Columns

Columns

Madeline Hall | The Tasteful and the Tasteless

February 14

The last time I checked the Office of Undergraduate Admissions' statistics regarding literacy at Tufts, it seemed to me that the vast majority of students attending Tufts could read and speak English at a satisfactory level. It occurred to me that literacy happens to be a prerequisite for most institutions of higher education, and that makes sense I guess. Of the people I have met, befriended and loved at Tufts, all have been well−read, well−spoken and knowledgeable in the English language, if only as a result of the hours of reading homework they have each night.

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Columns

Eugene Kim | Alleged But Not Convicted

February 13

Look, I've been saying it for years, and apparently Hollywood just isn't listening: We need more Chris Tucker in movies. Some of you might be asking, "Who is Chris Tucker?" or "Why do we need to inject him into feature films?" Let me tell you: He is that loud−mouthed, sassy and wildly incompetent sidekick. He's been featured alongside Bruce Willis in "The Fifth Element" (1997), Ice Cube in "Friday" (1995), Charlie Sheen in "Money Talks" (1997) and, most famously, Jackie Chan in the "Rush Hour" trilogy (1998, 2001, 2007).

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Columns

Ethan Sturm | Rules of the Game

February 13

The "instant replay" conversation is the hottest camera-based debate in sports that doesn't involve Rex Ryan and his wife's feet. To many, the idea that baseball and soccer still have minimal use of instant replay is as mind-boggling as America's love for Ke$ha's music, if that can be called music. While tennis creates full 3-D renderings of its court to see where the ball hit (does anyone know how this is done, by the way?), soccer still can't just look at a TV monitor.

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

February 13

A couple of months ago, my good older brother turned me on to a new Internet meme, a little something called Groupon. Maybe you've heard of it. While it originally sounded to me like a disease suffered by Civil War vets, my brother sold me on the idea of dropping ten bones on a $20 return. Since signing up I've discovered that it wasn't so much my best interests he was looking out for, but the $10 referral credit he was after. Ain't older siblings great? But this piece isn't a rant about youngest−child syndrome; I save those for the occasional Cuervo−induced blackout heart−to−hearts. No, this is a rant about online coupons.

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Columns

Eugene Kim | Alleged but Not Convicted

February 6

Westerns are awesome. I know I'm late to jump on the bandwagon, but "True Grit" was an excellent movie; it's up for 10 Academy Awards, after all.

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

February 6

So, if you are blind, lack the ability to sense heat, haven't had an offhand conversation with someone in line in the Rez and have somehow found a Braille copy of the Daily and are feeling your fingers across this column (honest question: Is that still called reading?), well, I have a little news flash for you. In words I imagine screamed out by Chris Farley in "Tommy Boy" (1995), there is a S--- TON OF SNOW! Yes, breaking news. IT'S EVERYWHERE! And, like the Persians in "300" (2006) or that lead guy in "Grandma's Boy" (2006), it just keeps coming!

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Columns

Madeline Hall | The Tasteful and the Tasteless

December 6

I am the first to admit that I enjoy a well-placed metaphor or simile.

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Columns

Samantha Jaffe | East Coast, West Coast

December 6

It's happened. It's finally here. The thing you've been dreading, and thus the column you've all been waiting for. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, winter has arrived. Brace yourselves.

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Columns

Mitchell Geller | Makes it Rain

December 5

Since 1996, Shawn Carter has been releasing solo albums as Jay−Z. The way he tells the story in his new book, "Decoded," he was in the recording booth one day when a friend commented that listening to him flow was akin to a religious experience: Jehova to Jay−Z/Hova.

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

December 5

What do you call it when hundreds of drunken students get together to partake in a grueling athletic endeavor while their similarly drunken friends cheer them on? Furthermore, let's say it's sort of a Tufts ritual, and it happens in early December as everyone is stressing about finals. Nope, it's not NQR. It's T-D-C!!!

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Columns

Alex Prewitt | Live from Mudville

November 29

The essence of the Joker lies in his inability to feel pain. Sympathy cannot emerge when pure hatred and masochism block the gates to the brain's emotional center.

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Columns

Mitchell Geller | Makes it Rain

November 28

There are nine members of the Wu−Tang Clan, in case you were wondering.

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

November 28

So I went to the new Harry Potter movie last week, and — I'm about to lose a bunch of friends saying this — it was terrible.

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Columns

Madeline Hall | The Tasteful and the Tasteless

November 22

In the throes of elementary school torture and ridicule, weaker creatures derogatorily named nerds often took refuge in reading books for hours upon hours. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise; with the exception of some self−isolating bullies — you know who you are, line pushers — the vast majority of Tufts students have vestiges of nerdness stored up within their hearts. Many at Tufts even admit to this quality openly and honestly; I have had multiple friends suggest that this dweeb tendency is what unites the greater population, knowingly or not.

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Columns

Mitchell Geller | Makes it Rain

November 21

A week ago today, the world woke up to a gift from a Pittsburgh−based former biomedical engineer. Gregg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, unleashed his fifth LP, "All Day," free of charge on his label's — Illegal Art — website, and further cemented his importance in the modern musical landscape.

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

November 21

Back in the prehistoric era before the Internet age, people in this country had a problem.

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Columns

Anna Christian | The College Survival Guide

November 17

In college, it's easy to forget about the hassles that come along with living at home. Thanksgiving means seeing family, an abundance of home−cooked meals and a chance to do free laundry (if you live close enough).

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Columns

Mitchell Geller | Makes it Rain

November 14

With a liberal arts education comes the awareness that everything is horrible. Any general knowledge of the theories of Sigmund Freud, for example, ruins everything. Literally everything. More specifically, it ruins Jeremih's "Birthday Sex" (2009).

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Columns

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

November 14

I took a wonderfully overpriced Amtrak train back home last week for a couple days of R & R. Between home-cooked, non-Market Basket meals and visits to unemployed friends living with their parents, I made a wonderful discovery. A very good friend of mine took me to a recently opened microbrewery right near my house. As I enjoyed free samples of Captain Lawrence Double IPA and Kölsch, I got to thinking about the variety of golden elixirs we know and love on campus. It made me very sad. While I'm no sociology major, I thought maybe a brief classification of the beers on campus would be an interesting project. And so, without further ado, in order of descending quality, the Tufts beer scene:

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Columns

Ashley Wood | Fashion Contraceptive

November 9

I have been writing this column for nearly two months now, and I can't help but feel as though there's an explanation in order. Although I began writing with the intention of creating gender-neutral material, it's ended up being largely biased toward women's fashion. The fact of the matter is that men's fashion has the opposite sexual effect as women's fashion, which inevitably makes it less entertaining to write about. What do I care if a guy wears a Dolce & Gabbana suit or a Tom Ford one? He'll look sexy in either. The decision between a jumpsuit and harem pants, however, is far more debatable.

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