THE TUFTS Where You Tufts’ Student Newspaper Read It First Since 1980 VOLUME XLVIII, NUMBER 39 DAILY FRIDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2004 Morgan Spurlock (super)sizes up American public health Lecture criticizes McDonald’s, American unhealthy eating and exercise habits with a lot of wit and humor BY KAT SCHMIDT full stomach of “stuffing, dream and overeat and under- Daily Editorial Board turkey, mashed potatoes with exercise?” gravy — mmmm gravy — green “Then the light bulb went Morgan Spurlock, director beans and pie with gravy, too.” off,” he said, and his project and star of the acclaimed docu- Later that year, Spurlock began to gather momentum. mentary “Supersize Me,” mixed began following a news story Spurlock chose McDonald’s muckraking and standup com- about two obese teenagers, because of the chain’s fame and edy in a lively speech to a Jazlyn Bradley and Ashley size. “I picked the company packed Cohen Auditorium Pelman, whose parents sued that I thought could influence Wednesday night. McDonald’s, asserting the the industry,” he said. “It’s been Spurlock bounded onto the restaurant was responsible for franchised all over the world, stage in jeans and a Tufts hood- their condition. the only continent [where] they ed sweatshirt, briefly bemoan- Spurlock at first thought the don’t have [a McDonald’s] is ing John Kerry’s loss in lawsuit was “crazy,” but then Antarctica.” Tuesday’s presidential election began to realize that the com- To prove his point about the before getting down to busi- pany’s advertising policies, par- negative cultural and health ness. “Let’s talk about the fat ticularly towards children, were effects of fast food, Spurlock ate movie,” he said. indeed misleading. breakfast, lunch and dinner at “Supersize Me” chronicles “The spokesperson for McDonald’s every day for 30 Spurlock’s quest to illuminate McDonald’s on TV said ‘You days. Americans’ poor eating and can’t link our food to these girls’ He tried every item on the exercise habits by eating being sick or obese — our food menu at least once, finished McDonald’s for 30 days straight is healthy, nutritious, and good eating all portions, and chose JAMES HARRIS and documenting the effects. for you,’” he said. the “supersize” option whenev- Director and star of “Supersize Me” Morgan Spurlock entertains a full Spurlock said the idea “I said, come on. If that’s true er McDonald’s staff offered it. Cohen Auditorium. Tickets for his lecture sold out quickly, even with occurred to him on shouldn’t I be able to eat it for He filmed the endeavor, while Lecture Series only allowing one ticket per student ID. Spurlock’s lecture Thanksgiving Day in 2002, as he 30 days straight? Shouldn’t I be discussed the current state of America, culturally and politically. was watching television on a able to live the all-American see SUPERSIZE, page 4 Who is Stephen Lynch? Jeff Chen/TUFTS DAILY Stephen Lynch serenaded a jam-packed Cohen Auditorium last night in the fall comedy show. Lynch, who is now on national tour, showcased a few of his musical jokes about such themes as pedophile priests — showcasing the Lynch performing oral sex on the microphone (see picture). His thirty-minute comedy installment with “Comedy Central pres- ents...” will air on Comedy Central later this year. Borghesani Prize winners Med prof undertakes a INSIDE New season of “Arrested Development” starts this present their int’l research new corporate position Sunday BY PATRICK GORDON United States. BY AIMEE FUKUCHI “I’m interested in promot- see ARTS, page 5 Daily Editorial Board Using the Lafarge cement and Senior Staff Writer ing educational matters with- roofing company as a case- in the system that involve Three recent recipients of the study, Dulac explained that Professor of Medicine and undergraduate, graduate, and annual Anne E. Borghesani huge, multinational corpora- former interim dean of the post-graduate programs,” Memorial Prize presented their tions can certainly maximize Tufts School of Medicine Madias said. “My goal is to international findings last night profits while at the same time Nicolaos Madias, M.D. will increase scholarship within in Carmichael Hall’s faculty din- undertaking sustainable serve as the first chief aca- the whole system.” ing area. approaches to the environment. demic officer for Caritas As an internationally The students, senior John Lafarge, with industrial plants Christi Health Care, the sec- known nephrologist (kidney Dulac, junior Anastasia in 75 countries, 77,000 employ- ond-largest health care sys- specialist), Madias is well Konstantakatou, and senior Eva ees and gross profits of 14.6 bil- tem in New England. respected for his work regard- Skillicorn, undertook varied lion euros in 2002, is a leading “I’m very excited about it ing acid-base and electrolyte multicultural projects intended example of environmentally- because in one sense, pursu- physiology and treatment for to, according to the Prize’s liter- friendly corporations, Dulac ing this goal not only serves hypertensive disorders. ature, “increase one’s under- education and research, but in said. “Nick Madias has been on INDEX standing of all peoples and “Success is made if the com- essence becomes an instru- the Tufts faculty for a long [encourage] a commitment to mon good is respected,” Dulac ment of integration for the time,” said Dean of the Tufts News | Features 1 the world community.” said. He noted that it’s easy for a system,” said Madias, who Medical School Michael Arts | Living 5 With the help of a PowerPoint large company to make profits if began his stint at Caritas Rosenblatt, M.D. “I think he’s a Editorial | Letters 8 presentation, Dulac, a triple- short-term approaches are Christi three months ago. great choice for [chief aca- National 9 International 11 major in French, engineering used; the key, apparently, is to The position was created in demic officer]. The personal Comics 12 and international relations, create an environment receptive order to develop hospital connections between him, Classifieds 13 addressed the issue of how and to “making a profit tomorrow.” research objectives, advance me, and other Tufts affiliates Sports Back page why France’s industry is so Dulac said that Lafarge has academic programs for stu- will strengthen an already much more environmentally- dents, and unify their six hos- see MADIAS, page 2 conscious than that of the see BORGHESANI, page 2 pital system. tuftsdaily.com 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS | FEATURES Friday, November 5, 2004 Nasella speaks on entrepreneurship Madias has extensive resume MADIAS and served as division chief Former Staples CEO says management is the key to success continued from page 1 from 1982 until 1999, when he BY KATHARINE CLARK hard part,” he said. strong tie between the rose to the position of execu- Daily Editorial Board Finding out who makes up a company’s cus- Medical School and Caritas St. tive academic dean for the tomer base is crucial to its continued success, Elizabeth’s.” Tufts’ School of Medicine. Henry Nasella, former chairman and CEO of Nasella said. At Staples, this base was made up of Madias will continue to As a researcher for the Staples, Inc. and Star Markets, stressed the what he labeled “hybrid marketing,” as its cus- serve as chairman of Medicine American Heart Association, importance of calculated risk-taking and innova- tomers are mainly not retail consumers but busi- at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Madias has written over 150 tion in successful entrepreneurship Wednesday ness-to-business consumers. Medical Center, one of Tufts’ publications and has served night in Cabot. “[With the Internet,] you have the ability to major affiliated teaching hos- on editorial boards for profes- The lecture, entitled “Beyond the Boundaries: talk constantly to your customers, it’s a huge pitals and the system center sional publications, including Creating High Performance Companies,” advantage,” Nasella said. “You have to test your- for Caritas Christi. He has the Nephrology Forum, focused on transforming a small private compa- self, ask do I have it right?” acted as chairman since Kidney International, ny into a multi-billion dollar public corporation. He said “being first is more important than February, overseeing 15 med- International Angiology, and Nasella’s talk was the closing event of the first being the best sometimes,” and discussed ical divisions with a physician Hellenic Medical Journal. annual Tufts Entrepreneurship Conference. Microsoft’s employment of this strategy. He said staff of 620 people. He has also received a num- To achieve success at the level of Staples or that while Microsoft took time figuring out which According to Rosenblatt, ber of grants and awards, Star Markets, “you must change in some funda- products were best, they did so without disap- Madias is well prepared for his including the Oliver Smith mental way the rules of an industry,” said pearing from the market. new position. “He’s got a lot of Award from T-NEMC, hon- Nasella, who is currently a venture partner with Nasella told students they were lucky to be liv- experience about how a med- orary doctorates from the Apax Partners. ing in Boston because opportunities were avail- ical school runs and how it Ioannina School of Medicine Nasella recommended that students interest- able to them to find and pursue, “not just for now relates to its affiliated teach- and the University of Patras ed in this kind of innovation “spend time in busi- but for your whole life,” he said. ing hospitals, and I think that School of Medicine, as well as nesses that are the current paradigm for what “Learning is life-long. I’m 57, and I constantly can only help in this new posi- the Distinguished Faculty you want to reinvent.” read everything I can — books, periodicals — tion.” Award and several citations “Good entrepreneurs know their strengths and and go to seminars,” he said.