each player has made with his game.”

Even with its inexperience, this young squad, which opens its season today against Brown at nearby Harvard, is entering the season with high expectations.

“We have discussed our goals for the season and have decided that staying in the C Division going into nationals would be a success,” Gross said, referring to a ranking between 17th and 24th.

For the Jumbos to achieve these goals, they will have to win matches against

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

see MEN’S SQUASH, page 7

Captain Alex Gross is one of three seniors who will be tasked with providing leadership to a Jumbos team that lost the majority of its starters from last season.

WOMEN’S SQUASH

Women’s squash team begins season with big aspirations

With new coach and an experienced lineup, expectations run high for this year’s squad BY

AARON LEIBOWITZ Daily Staff Writer

ALEX DENNETT/TUFTS DAILY

The Jumbos struggled against NESCAC foes last season, but will have a chance at redemption in this weekend’s Boston Round Robin.

The women’s squash team kicks off its season today against Brown, hoping to be able to improve upon last year’s national No. 26 ranking and 6-14 record.

Under the guidance of new head coach Belkys Velez, such a goal seems highly attainable.

Tufts, a Division D team — among schools ranked between 25th and 32nd — struggled last year against NESCAC opponents.

The Jumbos also lost matches to Division C schools Saint Lawrence and William Smith by narrow 5-4 margins, spoiling their chances of finishing 19th or better in the College Squash Association rank-

EQUESTRIAN

Equestrian team prances to the top of its region BY

EMILY BEINECKE

Contributing Writer

The Tufts Equestrian Team currently leads the competitive Zone 1 Region 4, where the No. 1 spot has historically belonged to Stonehill College. The Jumbos earned a new sense of pride after competing at BU over the weekend and vaulting themselves into first place.

BU played host to its second point-rider show of the season. In intercollegiate point-rider shows, there are five divisions in which riders compete: Walk-Trot, WalkTrot-Canter, Novice, Intermediate and Open. Each team is allowed to bring one rider per division, and the Tufts squad finished with 44 points — one of the highest point totals it has seen in several years, according to senior co-captain and point steward Katie Christiansen.

Sophomore David Eder, who first began riding as a freshman, has been one of the more notable contributors to the Jumbos’ success. In addition to starting fresh with a new sport, Eder is also in the minority as one of only two males on a 22-person team. After a year of practice, however, Eder now shows in the Walk-Trot division for the team.

“David is such a superstar,” Christiansen said. “He’s been a great addition to the team. He’s such a consistent point-winner, he’s got a great attitude, and it’s really nice to have a guy contributing to the team as well.”

In Walk-Trot-Canter, junior rider Megan O’Toole is a standout in her division. In just her first season of competitive riding, O’Toole has already won two classes and placed second in another two, according to Christiansen.

“Megan has been extremely beneficial to the team,” Christiansen said.

“She won two classes, which is very impressive for someone’s first season showing, especially because her division is really competitive.”

At this past weekend’s event, the equestrian squad sent out these and other top riders at each division and picked up a team win. The second place team, Brandeis, finished with just 38 points while BU and Stonehill, two of the region’s powerhouses, finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, according to Christiansen.

This finish is particularly significant for the Jumbos because they felt they did not meet their full potential during the first competition at BU just three weeks prior.

“I think the reason we did so well is that we have a really supportive team,” junior co-captain Kerry Sachs said. “More often than not, riding is an individual sport, but our team is so supportive, especially in comparison to the rest of the region, and that made a big difference.”

Following a commanding victory at a difficult venue, Tufts looks forward to bringing the fall season to a close with see EQUESTRIAN, page 7

ings to qualify for the Walker Cup (C Division) bracket at the CSA National Championship.

Still, the Jumbos finished the season strong, winning four of their last six matches and reaching the Epps Cup (D Division) finals, in which they lost to Columbia.

Now, Tufts begins the season ranked No. 23 in the country, in part because it has a more experienced group and is returning its top five players. One of these players is senior co-captain Valerie Koo, who in March was named to the NESCAC All-Conference Second Team and played in the CSA Individual Championships at Trinity.

In October 2009, the Jumbos did not even have the nine players necessary to fill out their roster and

had to scramble to find additional players before the season began.

“We did get lucky in the sense that we managed to get enough players and that they were pretty good,” Koo said. “They could play in the starting lineup, and they also had high school experience.

So in that sense, I think we did way better than anyone could have expected.”

The Jumbos this year have four new players: sophomores Hafsa Chaudry, Chelsea Dickson, Caitlin Doherty and Risa Meyers. Chaudry, Meyers and Doherty will start in the 7-9 spots in the lineup, and Dickson may also see playing time when she recovers from injury. see WOMEN’S SQUASH, page 7

FOOTBALL

JOSH BERLINGER/TUFTS DAILY

Junior defensive back Sam Diss (27) was named to the All-NESCAC First Team.

Three Jumbos named to All-NESCAC teams Despite finishing at the bottom of the conference with a 1-7 record, three members of the football team were named to the NESCAC’s All-Conference teams yesterday.

Leading the way was sophomore Sam Diss, the only first-team honoree for Tufts. In a secondary that ranked among the best in the league during the season’s first half, Diss tallied a team-high three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Diss was also one of the defense’s primary playmakers, recording a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Williams on Parents Weekend and a 74-yard pick-six in the Jumbos’ only win of the season, against Hamilton.

Senior tri-captain Pat Bailey was Tufts’ lone returnee to the All-NESCAC team and placed on the conference’s second team at both running back and return specialist for the second straight season. In the Jumbos’ new no-huddle, spread offense, Bailey, frequently coming out of the backfield, was senior tri-captain quarterback Anthony Fucillo’s top target.

Tops in the NESCAC with 56 receptions,

Bailey also finished fifth in the conference with 1,017 all-purpose yards. His seven total touchdowns also ranked him sixth in the NESCAC, and his three scores against Colby on Nov. 6 helped keep the Jumbos neck-andneck with the Mules.

Linebacker Ferras Albitar was Tufts’ final honoree, selected to the All-NESCAC Second Team. The junior, who missed two games with injuries, led the conference with 10.2 tackles per game. In his six appearances, Albitar totaled four tackles for a loss, one sack and two pass breakups. Albitar’s best statistical showing came on Homecoming in the Jumbos’ loss to Bates, when he had 17 tackles against the Bobcats.

Williams senior quarterback Pat Moffitt and Trinity junior Walter Fallas were named the NESCAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively. Ephs coach Aaron Kelton, who led Williams to an 8-0 season in his first year in Williamstown, Mass., was named the Coach of the Year.

—by Alex Prewitt