THE TUFTS Where You Tufts’ Student Newspaper Read It First Since 1980 VOLUME XLVIII, NUMBER 42 DAILY WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 10, 2004 Hillary Clinton to speak today Blackout leaves classes, Hillary Clinton, New York’s junior senator and the former students in the dark First Lady of the United States, will speak this afternoon as this BY DANIEL LUTZ ful that this outage was an anomaly. year’s Fares Lecture series Daily Editorial Board “I have no reason to believe that this speaker in the Gantcher Family is part of a larger problem,” Isenstein Sports and Convocation Center. A brief power outage hit Tufts yes- said. Clinton’s lecture, titled terday around noon, affecting a Students and professors adapted “Policy Challenges in the majority of buildings on the Hill. their lesson plans around the lack of Eastern Mediterranean After Most classes were undisturbed, but power, relying on sunlight and chalk- the Presidential Election,” will sighs arose from dozens of disap- boards instead of fluorescent lamps begin at 4:30 p.m. Doors will pointed students working in Eaton and projected computer screens. open at 2:30 p.m. and lecture Computer Lab. “Our class is in the basement organizers recommend that stu- “[The problem] was completely where there are no windows, so my dents arrive early to allow time on the side of Massachusetts students had to take their tests up for security checks. Electric,” Energy Manager for here [on the Olin lobby steps],” According to Students Facilities Betsy Isenstein said. “It was Chinese Professor Mingquan Wang Services, a number of students a utility problem.” said. did not claim their reserved All buildings that receive power Power resumed in The Fletcher tickets. These tickets will be from the campus’ main electric sub- School just before a day-long confer- available on a first-come, first- station lost power from around 11:45 ence, “Engaging in Dialogue on U.S. serve basis at Student Services a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Foreign Policy,” was due to begin. in Dowling Hall, starting at 9 The outage was due to a faulty Police officers directed traffic a.m. today. underground cable, according to through the pitch-black halls within All students attending the National Grid spokesman David the building with flashlights while lecture must bring their tickets Graves. National Grid is the parent the fire department worked to rescue and Tufts photo IDs. Backpacks, company of Massachusetts Electric. passengers stuck in the elevators in cameras, signs and banners will “There was an underground cable Cabot. not be allowed into the lecture. close to our Wellington substation, The short blackout is the first that Handbags will be subject to right on the Medford-Malden line Tufts has experienced since the sum- search and metal detectors will that failed and we lost power for mer of 2002, when six outages be in use at the entrance to the approximately an hour and a half,” occurred during the month of July. Gantcher Center, according to he said. The July 2002 blackouts were due an informational sheet distrib- According to Graves, approxi- to overused cables between the uted with tickets. mately 2,600 customers were affect- school and a Massachusetts Electric Attendees must remain ed by the outage. The outages mostly power station, according to Medford seated throughout the event took place along Middlesex Ave. in Facilities. Since then, two cables and there will be no re-entry to Medford, which is east of route 93 have been replaced and a third one JEFF CHEN/TUFTS DAILY the lecture. and north of the Mystic River. Professor Mark Karlins takes his class into the corridor of Facilities administrators are hope- see OUTAGE, page 2 Olin Hall for some natural light during yesterday’s blackout. Trustees gather for tri-annual meeting BY KAT SCHMIDT The primary goal on tion information of nine “won- Daily Editorial Board President Bacow’s agenda was derful” students who all had to need-blind admissions — dis- be denied to Tufts because of Tufts’s Board of Trustees con- cussed extensively over the financial constraints. vened last weekend at Babson course of the meeting. “The case was made,” College’s Executive Conference Bill Bowen, former president Secretary of the Trustees Linda Center for its annual fall meet- of Princeton University and Dixon said, adding that the ing to strategize on increasing expert on socioeconomic issues trustees were convinced of the the University’s institutional in higher education, delivered a importance of the need-blind quality and financial base. presentation describing the goal. Tufts Trustees fine-tuned great potential of applicants Tufts’ Master Plan, which President Larry Bacow’s vision from lower-income families — Dixon described as a physical for Tufts’ future, which he artic- and the extra help that institu- manifestation of Bacow’s aca- ulated in a piece published last tions should provide to help demic vision, was also discussed spring in Tufts Magazine, enti- them reach their goals. and the architectural firm tled “A University Poised.” Tufts current status of “need William Rawn & Associates The four principal areas of sensitive” means the Univeristy shared the results of their fall importance Bacow stressed for must sometimes deny talented planning. the next capital campaign were students admission because Trustees in charge of finance “great people,” a diverse learn- JEFF CHEN/TUFTS DAILY they require too much financial unveiled an important new tool A Tufts ROTC cadet heads off across campus with his gear. ing environment, interdiscipli- aid. called the “Integrated Resource nary thinking and the integra- Dean of Admissions Lee Model” that reduces for risks in tion of teaching and high-quali- Coffin made a presentation to U.S. military overstretch ty research. this effect, showing the applica- see TRUSTEES, page 2 raises possibility of draft BY KATHARINE CLARK winding down, is continuing Tufts sophomore elected to N.H. House of Reps Daily Editorial Board apace and may require more BY JAN BLACKBURN local community. “For me, that manpower. Contributing Writer was the support right there,” he Rumors about the possibility “Clearly there’s no end in said. “The time was right, I had of a reinstatement of the draft sight, and by all indications Tufts sophomore Scott to run; I couldn’t turn this kind have run rampant on college things are going dramatically Merrick will have a hand in gov- of opportunity down.” campuses recently, which is no downhill,” said Ben Brandzel, erning one of last week’s swing The New Hampshire House surprise since young people director of the national group states after being elected to the of Representatives seats 400 aged 18 to 26 would be the tar- Move On Student Action. New Hampshire House of representatives, making it the get of such a move. Some critics are concerned Representatives for the Second third-largest parliamentary And recent offensives in that the military is close to Congressional District of Coos body in the English-speaking Fallujah and elsewhere suggest County on Nov. 2. world. “It’s all about being that the war in Iraq, rather than see DRAFT, page 2 Though he has been active in active in your community. politics since high school, Anyone can do it. I knew if I INSIDE INDEX Merrick found himself in the worked hard enough I could get midst of what many experts elected,” Merrick said. News | Features 1 called the most important elec- Merrick will serve a two-year Arts | Living 5 ‘Alfie’ a pretty tion in recent history. term. This year, there were four Editorial | Letters 8 “Even while I campaigned for movie, but lacks 9 seats up for grabs in his district, Viewpoints the race, things were still surre- National 11 three of which went to substance al,” Merrick said. “I was running International 13 Republicans. The fourth was BEN THAYER/TUFTS DAILY because I was passionate about see ARTS, page 5 Comics 16 captured by a 19-year-old Representative-elect Scott Merrick Sports Back page something and got involved.” Democrat who eats in Dewick. will take a semester off to represent Merrick was asked to run by Coos County in the New Hampshire tuftsdaily.com the Democratic Council of his see MERRICK, page 2 House of Representatives. 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS | FEATURES Wednesday, November 10, 2004 Draft bills to make statement, not to implement draft Moving forward in DRAFT already overstretching the forces that which is currently tabled in the Senate. the Middle East continued from page 1 we do have, then calling up the National “It’s politically a huge problem for the depleting its voluntary forces and will Guard and making people do national Congress to pass [S. 89],” Political have no choice but to turn to involun- tours of duty, then I don’t see a way Science Professor Jeff Berry said. “The tary conscription. around reinstating the draft,” Yu said. fallout would be extreme and the “I’m trying not to be a conspiracy But the Bush administration has Republicans would suffer the conse- theorist about it, but if you need more repeatedly and unequivocally denied quences, so you would see a lot of people, where are they going to come that it plans to reinstate the draft. “It is protest, and I just don’t see it getting from?” said Luke Yu, membership out- the policy of this administration to through.” reach coordinator of the Tufts oppose a military draft for any purpose Berry said bringing the draft to the Democrats. whatsoever,” Pentagon Chief forefront of election issues was part of The Bush administration has already Spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told The the Kerry campaign strategy.