9.23.15 by The Tufts Daily

“Doctor Who” returns for ninth season with innovative, exciting season premiere see ARTS AND LIVING / PAGE 5 Jumbos look to stay on right side of history as they take on Hamilton in season opener see SPORTS / BACK PAGE the

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T HE T UFTS D AILY

VOLUME LXX, NUMBER 9

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Tufts students attend first-ever Tufts Scramble event

Professor James Ennis remembered by Tufts community by Safiya Nanji News Editor

Nicholas Pfosi / The Tufts Daily

Students and event organizational partners host first Tufts Scramble event at 51 Winthrop St. by Miranda Willson Assistant News Editor

Sixty Tufts undergraduates gathered this past weekend for this year’s inaugural Tufts Scramble, a two-day on-campus innovation training and brainstorm session, at 51 Winthrop St. The event, which took place Saturday and Sunday, was co-hosted by the Tufts Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies Program and the Tufts Entrepreneurs Society. It was also sponsored by Tufts Allied Minds and the Computer Science department, in collaboration with Scramble Systems, according to Inge Milde, a senior lecturer at Tufts’ Gordon Institute. According to Stephen Douglass, the founder and managing director of Scramble Systems, the organization partners with companies, non-profits and college campuses to help them run culture-defining innovation training experiences. “For campuses, our goal is to help innovation centers that are trying to reach across the campus, because they are usually housed in the business school,” Douglass said. He said Scramble Systems aims to encourage innovation from students in all academic fields. “We’re trying to build a platform that allows students from the entire university to come together across disciplinary practices, train them to be

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stronger and increase the incidence of successful innovators and future founders,” he explained. Junior Alex Rappaport, the student coordinator for Tufts Scramble, said he decided to help organize the event after spending the summer working at the university’s Center for Engineering, Education and Outreach. “This summer, I was trying to add an entrepreneurial edge to Jumbo’s Maker Studio, a place with 3-D printers, laser cutters, hard tools and all the materials you would need to build something cool,” he said. “But I wanted to find a way to get more students involved and to give people who were in the space already a way to do more.” Rappaport then got in contact with Douglass, and they realized that they were trying to do the same thing. Both Rappaport and Douglass explained that Tufts Scramble intended to serve as a jump-off point for innovations, projects and start-ups. “Our goal in scrambling, from our angle, is to reinforce and have students practice great innovation and founding skills,” Douglass said. “We want to give students the tools, mindsets and relationships they need from the Tufts community in order to create a support network for them.” According to Milde, students from a variety of academic backgrounds and experiences attended the event. “We had [economics] majors, art history majors and [others],” Milde said. “We were

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stronger on juniors and seniors for a long time, but then the numbers evened out.” By the end of the weekend, students had collectively come up with 13 business ideas, including a smart cigarette pack that helps smokers quit and a consultancy group that allows farmers to gauge and certify the nutritional content of their products, according to Milde. The students had started the training event by brainstorming ideas, then accessing materials from the Crafts Center and Jumbo’s Maker Studio to begin realizing the ideas they discussed, according to Rappaport. At the end of the event, a panel of experts gave students feedback on their projects, according to Douglass. Whether or not students walked away with a completed project was not his priority, Douglass said. Rather, those who attended the event now have a better understanding of the weaknesses of their proposed ventures, projects or ideas and can determine how to exploit or make use of those weaknesses. “Students’ ideas [weren’t] intended to end when this event ended,” Rappaport said. “This event is the catalyst for these ideas, and alumni often come back and coach during the scrambles, so it comes full-circle.” “For us, launching a company is not really the end goal,” Milde said. “That’s a residual result.”

Members of the Tufts community gathered yesterday afternoon to commemorate the life of James G. Ennis, a longtime Tufts sociology professor, at the Granoff Family Hillel Center. The memorial ceremony was officiated by university Rabbi Jeffrey Summit. Ennis, who was 62, passed away unexpectedly after a long illness over the summer on July 8, according to an email to the Tufts community from Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser. According to Sociology Department Administrator John LiBassi, the memorial was attended by Ennis’ family, friends, colleagues and students. “Jim’s family was in attendance, his wife Gloria, and two sons Noah and Sam,” LiBassi told the Daily in an email. “Sam is a Tufts [alumnus] and sociology major. The service was also attended by faculty and deans from across the University, retired faculty, current students and alumni.” Those who attended the memorial celebrated Ennis’ life by sharing fond memories of him and listening to various speeches, according to LiBassi. Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris, a sociologist himself, opened the remembrance portion of the service and was followed by Glaser, Professor Paul Joseph and Katherine Sadowski (LA ’10). “Ultimately, it was a day of unity for those who knew Jim Ennis to celebrate his devotion to his family, his chosen field and the students he taught,” LiBassi said. Sociology Professor Pawan Dhingra, current chair of the sociology department, was also in attendance. “The memorial was both a time to recognize a loss and sadness but also to appreciate how lucky we were to be touched by Jim,” Dhingra told the Daily an in email. “Everyone who

News............................................1 Features.................................3 Arts & Living.......................5

see MEMORIAL, page 2

COMICS....................................... 7 OPINION.....................................8 Sports............................ Back

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News News

Elections for open TCU Senate seats begin today by Sarah Zheng

Executive News Editor

Hopeful candidates for open TCU Senate seats will turn in their candidacy petitions today in order to become officially verified and begin campaigning for next Wednesday’s election. The available positions include seven seats for first-year Senate representatives, five seats on the Freshman Class Council and five out of the six community representative seats, according to Paige Newman, chair of the Elections Commission (ECOM). The community representative seats include representatives for the Africana, Latino, Asian American, LGBTQ, and the women’s communities, Newman, a senior, said. The only filled community representative seat is the one for the international community, which was filled last spring. Campaigning will begin tomorrow and continue until the Sept. 30 election date, according to Newman. Candidates will also have a chance next Tuesday evening to introduce themselves to the Tufts community and talk about why they’re running for their positions at the candidate’s forum. “ECOM will ask [the candidates] a series of questions about who they are, why they want to run for that position, what makes them qualified, what they want to see done,” Newman said. The forum will be open to anybody who is interested in hearing from the candidates, she added. TCU President Brian Tesser said this year’s election date is unusually late, with a long period between the start of the school year and the actual elections. The date is set by the Office of Campus Life each year, according to Newman. “Part of [why the election date is so late] is because of school starting so late and then all these religious holidays,” Newman said. In addition to a late election start, Newman explained that the Senate has had difficulty filling the community representative seats that represent the Group of Six. “We always really struggle to fill those for some reason,” she said. This year, however, Newman said many people have connected with ECOM about the community senate seats. “We’ve had a bunch of people reach out and express interest, so we’re excited and think

that pretty much all of those are going to be filled,” she said. Tesser said the Senate is working closely with ECOM to publicize the election to the general public and to spread information about the running process for candidates. “We’re hoping that [this] in turn will help to lead to more voter turnout, and having competitive elections really matters,” Tesser said. Newman added that despite low election turnout in previous elections, she is hopeful for the upcoming election. “Freshmen are always really excited to run, and so fall elections are always our highest turnout for both voters and number of people running,” she said. “We feel really good about that, but we are pushing our advertising campaign just as hard if not harder than [we did] in the past.” Some of ECOM’s plans to improve voter turnout include engaging with potential voters by pushing information about the election on social media, tabling and putting up posters around campus. “A lot of the advertising always relies on the candidates,” Newman said. “But because so many freshmen always run for these seats, people always know about these elections a lot more because they’ve put their posters all over campus, they’re a lot more vocal about it, so they are really our big push in the fall in terms of getting people to know about it.” TCU Senate filled three trustee representative Senate positions during their last meeting on Sunday after an application and interview process, according to Tesser. He added that this year’s TCU Senate will have more new members than returning members, which is uncommon. The ratio of new to returning senators will be somewhere around 15 returning members to 22 new members, he said. “I’m excited to kind of have some fresh voices and fresh faces because sometimes we get stuck in this pattern of having the same people coming in year in, year out and kind of having the same opinions,” Tesser said. Tesser added that many members of TCU Senate share his enthusiasm for the upcoming year. “Having a very new body is something I’m very excited about…even the new senators who are already jumping right in and have project ideas and are excited about doing it,” Tesser said.

Tufts community commemorates life of sociology professor MEMORIAL

continued from page 1 spoke, both planned and unplanned, offered insights into his personality, accomplishments and generous spirit.” Dhingra said that he met Ennis in 2011 when Dhingra interviewed for a position at Tufts. “Even after one day, you felt like you knew him and could be comfortable around him,” he wrote. “His sincerity and humor were great qualities.” Senior Claire Eaton said that although she was unable to attend the memorial, she remembers meeting Ennis during her first year at Tufts. “Professor Ennis was my pre-major advisor and professor during my freshman year,” Eaton said. “He taught the class American Society, which was a fascinating introduction to sociology. Professor Ennis was always willing to take the time to meet with his advisees and was a caring, friendly man who will be missed by his students.” According to a letter Glaser wrote in

memory of Ennis, the sociology professor was well-known and well-liked throughout the university. “I knew Jim to be a kind and gracious person,” Glaser wrote. “So smart, he was a fount of ideas about American culture and how social and professional networks form and evolve. Jim also absorbed responsibility, particularly when it came to important matters of faculty governance.” Ennis’ areas of expertise included social networks, sociological theory, research methods and social movements, with his scholarship appearing in journals such as “American Sociological Review,” “Social Forces” and “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,” according to Glaser. “He still had much more to contribute and the Tufts community is diminished by his passing,” he wrote. According to LiBassi, as the Tufts community celebrates Ennis’s life, donations can be made to the James G. Ennis Memorial Fund through the Giving to Tufts website.

Roza OgUrlu / The Tufts Daily

Family, friends and colleagues gathered yesterday to remember professor James Ennis at the Granoff Family Hillel Center.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Features

On-campus book clubs facilitate literary discussion outside classroom

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Emma Arnesty-Good Hairy Woman

JUST BE YOURSELF

jundercheng via pixabay.com

The Environmental Book Club, presented by Tufts Institute for the Envionrment, provides Tufts community members with the opportunity to discuss environmental literature in a non-academic setting.

by Sophie Dasinger Staff Writer

The average Tufts student is hardly short on material to read. With hundreds of pages of reading assigned to some students each week, it can be difficult for Jumbos to imagine how they would find the time to read a book simply for fun. Yet, despite schedules often packed with academic reading, many Tufts community members participate in the non-academic literary outlets available to them on campus. Though some on-campus book clubs, like the recently founded Feminist reading group, have fizzled out quickly, not all groups have met a similar fate. Tufts Institute for the Environment’s (TIE) Environmental Book Club, which was started in 2014 and caters to students interested in learning about environmental issues through literature, is proof that non-academic reading groups can, in fact, thrive at Tufts. According to its website, the TIE Book Club meets once every month and reads four books per year. “The book club fosters ongoing campus-wide conversations about themes of the environment and environmental sustainability,” according to the group’s website. The club’s website also emphasizes that it is open to all members of the Tufts community. TIE Program Administrator Nolan Nicaise noted that the membership is representative of the Tufts community as a whole, with students coming from the departments of English, Biology, Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, as well as from the Friedman School of Nutrition. Clare Parker, a doctoral candidate in the Biology department, agreed, noting that undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty alike actively participate in the club. She also believes that there is value in having a membership with varied academic backgrounds. “I think it’s become a really good way to meet people from outside your department who are interested in the things that you are,”

Parker said. “It’s been really interesting for me to talk to a lot of literature and English people, and people who are more policy-minded and historically-minded than I am.” Some past reading selections for the club have included a New York Times bestseller “The World Without Us” (2007) by Alan Weisman, as well as more recent books like “The Sixth Extinction” (2014) by Elizabeth Kolbert. According to Parker, the club previously had made book selections based on suggestions from members on a meeting-to-meeting basis. According to Nicaise, however, the group is trying to cover a more varied range of genres in the upcoming year, including fiction, non-fiction, classics and more current reading selections. “I wanted to get more diversity in there, so I…selected about half of the books that we’re going to read [this academic year, but] the other half I left open,” Nicaise said. “I have a bank of about 10 different books if people can’t think of any or there aren’t any suggestions…Students get a lot of [non-fiction] in their classes, so I always think it’s good to have some novels put in there, as well.” In the past, the group has not done much promotion, according to Parker, who first became involved with the club through fellow graduate student Lai Ying Yu, founder of the TIE Book Club. According to Nicaise, participants usually join the group through its e-list or word of mouth. “We haven’t done a lot of advertising, but we have a mailing list of people who are interested,” he said. “A lot of times at activities fairs, I’ll list [the book club] as one of our programs, and people will sign up on our mailing list. Otherwise, people just [hear about us] by word of mouth. It is a small group of people, when we meet we usually have about eight people … I think anywhere between five and 20 is good.” Although the group is relatively small, Parker said that it looks forward to hosting some larger events this upcoming year.

“I think we’re going to do a couple film screenings, and we’ll definitely put up fliers for those,” she said. Currently reading the Pulitzer Prizewinning book “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” (1974) by Annie Dillard, the group will be having its next meeting on Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. at the TIE Conference Room in the basement of Miller Hall. Various other extracurricular reading opportunities can be found throughout the university. One such event will be held by the Center for Race and Democracy (CSRD) on Oct. 1 as part of the 2015 National Dialogue on Race Day (NDRD). Attendees will be discussing #1 New York Times bestseller “Between the World and Me” (2015) by Ta-Nehisi Coates. According to the publisher’s website, the book is written in the form of a letter to Coates’ son. As its first book club event, CSRD Staff Assistant Laura Vargas said the book is ideal to start the conversation on race for NDRD. “We wanted the book to be the centerpiece of the dialogue,” she said. “It’s very popular right now, and it’s perfect to lead the discussion on race.” According to Vargas, about 40 copies of the book were distributed to attendees of the CSRD open house earlier this month. Although the exact details of the event are not yet solidified, they expect around 40 to 60 people to attend the event, Vargas said. The discussion will be held at the CSRD offices at 23 Bellevue Street. The event will include a video of the author as an introduction and a discussion led by history professor Kendra Field, who is also interim director of the CSRD, to encourage participation from the attendees, according to Vargas. “I think Dr. Kendra wanted to set it up with some passages that she wants to discuss,” Vargas said. “The idea is that the people who read the book participate, more than her just giving a talk. [We hope] these people participate [and talk about] the book and their experience reading it.”

h dear. That sums up how I feel going into this first column. “Utter dread” is another phrase I’ve been thinking about to describe the feeling. On Sunday, realizing I was contractually bound to writing something on a weekly basis, I went into full panic-mode. I thought about all of the Discrete Mathematics homework I still had to do, and then I thought about what people would think of me once they read my column. BARF. I think about that a lot — what other people think about me. I know we’re not supposed to. That’s a collective “we” in reference to “our” generation, which receives a bombardment of cliché advice via the interweb. Just think of all those pictures of sunsets with quotes like “Dance like no one is watching” splayed across in cursive letters. I can see it now — it’s a tall, thin girl with no cares in the world. She’s prancing through a field of marigolds at the golden hour with “JUST BE YOURSELF” tastefully nestled under her cut-off jean shorts. The lighting is just right so her body is silhouetted against the sun, and she becomes kind of racially ambiguous (though still light-skinned, of course), like in an Herbal Essences commercial telling viewers, “Just be yourself.” That quote is immeasurably unhelpful. It’s not telling you to be yourself. It’s saying “Be yourself if a, b and c.” So when I say that I spend a lot of time thinking about people’s opinions, it feels like a confession. Supposedly, we have all mastered the art of not caring, even though we obviously haven’t. (I bet you anything you’ve stalked yourself on Facebook more than you have stalked any other person this week.) My point is, this whole “writing a column” thing is challenging for me because of the whole “someone might read it” aspect (even though no one reads the Daily, right? Ha! RIGHT?!). Perhaps there’s so much preface to this because what I’d like to talk about is tied up with the way people perceive me. I’d like to tell you some stories about being a hairy (sometimes insecure, but mostly appalled) woman, hoping that you find them relatable, or at least mildly entertaining. I’ll probably tell you some stories about my host-mom in Argentina and her crazy diet and her theories on body hair. Maybe you’ll even get to read the story of when I waxed my legs under her advisement. Body hair, it turns out, is a much more complex issue than just dead skin cells. Our society has created all sorts of rules about it, having to do with race, gender, class and countless other factors, along with the trend of the era. But because I’m me (a white, jewish, cis female), and in the present, I’ll mostly be talking about my own recent experience on the topic. Disclaimer: when I get sick of talking about my body, or have run out of historical facts about the modern razor, I’ll probably talk about sex and other things I don’t understand (and perhaps descend into senior-year stress ranting). Now, this is the obligatory part of the first column where I tell you this might get personal and ask you to be nice and remember I’m also a person with feelings, who’s currently typing this while she sits on the toilet. HAHA, you’re still reading! That was a treat for making it to the end.

Emma Arnesty-Good is a senior majoring in American Studies. She can be reached at Emma.Arnesty_Good@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Tufts Programs Abroad 2016-17 Upcoming Informational Pizza Parties

Tufts in Japan:

Wednesday, September 23rd at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room

Tufts in Hong Kong:

Wednesday, September 30th at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room

Tufts in Tübingen:

Wednesday, October 7th at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room Other Upcoming Tufts Programs Abroad Events: Tufts in Chile: Tues., 10/13 @ 6pm in Dowling Milmore Room Tufts in London: Tues., 10/20 @ 6pm in Dowling Milmore Room Tufts in Oxford: Thurs., 10/22 @ 6pm in Dowling Milmore Room Tufts in Madrid/Alcalá: Wed., 10/28 @ 6pm in Dowling Milmore Room Tufts in Paris: Wed., 11/4 @ 6pm in Dowling Milmore Room Tufts in China: Mon., 11/9 @ 6pm in Olin Laminan Lounge Tufts in Ghana: TBD

Applications due Feb. 1 (Oxford: Dec. 1)

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MINI-COURSES FALL 2015 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Online Registration: https://secure.touchnet.net/C21525_ustores/web/index.jsp

Register by September 24th. Classes Begin Week of September 28th YOGALATES Monday 6-7pm Instructor: Sharon Graves Movement, alignment, breathing and awareness with yoga poses using rings and stability balls. All levels. $60 Jackson Gym

STRONGWOMAN Tues & Thurs 5:15-6:15pm Instructor: Marten Vandervelde Circuit exercises with hand weights, balance drills, abdominal work for women to increase bone density & muscular strength. $110 Chase Gym

CARDIO & CORE Wednesday 6-7pm Instructor: Sharon Graves Cardio training with steps, lunges, exerises with hand weights, bands, rings, core & stability balls All levels. $60 Jackson Gym

STAFF/FACULTY YOGA Wednesday 12-1pm Instructor: Pam Gaither Poses that strengthens relaxes & heals the body. A class for any yoga student. Staff & faculty only. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center

SPINNING Monday 6:30-7:30pm Instructor: Sara Folta Spinning on stationery bikes with popular music & energy to develop cardio system. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center SPINNING "EXPRESS" Wednesday 8:00-8:30am Instructor: Amy Piantedosi Spinning on stationery bikes with popular music & energy to develop cardio system. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center SPINNING (Students Only) Wednesday 5-6pm Instructor: Jennifer Gewant Spinning on stationery bikes with popular music & energy to develop cardio system. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center ZUMBA Monday 5:30-6:30pm Instructor: Daniella DiDiego Exercise through dance movements with vibrant and energetic music. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center Krav Maga -Self Defense Thursday 5-6pm Instructor: Yankel Polack A self defense system developed in Israel based on street fighting, boxing and wrestling skills. All levels. $60 Jackson Gym

POWER YOGA Instructor:

Monday 12-1pm Elliott McEldowney

Class combines heat, breath and movement for an energizing & intense experience. All levels. $60 Jackson Gym POWER YOGA Tuesday 7:30-8:30am Instructor: Elliott McEldowney

Class combines heat, breath and movement for an energizing & intense experience. All levels. $60 Jackson Gym

FLOW YOGA Tuesday 5:30-6:30pm Instructor: Pam Gaither Various poses that strengthens, relaxes & heals the body. A class for any yoga student. All levels. $60 Tisch Sports Center POWER YOGA Instructor:

Wednesday 12-1pm Elliott McEldowney

Class combines heat, breath and movement for an energizing & intense experience. All levels. $60 Jackson Gym

REGISTRATION INFORMATION Register by September 24th. Online Registration: https://secure.touchnet.net/C21525_ustores/web/index.jsp

http://go.tufts.edu/studyabroad

Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies presents

Commemorative Event for C. A. Bayly September 23, 5:30-7:30 pm Cabot Hall 7th Floor Speakers: Professor Sugata Bose Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University

Professor Thomas Robert Travers Associate Professor, Cornell University

Chaired by Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor of History, Tufts

ARTS&LIVING

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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

TV REVIEW

The Doctor returns

Soven Bery According to Soven

Mac Miller is back — Ninth season of ‘Doctor Who’ off to strong start and that’s a good thing

with ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’

by Anjali Nair Arts Editor

In classic “Doctor Who” (2005-present) fashion, the ninth season premiere of the BBC’s long-running sci-fi series has left viewers on the edge of their seats. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, the episode, entitled “The Magician’s Apprentice,” aired on Sept. 19. In contrast to previous season premieres, this one featured minimal introductory fluff, opting instead to jump straight into a very involved plot. Since the writers spent most of season eight establishing Peter Capaldi as the new, highly volatile Twelfth Doctor (with arguable success), it was a welcome change to see the writing tighten up in this first installment of the ninth season. Save for a cringe-worthy sequence in which the aged Doctor shreds on an electric guitar (which emitted sound despite not being plugged into anything) during a medieval “ax duel,” the episode stormed through its 45-minute run time with intriguing plot devices and snappy dialogue. The episode’s setting shifted constantly, as if restless to reach its final destination. The premiere begins in a war-torn desert, where a young child (Joey Price) is trapped in a field of slimy, eyeballed hands that are reaching out from underground. Of course, the Doctor shows up to save the day, encouraging the boy to focus on his chances of survival rather than the possibility of death. All this is very typical of a Doctor Who episode; just when any fan would likely start to presume that the remainder of the episode will focus on these zombie hands and the war that has torn this desert apart, the writers throw viewers a curveball. The boy reveals his name to the Doctor: Davros.

Gage Skidmore via Flickr Creative Commons

Peter Capaldi reprises his role as the Doctor in the BBC's "Doctor Who." The look of horror on the Doctor’s face upon learning this information will surely be reflected on those of longtime “Doctor Who” fans who understand precisely what this revelation means: Davros is the creator of the Daleks, the most iconic “Doctor Who” monsters and ruthless killing machines. Thus, within the first few minutes of the episode, viewers are plunged into the moral quandary that the Doctor faces. Knowing what he knew about Davros (the older version of the character is played by Julian Bleach) and the destruction caused by the Daleks,

should he let the child die? Or should he be compassionate and save the young boy’s life? These are lofty questions to tackle, and they reaffirm the complexity of the show. Since the series has been running since the 1960s, it is no easy task to keep the energy and mystery going. Moffat in particular has done an incredible job on this front, creating fascinating storylines that allude to classic “Who” while adding further insight into the Doctor’s see DOCTOR, page 6

FILM FESTIVAL COVERAGE

Boston Film Festival shorts provide forgettable entertainment by Lara LoBrutto

Contributing Writer

This past Sunday, the Revere Hotel screened a series of short films ranging in length from 3 minutes to half an hour as part of the Boston Film Festival. The crowd consisted of middle-aged to elderly Bostonians and a smattering of college students. Since short films are not generally shown in mainstream theaters, opportunities to see them are rare. They are, however, worth seeing, as they just might give birth to the feature filmmakers of our future. This year, the festival’s short film selections ranged from cryptic to corny, and generally provided very little in the way of interesting qualities. Like much modern art, they were meant to be appreciated but not necessarily enjoyed. Laughs from the audience were mostly in response to familiar tropes, not especially clever on-screen choices. The absence of well-known actors, howev-

er, was refreshing, and it allowed for more focus on the storylines. Among the most memorable of the films was director Voki Kalfayan’s wordless comedy “A Man Wakes Up” (2015). It centers around a man who vaguely resembles television’s Adrian Monk, mostly because he appears to suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. His house looks vacant and abandoned, and he has a closet filled with duplicates of a single clothing ensemble: a pale blue shirt and khakis. He has a strict routine, and he goes through it without much mirth. One night, he walks into his apartment — where the entire film is set — and finds that things are not quite the same. His cat’s tail twitches while he watches TV in the dark, and his pillow needs a bit of adjusting before he can sleep. Most surprising of all, he wakes up to a hairy, tattooed man curled up beside him. This stranger forces the film’s frustrated protagonist to alter his morning routine.

The stranger joins him during his morning squats, uses his toothbrush and even shows up in the shower, all with great enthusiasm. There doesn’t seem to be a way out of this comic confusion. Soon enough, the two men are having an uproariously good time together, silent-film style. The man’s mood shifts from unamused to joyous. The two do conga lines in the bedroom, brush each other’s teeth and slide the milk and cereal across the breakfast table. Then, one morning, the man wakes up, and the stranger, now his housemate, is absent from his pillow. He finds him in the living room, which the stranger appears to have decorated quite flamboyantly. The man is furious at the change and begins smashing flowers on the floor. He throws the stranger, and his new life, out the door. The 14-minute movie ends with reconciliation in the form of a ukulele duet on the roof of the building. It seems to be see BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL, page 6

h Mac Miller, how we missed thee. The Pittsburgh rapper came back in full force this week with the release of his third studio album “GO:OD AM.” The piece is a departure from the more melancholy, depressing songs that populated “Faces” (2014) and “Watching Movies with the Sound Off” (2013). Hip-hop fans may remember the June 2013 release date as the one shared by Kanye West’s “Yeezus” and J.Cole’s “Born Sinner,” which relegated Miller to the third spot on the Billboard 200. Nonetheless, it was what happened after June 18 that shocked fans. Since then, Cole and West have remained in the spotlight. Miller, on the other hand, effectively fell off the map. The music he released in between “WMWTSO” and “GO:OD AM” was basically a cry for help, a dark portrayal of the effects of Miller’s drug addictions. His story was one that we know all too well: a young, promising talent throws everything away as he chases a lifestyle that ultimately consumes him. Thankfully, he called up Rick Rubin, got clean, signed a record deal and went back to making great music. “GO:OD AM” isn’t the backpack rap, jovial tunes of “K.I.D.S” (2010), “Best Day Ever” (2013) and “Blue Slide Park” (2011); however, it is certainly not as somber as “Macadelic” (2012) or “Faces.” It is, quite simply, vintage Mac Miller grown up. As good as Miller must feel to be back in the game, it is far better for the game that Miller is back. For starters, Pittsburgh is back on the map. It was Wiz Khalifa and Miller who allowed the city to grow to rap prominence in the mid-2000s and, even though Miller has since left local Rostrum Records, the fact that their second favorite son is back in business is a huge win for the Pittsburgh hip-hop community. Miller’s return is also a win for the much-discussed white rapper resurgence. Action Bronson, G Eazy, Machine Gun Kelly, Yelawolf, Hoodie Allen, Logic and Macklemore have more than held down the fort in Miller’s absence, but Mac’s presence gives the faction more validity and firepower. While he embodied the worst of hip-hop — glorified drug use, eccentric behavior, failure to take responsibility and general carelessness — his return symbolizes all the best aspects of the genre: strength, bravery, toughness, a will to succeed, a rags-to-riches mentality, unparalleled work ethic and an undeniable talent. Mac Miller, for better or worse, is hip-hop. The ups and downs of Miller’s career could once again send him to a drug-infused low a la Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Hamilton battled drug and alcohol addictions for many years before finally becoming clean, leading to great praise from the media and huge successes on the baseball field. However, Hamilton soon relapsed, and his career and public image both suffered. Every career is different, but Hamilton’s sheds light on the importance of taking the recent resurrection of Mac Miller with a grain of salt. He looks good, his music sounds good and he seems all good; nonetheless, everything can go wrong in a matter of seconds. You certainly wouldn’t hear that from his new album, however. “GO:OD AM” sounds as polished and mature as the rapper has ever been; so, for now, Mac Miller is back and the hip-hop world should rejoice. Soven Bery is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at soven.bery@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, September 23, 2015

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ARTS&LIVING

TV REVIEW

‘Limitless’ struggles with weak script, cliché plot by Merilla Michael Assistant Arts Editor

Though the 2011 film, “Limitless,” starring Bradley Cooper, received fairly positive reviews (70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.4/10 on IMDb), the new spinoff television series isn’t quite up to par with its source material. “Limitless,” the TV show, is set four years after the conclusion of the film and introduces us to Brian Finch ( Jake McDorman), a 28-year-old unsuccessfully pursuing his dream of becoming a rock star. In the first episode, Brian’s father collapses, landing him in the hospital with an ailment that the doctors can’t diagnose. Having taken a temporary job in the city, Brian runs into his old friend, Eli (Arjun Gupta), who is now an investment banker. Eli takes pity on Brian and offers him a neuroenehancing drug, known colloquially as “NZT” — the same one used by Cooper’s character in the film. The drug offers its users the ability to access 100 percent of their brain and use it to its full capacity, which gives Brian the motivation to figure out what disease is afflicting his father. What Brian doesn’t realize is the danger attached to taking it. Users are being murdered, and the FBI quickly gets involved. Soon, Brian is in over his head and appears addicted to NZT. The show is very similar to the film not only in plot but also in tempo. The series premiere opens with a fastpaced pursuit in which the FBI chases Brian through the city. The scene ends just seconds before it looks like Brian is going to be mowed over by a subway train and immediately cuts to a flashback. Tricks like this allow the season premiere to give necessary background information without compro-

mising the pace of the plot. In just a few short sequences, viewers get glimpses of Brian’s home life and his struggle to become a musician, so the rest of the show can focus on the present. The electronic background music adds to the tension and contributes to the series’ fast, exhilarating tempo. The strengths of “Limitless” lie primarily in its stylistic choices. When the NZT kicks in, Brian is often split into multiple versions of himself, all of which converse with each other, symbolizing his ability to think much more quickly and thoroughly than normal. When he first takes the drug, the camera cuts to a representation of the neurons inside his brain, bright-colored electrical impulses firing rapidly. At another point, Brian’s entire body, except for his brain, disappears from view temporarily. As he goes through his day, high on NZT, Brian is able to make impossible calculations, the graphics of which are shown on screen in a quite aesthetically pleasing way. The series premiere still has some weaknesses, however, that arise mostly from the show’s plot and cast. Those who have seen the film will notice how similar the start of the series is to the movie, and this lack of creativity makes the premiere feel predictable. In the movie, struggling writer Eddie (Cooper) is having financial and relationship troubles and runs into an old friend by chance, who offers him NZT — just like Brian does in the show. Both characters suffer through intense withdrawal symptoms after just a few hours and are clearly on the path to addiction. Both the film and the series share the use of voiceovers, which the former does more successfully than the latter. Though voiceovers are used naturally in the film, they are often ill-timed and a bit off-putting in the show.

Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

Jennifer Carpenter plays FBI agent Rebecca in the movie-inspired TV series "Limitless." The premiere focuses on two of Brian’s relationships: that with his father and that with the FBI agent, Rebecca ( Jennifer Carpenter), with whom he begins to work at the end of the episode. The scenes with his father are quite touching, as the two characters work well together. However, it is clear that Rebecca and Brian will become romantically interested in each other — a painfully unoriginal development. Furthermore, there is something about Carpenter’s acting that just isn’t believable, especially in her scenes

with Brian. The two have yet to find their chemistry. The season premiere of “Limitless” isn’t particularly impressive, but hopefully, after a few episodes, the cast and writers will find their groove. The biggest improvement that could be made is a more innovative divergence from the original movie, supported by a sturdier plot. Cooper’s appearance late in the premiere provides hope that future episodes, at least, will be buoyed by stronger acting. The first episode of “Limitless” aired last night at 10 p.m. on CBS.

Exciting season premiere leaves fans hopeful for future episodes DOCTOR

continued from page 5 character. “The Magician’s Apprentice” is a great example of Moffat’s ability to combine the old and the new, incorporating the familiar Dalek story as well as fresh Moffat innovations. Furthermore, the questions it poses extend far beyond the “Doctor Who” universe and strike a very human chord. Of course, we know that in at least one timeline, the Doctor chooses to save Davros. After the opening scene, the episode focuses on the consequences of that action in the future, when Davros is dying and commands one of his minions, the

Colony of Sarff (Jami Reid-Quarrell), to find the Doctor. But the Doctor, it seems, has disappeared. The scene then zones in on Clara ( Jenna Louise-Coleman), the Doctor’s companion, on Earth. She notices that an airplane is frozen in the sky and figures something is wrong, but she, too, is unable to locate the Doctor. It turns out that this spectacle was just a ploy to get her attention by none other than Missy (Michelle Gomez), the reincarnation of the Doctor’s fellow Time Lord and archrival, the Master. When viewers last saw Missy, she was killed by Cybermen, but that apparently didn’t last long. This point is casually

glossed over with nothing more than a snarky quip. It’s very characteristic of Moffat to do things like this — contradict previous plot points, offer up deus-ex-machina explanations, leave questions unanswered. Though these tendencies annoy some viewers, in the context of this episode at least, Missy’s baffling return can be overlooked. Her cry for attention was borne out of her concern for the Doctor, whom she claims is actually her closest friend. Naturally, Clara is skeptical but eventually accepts this after Missy shows her the Doctor’s confession dial — his last will — which is typically sent to a Time Lord’s

closest friend on the eve of his death. There is a lot of clever dialogue in this scene, especially from Missy, who sasses Clara with insults such as “nano brain.” Missy and Clara work together to find the Doctor, only to realize that this was part of Davros’ plan all along; they lead the Colony of Sarff right to him. “The Magician’s Apprentice” leaves off with a moment of high suspense, with the Doctor and his friends abducted to Skaro (the planet of the Daleks), the TARDIS confiscated and a dying Davros demanding that the Doctor admit that compassion is wrong. With such an eventful first episode, this might just shape up to be one of the most exciting “Doctor Who” seasons yet.

Festival screens few standouts, several duds BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL

continued from page 5 a commentary on the suddenness and invasiveness of change and the ways in which it forces even the most stubborn amongst us to adjust. Luke Patton’s four-and-a-half-minute “The Dynamic Double Standard” (2015) is unoriginal and failed to illuminate. It features a woman who runs into the superhero of her dreams and is invited to join him in his crime fighting. However, he makes her put on a reveal-

ing outfit whose red, over-the-knee stiletto boots make movement difficult, rendering her an ineffective superhero. She uses her new super-strength to bind him with a metal rod, only to release him on the condition that they switch outfits. He then, of course, proceeds to face-plant in his boots. A jab at the gender gap is always appreciated, but this one fell about as flat as the stumbling superhero. “That movie moved me,” a man in the audience said mockingly. “I never knew that there was a double standard.”

This reviewer had to agree with his sarcasm. “90 Degrees North” (2015) features a German businessman trapped on a creepy traffic island. Imagine yourself as a pedestrian standing in the center of Powderhouse Circle, where the circle is entirely deserted and the “little green man” in the traffic light refuses to appear. What’s more, imagine that whoever tries to cross the street gets run over by a truck that comes out of nowhere, and the crushed body and blood get slurped up into a grate. That would give you this film. One of the businessman’s companions,

who falls into the trap of a flashing green light and then gets run over, says, “This is a civilized country.” His tragic naivete helps to illustrate that even the most relied-upon systems can break down and result in complete anarchy — that the unexpected can interrupt and challenge the ordered systems on which we think we can rely. The festival was as entertaining as watching Super Bowl commercials. The mix of genres and accessible length made for an engaging event, but, ultimately, few films were memorable or worthy of recommendation.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Comics

FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis Crossword

SUDOKU

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

FINEK AGLONO

By Gerry Wildenberg

DOWN 1 __ reader: grade school text 2 Related maternally 3 Birdlike 4 Central vein of a leaf 5 Weatheraffecting phenomenon 6 Brit. military decoration 7 Big name in auto parts 8 Apprehension 9 Place to get a Cab 10 Wander (about) 11 One sharing a ride 12 Rub off 13 Dying fire bit 19 Honkers on the ground 21 Punctuation in email addresses 24 Costa del __ 28 “The Twilight Zone” creator Serling 29 Buddy 30 Brouhaha 31 Kitchen gadget with a magnet

9/23/15

POLTPA

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved Tuesday’s Solution

Answer here: Yesterday’s

33 Pester 34 Rock-boring drill 35 Historical period 36 Dream letters 38 Binoculars brand 39 Otto minus cinque 43 Ameliorated 44 Play about robots 48 Kiss 49 Sounds of seasonal joy

Check out the new, free JUST JUMBLE app

ACROSS 1 Radiated joy 7 “Hi and Lois” pooch 11 Fair grade 14 Smithy fixtures 15 Literary pen name 16 Half of a steep price? 17 Refused 18 Aggressive property seizure 20 Video game pioneer 21 Unit to plow 22 Church section near the altar 23 Red Square shrine 25 Suffix with church 26 Disdainful chorus 27 Golden Fleece ship 29 Campaign funding org. 32 Pet hair pickerupper 37 Cope with change 40 Long-jawed fish 41 Farm machinery giant 42 Green Hornet’s great-uncle, with “The” 45 Hit hard 46 First-year law student 47 Word on some doors 50 Ship leader: Abbr. 52 Stretch between new moons 58 Away from port 59 Lots 60 “Gone With the Wind” family name 61 Sharp-sighted 63 ’80s-’90s Mets pitcher nicknamed “Dr. K” 64 Stan of Marvel Comics 65 Only 66 Ancient Chinese divination text 67 Violinists’ sect. 68 Binding vows 69 Summer wear

JUMBLE by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Level: Putting your name on the GIM e-list

Monday’s Solution

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: OCTET STRUM CHROME WEAKLY Answer: The dairy farmer was making huge profits. He loved his — CASH COW

9/23/15

50 Phones 51 Up to this moment 53 Unborn, after “in” 54 Points of connection 55 Apex antonym 56 Lott from Mississippi 57 Puts on a hook 62 Brit. recording giant 63 Enlistees, briefly

Late Night at the Daily Nick: “Uncle Joe wants YOU to buy a subscription to the Daily”

Non Sequitur by Wiley

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APARTMENTS. Two 3Brs, two 4Brs, one 5 Brd, one 6Br + one 7Brd. These will not last, all close to campus for 2016-2017 school year. Call (617)-448-6233. classifieds policy All Tufts students must submit classifieds in person, prepaid with check, money order or exact cash only. All classifieds submitted by mail must be accompanied by a check. Classifieds are $20 per week or $4 per day with Tufts ID or $30 per week or $8 per day without. The Tufts Daily is not liable for any damages due to typographical errors or misprintings except the cost of the insertion, which is fully refundable. We reserve the right to refuse to print any classifieds which contain obscenity, are of an overly sexual nature or are used expressly to denigrate a person or group. Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Wednesday, September 23, 2015

T HE T UFTS D AILY Joe Palandrani Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Lancy Downs Abigail Feldman Managing Editors Sarah Zheng Executive News Editor Meagan Adler News Editors Marianna Athanassiou Melissa Kain Reena Karasin Arin Kerstein Safiya Nanji Sophie Lehrenbaum Aaron Pomerance Annabelle Roberts Emma Steiner Denali Tietjen Roy Yang Isha Fahad Assistant News Editors Alexander Spring Miranda Willson Mengqi Sun Executive Features Editor Kendall Todd Features Editors Arin Kerstein Nicole Brooks Becca Leibowitz Nina Joung Assistant Features Editors Ian James Joshua Podolsky Executive Arts Editor Anjali Nair Arts Editors Yotam Bentov Merilla Michael Assistant Arts Editors John Gallagher Ascher Kulich Yuki Zaninovich Nick Golden Erin Sifre Susan Kaufman Olivia Montgomory Ruchira Parikh Katie Matejcak Clara Belk Ty Enos Jennifer Lien Fury Sheron Bailey Werner Natasha Khwaja

Executive Opinion Editor Opinion Editors

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Opinion Opinion

EDITORIAL

Erasure in ‘Stonewall’ further demonstrates Hollywood’s failures of representation This Friday, the controversial film “Stonewall,” directed by Roland Emmerich, will be released. It has already garnered appalling reviews. To give you a good idea of its reception thus far, Vanity Fair titled its review of the film, “Stonewall Is Terribly Offensive, and Offensively Terrible,” and other critics are similarly addressing Emmerich’s exclusive celebration of the mainstream, white gay rights movement by falsely pushing people of color, trans people and drag queens to the sidelines and centering the narrative on a white, cis male. Buzzfeed quipped that the powerful true story behind the riots was reduced to “a coming of age story” and committed a huge offense when it positions the fabricated main character, Danny, as the first brick-thrower in the riots when many believe it to be Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans leader. The controversy around the film draws attention to a plethora of social issues.

One of the first glaring disappointments is that the first big-budget film focusing on LGBT rights to be released following the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality fell so short. What could have been a groundbreaking cultural development capturing a critical movement in American history failed to come together as more than a one-dimensional, historically inaccurate attempt. Based on the reviews and the trailer, it seems as though the film is entirely detached from the current social climate of the United States, where racial, gender and sexual marginalization constitute major subjects of national conversation and activism. This is a glaring problem that exemplifies Hollywood’s continuing erasure of whole experiences and identities and its whitewashing of history in order to appeal to mainstream audiences for greater profits. Hollywood has a near monopoly on storytelling and cultural curation, and “Stonewall” constitutes an abuse of that

formidable power. The lens or perspective used to represent narratives can be incredibly damaging if it distorts the truth, especially if that lens observes and produces from a position of massive influence. By choosing to tell the story of “where pride began” through the journey of a fictional cis-white gay male, Emmerich is blurring real and important histories of LGBTQ rights movements. The one positive attribute of “Stonewall” is the way it serves as fodder for overwhelmingly negative — but widely read — criticism. There is no telling for sure how much success it will see at the box office, but its hefty and far-reaching promotional campaign has yielded responses of equal magnitude. If we as an audience continue to share and listen to conversations that put pressure on storytellers to check their perspectives, we will have artistic and cultural creations that more accurately convey our social worlds.

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Editorialist

Alison Kuah Executive Sports Editor Ross Dember Sports Editors Alex Schroeder Chris Warren Steven Hefter Wil Glavin Phillip Goldberg Ray-Paul Biron Assistant Sports Editors Josh Slavin

EDITORIAL CARTOON BY FURY

Evan Sayles Executive Photo Editor Caroline Ambros Picture Tufts Editor Sofie Hecht Section Liaison Merilla Michael Executive Jumbo Beat Editor Rachel Allen Executive Jumbo Beat Editor Aastha Chadha Jumbo Beat Editors Ethan Chan Jade Chan Kristie Le Nimarta Narang Joshua Podolsky

PRODUCTION Andrew M. Stephens Production Director David Westby Executive Layout Editors Nick Golden Julie Doten Layout Editors Molly Harrower Annabelle Roberts Emily Sharp Shirley Wang Creative Director Alison Epstein Executive Copy Editors Sophie Lehrenbaum Iqra Asghar Copy Editors Arthur Beckel Aastha Chadha Melissa Feito Noah Habeeb Jonathan Heutmaker Andrew Kager Melissa Kain Reena Karasin Serena Kassam Claire Mullany Julia Russell Rachel Salzberg Dan Strauss Caroline Watson Kayla Williamson Sarah Kalinowski Assistant Copy Editors Paolo Scalla Priyanka Padidam Nitesh Gupta Executive Online Editor Max Bernstein Executive Tech Manager

BUSINESS Kristie Le Executive Business Director Chris Chininis Yiran Xu Ari Gizzi Josh Morris

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Wednesday, September 23, 2015 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Opinion

OFF THE HILL

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

GOP debate focuses on insults, not policy by Tiana Lowe As predicted, the second Republican National Debate for the 2016 presidency was ultimately a clash of personalities between 11 divisive dispositions rather than a battle of ideologies and policy positions. The general ambiance of the race, which currently consists of 15 widely recognized Republican candidates, was overwhelmingly summarized by candidate Carly Fiorina’s early assertion: “I think Mr. Trump is a wonderful entertainer.” The Republican race has been dominated by the (in)famous business mogul Donald Trump’s lead. After the 2012 election, the Republican National Committee seemed slated to support a candidate who could cross the partisan line drawn by over a decade of stringent division. Perhaps a candidate with millennial experience and understanding of the modern conflict between dreams and the failing economy. Flash forward from the 2012 presidential election, and the Republican party is stuck with a reality TV star. The first 20 minutes of the debate was not impacted with talks of governmental control over the internet through later generations of the Patriot Act, imploding student debt or the impending explosion of the Social Security bubble. Instead, the debate consisted of personal threats. Acknowledging Trump’s previous insults, in which he questioned Carly Fiorina’s abilities, exclaiming, “Look at that face,” Fiorina responded: “I think that women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.” Her cool, calm response to the front runner’s sexist insult exemplified a winning combination of Republican grace and liberal feminism,

but it still could not curb the overwhelming power of “The Donald.” Ultimately, this debate was nothing more than an act of entertainment. CNN’s approach to the second debate, riding on the enthusiastic wave of first debate on Fox News, was to take random campaign statements from the contenders and ask for other candidates’ responses to their contemporaries. Clocking in at almost three hours and impacted with personalities vying to be as loud and demanding as Donald Trump’s, the second debate came across as a weak and substance-poor version of the first. Ben Carson, who has catapulted to second place, superseding previously second- and third-place candidates Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, maintained a calm, inoffensive demeanor, exactly what could be expected of a man who would make an exemplary surgeon general and a completely unqualified commander-in-chief. Carson had some nice sound bites, some of which will be lauded as points of American exceptionalism, and others which will be condemned by liberals as privileged and idealistic. Regardless, the words heard by the American public were the tabloid-esque insults pointed to and from Donald Trump. Laced with mudslinging toward Trump, last Wednesday’s GOP debate consisted of character assassinations and non-sequiturs. Despite being hosted in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, few debaters maintained the dignity and respect of the site’s namesake. Although all the candidates tried to invoke his legacy (his name was mentioned 20 times Wednesday night), they refused to acknowledge that Reagan would have failed as president if he did not maintain his vision for his

future instead of dwelling on the errors of the past, as well as focusing on issues that enraged liberal voters as well as conservative ones. In the aftermath of the 2012 election, centrists and moderate liberals seemed receptive to Republican and libertarian notions of smaller government, more room for individual autonomy, business opportunities and a decrease in police militants. In 2015, that has been replaced by fever for defunding Planned Parenthood — an organization which only uses federal funds to finance non-abortive services — and building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. Contemporary young people who believe in the market economy and American sovereignty wanted a substantive and comprehensive debate to map out a curious and variable future. And considering that Republicans already are underrepresented among millennials, further debates should greater appeal to this demographic. “People at home want to know how we’re going to fix this place,” said Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Yes, everyone wants to know. Young Americans want to know which GOP candidate will provide a solution to the higher education crisis in this country, which GOP candidate will acknowledge climate change and police brutality as threats to American sovereignty as strong as those of the Social Security bubble and Chinese ownership of American debt and which candidate on that stage will finally see that this is a nation made not of liberals and conservatives, but of all Americans who wish to achieve the American Dream. Unfortunately, this debate did not reveal much of importance, but the tabloids will have more than their fair share of headlines.

Kevin Lawson The Tufts Daily Show

The Good, the Bad and the Dummies

ere’s a shocker: not every voter is particularly pensive about the quality of their presidential pick. In the words of Stephen Colbert (may his “Report” R.I.P.), these voters make decisions on the next leader of the free world not with their brains, but with their guts. It’s that command center that daylights as a poop-production facility. They use their guts to determine the candidate with which they could most easily share a beer — or, in Tufts elections, 1.75 liters of vodka from a plastic container. Romney lost in 2012 because he wasn’t the man to share a pint with. Aside from beer being against his religion (Mormon) and not his drink of choice (appletini), most people were pretty sure a drop of any alcohol would short-circuit his wiring. Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink” (2005) testifies to the occasional power of “thinking without thinking.” That strategy is supposed to be saved for a pinch, though. Presidential announcements began 18 months before Super Tuesday. Not exactly making us chew it over with a Twix. Here’s a handy way of remembering when to utilize snap judgments: Just let out an audible fart at your Tinder date’s apartment and need to choose whether to make it a joke? Snap judge it up! Have approximately two years to decide who is most fit to run the country? Try thinking with thinking! Every major candidate seems to be missing something crucial. It’s sort of like The Wizard of Oz. Hillary goes to the wizard and says, “I need a heart…and some humor because of a pledge my aides made.” “OK, I’ll give them to your SuperPAC.” Jeb goes to the wizard and says, “I need a brain, Mr. Wizard.” Trump goes to the wizard and demands, “Gimme whatever you got. I’ll slap my name on it and sell it for a tremendous profit.” Every time Trump puts his foot in his mouth he realizes he loves the taste of his own feet, and everyone applauds him for it. 24% of Republicans now see him as their best shot at winning the Gold House (let’s not pretend he wouldn’t paint the White House gold). Here are some hypothetical Trump debate answers that could make the debate a cinch for him: A: “I’d like to buy a vowel, and that vowel is ‘I’, because I am positively the change America needs right now (Republicans/fans of Wheel of Fortune go wild). A: I can assure you that a vote for Trump would be VERY lit (frats go wild). A: *Coherent string of words intentionally related to politics* (analysts’ expectations are smashed, columns go wild). There is a problem with our political decision-making. The message at any campaign event is hatred for contemporary D.C., despite a 90 percent congressional reelection rate. On one hand, ideological differences are positive things. On the other hand, our political entrenchment isn’t due to ideological differences alone. Many a Congressman would forego many a humanitarian effort were it politically unwise. Five percent of Congressmen are without a college diploma, and that’s fine – better a Scarecrow than a Tinman in the Oval Office. Recognizing this now may be the difference between a White House and a White Hotel. Kevin Lawson is a junior majoring in political science. He can be reached at Kevin. Lawson@tufts.edu.

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 | ADVERTISEMENT | Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Tufts Career Fair Wednesday, September 30 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM Gantcher Center

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