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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
News

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
News

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
News

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

The Setonian
News

Great Schleppers' overcome age barriers, hearing aids to convince elderly voters

October 26

    "If Barack Obama doesn't become the next President of the United States, I'm going to blame the Jews," comedian Sarah Silverman said in a video address to visitors of the Web site TheGreatSchlep.com.     On the morning of Nov. 8, 2000, a recount of ballots in Florida showed that George W. Bush held a miniscule edge of about 500 votes over Democratic opponent Al Gore. The small margin separating the two candidates led to extensive legal and personal battles, culminating in a Bush victory over a month later.     The results of the election both embittered and enthralled voters, forever ensconcing the scene in Florida in the mind of disillusioned Democrats.     This time around, an Internet sensation has been pushing young Democrats to sway the large and influential Floridian demographic of elderly Jews in Sen. Barack Obama's favor. "The Great Schlep," an effort begun by JewsVote.org and endorsed by Silverman, has urged young Jewish people to make the "schlep" to the Sunshine State and convince their grandparents to vote for Obama on Nov. 4.     Silverman and supporters of the Great Schlep have taken aim at this group, who notoriously vote for the Republican candidate in higher percentages than does the general Jewish-American population. They are especially concerned with the United States' relationship with Israel and mumblings of Obama's alleged association with Islam.     After being persuaded by his sister to watch the Silverman video, Tufts junior Cobin Dopkeen boarded a plane on Columbus Day weekend to visit his own grandparents in Miami, Fla.     "I thought it was funny and I figured, why not go?" Dopkeen said. "It was pretty much something where you go and you do it on your own … I feel like a large part of [the Great Schlep] is to get other people to notice and then go down as well."     Dopkeen said that while his own grandparents were already planning to vote for Obama and did not need convincing, he spent much of his time milling around their nursing home in search of other elderly voters he could persuade. He was surprised to find that a large portion of the residents in the living facility had already made up their minds in favor of Obama.     "[I said], ‘Hi, if you don't mind me asking, are you voting for Obama? Or are you voting for McCain?' And they go, ‘No! I'm voting for Obama.' And I'm like, ‘Alright, great, thanks.'"     But Dopkeen tipped the decision of one woman who had been undecided because she viewed Obama as too inexperienced to run the country.     "She was going to vote for Hillary and she thought that Obama was inexperienced but that McCain was over the hill," he said. "And so I talked to her about her views and what mattered to her, and she agreed with Obama's policies, so I just had to convince her to give him a chance."     Coming from a liberal school in the Northeast, Dopkeen had to get on the same page as many of the elderly people he spoke with.     "I definitely had to explain to them why I was there and the idea behind it," he said. "I tried talking to an old man who, at first, I thought was ignoring me, until I realized he just couldn't hear me."     Hearing disabilities aside, many residents of his grandparents' living facility were concerned with politics from decades ago — often leaving Dopkeen dumbfounded.     "The hardest part is talking to people who are going to talk about politics from before you were born," he said. "They're talking about things from when they were 20 and I'm like, ‘Look. I'm thinking I studied this in history in seventh grade for like a little, but I didn't experience it.' I'm not going to have the knowledge they do. I go down there and I'm ready to talk about what I know, which is what's happening now and not so much what happened then."     Dopkeen's Columbus Day schlep coincided with the release of a Quinnipiac University poll showing Obama's popularity at 77 percent among Floridian Jews.     For students like Dopkeen, who is a native of Chicago, Ill., the Great Schlep was a mechanism for influencing the outcome of the election — a goal that they could not necessarily achieve by simply casting a vote in their traditionally blue home states.     "The thing is, when I cast my vote, it's not a huge deal because I'm from Illinois … or I could register in Massachussetts, and [in] either one, Obama's going to win in that state," Dopkeen said. "If I really want to do something about it, I have to go somewhere else. So I went down to Florida."     Dopkeen, a computer science major who has not been otherwise involved in campaigning efforts, said that though he is mostly apolitical, efforts like the Great Schlep have heightened his — and other college-aged students' — political activism.     "The way I see it, [Bill] Clinton was elected and our entire childhood was within Clinton, and we [were] like, ‘Oh, everything's great, what a good country, and everything's going to be fantastic.' And as we became teenagers, Bush won … And as [I was] a teenager, Bush [was] the president, and everything got progressively crappier, and you [had] that teenage angst," Dopkeen said. "[Now] we're like, ‘Well, this matters.'"

The Setonian
News

Kittens and vampires unite around candy

October 26

Approximately 180 local children came to Tufts on Saturday for the Leonard Carmichael Society's Halloween on the Hill event. Children trick-or-treated in Carmichael and Hodgdon Halls, braved a haunted house at the Theta Chi fraternity and saw a performance by the Traveling Treasure Trunk, Tufts' student group devoted to children's drama. Above, youngsters enjoy mud pie made of pudding, crumbled Oreos and gummy worms.

The Setonian
News

Tufts chosen to be part of climate change study

October 26

A Colorado non-profit organization recently chose Tufts as one of 12 colleges nationwide to participate in a research study that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on college campuses.

The Setonian
News

Dorm residents Do it in the Dark

October 23

Students living in dormitories might have had a bit more trouble walking down the halls at night this month, but it was all in the name of the environment.

The Setonian
News

Presidential debates only serve to solidify students' feelings about two candidates

October 23

The 2008 primary season witnessed an eight-percentage point spike in youth-voter turnout from 2000, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Although youth-voter numbers for the general election will not be officially tallied until polls close Nov. 5, interest in the three presidential debates certainly indicates that younger voters will show up in unprecedented numbers.

The Setonian
News

Frat steps up for autism

October 23

A group of brothers from the Theta Delta Chi fraternity raised $2,250 for Sunday's "Walk Now for Autism" at the Suffolk Downs Racetrack in east Boston.

The Setonian
News

Bergstrom funds new professorship

October 23

Joan Bergstrom (J '62) has endowed a new professorship at Tufts' nutrition school focusing on issues of global nutrition and children.

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