2011-4-13

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THE TUFTS DAILY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 47

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

TED-like forum draws idea exchange by

Pattra Audcharevorakul Contributing Writer

The Tufts Idea Exchange (TEX) launched yesterday in a packed Cabot Auditorium as 10 members of the Tufts community shared their ideas in fields as diverse as education, interpersonal relationships, engineering and sex.

TEX, sponsored by the Institute for Global Leadership’s Synaptic Scholars Program and OneWorld, is based on the concept behind TED, a series of global conferences that serve as a platform for leading figures to share innovative ideas driving their passions, research and work.

The organizers of the initiative hoped in particular to forge working collaborations through last night’s lectures.

“We wanted to do a similar thing to TED, but we didn’t want to do it exactly like TED does because we wanted students to have a chance [at speaking],” junior Sanjana Basu, one of the

Danai Macridi/Tufts Daily

see TEX, page 2

Professor of Biomedical Engineering Fiorenzo Omenetto last night shared his research on innovative uses of silk in front of a packed Cabot Auditorium.

Construction commences on new athletics facility by

Laina Piera

Daily Editorial Board

Justin McCallum/Tufts Daily

GAYpril kicked off on April 2 with the Queer-Straight Alliance annual drag show to raise funds for cancer research through Relay For Life.

GAYpril events emphasize collaboration, education by

Corinne Segal

Daily Editorial Board

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT ) Center and the Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA) are this month commemorating GAYpril, a month-long celebration of LGBT culture, by co-hosting events with a wide range of student groups with the goal of raising awareness about LGBT issues.

“It really is a chance for us to highlight our community and our culture and get so many others involved,” LGBT Center Director Tom Bourdon said.

GAYpril has this year been marked by a high degree of interaction among groups, Bourdon said.

“We’ve had more collaboration this year than ever,” he said. “Almost every event is the center working with another entity on campus.”

GAYpril kicked off on April 2 with QSA’s Annual Drag Show, titled Drag Down Cancer, which raised $200 for Relay for Life and featured famous drag queen Jujubee, LGBT Center intern George Murphy, a freshman, said.

Making its GAYpril debut is Saturday’s Creating Change at Tufts Symposium.

Presentations will focus on topics such as the reconstruction of masculinity, LGBT reproductive rights, LGBT legal issues and LGBT narratives, according to Murphy.

Students were inspired to initiate the symposium at Tufts after attending the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change.

Four individuals from Tufts, including Murphy and fellow LGBT Center intern Katie Hegarty, a sophomore, attended it in February.

“We learned so much about everything that’s facing the LGBT community,” Murphy said. “What we’re doing here on campus on Saturday at the Creating Change Symposium is presenting that what we learned is integral to Tufts and how to accomplish it.”

The LGBT Center following the symposium will distribute “Born This Way” T-shirts that students ordered last month to raise money for Re*Generation, an initiative that aids homeless see GAYPRIL, page 2

A groundbreaking ceremony yesterday afternoon for the new Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center brought together students, faculty and alumni to kick off construction of the new complex.

The athletic center, a threestory, 42,000-square-foot complex, will be erected between the Gantcher Center and Cousens Gym and is planned for completion by Fall 2012, Vice President

for Operations Dick Reynolds told the Daily in March.

The construction is part of a three-phase revamp of the Athletic Department’s facilities that began with a $5 million renovation of Cousens Gym in 2008.

Varney Hintlian (A ’72), chairman of the Board of Overseers for Athletics, opened the ceremony, calling yesterday a “very special day” at Tufts.

“It’s one of those milestone days that is a culmination of a tremendous amount of hard

work, creativity and support by a lot of folks who came together in their own unique ways to make the project for groundbreaking today a reality,” Hintlian said.

Athletics Director Bill Gehling (A ’74) in a speech explained the various benefits of the new building.

“For our varsity athletes, it will provide an expanded fitness center, treatment in the state-ofthe-art sports medicine facility, see ATHLETICS, page 2

Bleeding for a cause

Danai Macridi/Tufts Daily

The Leonard Carmichael Society’s American Red Cross Blood Drive opened today in Carmichael Hall, netting 80 donors and nearly 57 pints of blood, according to co-coordinator Ashley Seenauth, a sophomore. In addition to Tufts participants, the drive also drew members of the neighboring communities, according to Seenauth, who is also an assistant photo editor for the Daily. As part of a GAYpril initiative, the LGBT community encouraged members of the Greek community and others to make their donations on behalf of men who have sex with men, who are federally barred from donating.

Inside this issue

Today’s sections

Excessive vanity is now recognized as a psychological disorder, but treatment may be difficult.

“Meek’s Cutoff” is a new and powerful take on the Westward Expansion in America.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 7

News Features Arts | Living Editorial | Letters

1 3 7 10

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

11 12 13 Back

The Tufts Daily

2

News

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Groundbreaking ceremony marks start of Tisch fitness center construction ATHLETICS

continued from page 1

which is 50 percent larger than the present one, as well as new first-class team locker rooms,” he said. “General students, faculty and staff will have access to a brand-new fitness center which is entirely dedicated to non-varsity users.”

A new multipurpose room will host yoga, Pilates and aerobics classes, Gehling said.

The entrance will improve, too, he added; currently, the main door is sandwiched in a narrow space beside Cousens Gym. “We will finally have a suitable entrance to this facility that clearly states athletics, health and fitness matter at Tufts,” he said.

University President Lawrence Bacow also delivered remarks at the event and stressed the importance of athletics to a complete Tufts education.

“When I welcome freshmen, I often talk about the fact that some of the best teachers they will encounter at Tufts are people who do not have ‘professor’ in their title; some of the most valuable lessons, they will learn from others — lessons about teamwork and leadership, and the importance of preparation and competition,” he said.

“That’s what we teach through athletics, and that is why this project is so important.”

The university finally received a zoning clearance to begin construction as of Feb. 11, Kim

Scanlon, secretary to Medford’s Board of Appeals told the Daily.

Senior Dawson JoyceMendive, co-captain of the women’s volleyball team, said in a speech that the new entrance, meeting and video room, and home and visiting team locker rooms will prove extremely useful for athletes.

“The impact this new athletic facility will have on my fellow athletes is extraordinary,” she said. “The expanded space, improved quantity and quality of equipment, and opportunities to try new classes and workshops will make the fitness center more accessible and enable all Jumbos to lead a well-balanced life.”

Sophomore Jason Kerstein, a midfielder on the men’s lacrosse team and part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, said the new athletic complex will provide great opportunities for student athletes.

“I think it’s going to be great to have expanded facilities,” Kerstein told the Daily, “especially with the new fitness center for … recreational athletes, and also in opening up space for the varsity fitness center.”

Gehling thanked University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife Adele Fleet Bacow for backing the project and for their continuous support for Jumbos athletics.

“You two have championed athletic health and fitness since you arrived in 2000,” he told

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

Students, alumni and faculty yesterday attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new athletics facility. the Bacows during his remarks.

“You’ve led by example by modeling healthy lifestyles.”

Bacow joked that Adele, who is an avid swimmer, was the key driving force behind this project by advocating tirelessly for a new pool. He also acknowledged the individuals who have provided the funds and effort to see this project through.

“One of the things you learn in a marathon is that marathons are far more mental exercises … than they are physical challenges … what gets you over the finish line is just being able to gut it out and push through,” he said. “There were times when this project seemed that way, but we’ve seen that there was a fabulous

team behind this project.”

University President-elect Anthony Monaco, who is in town for a few weeks, attended the event and a number of speakers remarked that the project would be completed under his watch.

Brent Yarnell contributed reporting to this article.

Inaugural ‘Creating Change at Tufts Symposium’ to shed light on LGBT issues GAYPRIL

continued from page 1

youth. Some of the proceeds will also be used to fund students’ trips to next year’s national symposium.

Murphy said that a picture of a group of students wearing the shirts will be sent to to Lady Gaga, whose song “Born This Way” inspired the design by Murphy and Hegarty.

In another first, Theta Chi will host the fourth annual Ally Appreciation Soul Food Dinner on April 24, marking the first time the dinner has been hosted outside of the LGBT Center.

Another GAYpril initiative is tied into the Leonard Carmichael Society’s American Red Cross Blood Drive, which started yesterday: Members of the Tufts community are invited to donate blood

on behalf of men who have sex with men (MSM), who are federally barred from giving blood.

The LGBT Center and Greek community are hosting a competition to see which fraternity or sorority can donate the most blood as part of this initiative, with the winning chapter receiving $400.

The LGBT Center this Thursday will also host a Sassy Gay Trivia night. “[It’s] a fun way to introduce people to a lot of the faculty and talk about things that are going on in the LGBT community,” Murphy said.

Hegarty emphasized that while the event was meant to be fun, its main purpose was to educate participants.

“As much as the marketing for the trivia night has been very flamboyant

and fun and sassy, the point of the event is to frame important information in an important way,” she said.

The annual National Day of Silence is being commemorated on Friday, presenting an opportunity for members of the Tufts community to show their support for marginalized members of the LGBT community, according to Murphy.

“We’re asking everyone to remain silent for at least a couple hours in the day to echo the silence of all those people marginalized and hated for who they are,” he said.

Tufts will also host the Born This Way LGBT and Ally Party in the Mayer Campus Center on Saturday night.

The event will be the second intercollegiate LGBT and Ally party in Boston

this year, and is open to all students from Boston colleges, according to Murphy, who added that the first event was extremely well-attended.

“The space was so small at [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] that they had to close down the party three hours early,” he said.

GAYpril will close on April 25 with a presentation from Professor of English Lee Edelman, also chair of the department. His presentation is titled “Why Queer Theory Teaches Us Nothing: Almodóvar’s Bad Education.”

“In the past, we’ve brought in scholars from outside of Tufts, but it’s so exciting to realize that we have someone right here on our own campus who can teach us so much about queer theory,” Bourdon said.

Faculty and students exchange ideas at first Tufts Idea Exchange yesterday TEX

continued from page 1

TEX organizers, said. “We wanted Tuftsrelated issues and ideas so that students and professors could share and work on their projects together, eventually.”

The inaugural event featured seven undergraduates and three faculty members, including Professor of Biomedical Engineering Fiorenzo Omenetto, who spoke at the most recent TED conference in March.

Omenetto presented his research on new ways of using silk in fields ranging from medicine to nanotechnology by manipulating its biodegradable and biocompatible properties.

“We are interested in going from a cocoon back to water and proteins,” he said. “It’s the starting material that silkworms use to make this extraordinarily tough substance.”

Brandon Lee, a senior majoring in Child Development, pressed the audience to realize the importance of deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL). He brought up the Arts and Sciences faculty’s December 2008 decision that ASL could not be used to fulfill the undergraduate foreign language requirement — a decision that Lee felt devalued the language.

“Deafness itself is a human experience — it is an identity, just like any other culture,” Lee said. “When Tufts made this decision, it sent a message. And whether intentional or

not, this decision invalidated a language … and a culture. If Tufts invalidated your language, invalidated your culture, what would that mean to you?”

Benjamin Hescott, a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, discussed his work with computational complexity, which he described as a relationship in which problems are ordered from easiest to hardest.

One should be able to apply the solution to an easier problem to then solve more complex and difficult problems, Hescott explained, presenting the audience with a series of problems represented through visual maps and graphs.

Monique Sternin, a senior technical advisor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, approached the question of problem-solving from a different angle, proposing positive deviance as an approach to solving difficult issues. The approach, she explained, is based on the idea that the solutions to seemingly complex problems, such as child malnutrition in developing countries, already exist within the community.

Positive deviance involves discovering these sustainable, local solutions and disseminating them within the community so that their impact is maximized.

“The experts have to become learners, the teachers have to become students,” said Sternin, who is a former executive director of the school’s Positive Deviance Initiative.

This emphasis on community-based solutions was also the subject of David Meyers’ lecture. Meyers, a sophomore majoring in international relations and community health, raised the issue of “a romance with poverty,” stating that helping the impoverished has become a fad and that no one is actually proposing a sustainable solution.

Meyers argued that organizations and individuals working in this arena need to come to this realization and derive new kinds of solutions to poverty.

Alex Hoffman, a senior enrolled in the five-year combined Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Public Health program, turned to the issue of education, discussing the need to improve high school education to maximize what students get out of their experiences.

Hoffman said that it was important to help students feel like they have a stake in a class so that they are more motivated. High school students will work better when they apply themselves to concrete problems with real-world implications, instead of abstract issues that are irrelevant to their lives, he argued.

Sadie Lansdale, a junior majoring in English and minoring in Women’s Studies, discussed society’s normalization of sex, in which anything that is not heterosexual or not focused on the pleasure of men is seen as odd.

“The ancient Greeks believed that a woman’s orgasm was childbirth,” she said,

explaining the origins of her focus on this subject. She also asked the audience questions about how communities talk about the subject of sex.

Samujjal Purkayastha, a junior majoring in computer science engineering with a minor in cognitive and brain sciences, sought to answer the question of whether the Internet should be a human right.

He argued that the Internet should not be a right, but that the free flow of information across borders should be.

Purkayastha shared a project that he had worked on that sought to allow people to access information using only their voices, enabling even the illiterate to be informed about the world.

The question of what it takes to forge interpersonal connections drives the work of Katie Greenman, a junior majoring in peace and justice studies and child development. Greenman’s research seeks to explain why people do not reach out to others more often and to discover what communities can do to fix this. She presented to the audience information about the Tufts community itself, based on surveys regarding how open students would be to new friendships.

TEX organizers hope that in the future such events will be held every semester, according to Basu. Work is already underway for another forum in the fall. Like TED, videos of the lectures will be made available for online viewing.

Features

3

tuftsdaily.com

Vanity recognized as a psychological disorder

Lack of research has made Body Dysmorphic Disorder easily overlooked by

Nadezhda Kazakova Contributing Writer

Today more than ever before, society values appearance. From obsessing over the way one’s hair falls, to disguising pimples in the morning, to spending hours in the gym, every element matters in the bigger picture of how one looks. Some individuals, however, can go too far in their appearance concerns, turning vanity into a psychiatric disorder.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is characterized by an excessive concern with a perceived flaw in one’s appearance.

BDD usually begins in adolescence and tends to become chronic if untreated. Often ashamed of their problem, patients live in extreme distress, have impaired work habits, are socially isolated and, in extreme cases, even commit suicide.

The BDD Clinic and Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School is one of the few clinics in the country that tackles the research and treatment of this barelyknown, but very destructive, condition.

Because of insufficient research and inadequate awareness, BDD is still undertreated. In addition to doing advanced research and providing treatment, MGH’s BDD Clinic is spearheading the attempt to educate healthcare professionals about the condition.

Doctor Sabine Wilhelm, founder and director of the BDD Clinic and Research Unit, said that many people with the psy-

jodi bosin/Tufts Daily

Those affected by muscle dysmorphia have a constant obsession with building larger muscles. chiatric disorder are not even aware that they have it. “BDD is not a highly recognized disorder, so there might be a lot of people suffering in silence,” she said.

Wilhelm explained that a BDD diagnosis may be considered if one experiences great distress after spending a large amount of time — at least one hour per day — thinking about a particular body part.

Often, she added, this preoccupation

interferes with one’s normal life, getting in the way of performing simple daily tasks. In public situations, BDD patients restrict their natural body language due to self-judgment and experience feelings of inferiority.

The mirror is a special problem for sufferers of BDD, according to Wilhelm. “Some patients would spend hours checking themsee BDD, page 4

Students discover the fashion of philanthropy Tufts China Care prepares the runway for its fourth annual fashion show by

Romy Oltuski

Daily Editorial Board

Tomorrow night at 9 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium, models decked out in fashions

by Marc Jacobs, BCBG, ALO, Soodee and Cotelac, among other brands, will strut down the catwalk and showcase the latest trends of all styles.

In its fourth annual Lux Fashion show, Tufts China Care Club will bring together Tufts models, dancers, DJs, stylists and other volunteers to transform the stage into a runway, entertaining the campus community and, hopefully, raising over $6,600 for Chinese orphans in need of surgery.

All proceeds of the show are donated to China Care Homes, which is run by the U.S.-based China Care Foundation and provides surgeries for disabled Chinese children living in orphanages in the hopes of increasing the likelihood of their adoption. Last year’s show provided heart surgery for two children.

Jessica Zhang, Tufts China Care president and executive producer of the show, explained that the show’s purpose is purely philanthropic.

“We donate the money to four orphanages in and around Beijing. The kids there are all born with physical disabilities. So we’re trying to help those children who need medical surgeries to help them not only get a normal life but also a chance of getting adopted,” Zhang, a senior, said. “There’s almost no chance of them getting adopted without the surgeries because a lot of parents just can’t afford to adopt a child with severe medical needs.”

When the campus fashion show fundraising event began four years ago, it was called “Blush,” not LUX. More recently, the show’s board members decided the event — and its title — could use a makeover and came up with “Beacon of Light” for this year’s theme.

“The first year we named it ‘Blush.’ We were brainstorming and wanted to come up with a name that’s more inspiring because the fashion show is life-changing for the children we’re helping,” Zhang said. “‘Lux’ comes from the word ‘light,’ which is what these surgeries really are for the orphans they’re helping.”

And to ignite the show, the Lux board

members have been coordinating it since last semester. Sophomore Quentin Lott, a board member and public relations director of the show, explained that all of the clothing used in the show is donated by designers that the board approached in person, mostly through their stores in Boston.

In addition to the more famed designers, Lux is also showcasing several up-and-coming local designers, including Gregory Hugill, who was featured in Boston Fashion Week; Jacqueline Ortega, who specializes in jewelry; and Freshob, short for Fresh Off the Boat, which, brings styles from Asia to Boston.

Around the same time the board began looking for sponsors to contribute their clothes to the show, they also began recruiting Tufts students to model.

“At the end of the winter semester, we put out an application and asked people who are interested to come to an audition,” the show’s model coordinator and choreographer Amy Wipfler, a sophomore, said. “We made them show us their walk and asked them questions like how much they’re willing to be the spokesperson for China Care.”

Yet the 30 student volunteers strutting down the runway tomorrow are not your run-of-the-mill models, Wipfler said. She explained that while their ability to walk comfortably on the runway is important, so is their charisma and commitment to the cause.

“Not everyone’s size-two, and not everyone’s 5’11”. There are quite a few personalities within our model group,” Wipfler said.

The show will have a few experienced models, some of whom are even contracted, among the students, including Miss Teen India 2009, Wipfler said.

Senior Kenneth Burris, one of the models who will walk in tomorrow’s show — and one who has modeled in several ads professionally — explained that this modeling gig differs from the average one in far more ways than just the variety of sizes on the runway. While paid modeling jobs leave the creative direction entirely up to the stylists and directors in charge, he said, the Lux board members allow and encourage China Care models to help out.

“We can sort of pick and choose which garments we want to wear,” Burris said. “And

you can sort of tweak it with your own clothing as well. If you have a pair of pants or a hair ribbon you want to use, you can talk to a board member, and usually, they’ll say sure.”

At two of the sponsoring boutiques in Harvard Square, including ALO, the Tufts China Care board asked the models to put together three looks they loved, and the board chose their favorite among them to include in the show, Zhang said.

In addition to acting as their own assistant stylists, the students modeling in the LUX show have also contributed to the club’s fundraising. Each model has pledged to sell at least 10 tickets to the show. Many have also helped to organize the club’s two fundraising parties this semester.

When it comes to charity events, Wipfler said, while certain people have job titles, everyone involved simply chips in wherever they can.

“I also work with sponsorship, but then again our PR person also picks clothing. So it’s really all a group effort. When it’s a charity, you can’t delegate everything,” she said.

Model JT Vancollie, a junior, said that over the past few weeks the hours of rehearsal have increased significantly, and the models have been meeting about three times a week. While most of the models have as little dance experience as they have modeling experience — which, for many, is none — Wipfler has choreographed three dances for the models to perform in between catwalk segments.

The show will also feature performances by several Tufts dance groups, including Turbo and Tufts Burlesque Troupe.

Right now, most of the volunteers involved are in constant flow from campus to Newbury Street to Harvard Square, finishing up the show’s final looks.

While not all are set in stone, Vancollie gave the Daily a sneak preview of one of her favorite looks that will appear on the runway.

“We haven’t figured out all the clothes yet, but my favorite so far is a tight white dress from ALO and a black leather jacket,” she said. “It looks pretty fly.”

Tickets for tomorrow’s show are available at the Mayer Campus Center and are $10 with five raffle tickets or $8 without.

Raffle tickets can also be bought individually for $1 each.

Alanna Tuller | The Archives Addict

T-U-F-T-S, T-U-F-T-S!

C

ontrary to popular belief, the choral scene on campus didn’t always consist of our 30 someodd a cappella groups. Even though we did have an active Glee Club in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the records seem to indicate that most Jumbos in the early 1900s were simply crazy about singing, regardless of Glee Club membership.

This apparent singing craze resulted in large part from the efforts of the Ivy Society, a now-defunct organization created to promote school spirit in the junior class. The society was also well-known for its periodic publication of the Ivy Book, a thorough collection of Tuftsthemed songs. The only reason I believe this document to be proof of a campuswide singing craze is because the Ivy Book was not simply a thin pamphlet handed out at football games, but a 350-page volume that contained all the Tufts fight songs and class cheers, as well as about 20 variations on our alma mater.

Though I unfortunately did not have time to memorize every ditty about Charlie Tufts and the “dear old Brown and Blue,” I certainly did notice a pattern to our choral history. Therefore, I think it would be appropriate to propose a new organizational system for the songs one can find in the Ivy Book: 1. Fight songs are probably the most common of the bunch. While most tend to be rather repetitive (I counted at least nine references to “the light on the Hill”), nothing matches the originality of “Tuftonia’s Day” (1912). One can imagine Jumbos of yesteryear belting these lyrics at football games or even walking across campus and breaking into spontaneous, “High-School-Musical”-esque rounds of “Steady and true, rush along Brown and Blue, / Raise a mighty score today. / Fearless tear down the field and never yield! / Brown and Blue, Brown and Blue for aye!”

Not only does this tune allow for a nice display of Tufts pride, but the next verse of “T-U-F-T-S, T-U-F-T-S!” also demonstrates our excellent spelling skills.

2. Whether or not it qualifies as its own genre is debatable, but there are quite a few songs devoted to making fun of freshmen. In one song titled “The Freshman’s Lament” (1914), Jumbos sang: “I wonder when my mustache will come through / and, soon I hope, indeed you bet I do. / Before another year it will surely appear, / And then my dream of whiskers will come true.” Poor, whiskerless froshies…

3. It also appears that a repressed desire to drink invaded many of our song lyrics in the early 20th century. The classic “Brown and Blue” (1889) describes the way Tufts students dealt with the stress of school and includes such lyrics as “Let our spirits rise tonight, / Let our hopes be warm and bright, / We will banish sadness with our song… / Then let us fill the cup of youth / And drain its sparkling joys.”

Perhaps it’s just the English major in me, but I get the feeling that “draining the cup of youth” could have been a euphemism for something else.

4. Finally, some of the true Ivy Book gems simply provide a sense of what students really thought of Tufts in the 1900s. I think my favorite song, by far, is the masterpiece titled “We’re Going to Skip College” (1915). It goes a little something like this: “We’re going to skip college tomorrow, / We’re going to skip college tomorrow, / We’re going to skip college tomorrow, / And we’ll never go back anymore.”

And as I sit here proofreading this column at an embarrassingly late hour of the night, I have to admit that this suggestion is all too tempting.

Alanna Tuller is a sophomore majoring in English and Spanish. She can be reached at Alanna.Tuller@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

4

Features

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Boston clinic fighting to raise awareness of psychological appearance disorder BDD

continued from page 3

selves in any reflecting surfaces, while others would cover up the mirror and stand in dimly lit corners, dreading their reflection,�

Wilhelm said.

Further, there are other BDD-related disorders that focus on body parts that tend to be overseen. For example, muscle dysmorphia, a disorder in which one faces the constant worry that one’s muscles are not big enough.

Doctor Jedidiah Siev, a clinical fellow in psychology at MGH, explained that this disorder, affecting mostly men, consists of being continually preoccupied with bulkiness, abusing food supplements and experiencing strong remorse after having missed a workout session.

Recently the BDD Clinic in Boston has received more calls and visits regarding muscle dysmorphia. Wilhelm explained that because of society’s changing perception of the male body, today’s young men feel pressured to live up to different standards.

Indeed, young people are often exposed to strict social expectations. Doctor Jennifer Greenberg, a clinical and research fellow at MGH, who studies BDD manifestations in adolescents, said that BDD often begins in adolescence because it is a time when most people are anxious about their appearance. “The fact that it begins so early and we don’t always catch it made me interested in identifying and developing treatments for younger people,� Greenberg said.

She explained that details from adolescence might prove essential to understanding the complex causes of BDD. Patients often report being teased or receiving a lot of positive attention during childhood, which indicates an important environmental role, Greenberg said. In addition, there is likely a biological or genetic component. “Sometimes a family member has a disorder like BDD or obsessive-compulsive disorder,� Greenberg said. She identified perfectionism as a psychological factor and selective attention as a neurocognitive factor.

Further, many consider the media and

cultural factors in the environment to have a crucial impact on appearance concerns.

This idea was the focus of the Body Image Workshop at Tufts last semester, offered by Tal Nir, a clinical psychologist working in the Boston area. “The goal of our workshop was to raise awareness about body image issues and promote positive interaction with the body,� Nir said. He explained that after eight meetings, the workshop group learned how to appreciate their bodies in different ways and hopefully became more independent from the controversial messages in the media.

While such organized activities could be beneficial to BDD-prone individuals, Wilhelm argued that the media is not the sole cause of BDD. “While some patients blame the media for making their BDD worse, most professionals would agree that the messages from TV, newspapers and magazines can’t cause BDD alone,� Wilhelm said.

Currently, the BDD research unit is running several studies investigating possible treatment options. One research project is studying the effects of antidepressants on BDD patients, while another is investigating the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy on children and adolescents diagnosed with BDD. Young patients could benefit the most from the development of these new treatment options, Greenberg explained. “All of [our research] is complemented by developing treatment for adolescents, so we can get to them early and prevent the typical chronic course of BDD.�

BDD is an underreported and elusive disorder partially because it mimics ordinary appearance concerns. The best thing to do for a potential patient is to refer them to a good resource, such as a self-help book or a specialty clinic, Greenberg said. “You want to make sure you are supporting the person, not the disorder,� she said. “Help support aspects of their personality and skills not related to their appearance.�

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The Tufts Daily

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

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“Leadership Succession & Political Change in Egypt”

Michele Dunne

Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and editor of the online journal the Arab Reform Bulletin Michele Dunne is a former specialist on Middle East affairs at the U.S. Department of State and at the White House. She has served on the National Security Council staff and the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, and the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Her research interests include Arab politics, political and economic reform, and U.S. policies in the Middle East.

Dunne’s recent publications include, “The Baby, the Bathwater, and the Freedom Agenda in the Middle East” (Washington Quarterly, 2009); “Incumbent Regimes and the ‘King’s Dilemma’ in the Arab World: Promise and Threat of Managed Reform” (with Marina Ottaway, in Getting to Pluralism, Carnegie Endowment, 2009); “A Post-Pharaonic Egypt?” (American Interest, 2008); “The Ups and Downs of Political Reform in Egypt” (with Amr Hamzawy, in Beyond the Façade: Political Reform in the Arab World, 2008); “Integrating Democracy into the U.S. Policy Agenda” (in Uncharted Journey: Promoting Democracy in the Middle East, 2005); Democracy in Contemporary Egyptian Political Discourse (John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003). Dunne holds a Ph.D. in Arabic language and literature from Georgetown University, where she is an adjunct professor of Arab Studies.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 5:30 pm Cabot 7th Floor - Tufts University Open to the Public Cabot Intercultural Center 160 Packard Avenue Medford, Massachusetts 02155

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Movie Review

‘Meek’s Cutoff’ a powerful picture with strong directing, ambitious story and precise acting

by Joseph Stile

Daily Editorial Board

“Meek’s Cutoff,” Kelly Reichardt’s articulate new film, is technically a Western, though it is nothing like the ones people

Meek’s Cutoff Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano Directed by Kelly Reichardt are accustomed to seeing. The film has little in common with the cowboy pictures John Wayne and Clint Eastwood used to star in. Instead, it is actually more like Reichardt’s last film, “Wendy and Lucy” (2006), in that it is a fascinating, minimalist character study of wondering and desperate individuals.

Set during the Westward Expansion, the film centers on two families that lose their way while heading toward the unsettled western frontier. These pioneers must face the consequences of being lost in unknown territories as their water, food and sanity quickly run out.

Led by Meek (Bruce Greenwood), a charismatic though disheveled figure, the settlers delicately shift and learn more about themselves as they endure crises. Their group dynamic takes the biggest hit when the settlers stumble upon The Cayuse (Rod Rondeaux), a Native American whom Meek wants to kill, although the others are more hesitant. Some members of the group wants to keep him alive, believing he might have the skills to find water and food; others refuse to think of a Native

Courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories

The hardships of the Old West are on full display in Kelly Reichardt’s new film.

American as more knowledgeable than a Caucasian.

Michelle Williams shows impressive range as Emily, one of the most outspoken opponents of Meek’s leadership. She asks, “Is Meek ignorant or just evil?” with just enough contempt to let it be known that she has a deep-seeded problem with the way Meek conducts himself and how he leads the group. Meek is loquacious and charming, while Emily is more of a silent, workhorse type. It is simultaneously easy to

Ballet Review

Boston Ballet’s ‘Midsummer’ makes for a mid-April dream by

Martha Shanahan

Daily Editorial Board

Ballerinas generally don’t often choose their career with the expectation that they will emerge from their

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Music by Felix Mendelssohn Choreography by George Balanchine Sets and Costumes by Luisa Spinatelli At the Boston Opera House through April 17 time on the stage as seasoned actors.

Years of daily classes with 15 other girls in black leotards accompanied by the plinking of a single pianist isn’t exactly an environment that lends itself to the development of a highly tuned sense of the theatrical — that’s something you learn gradually on the stage.

As a ballet that takes on the steep task of both embodying Shakespeare’s play and showcasing George Balanchine’s choreography, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” requires a deck stacked with good actors. Boston Ballet has risen to the occasion in a production that would make both men proud.

The ballet opens with a horde of pint-sized dancers masquerading as bugs of the forest — butterflies, flitting across the stage and serving as a living backdrop to the hijinks of the foolish mortals that have overrun their forest. Bemusement gives way to admiration — these insects, borrowed from among the ranks of the Boston Ballet

School, have most likely been training for months, and their precision and determination shows it.

Jeffery Cirio proves a delightful Puck. Though slightly too innocent to match the devilishness of his master, Oberon (the regal John Lam, delivering a delightfully moody performance), Cirio’s childish energy was felt down the Boston Opera House’s aisles and through the lobby. As Puck’s fairy magic brings the kingdom to a halt with mistaken identity and starcrossed love, it’s hard not to be tickled

by Cirio’s delirious enjoyment of the whole mess.

Kathleen Breen Combes steals the first act as a desperate Helena — her dancing is superb, and her pursuance of the evasive Demetrius (Yury Yanowsky) is more unrelenting obsession than schoolgirl crush. She grasps at him with every appendage, draping her body across Demetrius like her life depends on his acceptance.

Her zeal is matched only by Yanowsky’s emphatic rejection in favor of a sweet yet understated Erica Cornejo as Hermia. Yanowsky — who at first seems like he would be more at home in a Victorian parlor or a shady boardroom than a mystical forest — scampers after his own crush like a caffeinated puppy.

Unfortunately for Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander (Pavel Gurevich) are all over each other like that nauseating, over-expressive couple fondling each other on the T ride to a Valentine’s Day date. It’s appropriate that the only thing that can come between them is a see MIDSUMMER, page 8

see why she would not be the leader of the group and also why she should be.

Reichardt is smart, though, not to make the characters too easily categorized into “good” and “evil.” The pioneers who don’t want to kill The Cayuse make their decision because they think he can help them survive, not because they are against a senseless murder. They are not much kinder than Meek, just more opportunistic. see MEEK, page 8

Album Review

Mountain Goats solidify as a band on newest album by

Melissa MacEwen Daily Staff Writer

In an age of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, the understated talent of a lone man with an acoustic guitar often goes underappreciated. However, since their inception

All Eternals Deck The Mountain Goats

Merge Records in 1991, The Mountain Goats have been breathing new life into indie folk music, and have recently started to make their music accessible to a wider fan base.

The Mountain Goats were formed in Claremont, Calif., in 1991 by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. Humorously, the name “The Mountain Goats” was for years somewhat of a misnomer, as Darnielle was long the band’s sole member. Though Darnielle remains the only core artist in The Mountain Goats, in 2002 he began to collaborate with a number of different artists, including bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster of Superchunk.

This change in approach dovetailed with Darnielle’s transition away from the “militantly lo-fi” sound that defined his music in the ’90s, as he began recording in a studio with a full band.

A number of fans have frowned upon this change by claiming that it took some of the intimacy out of the music and removed some of the band’s low-key origisee MOUNTAIN, page 9

Emily Balk | Whisk-y Business

Sausage fest

T

here is a phrase still used in the world of legislation today: “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” Widely attributed to German chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815 - 98), the metaphor clearly implies that both processes are messy businesses whereby things you don’t even want to know about go into the finished product.

The comparison isn’t perfect, but the fact remains: Sausage is sketchy by nature.

Sausage began as a way to efficiently use the less appealing parts of animals, as well as the scraps from the butchering process.

These would be ground up, blended with salt, spices, herbs or other culinary flourishes, stuffed into animal intestines and then eaten fresh or processed for longer storage by drying, curing or smoking. Thus was born the incredible variety of the world’s sausages, over 1,200 of which come from Germany.

Today, sausage is eaten not out of necessity, but because people love processed meat, as evidenced by the existence of hot dog eating contests. The current record for the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is held by American Joey Chestnut, with 68 hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes. Hot dogs are also an interesting example of how differing regional varieties can emerge and then become sources of hostility. For instance, never suggest to a Chicagoan that he put ketchup on a hot dog. Physical violence may ensue.

It is a dream of mine to one day make pilgrimage to Hot Doug’s, the Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium in Chicago, where sausage is treated like royalty. This place features a game sausage of the week, which could be anything from rattlesnake to elk, to good old-fashioned hot dogs and bratwurst, to the legendary foie gras and sauternes duck sausage with truffle aioli, foie gras mousse and fleur de sel. All made in-house, available with duck fat fries. Yes, duck fat fries.

As warmer weather and barbeque season approaches, I would encourage anyone who loves sausage to try making it from scratch.

You don’t need a meat grinder, and though it’s not impossible to use a casing at home, it’s a pain, so go ahead and make skinless sausage links or patties.

I am continually surprised by how much more flavor homemade sausage has compared to premade ones. Additionally, if you make sausage yourself, you don’t have to worry about the amount of mystery meat, weird preservatives, or, let’s be honest, salt, that went into it. All that’s necessary is a ground meat of choice and a spice mixture.

Breakfast sausage will almost always have pepper and sage. Weisswurst contains parsley, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom. Chiles, vinegar, oregano, cumin and garlic are typical of fresh Mexican chorizo.

Clearly, throwing an epic homemade sausage fest is not rocket science. The variations are essentially infinite, but the hot Italian blend is a classic that tastes great every time. Adding the spices yourself allows you the freedom to adjust the flavor.

1 pound ground turkey (or pork, or chicken,

or beef, or a combination) 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 ½ teaspoons fennel seed, crushed 1 ½ teaspoons sugar (or less) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried oregano (leaves, not powder) ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Mix all of the ingredients. Cook a teaspoonful of the mixture in a skillet, then taste. Adjust seasoning to personal preference. Refrigerate mixture for a few hours before cooking. The mixture could be cooked and broken up for use in lasagna or shaped into patties (perhaps stuffed with sharp provolone) and grilled like a burger.

Emily Balk is a senior majoring in biopsychology and community health. She can be reached at Emily.Balk@tufts.edu.

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Arts & Living

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

‘Meek’s Cutoff’ captures the human element of the Westward Expansion MEEK

continued from page 7

Despite the seemingly exciting plot, this film is truly one for the art houses. It consists mainly of long sections that are entirely devoid of speech and other footage of pioneers simply traveling across vast landscapes. The pacing is deliberate and hypnotizing and Reichardt has the ability to find the rhythm in the settlers’ mundane movements in an artful fashion.

While, on a broader level, it would appear as if little is happening, the subtle details suggest the struggle these settlers face against an unmoving and harsh opponent: nature. There is always a brutal sun beating down on them, acting as a constant reminder that they are embarking on an unwinnable fight against something much larger than themselves.

The environment is more than a little cruel to these settlers. When their water starts to run dangerously low and one of the young children stumbles upon gold, no one is that excited. As Emily mumbles, “You can’t drink gold.” The precious metal is worthless to them as they struggle to meet even their

basic needs far away from civilization.

The cinematography perfectly captures the hopelessness of the situation, as the large hills and huge stretches of empty land that still lies ahead of the travelers are constantly in the frame. This lets the viewer know that survival will be no easy task and that it may only get worse as they go farther and farther along. Williams and the entire cast put on a stolid toughness as they trudge along, that becomes admirable as they refuse to give up.

Near the end of the film, Meek declares, “We were all just playing our parts, this was written long before we got here.” This kind of fatalistic moment adds to the growing tension that always seems to be bubbling under the surface. It also makes it apparent that this struggle is not one unique to this group of people — thousands of people faced a similar battle as they settled and conquered the western frontier. “Meek’s Cutoff” is a complex film that, with its skillful performances and stunning landscapes, challenges the way many will view the Western genre and the Westward Expansion in general.

Courtesy Gene Schiavone/ © George Balanchine Trust

Jeffrey Cirio leaps through the air as Puck in George Balanchine’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

Dancers shine in newest production of ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ MIDSUMMER

continued from page 7

Courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories

Michelle Williams plays a tough and rugged woman in ‘Meek’s Cutoff.’

bit of mischievousness: a love potion wielded by Puck.

The company’s corps performs beautifully as a frame for Lorna Feijóo’s gorgeously precise Titania. While at first a little stiff, Feijóo’s obvious charm comes alive when Puck leaves her under a spell and in love with Bottom, a drunken actor whom Puck has charmed to have the head of a donkey. Feijóo’s dainty fawning over Robert Kretz’s oafish Bottom is a sight to see — Shakespearean comedy at its best.

While the ballet’s first act showcases the company’s agility in maneuvering the complex storyline, the second act

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is all about the dancing. The couples, now properly matched up with a little more prodding from their impish friend, emerge for a wedding celebration with return performances from the butterflies and fairies as witnesses.

Larissa Ponomarenko in the divertissement’s pas de deux takes absolute control of the night. Her technique is impeccable, and she brings a sense of humility to her dancing that makes it at once both impressive and accessible. Himself a force to be reckoned with, James Whiteside as her partner proves himself a formidable dancer but makes his mark principally as an anchor for Ponomarkeno’s serene execution.

The Tufts Daily

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Mountain Goats progress musically while staying true to roots MOUNTAIN

continued from page 7

nality. However, this really couldn’t be further from the truth. With their 2011 release of “All Eternals Deck,” The Mountain Goats prove that they are finally using their new, cleaner sound to its full advantage, while keeping the band feeling like every fan’s favorite Sunday afternoon coffeehouse group.

The Darnielle-Hughes-Wurster trio, which has now produced its third album under the Mountain Goats moniker, just now seems in tune with the musical contributions of each member. Darnielle in particular seems notably more comfortable working in a group — even on the group’s last album, “The Life of the World to Come” (2009), the music revolved primarily around Darnielle, with the other band members barely coming in as accompaniment. Now, on tracks like “Outer Scorpion Squadron” and “Age of Kings,” the newly unveiled richness of Darnielle’s voice weaves around careful layering of violin, piano and cello that would have been unimaginable in any of The Mountain Goats’ previous work.

Like all of The Mountain Goats’ previous albums, “All Eternals Deck” derives its magic from Darnielle’s incredible insights and powers of observation. Instead of focusing on life’s drama or bombast, Darnielle finds more than enough material in micro-moments and moods that that majority of us fail to even notice, much less articulate.

The abandoned possessions of a loveless couple get the spotlight in jaded, punk jam “Estate Sale Sign,” and a town’s chronological and physical isolation is emphasized in “Sourdoire Valley Song” when Darnielle sings of how “the grass

grows up, to cover up, the fire pit and the forge,” while surrounding himself with understated, delicate guitar and Wurster’s minimalistic drumming.

Indeed, by this point in his career, Darnielle has made into a veritable art the creation of understated but completely heart-wrenching oneliner gems that take effect almost as an afterthought. Take, for example, “Birth of Serpents.” On first listen, it is easy to get lost in the song’s poppiness, and in the sauntering sway of the rhythm between the chimey guitar and the carefully off-beat guitar. Then, you start to feel the emotional impact of the lyrics — lines like “See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest” and “Never forgot what it felt like to live in rooms like these,” hit hard, and register just before the song’s folky, surf-rock outro.

Many of The Mountain Goats’ most successful songs have focused on the past’s influence on our present, and on our often-unsuccessful attempts to “rig a blanket curtain/ up between the present and the past,” as Darnielle sings on “For Charles Bronson.” This long-percolating theme in Darnielle’s music is now the primary focus of “All Eternals Deck,” with each song, in one way or another, pushing the listener to reflect, analyze and move on from the memories that pull him backward.

“Never get away, never get away, I am never ever gonna get away from this place” is one of the last lines of the last track on the album, “Liza Forever Minelli.” Though The Mountain Goats never claim that we can fully escape our pasts, their music does provide plenty of insight — and example — on how to stay true to one’s roots while progressing forward.

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THE TUFTS DAILY Alexandra W. Bogus Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Mick Brinkman Krever Saumya Vaishampayan Managing Editors Martha Shanahan Executive News Editor Michael Del Moro News Editors Nina Ford Ben Gittleson Amelie Hecht Ellen Kan Daphne Kolios Kathryn Olson Matt Repka Corinne Segal Jenny White Brent Yarnell Elizabeth McKay Assistant News Editors Laina Piera Rachel Rampino Minyoung Song Derek Schlom Executive Features Editor Jon Cheng Features Editors Sarah Korones Emilia Luna Romy Oltuski Alexa Sasanow Falcon Reese Assistant Features Editors Angelina Rotman Sarah Strand Amelia Quinn Ben Phelps Executive Arts Editor Emma Bushnell Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Rebecca Santiago Matthew Welch Allison Dempsey Assistant Arts Editors Andrew Padgett Joseph Stile Ashley Wood Rebekah Liebermann Bhushan Deshpande Larissa Gibbs David Kellogg Rachel Oldfield Jeremy Ravinsky Daniel Stock Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Alex Miller Louie Zong Craig Frucht Kerianne Okie Michael Restiano Joshua Youner

Editorial | Letters

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

editorial

Setting the right precedent for journalism Labor activist Jonathan Tasini yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against The Huffington Post, the popular online news and opinion website, as well as HuffPost owner AOL and HuffPost co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer on behalf of thousands of uncompensated bloggers. Tasini, a former HuffPost blogger himself, filed the $105 million suit on the claim that Arianna Huffington unjustly profited from the work of the site’s regular bloggers and other contributors, which add up to over 9,000 writers. Beyond the legal bases of the suit, Tasini’s case places upfront and center the question of author rights, a question that needs an answer as we move ever closer to the age of digitalonly journalism.

Founded in May 2005, The Huffington Post grew into a media giant in a matter of a couple years and has now developed into a full-fledged industry leader. In February, AOL bought the news site for $315 million, a deal that principally benefited its owners.

As this deal did not include compensation for one of the major components of content generation for the site, Tasini was prompted

to stop blogging and eventually file suit.

It is true these bloggers never entered into a written agreement regarding pay, yet the case raises an important question: Is it acceptable not to pay those who contribute to a business’s success so long as no contract is violated? Thousands of bloggers provide much of the original content for the site, which otherwise “aggregates” from paid outside sources such as The Associated Press. The rights of these online journalists should not be forgone in pursuit of a business model, regardless of how successful it may be. Not compensating these writers establishes a dangerous precedent that will have implications for the future of journalism.

It may well be over the top for Tasini to liken Ms. Huffington to a slave owner, but it gets at the right concept: Her media empire was built upon the bloggers’ probono contributions while the company sees all the profits.

The Huffington Post has responded by saying it provides bloggers with a huge platform to display their work, which they see as on par with monetary compensa-

tion. Without this exposure, the defendants claimed, the bloggers would lose the necessary publicity to widely distribute their content.

They make a valid point. One of the biggest obstacles for a journalist is finding a platform for their work, and the news site provides just that. But publicity is no substitute for wages and does not diminish the fact that Ms. Huffington and others profited from the unpaid labor of others.

As the field of journalism evolves into exclusively online content, we at the Daily fear this practice could hinder future bloggers and journalists. The Huffington Post is one of the biggest players in the field. To compete, other companies must engage in the same detrimental practices.

Ms. Huffington has created a very successful business, one valued at over $300 million little more than six years since its launch. Its bloggers should be fairly rewarded for contributing so much to this success. For a site that calls itself “The Internet Newspaper,” The Huffington Post would do well to establish the right precedent for the future of online journalism.

alex miller

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Off the Hill | University of Southern California

Teacher rating ineffective by

Elena Kadvany Daily Trojan

In an effort to better evaluate its teachers, the Los Angeles Unified School District [LAUSD] this spring will implement their own “value-added” system, which involves a doctorate-level string of mathematical symbols and letters more than 80 characters long.

This “value-added” system looks at each student’s past test scores to predict future scores, then generates a teacher’s effectiveness rating based on the gap between a student’s predicted score and actual score.

The value-added formula is supposed to measure the value of teachers. In such a crucial setting as the classroom, a mathematical

formula is a limiting and inaccurate means by which to measure human behavior.

Since the Los Angeles Times published names and rankings of roughly 6,000 third- through fifth-grade LA Unified teachers based on value-added evaluation, teacher assessment methods have been hotly debated.

The formula, however, is flawed. It does [not] account for external factors that play a powerful role in student achievement.

Test scores and statistics should not define good teaching, nor become a priority for teachers.

Admittedly, there is value in the reliability and objectivity of numbers and statistics when it comes to assessing our educational system. But looking at a teacher’s effective-

ness through the scope of a state test given once a year is both limiting and inefficient.

And if data is the way to go, then active dialogue is necessary. Teachers should be required to engage with the numbers and to sit down and have a conversation with each other about how to improve.

Students should not be left out of the conversation, either. It is crucial that student evaluations of teachers be taken seriously and incorporated into teacher assessment.

As the nation’s [second-largest] school district, LAUSD’s evaluation system could pave the way for many other districts. Amending and adding to the value-added formula to go beyond the numbers and to find the entirety of a teacher’s worth is imperative, for both teachers and students alike.

Corrections

Friday’s article “Competition winners get 100K for business models” incorrectly said that the prize for the winners in the contest’s two categories was $100,000. The prize was, in fact, divided among multiple winners in both cash and in-kind services, with the largest cash prize awarded at $15,000.

The photo caption in yesterday’s article “Tufts to implement cluster-hiring program next fall” incorrectly stated Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney’s first name was Carol.

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

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11

Op-Ed

The dark side of Israeli Independence Day by

Lucas Koerner

“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country … There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: We have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”

— David Ben-Gurion, founding prime minister of Israel.

As the reader must know by now, this is no ordinary week; I-Fest, the Tufts celebration of the birth of the state of Israel, is fast approaching. There is an inherent tension in the commemoration of historical memory: The jubilant and self-congratulatory spirit of the celebration tends to negate the complexity of the historical event, omitting inconvenient details and marginalizing dissenting voices. In other words, we quite naturally tend to leave out the parts of the story that bring down the mood of the party. Sadly, I-Fest is no different.

What Israelis and some American Jews celebrate as Israeli Independence Day, Palestinians and others solemnly mourn as al-Nakba, or “the Catastrophe,” which marks the beginning of Palestinian exile from the land of historic Palestine. Why is there such an acute discrepancy? Isn’t it true that historic Palestine was a land without a people for a people without a land? Didn’t the Palestinians flee voluntarily, rather than being forcibly expelled by the Zionist/Israeli forces?

As with most nation-states, the origin of Israel in 1948 is shrouded by a plethora of foundational myths, which I believe we, as socially conscious individuals, must unmask before we take part in the festivities.

Myth: The land of historic Palestine was virtually uninhabited until the arrival of Jewish settlers from Europe, and the indigenous people who did live there did not constitute a distinct national group.

On the eve of the establishment of Israel, Mandatory Palestine, which remained under British rule until 1948, was a largely Arab country: two-thirds of the population were indigenous Palestinians, who owned over 90 percent of the land, whereas one-third were Jewish immigrants in possession of 5.8 percent of the total land. Despite these fairly substantial demographic disparities between the two groups, when the United Nations sat down to decide the fate of post-British-mandate Palestine in 1947, it elected to partition the land along demographic lines, disproportionately granting Jewish colonists a state comprising approximately 56 percent of the country and allocating the remaining 44 percent to the indigenous Palestinian majority, according to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.

This move enraged Palestinian nationalist sentiments, but to no avail, for Palestinian society was by this time too weakened to wage effective resistance. From 1936 to 1939 Palestinians rose in a massive nationalistic rebellion against British rule. In the largest British colonial war of the inter-war period, the Palestinian revolt was brutally drowned in blood.

Therefore, a sizable indigenous population with a strong national identification was in fact present in historic Palestine prior to the establishment of Israel, as much as Golda Meir and others may wish to forget it.

Myth: During the Israeli War of Independence, 750,000 Arabs fled from the country voluntarily on the orders of the invading Arab armies.

The principal challenge facing the Zionist movement in the first half of the 20th century was the question of how to realize an ethnically homogenous Jewish nation-state in a country inhabited by mostly non-Jews. The answer unraveled by Israeli New Historians such as Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe and others is an ugly one: The indigenous Palestinian population was ethnically cleansed, i.e. they were coerced to flee their land by coordinated acts of vio-

lence and intimidation on the part of the Zionist/Israeli armed forces. This was no accidental outcome, for on March 10, 1948, the Hagana, the principal Zionist military outfit, unveiled Plan Dalet, what has been termed a “master plan” for the ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine. According to the text of the document describing operational procedures for occupying villages, “These operations can be carried out in the following manner: either by destroying villages (by setting fire to them, by blowing them up, and by planting mines in their debris) … or … [i]n cases of resistance, the armed forces must be wiped out and the population expelled outside the borders of the state.”

armies, during which time, Jewish forces faced only a rag-tag, all-volunteer army of Arab irregulars. Even after the intervention of the surrounding Arab states, Israeli forces retained the upper hand. The poorly armed and organized Arab force of around 68,000 men was simply no match for the highly trained and organized Hagana with its 90,000 troops armed with Czech weapons provided by the USSR. According to the renowned Israeli military historian, Martin Van Creveld, the goal of the Arab intervention was not to conquer territories allotted to the Jewish state but to defend against Zionist/Israeli annexations of areas designated as part of the Palestinian state by the U.N. Prior to the Arab

COURTESY SEAN SMITH

The most notorious example of the systematic implementation of Plan Dalet is the massacre of Deir Yassin, in which approximately 93 men, women and children, including 30 babies, were slaughtered by Jewish forces of the Irgun and Stern Gang under the direction of the Hagana. Despite its horrendous brutality, Deir Yassin is far from an exceptional case. In the words of the former director of the Israeli military archives, “In almost every village occupied by us during the War of Independence, acts were committed which are defined as war crimes, such as murders, massacres and rapes.”

Zionist/Israeli forces committed further massacres in the taking of Al-Dawayma, Al-Tantoura and Eilaboun, among many other villages, for a total of 30 documented massacres, according to studies based on U.N. and Israeli archives that can be found at the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. These massacres and other acts were calculated to terrorize the Palestinian population, which in turn compelled many more people to flee, fearing for their lives.

In all, in the period prior to the proclamation of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948 alone, between 250,000 and 300,000 Palestinians were driven from land. While some claim that these people were ordered to flee via radio broadcast by the surrounding Arab states whose armies did not invade until the departure of the British on May 15, 1948, the myth of such a radio broadcast has been vitiated by documents from the Israeli archives analyzed by Pappe and Morris.

This pattern of systematic violence and terror laid down by Plan Dalet remained in place for the remainder of 1948 and 1949. By the Armistice of 1949, over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homeland and over 500 of their villages were destroyed.

This is the image of catastrophic decimation captured in the word “Nakba.”

Myth: Upon its establishment, Israel was nearly destroyed by six invading Arab armies; Plan Dalet was thus a measure of last resort.

As iterated above, Plan Dalet was implemented and the ethnic cleansing began prior to the entry of the Arab

interventions Zionist/Israeli forces had already seized Jaffa, the Arab quarters of Jerusalem, Beisan, Safad and Acre, all of which were to fall under Palestinian sovereignty in accordance with the U.N. partition resolution.

Overall, the outcome of the Israeli War of Independence was surprising only in the scope of its calamity for the refugee: The superior Israeli forces ended up with a state on 78 percent of historic Palestine cleansed of over 85 percent of its indigenous inhabitants. This consequent realization of the Zionist dream of Theodor Herzl and Ben-Gurion was possible solely through the perpetuation of the nightmarish reality of exile lived daily by the Palestinian refugee.

We therefore arrive at the fundamental dichotomy of the Jewish state: A Palestinian refugee from Jaffa must forfeit her legally sanctioned right to return under U.N. Resolution 194, so that I, an American Jew with no direct physical ties to the land, may return to live in her place.

No one blames the Jewish people for seeking a state of their own in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust. However, such an endeavor approaches the realm of the ethically indefensible when the coveted land is already inhabited and the creation of a Jewish state necessitates the expulsion of a group of people who, as Ben-Gurion admits, bear no culpability for European anti-Semitism. This is the dark side of Israeli Independence Day, and one that we have a duty to observe alongside the great accomplishments of the Israeli people. On Wednesday, April 20, please join Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine for a commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of the dispossession and enduring statelessness of the Palestinian people, of whom over five million remain refugees. Forbidden from returning to their homeland by Israel’s “Law of Return” and barred from assimilating in their Arab host countries, these brave people grasp their keys, ready to return home.

Lucas Koerner is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Prashanth Parameswaran | The Asianist

Taking China to the WTO

L

ate last month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reversed its past finding and ruled in China’s favor on countervailing duty and anti-dumping measures in U.S.-China trade. The decision rankled the United States and validated the view among some Chinese that international rules can work in their favor. But it also points to the need for Washington to be more strategic about taking China to the WTO on trade disputes in the future and to think critically about the best approach to use.

One future U.S.-China trade battleground to ponder about is rare earths, a group of 17 elements scattered across the Earth’s crust that are essential components of important technologies like cell phones, precision-guided missiles and hybrid cars. China, which accounts for 97 percent of global rare earth production and 60 percent of consumption, has slashed export quotas over the last few years and imposed a de facto ban on all rareearth exports to Japan in 2010. Some argue that Beijing is deliberately attempting to hoard the strategic resources for political reasons, but China retorts that it needs to regulate rare earths both because it is a finite substance and because it contributes to environmental degradation. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has repeatedly threatened to seek a WTO dispute settlement.

While Article XI of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) does prohibit quantitative restrictions on products, Article XX(g) provides that it is acceptable for a state to use export restrictions if the quota relates to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources and is adopted in conjunction with a domestic program that imposes similar restrictions on domestic producers.

China could make a convincing case that the export quota is designed to conserve a finite resource. Since some industry forecasts already project that rising demand may cause a 40,000-ton annual global shortfall by 2015, China may wish to control its exports lest it be forced to import rare earths in a few years.

And with Beijing powering 97 percent of the world’s output with just 36 percent of global rare earth reserves, one could argue that China is currently supplying far too much rare earth elements. Furthermore, Beijing could reasonably assert that such conservation is required to regulate the environmental degradation that results from rare earth mining, including instances of water pollution and deforestation that are well-documented in China.

On the issue of equal international-domestic treatment, however, Beijing appears to be on thin ice. In a speech at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy last month, Mr. Gu Bin, a Fulbright visiting scholar at Harvard Law School and a research fellow at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, argued that the Chinese government’s attempts to encourage mergers and acquisitions in the rare earth sector to slash the number of firms involved constitutes a domestic restriction. But it is hard to see how one could equate quantitative international restrictions on the one hand with the domestic reorganization of China’s rare earth sector on the other. Government-backed mergers and acquisitions may represent repackaging or even reform, but they are not direct restrictions in the same way that quotas are. The crux of any U.S. case against China on rare earths should thus be on this point.

Mr. Gu was quite adamant in suggesting that “the solution of mineral trade disputes is beyond the WTO.” But given the WTO’s recent reversal and the fact that a strong case exists, an increasingly protectionist U.S. Congress may be itching for another fight. If Washington chooses to take Beijing on in another round, it should make sure it understands the nuances of both sides in order to deliver the legal knock-out punch. For as Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once averred, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

Prashanth Parameswaran is a first-year Fletcher student. He can be reached at Prashanth.Parameswaran@tufts.edu. His blog is asianist.wordpress.com.

Op-ed Policy The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length. Op-Ed cartoons are also welcomed for the Campus Canvas feature. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. All material should be submitted to oped@tuftsdaily.com no later than noon on the day prior to the desired day of publication; authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. Submissions may not be published elsewhere prior to their appearance in the Daily, including but not limited to other on- and off-campus newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news websites, as well as Facebook. Republishing of the same piece in a different source is permissible as long as the Daily is credited with originally running the article.

The Tufts Daily

12

Comics

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

by

Wiley

Tuesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Figuring out when to put your wool sweaters away

Late Night at the Daily Tuesday’s solution

Derek: “I’m not doing it. I’m only doing it if I’m really lubricated.”

Please recycle this Daily.

The Tufts Daily

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Event

Housing

Seeking babysitters Back Bay Boston-based family seeking non-smoking, safetyconscious, patient “baby-sitter/ mother’s helper” with excellent communication skills for the summer (approximately 4-8 hours per day, M-F). Close to T. Start Date: April or May. Call Laura at (617) 470-9213 for details.

4,5 6 BR units Next to Campus! Will not last 4, 5 and 6 BR units Great condition!

Free washer/dryer! Parking included. Sunny! Avail 6/1/11 to 5/31/12 call or text (617) 217-1239.

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Part-time Childcare position Are you hoping to earn extra $?

Local Tufts alum (close drive to Tufts) seeking responsible, patient, loving, energetic, non-smoking nanny for 20-35 hrs/week starting in the summer/fall. Hours and scheduling flexible. Salary commensurate with experience. Call Faith at (781) 258-9027 for details.

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$$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ 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

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Throwers excel heading into MIT Invitational next Saturday MEN’S T & F

continued from page 16

team for the spring season.

Earlier in the day, Ajayi added another strong performance on the track, leading off Tufts’ first 4x100-meter relay of the season. Ajayi was accompanied by sophomore Vinnie Lee and freshmen Dan Lange-Vagle and Jordan Dietrich, a team that finished in a combined time of 43.97 to take third. The foursome was just a second off of the team, which included Ajayi and Lee, that earned the Jumbos first in the event at the NESCAC Championships last spring in 42.95.

“Our first 4x100 qualified for ECACs, but we thought we’d be faster than what we ran,” Ajayi said. “We’re switching it up this

weekend. ...We’re switching the order to take advantage of personal strengths, so hopefully that will go better.”

On the field side, senior Alex Gresham added a strong hammer throw this weekend, earning a third-place finish among 27 athletes with a distance of 166-2 (50.64 m). The throw was Gresham’s first over 50 meters for the season and approaches the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 173-11.

“Gresham had a really good day,” Nakanishi said. “He’s right around where he was last year at NESCACs, and he’s just been steadily rolling each week, so it will be exciting to see what he does this season.”

With two regular-season meets left before NESCACs, the Jumbos are focused on hitting

qualifying marks and building their strength and speed for the championship season.

“The next two weeks are to hit qualifying, and then for our big guys to get them some rest before NESCACs,” said Ajayi, who does not plan to jump again until the NESCAC Championships. “For our borderline guys, it’s about them getting some race experience, because we’re looking to make some noise at NESCACs and finish in the top three as a team.”

The team heads across town to the MIT Invitational next Saturday.

“MIT should be a faster track than Lowell, and it’s more protected from the wind, so it’ll be a good track to see some great stuff on,” Nakanishi said.

Raucous atmospheres and unreal goaltending just two draws TOP TEN

continued from page 15

ing of both those clubs last season.

4. The atmosphere: Stanley Cup fever takes over entire cities, starting with the arenas themselves. There is nothing quite like the inside of an NHL arena come playoff time. It’s rock-concert loud and the building shakes with every goal, hit or save.

The atmosphere — especially in some of the bigger buildings like Montreal’s Bell Centre — is electric, even if you’re just watching on TV. It’s a big reason why it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the emotional aspect of it all.

3. Upsets and comebacks: In 2009-10, the Bruins — the top team in the East — jumped out to a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals over the Flyers. But Philly battled from behind to even the

series at three apiece, then came from three goals down in Game Seven to win the series. That sort of thing can happen in the playoffs — with emotions and tension running so high, no lead, or series lead, is safe. So stay tuned until it’s over, or you might just miss something.

2. Sudden-death overtime: The regular season has gone to a four-onfour, five-minute overtime that culminates in a shootout if teams are still tied. But in the playoffs, tradition still reigns supreme.

20-minute overtime periods — the same as a regular period — are played at full strength for each side and the game doesn’t stop until someone scores a goal.

Is it brutal? Probably. Is it compelling?

Certainly. The longest playoff game in NHL history featured an additional 116:30 — six overtime periods — of added time, when the Red Wings defeated the Montreal Maroons, 1-0, in 1936. That’s almost three continuous hours of hockey.

1. The Stanley Cup: There could be no better reason to watch than the very reason the players play, right? The Stanley Cup is the greatest trophy in professional sports. Even if you don’t know hockey, you know about the Cup. The names of every single player and coach ever to lift the cup are etched into the trophy’s rings, and the Cup has legends all its own — like when it ended up at the bottom of a Pittsburgh swimming pool during a Penguins victory celebration in 1991.

The Cup is so important to hockey culture that a Hall of Fame employee is tasked with keeping watch over the Trophy at all times, supervising it and transporting it to games and other appearances. It’s the representation of everything that’s great about the sport, and there’s no sweeter moment than watching someone lift the Cup — especially if it’s your team. So stay tuned this playoff season, and you might be lucky enough to see it happen.

Elephants in the Room Derek Miller Senior pitcher Baseball

Emily Pillemer Junior midfielder Women’s lacrosse

Maeve Stewart Freshman forward Women’s soccer

Jennifer Yih Senior Cross Country

Favorite place to party

I’m annoyed by...

Last movie that made me cry

I can dance better than...

Hidden talent

Bell Tower at 167

Complacent pedestrians

“The Land Before Time”

Jack Dilday

Seizing for days

347 porch with our homeless roommate

Losing in general, scratch tickets in particular

“Toy Story 3”

Anyone

People say I have the voice of an angel

Sophia 231 Houston Hall Wojtasinksi (but “She’s the Man” actually)

Bush Hall with the freshman boys of TUXC

The girl who’s annoyed by Asians in the library

“War Dance”

Anyone when “Club Can’t Handle Me” comes on

Stephen Hawking

Unicycling

I can fly

all photos courtesy tufts athletics

Brian Rowe | Calls the Shots

More or less

I

saw a preview for “The Hangover 2” the other day. Looks really good, by the way.

But it got me thinking about Las Vegas, which got me thinking about gambling, which got me thinking about sports and finally about this column. Anyway, I decided it’s time for some arbitrary enthusiasm, irrational reasoning and either being horrifically wrong or amazingly right. Basically what Vegas is all about, yeah? Without further ado, here are some over/unders for the rest of the sports year and beyond.

Times Kobe yells at a teammate during the playoffs — 42.5: Over, but barely. Would have set it higher, but I have them losing to the Spurs in the first round. If Steve Blake makes it through the next two weeks without crying, I’ll be impressed.

People who won’t have an opinion when Tiger wins his next major — 0.5: Under. You, me and every cocktail waitress from Augusta National to Pebble Beach will have something to say. But it probably won’t be be about his golf game. Although that was a tough 3-putt on 12…

Number of “RED SOX PANIC” and “DEREK JETER PANIC” articles that have been or will be written this year — 3,242,342: Over.

Especially in a month, when Jeter is still hitting .206 and the Red Sox are scratching at the door of .500. This has the makings of a long summer for baseball in the Northeast.

Percent of NFL’ers who will go bankrupt during the lockout — 35: I hope it’s slightly under, but if they all decide to start emulating Dez Bryant and his $246,000 jewelry tab, the number might climb just a little bit.

Hopefully they can stash a few bills under the mattress.

Home runs for Bryce Harper in his major league career — 299.5: Over. I struggled with this one for a while. 300 is a lot of home runs, (10 years of 30 apiece? No small feat), and there is no guarantee he will remain healthy. But as the best prospect since A-Rod and Griffey Jr., I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Gallons of sweat Kevin Garnett emits per NBA season — 200: Definitely over. According to Men’s Health, the average guy sweats 60 gallons a year. Given that Garnett looks like a living, breathing Niagara Falls on the hardwood, it’s at least this much. I’m not quite sure how he doesn’t require an IV after every contest.

People who think Bonds committed perjury — 11.5: It better be over, because there are 12 members of the jury, and I want a consensus that he’s going to jail for the foreseeable future. Hopefully they’ll be able to cram his steroid-enhanced forehead into a normal-sized cell.

Nonsense trades that Kenny Williams makes this summer — 3.5: Under. He’s already catching flak for his Daniel Hudson/ Edwin Jackson trade, and with the way his team is performing so far, he’s got no reason to move major pieces. But then again, if the Red Sox could convince him to take Daisuke off their hands, all would be well in the world.

NFL games that will be played in the fall — 15.5: Under. This lockout thing is for real and won’t be over quickly. It’s in the court system, there is still mediation, blah blah blah. It’s going to be a while before we see real football, and I doubt it will be in early September.

Female hormones Manny has taken throughout his career — A lot: Over. Really, Manny? You just pulled a Brett “Let me see how much I can tarnish my legacy in a span of two years” Favre. I hope you never wanted a bust in Cooperstown, because you’ll never come close to one now.

Brian Rowe is a senior majoring in economics. He can be reached at B.Rowe@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

14

Sports

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Western Conference Preview

Second-seeded Sharks look poised to make Stanley Cup run by

matters in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but age can be a liability, too — it’s a grueling haul from the first round through the Cup finals.

Phoenix is a disciplined team backstopped by goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who posted a .921 save percentage this past regular season.

Led by captain Shane Doan, the Coyotes fought the Red Wings for seven games in the first round of the playoffs last year. Expect this one to be just as tough, but Detroit’s age may finally catch up with them this time around.

Prediction: Coyotes in six

Matt Repka

Daily Editorial Board

With the NHL playoffs set to begin tonight, the Daily makes sense of the four Western Conference showdowns:

No. 1 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks (Regular season head-to-head: Canucks 2-1-1/’Hawks 2-2-0): The Canucks, though beset by recent injuries, have rolled through the final few weeks of the regular season as the clear Cup favorite, at least on paper. They own the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record and the No. 1 seed that will guarantee them home-ice advantage until the Stanley Cup Finals, should they get there.

That being said, this matchup is something of a worst-case scenario for the league’s best team. The Chicago Blackhawks, who eliminated the Canucks in six games in the Western Conference semifinals last year, almost didn’t make it into the playoffs — they stumbled in on the last day of the regular season thanks to a bit of choke artistry by the Dallas Stars. But now they’re in, and they’re going to be hungry.

This is a different-looking Chicago team than the one that won the Stanley Cup last season, and its offense has struggled in recent weeks. But the team’s core — forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the captain — is still a deadly force in high-pressure situations. The goaltending is the key here: All-Star Roberto Luongo faces off against Corey Crawford, who is in his first season with the Hawks.

Expect the Hawks to give Vancouver some trouble, but if needed, Luongo is capable of putting the team on his back to carry them through to round two.

Prediction: Canucks in six No. 2 San Jose Sharks vs. No. 7 Los Angeles Kings (Regular season head-to-head: Sharks 3-1-2/Kings 3-3-0): The San Jose Sharks have earned, over the better part of a decade, a reputation for sparkling regular seasons followed by bitter playoff underachievement. Last year marked an improvement over years past — the Sharks made it to the conference finals before being swept out by Chicago.

Led by captain Joe Thornton and

MCT

San Jose forward Dany Heatley celebrates a goal against Chicago. Heatley netted 26 goals for the Sharks this season. winger Dany Heatley, they’re a perennial contender. But like the Canucks, they can’t afford to take their first-round opponent lightly.

The Sharks face the Kings in a contest that involves two of the three playoff-bound California teams. The Kings have a young, promising core of players, but their biggest star, 25-goal-scorer and alternate captain Anze Kopitar, is done for the season with an ankle injury sustained at the end of March.

It’s a devastating blow to the team’s long-term playoff prospects.

The two teams more or less evenly split the season series, so it could be a toss-up. But San Jose’s playoff experience and veteran core outclasses a young Los Angeles roster, and if the Sharks show up firing on all cylinders, it’ll be a short series.

Prediction: Sharks in five

No. 3 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 6 Phoenix Coyotes (Regular season head-to-head: Detroit 2-1-1/Phoenix 2-0-2): All of the Western Conference playoff matchups are tough to predict, the end result of a wild ride through the second half of the regular season. This series, however, could be the one with the most upset potential.

From defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, the Red Wings boast one of the most accomplished veteran rosters, stocked with players who will be in the Hall of Fame conversation at the conclusion of their careers. The only problem is that those same players are getting older. Datsyuk, at 32, is relatively young: Lidstrom and Holmstrom are 40 and 38, respectively. Experience

No. 4 Anaheim Ducks vs. No. 5 Nashville Predators (Regular season head-to-head: Ducks 1-3-0/Predators 3-1-0): The Ducks’ resurgence over the second half has put much of the Western Conference on notice. Winger Corey Perry exploded for 50 goals this year, shattering a career high for him and prompting speculation that he’ll end up a Hart Trophy nominee.

The seemingly ageless Teemu Selanne, in the league since the 1992-93 season, reached 80 points. Even with the loss of top goaltender Jonas Hiller for the season, Ray Emery and Dan Ellis have stepped up to share the workload, and the team’s gone 14-5 since March 1.

Their first-round opponent, the Predators, have fought for respect ever since their entry into the league in 1997.

As a small-market team, the Predators don’t tend to attract a lot of national attention, but they’ve quietly made the playoffs six of the past seven seasons.

Of course, they’ve lost in the first round all of those times. But the Predators are primed this season to stop the Ducks in their tracks and earn their first playoff series win. Goaltender Pekka Rinne is realizing his potential, posting an impressive .930 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against-average.

Led by captain and Canadian Olympic team member Shea Weber, Nashville has a blue-collar roster that can outwork the Ducks, and Rinne has the potential to shut down Anaheim’s high-flying offense.

Prediction: Predators in seven Conference Finalist: San Jose Sharks Winner: Sharks in seven Conn Smythe Trophy: Patrick Marleau

Boston Bruins

Five keys to a successful Boston Bruins playoff run by

and Lucic to try to crash the net and get some cheap goals.

David McIntyre

Daily Editorial Board

4. Goalkeeping: Without a doubt, the biggest individual contributor to the Bruins’ success this season has been Tim Thomas. The perennial Vezina Trophy candidate leads the league in both save percentage and goals-against average and also finished the season second in shutouts to the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist. Thomas was one of the best goalies in the league this season and comes into the playoffs on fire. If he can perform the way he has during the regular season, the Bruins will have a chance to win every game, even if other parts of the team are misfiring.

With the Stanley Cup playoffs set to begin, the Boston Bruins will be looking to avenge last season’s heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, who came back after being down 3-0 in a best-ofseven series. This season will be equally as tough, with a firstround showdown against the Montreal Canadiens.

Here are five keys for the Bruins as they seek their first Stanley Cup since 1972.

1. Zdeno Chara: The hard-hitting, monstrous defenseman has done an outstanding job captaining the Bruins this season and leads a defense whose goalsagainst average was second in the league. Chara also brings a physical presence to the game that has his opponents always looking over their shoulders in the defensive zone. At 6-foot-9, he is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL, and his slap shot and checking ability are second to none.

If Chara can keep his cool and not have many lapses in judgment — like his controversial regular-season hit against Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty — the Bruins will be able to lean on him as they did throughout the

MCT

Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara avoided a fine from the NHL after giving Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty a concussion, ending the Montreal forward’s season. season. If not, expect a quick exit for Boston.

2. Physicality: This goes hand in hand with the first key: Boston is undoubtedly one of the most physical teams in the league. The Bruins need to come out of the gates checking their opponents at every opportunity and asserting themselves, especially against a team built on speed and finesse

like Montreal. If the boards aren’t rattling with the force of Bruins’ checks, Boston will have a hard time containing anybody, and more agile teams like Montreal will be skating circles around the Boston net.

3. Is there enough scoring?

Though the Bruins have been solid defensively, their problems this year have come at the other end of the ice: Though Boston

ranks fifth in the league in goals per game, the Bruins are just 20th in power-play efficiency.

Furthermore, the team lacks a dominant go-to scorer, possessing just one player (Milan Lucic) in the top 30 goal scorers in the league.

Boston needs some non-traditional goal scorers to step up, particularly on the power play.

Look for Chara to pepper the net with shots at every opportunity as well as forwards Patrice Bergeron

5. Keeping cool: Boston is a club with obvious talent, but sometimes emotions have gotten the better of the Bruins this season. Boston finished in the top 10 in the league in penalty minutes and seemed to have a knack for particularly violent hits and taking penalties at inopportune times. With the league’s new focus on hits to the head, the Bruins could get hit with major penalties and ejections if they can’t keep their tempers under control, especially given the fact that the team’s penalty kill is mediocre, at 16th in the league.

The Tufts Daily

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

15

Sports

Eastern Conference Preview

Capitals leave wide-open field of contenders in the East

by David

MacIntyre

Daily Editorial board

With the NHL playoffs set to begin tonight, the Daily makes sense of the four Eastern Conference showdowns:

No. 1 Washington Capitals vs. No. 8 New York Rangers (Regular season head-to-head: Rangers 3-1-0): The Capitals enter the playoffs as a puzzling No. 1 seed: Despite their dominance for stretches of the season, they also went through one particularly horrible losing streak, which was well-documented in HBO’s “24/7” program leading up to the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. Of course, the away team in each Winter Classic has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup finals, so at least the Capitals have that going for them.

Superstition aside, though, the Capitals have a stacked team, particularly offensively, where perennial MVP candidate Alexander Ovechkin continues to show off his skating and shooting skills, and forwards Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble continue to add to their scoring totals.

Washington was also boosted by the midseason acquisition of Jason Arnott from the New Jersey Devils, who will provide muchneeded experience for the playoffs.

The Caps battle a Rangers team that made the playoffs on the last day of the season.

Besides star veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the team is loaded with young, exciting but inexperienced players like forward Mats Zuccarello. But against the Washington powerhouse, it’s unlikely that the Rangers will be able to match the Capitals’ scoring talent. Lundqvist will win a few games for the Rangers single-handedly, but besides him, there is little standing between the Caps and the second round.

Prediction: Capitals in six No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers vs. No. 7 Buffalo Sabres (Regular season head-to-head [four games]: Flyers 2-1-1/Sabres 2-2-0): The Flyers, much like the Capitals, are an enigma: Despite the fact that they held the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season, a mixture of injuries, bad form and inconsistent play dropped Philadelphia

down to the No. 2 seed. In fact, Philly lost 16 of its final 25 games, getting blown out in several, and hardly look like the dominating team they once were.

But despite the struggles, the reigning conference champions still have the weapons to make an extended run to the Stanley Cup finals. Forward Jeff Carter has had a monster year, leading the team in goals, while fellow forward Claude Giroux has amassed a gaudy 51 assists. The Flyers will also be bolstered by the eventual return of veteran Chris Pronger, who has missed the last month with a wrist injury.

The Sabres, on the other hand, are coming into the playoffs streaking, having finished the season on a 28-11-6 tear since Jan. 1.

Buffalo will also be helped by the return of star goalkeeper Ryan Miller from a minor upper body injury, as well as the possible return of center Derek Roy, who has been out since before Christmas. Look for Thomas Vanek to pepper the Philly goal with shots and for Miller to be a stone wall: If that happens, the series will go right to the wire.

Prediction: Flyers in seven

No. 3 Boston Bruins vs. No. 6 Montreal Canadiens (Regular season head-to-head [six games]: Canadiens 3-2-1/Bruins 3-3-0): Once again (it seems like fate), these two Original Six teams will meet in the playoffs. And also once again, the series will be marked by bad blood for events that happened during the regular season, most notably Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara’s extremely controversial hit on Montreal forward Max Pacioretty that left the Habs player with a major concussion but drew no suspension from the league.

Besides the scuffles, though, Boston will be looking to make up for last year’s disastrous playoff defeat to the Flyers in a series in which they held a 3-0 lead. The Bruins will be relying heavily on Vezina Trophy candidate Tim Thomas to guide them through the series, while Chara will also play a critical role spearheading a defense that is often considered to be among the most physical (and to some, dirtiest) in the league.

The Habs, meanwhile, will be working with a slightly different formula: While Montreal will certainly rely on goalkeeper Carey Price,

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Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin, who finished seventh in the league with 85 points this season, will lead the Caps in their first round series against the Rangers. who is having a career season, the squad will have to rely on quickness and finesse rather than physicality to have a chance to pull off the upset. In the end, it will likely be a very tight series, and don’t be surprised to see a few suspensions along the way.

Prediction: Bruins in seven No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (Regular season head-to-head: 2-2-0): Of all the clubs in the playoffs, Pittsburgh undoubtedly has been through the most adversity this season. Being without stars Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) for much of the latter portion of the season, the Penguins were forced to rely on a tried-and-true formula: stellar goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury, tough defense and opportunistic offense.

Being without the two stars for the play-

offs, though, is a much different matter. The Penguins will certainly need former role players like Tyler Kennedy and Chris Kunitz to step up in a way that they have not in the regular season; it is telling that Crosby still leads the team in goals with 32 despite having played just 41 games.

The Lightning, meanwhile, have three top-notch scoring stars at their disposal: Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos. The question marks for Tampa, then, lie at the back, and especially in goal, where despite Dwayne Roloson’s consistency since his midseason acquisition from the Islanders, much uncertainty still remains.

Prediction: Lightning in six Conference Finalist: Washington Capitals Winner: Capitals in seven Conn Smythe Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin

stanley cup

Ten reasons to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs by

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin and San Jose Sharks forward Dany Heatley have been called two of the league’s premier players, but their detractors point to a legacy of postseason letdowns. Only one thing can silence the doubters: playoff success.

Matt Repka

Daily Editorial Board

Tonight, the top 16 teams will begin their chase for hockey’s ultimate prize — the Stanley Cup. The next two months will be an emotional roller coaster, full of thrilling tension, drama, heartbreak and triumph. Stars will shine and new heroes will emerge amid some of the most compelling, high-flying hockey to be found anywhere in the world.

Sports cliches aside, for hockey fans and casual observers alike, the next two months are a real treat.

Here are 10 reasons why:

8. The unlikely heroes: Sure, everyone expects Crosby or Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane to put their team on their back and lead them to victory. But what about John Druce?

“Who?” is the correct answer to that question. Druce was a quiet player: a winger for the Washington Capitals and a modest offensive talent at best. But in the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs, Druce suddenly exploded. He scored 14 goals in 15 games, including four game winners, and the Caps reached the conference finals. That’s the great thing about the playoffs — you never know who’s going to come out of nowhere and change the fortunes of an entire team.

10. It’s epic — really: To actually win the Stanley Cup, a team must win 16 games — four best-of-seven series. Sixteen games.

Compare that with baseball, which requires 11 victories for a World Series title.

That’s a ton of hockey, and a lot of time for some pretty incredible — or terrible — to happen. More than any other sport, hockey’s postseason is a test of serious endurance, not just skill. The playoffs might start today, but there won’t be a Stanley Cup champion before June. No wonder they call it the “second season.”

9. Star power: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby may be indefinitely sidelined with concussion symptoms, but the vast majority of the league’s top stars have found their way into this postseason. A player can shine in the regular season, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the true test of a player’s impact. Can they show up when it matters most?

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Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews lifts the Stanley Cup trophy after Chicago’s six-game victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in last year’s final.

7. Playoff beards: It’s an age-old hockey tradition — once the regular season ends, players won’t pick up a razor until after their team is eliminated. Maybe it’s just superstition, but there’s no easier way to know it’s playoff time than to pick up the sports section and see what appear to be a bunch of cavemen celebrating on the ice.

As the beards get bushier, the playoff tension ratchets up and some truly legendary facial hair emerges — witness Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers or the veteran Scott Niedermayer’s gray-andblack beard.

Others take an alternative approach; Kane instead sported a “playoff mullet” last year. His team brought home the Cup. Unsurprisingly, Kane announced on Monday the mullet will return for this year’s playoffs.

6. Rivalries This week, it’s not about YankeesRed Sox here in Boston. It’s all about Bruins-Canadiens. One of the bitterest NHL rivalries, the BostonMontreal hatred — and hatred is not an inappropriate word — goes back to the days of the Original Six. That tension has only been heightened by the now-infamous March incident in which Bruins captain Zdeno Chara brutally checked Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty into the half-wall near center ice, resulting in a fractured vertebra and a severe concussion. Pacioretty has not played since.

Chara escaped suspension from the league for that hit, which was deemed unintentional. But don’t expect Montreal — or its fans — to be quite so forgiving. In either arena, it’s going to be a hostile atmosphere this week.

5. Unreal goaltending: This is not to say that playoff hockey is low-scoring or boring — far from it. But goaltenders, more than any other position on the ice, have the potential to take over a game, a series or even the whole playoffs. Ask any Penguins or Capitals fan about goaltender Jaroslav Halak whose jaw-dropping play was instrumental in the Montreal Canadiens’ unlikely oustsee TOP TEN, page 13

Sports

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INSIDE Stanley Cup playoffs previews 14-15

tuftsdaily.com

Dream of perfect season dashed at Endicott

Women’s Track and Field

Tufts earns three NCAA qualifiers at weekend meet by

Connor Rose

Senior Staff Writer

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

The No.1 men’s lacrosse team suffered its first loss in 19 games last night at Endicott Stadium. The Jumbos (9-1) trailed from midway through the second quarter on, and a furious two-goal rally in the final five minutes was not enough to best the No.18 Gulls, who move to 10-2 with the win. Pictured above, D.J. Hessler on April 2. For more, see The Score at blogs.tuftsdaily.com/thescore and check out our full game story in tomorrow’s paper.

Men’s Track and Field

Jumbos bring home big marks from UMass Lowell by

Lauren Flament

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s track and field team saw a slew of personal bests on Saturday at the George Davis Invitational, hosted by UMass Lowell.

Warm weather and optimal conditions aided the athletes in cutting down their times and adding distance to their jumps and throws.

Though the meet was not scored, the Jumbos brought home two individual victories. On the track, freshman Liam Cassidy finished first in the 5,000-meter race, earning a personal record (PR) with his time of 15:11.72. Junior Scott McArthur finished just five seconds behind, in 15:16.77, to earn fourth in the 29-man race. All five Jumbos in the race qualified for NESCACs and four qualified for the Div. III New England Championships, showing the depth of the long-distance squad this season.

“It was the most solid 5K that I’ve seen our team run throughout my time at Tufts,” McArthur said. “All of our runners averaged under 5:00 [mile] pace which is a very strong place to be this early in the season.

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

Freshman Liam Cassidy finished first in the 5,000-meter race at the George Davis Invitational this past weekend, earning a personal record with his time of 15:11.72.

… Everybody ran controlled for the first two miles and finished with a really strong third mile. Liam had the strongest race; he was able to pick off runners one by one in the last mile to win.

Sophomore Brad Nakanishi added a victory in the pole vault, clearing a height of 14-5 1/4. Nakanishi was the only athlete to clear 14 feet on Saturday. Just behind Nakanishi was senior co-captain Sam Read, who cleared 13-11 1/4, good for second place.

“My performance went pretty well, and it was nice to have the warm weather to compete in. I was just trying to get some qualifiers in early in the regular season,” said Nakanishi, who did just that — his jump qualified him for every tournament up to Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships (ECACs).

Perhaps the biggest performances came from the jumpers. Sophomore Gbola Ajayi took second in the long jump with a new PR of 22-9 3/4, just four inches short of the NCAA provisionally qualifying mark.

“My long jump was very exciting,” said Ajayi, who is aiming for the top three at NESCACs and the New England Championships in the event, and, later in the season, hopes to qualify and compete at NCAAs. “I proved to myself that I could qualify for Nationals in long jump. ... It was a huge PR, so it was unexpected. I am excited about it, and I am looking forward to jumping again.”

Ajayi also earned a fourth-place finish in the triple jump, launching himself a distance of 44-9 3/4 — an outdoor personal best.

Meanwhile, junior Alex Orchowski — high jumping in only in his second meet — earned a new PR when he cleared a height of 6-4 3/4, taking third in the meet. Sophomore Michael Blair cleared the same height, but earned seventh, since it came on a later attempt over the bar.

Orchowski and senior Sam Mason, both players on the basketball team, joined the see MEN’S T & F, page 13

The George Davis Invitational, hosted by UMass Lowell, provided a level of competition for the Jumbos that sparked season and personal bests across the board. The warm, sunny weather brought out some sizzling Tufts performances.

“The weather was perfect for competing this weekend,” senior Jen Yih said. “I didn’t warm up as much as I normally do, but it worked out because it was warm enough out.”

Yih posted a personal best time in the 800-meter race, finishing 10th with a time of 2:23.89 in her first half-mile of the season.

“The race went out hard for the first 200 [meters], but then slowed down a little in the next 200,” Yih said. “I knew that there were Division I and II runners in my heat, so I just wanted to get out and get in a good position.

With 300 to go I was still with the lead pack and then decided to really start picking up my pace. With 150 to go, I really made a strong move to the finish and passed a few girls.”

In addition to Yih’s success, three Jumbos hit provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Among the top performers at the meet was sophomore Kelly Allen, who participated in four events and finished no worse than sixth place in any of them.

Of Allen’s four events, the javelin and discus throw were season bests, with the latter resulting in a victory. She threw the discus 139-10, improving the NCAA provisional qualifying mark she had set two weeks earlier.

Allen’s sights are primarily set on traveling to nationals in the discus; early success in the hammer throw has her thinking that earning a spot in both events may be possible. Allen came in fourth in both the hammer throw and the javelin this weekend, throwing 148-03 and 119-03 feet, respectively, though she was unable to improve upon her provisional hammer throw mark of 162-11, set at the Westfield State Invitational on March 26.

“Hammer throw has been a complete surprise this year,” she said. “I opened up the season with a huge personal best. If I can add a meter or two more it might be good enough

to travel. My main focus is discus, but the hammer would be an added bonus.”

The most impressive part of Allen’s day was her ability to compete at a high level in four events on one of the hottest days of the year. Allen added a sixth-place finish in the shot put — with a 40-01 1/2 throw — to her three top-4 showings.

“I don’t usually do all four events, mostly three,” Allen said. “It’s very exhausting thinking about it, but I know I just have to get out there and take it one throw at a time. It’s difficult, but fun at the same time.”

Freshman Jana Hieber, who gained experience competing in multiple events as a pentathlete during the indoor season, also excelled in a number of events this weekend.

Hieber picked up right where she left off this winter and posted a provisional qualifying time of 1:03.73 in a 400 hurdles victory, putting her at 14th nationally. Hieber also ran the 100 hurdles, finishing tenth, and anchored the third-place 4x400 meter relay, which also included freshman Colleen Flanagan and sophomores Sam Bissonnette and Alyssa Corrigan.

The third Jumbo to record a provisional qualifying mark for nationals was junior Nakeisha Jones. Jones won the triple jump by four inches with her jump of 38-6 1/4.

She is ranked sixth in the country in the event, and is less than a foot away from qualifying automatically.

Other notable performances included senior tri-captain Kanku Kabongo’s fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash. She clocked in at 13.08 in her first open 100 meter of the season, while Bissonnette finished tied for sixth in the event in 13.25.

While the field events and shorter races provided much of the action for the Jumbos, there were also solid performances in the distance events. Senior Amy Wilfert finished fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 11:16.86, less than five seconds off her personal best. Freshman Lauren Creath, in her first race of the season, finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 19:03.77.

Next weekend the Jumbos will not have to travel far when they participate in the MIT Invitational.

Virginia Bledsoe/ Tufts Daily

Freshman Jana Hieber, here at a pentathlon this winter, posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles this past weekend, ranking her 14th in the nation in the event.

Women’s Lacrosse

Tufts bashes Bridgewater, 19-2 Three days after a 9-8 defeat at the hands of conference rival Trinity, the national No. 13 women’s lacrosse team was in top form yesterday, trouncing Bridgewater State at Bello Field by the score of 19-2.

The Jumbos opened the scoring just 19 seconds into the game with a goal from junior attackman Kelly Hyland; they never looked back, exploiting holes in the Bears defense and taking a 13-0 lead into halftime.

The beating likely came as a bit of a shock to the Bears, who play in the weaker Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and have been on the winning end of a number of blowouts this

year — they entered Tuesday’s contest with a 10-0 record and a +79 goal differential.

Bridgewater got on the board with a goal to start the second, but the Jumbos continued to pour it on offensively, scoring the next six goals and cruising to victory. The Bears took just two shots in the second half, both of which found the back of the net.

The Jumbos improved to 7-3 on the season and will play another non-conference game tomorrow when they host Endicott Thursday.

The Gulls are 9-3 overall and 8-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Game time is 4 p.m.

—by Aaron Leibowitz