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The Setonian
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BC launches $1.5 billion capital campaign

October 29

    Despite the looming threat of a national recession, Boston College (BC) recently announced its most ambitious capital campaign in history, aiming to raise $1.5 billion by 2015.     The "Light the World" campaign will help fund BC's strategic academic plan, which draws on feedback from BC community members, according to BC spokesperson Jack Dunn.     "Three years ago, the university completed a strategic plan that involved the input of 200 BC students, employees, staff and alumni, all of whom helped set goals to address the school's most important needs," Dunn told the Daily. "This new capital campaign is the public announcement to support these strategic goals."     According to Dunn, the plan will first target increasing financial aid and continuing to improve academic excellence, both of which will receive the most money.     "Five hundred and seventy-five million dollars will be allocated towards academic excellence that will allow BC to hire 100 new faculty and fund more than a dozen new centers of learning," Dunn said. "In addition, $300 million will be allocated to financial aid, which the strategic plan indicated was another major priority to the BC community."     Dunn added that over $225 million will be used to pay for new facilities, construction and renovation projects on campus. These projects include building four new academic buildings, a student center, a recreation complex and dormitories that will enable BC to house all of its undergraduate students in university housing.     In addition, $175 million will go toward ongoing annual programs, $100 million to athletics and $125 million to student leadership programs, which according to Dunn  are an important part of BC's identity.     "A portion of the money from this campaign will help BC with many of our ongoing programs that help provide safe exploration opportunities for student leaders," Dunn said. "One of the many things that this will include is retreats that provide an intersection between intellectual and religious dimensions of the university."     Along with raising financial capital, "Light the World" also seeks to almost double the number of alumni who give to BC from 23,000 to 40,000 alumni, Dunn said. Currently, Boston College has over 150,000 alumni.     While the recent financial crisis may reduce alumni giving rates, Dunn remains confident that BC's capital campaign will meet its goal on time.     "Obviously, the financial situation now is a daunting challenge for all institutions, but we think that there will be an economic recovery following this downturn," Dunn said. "We have confidence that our alumni over the course of seven years will allow us to meet our goal."     Like Dunn, Tufts' Director of Donor Relations Christine Sanni is confident that Tufts will reach its goal in "Beyond Boundaries," its capital campaign that is shooting to bring in $1.2 billion by 2011.     "So far, we haven't seen a change in giving this year; we're still on track for the $1.2 billion by the end of the campaign," Sanni said. "We have many donors who have not been impacted [by the financial crisis] and feel more obligated to give back to the university because they feel incredibly fortunate."     Tufts' "Beyond Boundaries" campaign has raised $919 million to date. According to Sanni, the funds are designated to fall into three main areas, including additions to the university endowment, expendable gifts for immediate use and capital funds for construction of new buildings and enhancement of facilities.     While Sanni noted that Tufts and BC have "slightly different" goals, she added that the two schools' campaigns both encourage a shared commitment to advancing public service.     "One similarity between BC and Tufts is that there is definitely a commitment to the community on the part of students and administrators," Sanni said. "Just as Tufts is recognized for emphasizing the importance of active citizenship, BC also promotes a commitment to public service."     Over the past two years, BC's "Light the World" campaign has raised over $520 million during its "quiet phase." Boston College's last financial campaign, which ended in 2003, raised over $440 million.

The Setonian
News

Grant to finance wind turbine

October 29

    The Medford City Council voted on Oct. 14 to approve a $100,000 grant from a private organization to finance the construction of the city's first wind turbine.     The Massachusetts Energy Consumers Alliance (Mass Energy) provided the grant to the Medford Clean Energy Committee, which will oversee the turbine project as part of a larger, city-wide initiative to "promote clean power options … and clean energy in Massachusetts," according to the committee's Web site. The turbine will be installed behind the John J. McGlynn School complex on Mystic Valley Parkway.     According to Patricia Barry, director of the city's Energy and Environment Office, the turbine will produce 170,000 kilowatt hours in electricity per year. It will provide 10 percent of the McGlynn School's energy and save the city $25,000 in annual energy costs.     The turbine will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 133 tons per year, which "is equivalent to burning about 13,700 gallons less gasoline," according to the committee's Web site.     Barry said lessons on the turbine will be integrated into the McGlynn School's curriculum, helping to educate elementary and middle school students about alternative energy sources. McGlynn administrators purchased a program called Smartview that will allow children to track the wind turbine's progress.     "[With Smartview,] the kids will be able to view right online what the wind speed [of the turbine] is and how much electricity we're producing from the wind," Barry told the Daily. "We've already started putting it into the curriculum."     Construction of the turbine has already begun. "We've already installed the electrical structure, we're working on the foundation now," Barry said. If all goes well, Barry anticipates that the project will be completed by Dec. 31.     In order to receive the grant from Mass Energy, Medford had to agree to certain conditions regarding the city's energy budget, including investing $100,000 in solar energy over five years. Barry said these stipulations were enacted to encourage the city to continue funding alternative energy sources.     "Mass Energy wanted to see that the funding they gave us would be continually invested into other renewable projects," Barry said, describing one stipulation.     The second stipulation is that the city must sell the turbine's Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to Mass Energy, as opposed to other organizations. RECs, which are sellable certificates that provide proof that electricity has been generated from a renewable energy resource, are expected to pay for $53,550 of the turbine's funding.     According to an article in the Medford Transcript, city council members were initially apprehensive about the grants conditions.     City Councilor Paul Camuso was among them. "We have to be careful," Camuso said in the article. "We basically sign our rights away with Mass Energy here."     But Barry is not worried. "There's really only two main provisions, and really, we should be doing this anyway," she said.     Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn shares Barry's feelings. "The city shares Mass Energy's goal to promote alternative sources of energy," McGlynn told the Transcript. "These conditions were similar to ideas already being explored by city officials."     "It's really a brilliant concept, the idea of continual investing in renewable energy," Barry said.

The Setonian
News

Jalal speaks on contemporary meaning of jihad

October 29

    Professor of History Ayesha Jalal spoke in the Coolidge Room yesterday on the historical evolution of the concept of jihad and its implications for modern Islam.     Jalal couched her largely historical lecture in a modern context, saying that the word jihad "has come to signify the tension between Muslims and the West."     She added, "There is a popular notion that while not all Muslims are terrorists somehow all terrorists are Muslim."     Jalal was the keynote speaker for the Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg's Faculty Forum, an annual talk that features prominent Tufts professors. Past speakers have included Professor of Philosophy Daniel Dennett.     Beginning her lecture by explaining that jihad literally means "to strive," Jalal distinguished between an interpretation of the term that focuses on a personal attempt to subdue the ego and the more widely used, contemporary meaning that emphasizes armed struggle against "the enemies of Islam."     Modern interpretations of jihad break with the fundamental teachings of Islam by focusing on a concept that is not an intrinsic facet of faith, or iman, but is a manifestation of personal belief, or aqida, Jalal said.     "Jihad in the modern Islamic world has become a weapon with which to threaten believers and nonbelievers alike," which is contradictory to the "high ethical values that derive from submission to Allah," Jalal said.     Much of Jalal's speech centered on developments in South Asia. She said that although the current conflict between the West and religious extremists plays out on a global stage, and its "spatial center lies in Pakistan."     Jalal highlighted the town of Balakot, situated in the northwest of Pakistan, as "the epicenter of jihad in South Asia." She called it the site of "the only real jihad ever to be fought on the subcontinent," describing the 1831 Battle of Balakot that pitted Sikhs against Muslims in an armed struggle still meaningful to contemporary militants.     While Balakot  has been used as a base for the terrorist organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa, when the earthquake of Oct. 8, 2005 struck, factional considerations were cast aside in the name of saving fellow Muslims from the devastation, Jalal said.     "Where men had failed, could an act of God change the form of jihad in Pakistan?" Jalal asked, painting the incident as analogous to divergent interpretations of the term jihad and one that suggested a "new way to struggle in the name of Allah."     Jalal said that the persistent difficulty of attaching an absolute definition to the word is representative of a larger split in theology and practice in the world of Islam.     "The contested and fluid meanings of jihad in Muslim history suggest that the issue is not a settled one," Jalal said, adding that this ambiguity "underscores the imperative of continuing debates in the present and also the future."     Jalal said that this internal struggle continues to diffuse the aims of contemporary militant groups and foster debates about the validity of movements such as the Taliban.     The interpretation of jihad as warfare against infidels draws on a "wholly arbitrary distinction" between the concept of dar-ul-Islam, or Islam as "the abode of peace," and a violent concept that has no sanction in the Koran, Jalal said.     Rejecting a "false dichotomy" between subjective context and immutable textual backing in intellectual history as "untenable," Jalal emphasized the nature of interpretations as varying between regions and eras.     "It's not merely a question of Muslims diverging from theory in their practice, but even the theory changed in different historical circumstances," Jalal said.     Jalal said that the concept of jihad as armed warfare became "far less salient" after the resolution of brutal conflicts that shook Islam in its formative years, as the perceived threat of enemies to the faith lessened.     Focusing on South Asia as a focal point for contemporary debates regarding the nature of Islam and jihad, Jalal said that pre-independence India helped define the boundaries of Indian identity.     "The revitalized concept of jihad as an ethical struggle" emerged in modern-day India in the 19th century, helping to foment anti-colonial sentiment and in cases draw together India's varied and disparate ethnic groups, Jalal said.     Jalal said that the current understanding of jihad's meaning issues from the struggle of Afghan mujahideen against Soviet aggressors.     "The decisive transformation in both the theory and practice in Southeast Asia was triggered by the Soviet invasion," she said.     Jalal ended by urging a form of Islam that promotes "respect for fellow human beings, regardless of their ideological, or even religious, beliefs."     Vali Nasr, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School, followed Jalal's talk. Nasr also serves as an adjunct senior fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations, an online resource on international affairs.     Nasr cautioned against rigid examinations of complex concepts like jihad as if they are "context-free, as if the historical circumstances have been uniform."     "We are where we are with jihad ... not because of Muslim certitude about jihad but exactly because of the incertitude that exists," he said.     Given the mutability of the concept, Nasr said that the Muslim world should be adapting the word to give it a more progressive meaning that could play into the changing nature of the faith as a whole.      "The solution for Muslims is not another interpretation in context but a reformation," Nasr said. "They ought to think about these issues very seriously."     Nasr said that "the modern concept of Jihad was defined against the West in many ways" as a source of both ideological and political opposition and this construction must be rethought.     Nasr also suggested that the ascension of Osama Bin Laden, whom he characterized as "the son of a Saudi billionaire with no real background in Islam," represents a democratization of the idea of Jihad making it so that "anyone can declare what are the laws and who is the target."     As a result, the structure of Islamic authority hangs in the balance, Nasr said.     "You might have a restoration of authority as to who interprets Islam, and you might have a complete breakdown," he said.

The Setonian
News

ALLIES hosts annual conference

October 28

    The Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) is leading its second annual "Intellectual Roundtable" this week, bringing dozens of military and academic experts to campus to discuss cooperation between civil and military enterprises.     The three-day-long event is set to kick off tonight with a keynote address from Antonia Chayes, the author of "Planning for Intervention: International Cooperation in Conflict Management."     The title of this year's roundtable is "Increasing National Participation in Security and Defense."     Students and experts will examine the role of social sciences in the U.S. military and take a look at the military's connections to politics. These ties are particularly relevant given the high number of military officials who have endorsed a presidential candidate this cycle.      Of particular interest will be Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Minerva initiative, which allocates millions of dollars to support academic researchers' work on projects that do things like examine the connections between religion and terrorism and archive documents on Chinese military doctrines.     "That's probably one of the most important topics we're going to be discussing," said ALLIES member Chas Morrison, a sophomore.      Minerva draws on the social sciences to improve war-fighting capacities, according to Morrison, a Tufts Community Union senator. While the initiative has tangible benefits, it has also received criticism regarding this type of intersection between academics and the military.     The ALLIES symposium's programming will involve panel discussions, including "Strange Bedfellows? The DoD and the Social Sciences" and "The Imminent Challenge: Transitioning Security in Fragile States," and a screening of the film "Hidden Wounds," a documentary about soldiers coping with post-traumatic stress disorder.     The symposium will close on Friday with a second keynote address, this one by Andrew Bacevich, author of "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism."     As of two weeks ago, ALLIES had received 20 confirmations of attendance from experts, including faculty from the U.S. Naval Academy at West Point, scholars from George Mason University and professors from the Fletcher School. But Morrison anticipates that there will be between 30 and 40 attendees.     The panel discussions, which will each feature three or four experts, will be open to all students. ALLIES students and visiting students will also attend a number of smaller conferences with distinguished guests.     Twenty to 30 Tufts students will take part in these conferences, where they will be joined by students from the Naval Academy and Air Force.     "That's one of the really unique assets to an intellectual roundtable," Morrison said. "We're going to be sitting down with people from all sides of the table."

The Setonian
News

Tufts, surrounding areas affected by Patrick's cuts

October 28

    Tufts' Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine may be grappling with $5.4 million less in state funding come fiscal year 2009, after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced on Oct. 15 that he will slash over $1 billion from the state's expenditures. The move will reduce the Cummings School's fiscal year 2009 operating budget by about eight percent.     Cummings School Dean Deborah Kochevar said that administrators at the school in Grafton, Mass., are not sure what steps they will take to address the funding cuts. "It would be inappropriate to comment on how the school is going to handle the cuts right now," she said.     The graduate school's loss comes out of a state earmark, according to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.     As part of its contract with the state, at least half of the Cummings School's student body must be comprised of Massachusetts residents, and the school receives a subsidy that helps it provide a 15-percent tuition discount to in-state students, according Kochevar. Because those stipulations remain part of the contract, the budget cuts will not affect them, she said.     Somerville and Medford, which will also face millions of dollars in budget cuts, have enacted measures to protect funding for select programs.     Somerville officials expressed cautious optimism about the city's ability to weather the setback.     Somerville Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond told the Daily that the local government is trying to focus on retaining "some of the main functions of the city," such as police and fire services, schools and public works.     Desmond said Somerville is working to keep such essential programs on "an existing-service level, so you're not cutting any people.      "The biggest cost in government is usually personnel," he said.     State Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-2nd Middlesex), who represents parts of Medford and Somerville, said that despite Patrick's pledge to keep local aid and education funding constant, many programs are suffering.     "We've been through rounds of budget cutting, and there's not a lot left that's easy to cut," Jehlen told the Daily. "We cut some things that are making people very upset."     As examples of cutbacks so far, Jehlen pointed to local municipal programs seeking to allay drug abuse and teen violence, funding for special-needs students and a 40-year-old Cambridge program that provides support to people with mental illnesses.     Sounding a hopeful note, Desmond referenced Somerville's ability to endure a series of "tremendous" budget cuts during former Gov. Mitt Romney's administration.     "We adapted to it, we made changes we had to make and we survived much better than other cities and towns have," Desmond said. "Since that time, especially since this administration has come in, we've been very exact as to what we're doing, what we're trying to do, what we need money for and why we're going to spend money where we spend it."     Lesley Delaney Hawkins, a spokesperson for the City of Somerville, said that Mayor Joseph Curtatone's administration has drawn on past experience to take preventative measures.     "We've worked very hard over the past five years to ensure that, in the event that we saw budget cuts similar to those from the Romney administration, we would be able to handle those cuts without severely cutting services," she told the Daily.     Patrick's cuts are "wide reaching, but … well thought-out," Delaney Hawkins said. "To the governor's credit, the cuts he made were surgical … He didn't just slash and burn."     The budget cuts will leave intact state money set aside for local aid — which towns and cities put toward basic services such as public safety — and will not affect a block of money intended for school funding, according to Nick Martin, a spokesperson for Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.     Martin said that the reductions have come recently, so it is difficult to anticipate which specific programs in Boston will suffer, but that some cuts are inevitable in the interest of keeping the state's budget balanced.     "We don't have any projections about whether or not or how much funding we're going to cut," Martin told the Daily. "There's no target to cut a certain amount of money from the budget. In terms of programs at this moment, we haven't seen an effect yet."     Martin noted that Menino has halted the hiring of any employees on the city's payroll in an attempt to counteract the imminent budget shortfall.     "Education and local services are some of the programs we want to touch last, which is why we've instituted some of the programs like a preemptive personnel hiring freeze," Martin said. "We're reviewing uncritical expenses so we don't have to make cuts in critical areas."     Adding to the magnitude of the current budget crisis and the consequences for Somerville, Delaney Hawkins said that many Massachusetts towns' budgets still feel the effects of Romney's fiscal conservatism.     Jehlen also stressed that the current state of Massachusetts' coffers is only partially due to recent financial convulsions, pointing to a history of irresponsible taxation.     "Over the past 18 years, we've cut taxes [by a] net $3 billion," Jehlen said. "Mostly during the '90s, when things were pretty good, we had surpluses, so instead of putting it into infrastructure and investing it, we gave people tax cuts. We don't have as much money as we used to."     In this vein, Jehlen denounced Question 1, a Massachusetts ballot question that proposes eliminating the state income tax. The estimated 40-percent budget cut that passage of this referendum would effect would dwarf the roughly three percent of the budget Patrick dispensed with, Jehlen said.     Desmond said that legislators are bracing themselves for more tough decisions, even though Somerville has already initiated a series of cuts.     "We'll have to go through the process again when the state makes more cuts on [the budget]," Desmond said. "We'll take a look at it and adjust accordingly."     Ben Gittleson contributed reporting to this article.

The Setonian
News

Yale professor cautions against valuing voter conversion over mobilization

October 28

    Exactly one week before Election Day, Yale Professor of Political Science Donald Green highlighted what he sees as a disconnect in presidential campaigns, which focus more on swaying voters than on the simpler task of increasing turnout among solid supporters.    In the year's second Frank C. Colcord Lecture, entitled "The Science and Pseudoscience of Winning Elections," Green argued that the success of mobilization techniques depends on adding a personal touch and communicating directly with people.     "Sustained, high-quality, heartfelt communication often leads to success," he said.     Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser said in introductory remarks that Green, the author of "Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout," is known as "one of the most creative and provocative social scientists in the country."     Green described his Alumnae Lounge lecture as the "kind of advice you'd get from … campaign consultants," and went on to describe the tactics of mobilization and persuasion.     Mobilization focuses on getting people who have already expressed support in a candidate to vote. Persuasion, Green said, involves "trying to win people over to your side."     Drawing on a number of studies, Green said that mobilization is more cost-effective than trying to sway people across party lines, especially when the candidates are familiar and recognizable. Still, in the "heat of the campaign," candidates are more likely to create ads that focus on their platforms rather than on voting in general, he said.     "With a relatively well-known candidate, it's hard to change people's minds. Nevertheless, persuasion still attracts the vast majority of presidential campaign resources," he said.     Of the variety of mobilization strategies available to campaigns, Green said that volunteer phone banks and door-to-door canvassing are most effective because they provide an engaging and informative conversation with voters.     He also described the unreliability of microtargeting, a technique in which analysts seek to determine distinct demographics' voting patterns by doing specific, directed research in each group. Microtargeting tends to involve impersonal forms of communication, including mass e-mails, online surveys and prerecorded telephone calls.     "I put no stock in this style of research," Green said. "It has a perfect record of never working."     Green concluded his lecture with his hopes for the future of voter research. Ideally, he said, he would like to create a federally funded 527 organization that would help political scientists test the effectiveness of different mobilization tactics in actual campaigns. The only limitation, he said, is that campaigns could be unwilling to risk losing in the name of research.     "After this election, we're going to hang out our shingle. If you're an aspiring candidate who is preparing to lose, we'll run a pro-bono campaign for you," he said.     After the lecture, an intrigued audience picked Green's brain in a question-and-answer session.     Freshman Emma Oppenheim said that Green's points were in line with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign's success in mobilizing supporters. "Obama has been doing pretty well [in] trying to get out the vote," she told the Daily, saying that his campaign has focused more on personal interaction than on media communications.     Jon Svenningsen, a freshman who heard about the lecture from the Tufts Democrats, found the lecture interesting in light of the presidential campaign. "I think it's really interesting, especially with the election right away, [that] mobilizing your supporters is really more important than trying to persuade them," he said.     The lecture marked the second in this lecture series, which is sponsored by the Department of Political Science. The first lecture, held last week, featured political analyst Norman Ornstein.

The Setonian
News

Police Briefs (10/29/2008)

October 28

Closet drinkers         Tufts University Police Dep-artment (TUPD) officers responded to a call at 11:11 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Lewis Hall at the request of an on-duty resident assistant. The RA told officers that she had attempted to make contact with people who were being noisy in a room, but they would not open the door.     When officers arrived, the room was empty, but occupants of a nearby room were being loud. When an individual exited that room, officers saw a large folding table and several plastic cups and beer cans inside. Most individuals had already left the room, but one resident was still inside and another was attempting to hide in the closet. Both were under 21.     Officers removed the remaining alcohol and requested that the table, which was the property of Interstate Rental Service, be brought to the TUPD station. Student can't walk, and sergeant can't say what ‘space porn party' could be     TUPD officers driving on Sawyer Avenue at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 24 saw a female walking unsteadily down the street, accompanied by a male. The officers asked the couple for identification and found that both people were 19-year-old Tufts students.     The female told officers that she had just come from a "space porn party — which, I have no idea what that is," TUPD Sgt. Robert McCarthy said. She also said that she had consumed a cup or two of "jungle juice."     The Tufts Emergency Medical Service and Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc., responded as well, but the student signed a form refusing aid and was sent home for the night. Jumbo gets an aerosol makeover            An individual called TUPD at 2:59 a.m. on Oct. 26 to report vandalism that was occurring on the Academic Quad. Three individuals were spray-painting the statue of Jumbo outside Barnum Hall, the caller said. The only description given was that they were all dressed in black, McCarthy said.     When police arrived, the individuals were no longer there. The paint job consisted of the Delta Upsilon fraternity's symbol and the statement, "DU rules."

The Setonian
News

Ally Gimbel | When Kiwis Fly

October 28

Yes you heard me correctly. A tramper. As in someone who ventures in and around the bush, always keepin' it dirty. It's cool. Everybody does it.

The Setonian
News

Oxfam: Expansion on caffeine

October 28

Once comprised of a mere snack cart situated outside Eaton Hall, student-run Oxfam Café has come a long way from its 1970's roots. Now located across from the Hillel Center on the ground floor of Miller Residence Hall, the café operates from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and is run by volunteers.

The Setonian
News

National council pushes for Tufts to bring ROTC facility to campus

October 28

A national non-profit group devoted to supporting higher education sent a letter this month urging Tufts' Board of Trustees to move the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program back on campus, saying that students deserve the right to pursue a military career in a convenient way.     But university officials say that decision remains in the hands of the military, which has determined that maintaining central hubs for Boston-area schools, located at MIT and Boston University, is more cost-effective than setting up detachments of the program at each area college.     Anne Neal, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), said in an Oct. 2 letter to Tufts' board members that they should institute an on-campus program at "a time when there is broad support for public service."     ACTA sent similar letters to the boards at Harvard University, Brown University, Columbia University, Yale University, Stanford University and the University of Chicago. The council identified Tufts and these other schools as the most prominent universities in the nation without on-campus ROTC programs.     "Students should have the right to explore these and other kinds of careers if they so desire, and it's not the university's place to rule certain kinds of careers out of bounds," Charles Mitchell, ACTA's program director, told the Daily.     Mitchell said Tufts hinders the nation's ability to prepare stellar military leaders by excluding ROTC from campus, contributing to a lack of graduates from elite universities who serve in the military.     ACTA contacted the board because "ultimately, it is the trustees' job to see that students have their appropriate rights on campus," Mitchell said.     In response to ACTA's letter, University President Lawrence Bacow told Tufts trustees in an e-mail on Oct. 10 that both he and the university consistently extend their support to Tufts' "successful" ROTC program, in which the school partners with the MIT detachment that serves a number of colleges in the area.     "I am on record as saying that service in the military represents the highest form of public service to which this university is deeply committed," Bacow wrote to the trustees, noting that he speaks at the annual ROTC commissioning ceremony. "We advertise participation in ROTC in our admissions materials and also highlight ROTC in our university-wide publications. Tufts and I will continue to encourage current and prospective students to participate in ROTC."     Board of Trustees Chair James Stern (E '72) forwarded Bacow's e-mail to ACTA, using the message as the board's official response.     "It's the military's decision that it's cost-effective, not the university's. They were the ones that said it's cost-effective for them to have just one training facility at MIT," Tufts spokesperson Suzanne Miller said. Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser agreed that choosing the locations for ROTC programs falls under the military's jurisdiction.     Tufts phased out ROTC in the late 1960s and early '70s in response to the Vietnam War, as did many schools across the country. Today, Tufts' ROTC students take training and leadership courses taught by military officers at the MIT center.     Tufts students do not receive credit for the classes, though, because the university does not cross-list courses with MIT. Boston University houses another program, at which students can receive credit, but they generally do not exercise that option because of BU's distance from Tufts.     Mitchell believes that supporting the off-campus options is not enough. Making ROTC less accessible will "depress demand," he said. "It's essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy."     But senior Nancy Henry, an Air Force ROTC cadet who oversees Air Force ROTC training for Tufts members, feels that having ROTC on campus would probably not make a difference in terms of participation, because students interested in the program are generally willing make the trek to MIT.     "It's not that hard to get to MIT, and there are a lot of benefits of having it there," she said.     Tufts' student body might not even have enough interested students to warrant an on-campus program, according to Henry. "In some ways, I think it would kind of diminish the resources we have available to us," she said.     Students travel to MIT via private cars or the T. Bacow said in his e-mail that the university provides transportation for Tufts students, but Henry disputed that claim. Nonetheless, she said, the administration does provide support, as does an alumni group, the Advocates for Tufts ROTC.     Tufts cadets participating in MIT's program must sponsor two events off of MIT's campus each year, according to Henry.     Yesterday, around 60 students, over half of them Air Force ROTC cadets from the area and the rest non-ROTC Tufts students, gathered on the Hill for a crisis-simulation program.     In small groups led by officers from the MIT detachment, they debated how the Air Force should respond to a hypothetical earthquake and imminent typhoon near Taipei, Taiwan, discussing strategy and the allocation of military assets. The event was the only one that Henry could recall that was held recently at Tufts.     Henry said ROTC cadets work with the Advocates for Tufts ROTC to plan events, organize scholarships and encourage ROTC participation.     While Tufts has only sent ACTA one e-mail in response, the council has accelerated public debate on ROTC at some other universities. At Yale, the student government voted to support bringing the military training program to campus, and the student government at Columbia has planned a referendum on the issue.     ACTA is a non-profit and non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C., with a nationwide network of over 5,000 college and university presidents, according to the group.     "All of our universities, particularly elite universities like Tufts, have a public purpose," Mitchell said. "Tufts does not exist just for Tufts, and I'm sure that if you were to ask the president, he would agree."

The Setonian
News

Greeks host block party

October 26

    Fraternities and sororities came together on Friday afternoon to host a bustling block party aimed at uniting Greek students with the rest of the student body and the Medford and Somerville communities.     Enjoying the beautiful weather, students and members from Tufts' surrounding neighborhoods gathered on Professors Row to enjoy an array of activities, including pumpkin carving, cookie decorating, tie-dyeing and live music.     Each of Tufts' fraternity and sororities contributed to the event, cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, setting up activities and making whipped cream pies.     The brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon  (SigEp) generated the idea for the block party a year and a half ago.     "We wanted to change the Greek image, not just among the Tufts community, but also within Medford and Somerville," said junior Alex Kahn, a SigEp brother who served as one of the event's coordinators. "Hopefully this will become an annual event and a Tufts tradition."     Senior Jake Maccoby, a SigEp brother and the president of the Inter-Greek Council, said the event also helped unify the Greek community internally.     "The tone of the Greek community in the past has been a feeling of being scattered — a set of houses and chapters — but what's really started to happen, particularly this year, is we're building a cohesive community and a stronger Greek family," said Maccoby, who is also an editorialist for the Daily.     The event brought together other Tufts groups as well. The Tufts Community Union Senate provided hot dogs and hamburgers, and the Pan-African Alliance and the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) also lent their efforts.     "We wanted to have people from the community see the better side of Tufts students rather than tensions between the school and the city," said sophomore Jose Mena, ALAS' public relations officer.     "To see all these people come together on a day like this, where all the groups at Tufts can assemble, shows how we really are all part of a larger community," said sophomore Chris Owens, the treasurer and special projects coordinator for the Pan-African Alliance.

The Setonian
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Michael Goetzman | Spotlight

October 26

There I was, in the library, sleeping with my head against an open logic book, tumbling through some sporadic dream episodes, waist deep in a placid, slow wave snooze when, all of a sudden, the turtle in my dream turns to me and, in an uncharacteristically stern voice, says "Attention please! Attention please! The library will be closing in fifteen minutes ..."     Looking down with crossed eyes, I noticed that the crevice of my logic book had filled with drool, creating a tiny stream of — knowledge? To my surprise, the turtle's voice continued: "Please bring all materials you wish to check out to the circulation desk now."     Trying to shake off that disorienting groggy sensation of sleep inertia, for a second or two I seriously considered the possibility that the turtle had transcended the dream/reality barrier to tell me to get the hell out of the library. Since this was my first time hearing the voice in the library, I was intrigued by the source.     Frequenting Tisch thereafter, I would listen to the voice, surmising the austere being it belonged to — wondering if it roamed the library like a ghost, and just how it managed that strict, no-funny-business tone while retaining a sort of friendliness.     My curiosity peaked one night, and I decided to ask the bored-to-tears guy at the circulation desk if he knew anything about the man behind the voice, the God by the Quad, the Wizard of Oz-some.     "Hey man, I've got a weird question for you..." I began. He gave me a condescending smirk as if to say, "Try me, jabronie." So I asked if he knew who the guy was; the question didn't faze him much, but, by the looks of him, I don't think anything could. He didn't know and didn't care, but directed me to the library's administration office with a languid point of the arm.     The genial woman at the office's front desk referred to the man behind the voice as "Mr. X" and generously made a few calls for me. She informed someone, who I believe was Mr. X's secretary, that I hoped to speak with the man. I left unsure if I would be able to; the woman at the front desk told me I would "need to be cleared" before speaking with him and that she would contact me in the near future.     I was informed via e-mail a few days later that I had passed muster and was "cleared" to contact Richard Fleischer, code name Mr. X.     When the day finally came to call him, I was a little nervous. The week or so leading to this moment had imbued him with a certain mystique that made me apprehensive as I entered his phone number.     I counted every ring. Thirteen painstaking rings — no machine. He picked up, and I spoke hurriedly at first, but eased as the questions formed themselves. I asked him how long the library had been using the recording. "Seven years at least, if not longer," he responded evenly. To the best of his knowledge, he has had no predecessors — he is the first and only voice of Tisch.     Remembering the time he first recorded the announcement, he said, "My goal was to alert everybody of the library's closing and be forceful in tone, to verbally appear stern." I assured him that he succeeded in doing that. Laughing, he added that he has recorded a number of lesser-played announcements that only a fortunate few have heard.     After imagining who or what the voice might have belonged to, you can imagine my surprise when the Wizard of Oz-some told me that he runs the library's media center during the day — working his magic behind the aisles of films and divvying out myriad movies to the masses. It makes so much sense, but who knew?!     Now, every time I hear that stern old recording, I wake up and wipe the drool from my cheek — recalling his warm laugh recorded in my memory.

The Setonian
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Voting apple often falls far from the tree

October 26

    Intense division along party lines is not just a characteristic of swing states in the upcoming election — stark political differences sometimes occur within the same family.     "When I was in high school I didn't agree with my parents on certain issues," sophomore Megan Dalton said. "During 2004, we had to do an assignment where we had to watch the debates and decide who you think had won. That's when I noticed my beliefs didn't correlate with my parents', especially my father."     Dalton said that her political beliefs began to solidify during her sophomore year in high school. When she registered to vote, it became clear to her parents that she had formed opinions all her own.     "That's when they found out I registered Democrat," Dalton said. "My dad I think at first was a little shocked."     Despite the initial surprise, Dalton said that the diverse opinions in her family have led to increased political discourse.     "Now [my dad] is totally fine with it," she said. "He respects my beliefs and my opinions. This summer, we debated back and forth; it opened up a lot of discussion in my house."     Freshman Natalie Wiegand grew up in a very conservative household but has since become much more liberal than her parents.     "My parents are really religious and we all went to church every week, so that's how we got some values. I remember really well them talking about how they hated the Clintons — even today I have this anxiety about the Clintons," Wiegand said.     After joining her high school's debate club, Wiegand's political views shifted.     "I grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y. and it's a pretty liberal place, but the debate club was pretty split. At first I thought I was conservative, because my parents were, and I always had believed what they said. But in 10th grade I was like, ‘oh, actually I'm not.'"     Although she disagrees with her parents on a variety of issues, Wiegand does have some allies around the dinner table.     "I have a lot of siblings … there are six of us and all of us are Democrats," she said.     Dalton and Wiegand's experiences are not the ones shared by the majority of college students. The past two elections in particular prove that Americans are increasingly polarized along party lines, but this division typically does not extend to parents and their children.     Associate Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut explained that political views are usually inherited, and that it is rare for families to belong to different parties.     "It's not that common. People like to think that when they're coming of age, that they're independent and that their parents are square," Schildkraut said. "But when I teach Intro to American Politics and we talk about partisanship, I ask students to raise their hands if they know their party, and then raise their hand if it's the same as their parents. People look around and are surprised by how many hands stay up."     Dalton agreed that her experience is uncommon.      "When I introduce myself I usually throw in the fact that my dad's a Republican," she said, because of the surprised reactions she often receives.        Donald Green, a professor of political science at Yale University and co-author of the book "Partisan Hearts and Minds," (2002) said that early influences are what often form the political views of children and teenagers.     "It's especially rare to see a staunch conservative coming out of a staunch liberal household. Part of the reason it's rare is the people who are raised in liberal households or conservative households are subject to the socializing forces that bear conservative or liberal imprints on people," Green said.     For example, Wiegand attributes many of her views to her upbringing and attending church with her family.     "I'm not very religious now but my morals are pretty well set because of religion and growing up in a religious place," she said. "There [are] definitely a few conservative ideas that I still have."     Senior Shiva Riahi often votes for a different candidate than her parents, but still said that her family influenced her beliefs.     "I grew up with the political beliefs of my family and I can see it sort of reflected in my beliefs. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal, but I didn't get the social liberal policies from my parents," she said.     According to Green, those who do diverge from their parents are often influenced by others of their own age.            "Peers tend to have a big influence on one's views. That's especially true in college," he said. "People who go to college are often exposed for the first time to ideas that are different from ideas that they've been hearing at home."     Contrasting views among family members can cause conflict at times, he added.     "It can be a source of distance," Green said. "When you have family members pulling the same direction politically, there's a certain camaraderie built up. But when you view each other as canceling each other's votes and correcting each other's partisan indiscretions, it can be hard."     Though Wiegand said that her parents respect her decisions, there have been some heated arguments in her home.     "[My dad] is actually open-minded about things. My parents made sure [my siblings and I] were all registered to vote. We don't talk about politics all that much, but my entire family once got into this huge brawl about gay marriage," she said. "Occasionally something will come up and we'll get into a big fight. When that happens I feel bad for my parents, because it's like six against one."     Despite the obvious challenges, Political Science Professor Jeff Berry said that parents and children having to defend their political views can be beneficial.     "The positive is that you hear different points of view and you're taught to make up your own mind," he said.     This sense of independence was evident for Riahi.     "A lot of the kids in my town definitely grew up with the political values of their parents. I often found myself defending what I thought. They were a lot of times spoon-fed what their beliefs should be," Riahi said.     A difference in political views can be a very clear indication of a child's steps toward adulthood and decision-making.     "For a child it might be empowering individualism," Schildkraut said. "You might feel more committed if you have to stand up for your views. It might lead to maturity for children to disagree with their parents over deep ideas."     Defending her political views has made Dalton even more ardent about them.     "It opened up more dialogue between us, specifically with my father. When he calls me to check up, we always have to have a conversation about the latest political happenings," Dalton said. "I want to build on my argument because I don't want to be the one to lose. I understand where my parents come from, but my views personally haven't been affected. I know what I'm passionate about and I know what I stand for, so I'm not easily persuaded."     Some, like Wiegand, see their set of views as less of a permanent fixture and instead as something that is constantly shifting and evolving.     "I hate to think of it this way, but it is kind of like a rebellion. When I get older, maybe I'll be a little bit less liberal or less radical, and less extreme," Wiegand said.     But for those parents who hope that their kids' beliefs are only a phase, they can only cross their fingers for a little longer.     "You see a lot of flux during the ages of 18-29, but by the time you reach 30, views are generally pretty stable from that time on. If you had a 30-year-old write a letter to themself, they would find their 80-year-old self would agree with their views from age 30," Green said.

The Setonian
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Visiting the Hill this week (10/27/2008 - 10/31/2008)

October 26

MONDAY "Film Screening: Vincent Who?" Details: A question-and-answer session with producer Curtis Chin will follow the screening of his new documentary "Vincent Who?" (2008). Chin is a Los Angeles-based writer, producer and political activist. His movie documents the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and subsequent civil rights work in the Asian-American community. When & Where: 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Terrace Room, Paige Hall Sponsors: Asian American Alliance, Asian American Center "The U.N.: A First-Hand View" Details: A panel of Fletcher students will speak about their experiences working for the United Nations. They will discuss the current relevance of the United Nations, explain how they obtained their jobs there and offer advice for students seeking employment at the United Nations. When & Where: 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Room 206, Cabot Intercultural Center Sponsor: International Relations Program TUESDAY "The Science and Pseudoscience of Winning Elections" Details: Donald Green, a professor of political science at Yale University, will give a lecture entitled "The Science and Pseudoscience of Winning Elections." Refreshments will be served. When & Where: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Alumnae Lounge, Aidekman Arts Center Sponsors: Department of Political Science, Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education "Righteous Republic: The search for an Indian political tradition" Details: Ananya Vajpeyi, a fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, will give a lecture entitled "Righteous Republic: The Search for an Indian Political Tradition." When & Where: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Room 206, Cabot Intercultural Center Sponsor: Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies "Project Iraq Hosts the Marhabtain Institute" Details: Three veterans of the Iraq war and one Iraqi will share their experiences through a PowerPoint presentation and question-and-answer session. They hope to provoke a dialogue about Iraq and its culture and dialect. When & Where: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Multipurpose Room, Sofia Gordon Hall Sponsor: PANGEA WEDNESDAY "Renaissance of the Citizen Soldier" Details: In its second year, ALLIES' Intellectual Roundtable will host experts from government, industry and media to help expand undergraduates' understanding of civil-military relations. When & Where: TBA Sponsors: Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) "Terrorism and the Rule of Law" Details:  Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora will talk about contemporary dilemmas in American foreign policy. This brown bag luncheon is part of a weekly speaker series this fall hosted by Former Ambassador to the Czech Republic John Shattuck. R.S.V.P. to Sarah.Lebovitz@tufts.edu. When & Where: 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.; Tisch Library Sponsor: Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service "Partisans of Allah: Jihad as Ethics, Jihad as War" Details: History Professor Ayesha Jalal will put the current understanding of jihad into historical context. When & Where: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall Sponsor: Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences "Berlin: A City in Transition" Details: Thorsten Wagner, a profesor from Humboldt University in Berlin, will be speaking to the Tufts community about why Germany is the fastest grwoing Jewish community in the world, focusing specifically on the modern restoration of the Jewish community in Berlin. When & Where: 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Granoff Family Hillel Center Sponsor: Tufts Hillel THURSDAY "Decision '08: Brown Bag Lunch with John Shattuck"  Details: As part of the Tisch College's weekly Brown Bag Luncheon, this week former Ambassador to the Czech Republic John Shattuck will be leading a discussion of foreign policy and presidential politics. R.S.V.P. to Doug Foote at Douglas.Foote@gmail.com. Drinks and fruit will be provided. When & Where: 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.; Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center Sponsor: Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service "Computer Science Seminar" Details: Johns Hopkins University Professor Scott Smith will be sharing his research with the Tufts community about a new computer science language model called Coqua that is used for reliable multi-core programming. When & Where: 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; H11A, Halligan Hall Sponsor: Lenore Cowen "A Conversation about the 2008 Elections" Details: As part of the Chaplain's Table Series, Dean of Undergraduate Education and Political Science Professor James Glaser will be leading a discussion on the upcoming races. When & Where: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; MacPhie Conference Room Sponsors: The Chaplain's Office, The International Center and the Fletcher School FRIDAY "CEME Local Capital Markets Seminar Series: Private Sector Access to Emerging Local Capital Markets" Details: Center for Emerging Market Enterprises (CEME) Senior Fellows Eliot Kalter of EM Strategies, Inc. and Neil Allen (F '76), a Fletcher School Board of Overseers member and the chief executive officer of Allen Global Holdings, LLC, will speak about facilitating private-sector access to local capital markets that are opening up worldwide. When & Where: TBA Sponsor: CEME "Dealing With DNA Problems: Template Lesions and Replication Blocks" Details: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Graham Walker, the principle investigator at the university's Walker Lab, will speak. When & Where: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Barnum 104 Sponsor: Department of Biology

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