The men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball teams both dropped their contests against Brandeis yester- day.

Tufts researchers have discovered novel appli- cations for silk.

Although students and faculty have made progress in expand- ing opportunities to study LGBT issues in Tufts classrooms, plans for the creation of a queer stud- ies program have been put on hold due to the current eco- nomic crisis.

Tufts currently offers \u201cIntro- duction to Queer Studies,\u201d a course in the women\u2019s stud- ies program, but many would like to see the class expanded into a larger program. Tufts Community Union (TCU)

Senators Ryan Heman, a soph- omore, and Joel Greenberg, a freshman, have strongly advo- cated for the establishment of a queer studies program.

Both senators said that if such a program were established, it would likely be interdisciplin- ary rather than serve as its own academic department.

Tufts took a step toward the creation of a queer studies pro- gram in 2003 with the inaugura- tion of the Queer Studies Scholar Series to \u201cexpose people to dif- ferent leading scholars in the field and drum up interest and knowledge,\u201d Dona Yarbrough,

Yarbrough started teaching Intro to Queer Studies in 2005, and the course was integrated into the women\u2019s studies pro- gram. \u201cTo me, that was the first step in building something big- ger, and I\u2019m glad it sounds like it [might] go to the next level,\u201d said Yarbrough, who recently left Tufts to serve as the direc- tor of the Center for Women at Emory University.

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate\u2019s Education Committee is leading an effort to foster intellectualism and pro- mote interaction between students and faculty.

Education Committee Co-chair Brandon Rattiner said that while Tufts does cultivate a relatively intellectual environment, there are insufficient opportunities for connec- tions between undergraduates and faculty members. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make [this pro- cess] easier,\u201d said Rattiner, a junior. \u201cA lot of the time, students are forced to do this stuff on their own.\u201d

\u201cStudent government doesn\u2019t do enough to foster a rich intellectual environment on campus,\u201d TCU President Duncan Pickard added. The Education Committee is seek- ing to address this through fostering ini- tiatives ranging from conversations in the style of the Synaptic Scholars\u2019 Fireside Chats to an online forum where faculty can ask for student volunteers to help them with research.

\u201cWe want to try and make the learn- ing experience more personal and more meaningful,\u201d Rattiner said.

The committee is seeking feedback from both students and faculty on how to best improve on-campus learning, with the goal of introducing programming next semester. Rattiner said the commit- tee plans to sponsor roundtables, focus groups and surveys of students beginning next semester to get a sense of student opinions. At the same time, the committee

Both Pickard, a junior, and Rattiner pointed to the Synaptic Scholars\u2019 Fireside Chats, where students and faculty come together to have conversations on broad topics such as \u201cIs There a Right and a Wrong?,\u201d as a model of the kind of interac- tion they hope to promote. The Institute for Global Leadership established the chats program during the 2006-07 aca- demic year \u201cto connect the knowledge and expertise of Tufts faculty with undergrad- uate interests and academic pursuits,\u201d according to the institute\u2019s Web site.

Pickard, who is also a member of the Education Committee, said the commit- tee would like to sponsor its own fire- side chats and at the same time \u201cwork with other student groups that are already using the format\u201d to promote dialogue between students and faculty.

Other potential initiatives include hold- ing a debate between faculty members next semester and hosting more public lectures by members of the Tufts faculty. \u201cInstead of bringing in outside people to Tufts to speak about issues, [we should] have our professors give lectures about what they\u2019ve been researching,\u201d Rattiner said.

Additionally, the Education Committee plans to lobby for the creation of an online forum where faculty members \u201ccan talk about what they\u2019re researching and solicit volunteers,\u201d Rattiner said. The committee also proposes to arrange for professors

The Committee on Student Life (CSL) on Nov. 21 approved the language of three amendments to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Constitution but simultaneously called for a new vote on the proposals. TCU President Duncan Pickard, one of three stu- dents who originally submitted the amend- ments, subsequently withdrew them and intends to put them to a vote in the spring.

For an amendment to pass it must first be backed by a 250-signature petition and then gain approval from the TCU Judiciary, the CSL and the student body at large. The student body voted last April to support the three referenda, but the CSL never approved the language, so the measures were left hang- ing in the balance.

Two of the amendments seek to make the selection and reauthorization of TCU com- munity representatives an internal process, and the third is intended to add an histo- rian position to the Elections Commission (ECOM).

The CSL has yet to look at the language of a fourth amendment that would expand the Constitution\u2019s anti-discrimination lan- guage.

As part of its Nov. 21 decision, the CSL refined the definition of its role in the amend- ment process, saying it must approve an amendment\u2019s language before the student vote occurs.

Even as Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators work overtime to determine how to spend the nearly $690,000 in recovered funds, some members of the body have begun moving in the opposite direction by urging fiscal restraint.

Since the administration deliv- ered almost $1 million to the Senate in September, the body has been actively calling on members of the community to suggest projects.

With the economy struggling, many have advocated using the money to help the university bal- ance its financial aid budget, but campus-wide wireless Internet and campus center renovations have also gotten attention.

Still, some senators have taken issue with the desire to spend the money immediately, instead sug- gesting that the body hold onto the bulk of the recovered funds.

Sophomore Senator Sam Wallis has supported keeping the funds until the financial picture becomes clearer.

\u201cIt would be unwise for us just to give some of this money to the uni- versity to make up a moving target,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need more concrete numbers.\u201d

At a Nov. 23 Senate meeting, University President Lawrence Bacow said that next year, the finan- cial aid budget would need to be increased by $3 million to $4 mil- lion in order to accommodate an increase in demand.

Two days later, TCU President Duncan Pickard published an op-ed in the Daily calling upon stu- dents to support a \u201ccomplete plan\u201d for the funds that would bridge the financial aid gap by channel- ing money directly into next year\u2019s operating budget and by creating an endowed scholarship for which an anonymous donor would match funding.

\u201cI think everyone would agree that keeping a socioeconomically diverse student body and being able to keep our friends here next year has to be one of our top priori- ties,\u201d Pickard told the Daily.

He said this would signal the Senate\u2019s support for administra- tive efforts to provide for all Tufts students, regardless of need, and it could have the added benefit of attracting more donors.

\u201cI think it would be a really powerful statement to say we care about our students next year and we are going to take that into account during this process and follow in line with what the uni- versity is doing in cutting their budget and trying to jumpstart some philanthropy outside of the university,\u201d Pickard said.

Meanwhile, TCU Treasurer Matt Shapanka has echoed Wallis and called for \u201cfiscal responsibility.\u201d He supports waiting to spend the bulk of the recovered funds and rejects the notion that students should bear the burden of filling the finan- cial aid coffers.

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pushed for more queer studies courses since her sophomore year. After taking Intro to Queer Studies, she began to wish that Tufts offered an advanced queer studies course. Nelson put forth the idea of expanding queer studies in an op-ed published in the Daily last year.

\u201cThe university called on us to put an academic lens on diver- sity issues that we\u2019ve been strug- gling with in our community, \u2026 which is a great suggestion,\u201d Nelson told the Daily. \u201cNot that you can completely remove the emotional, but one of the things the university needs to do is provide the courses and profes- sors needed so that students can turn an academic lens to these issues.\u201d

The current economic crisis has meant that plans for a queer studies program have been put on hold indefinitely. According to Heman, right now is likely \u201cthe worst time in the world\u201d to talk about starting a new academic program.

Nelson agreed. \u201cI completely understand the financial situa- tion the university is currently in and that no action on this [can be taken] in the near future until the financial situation improves. And while I want it to remain on the radar screen of those in charge of this \u2026 until funds become available, I don\u2019t expect any action to take place,\u201d she

There are some possible cours- es of action, however, that could hasten the creation of a queer studies program. One option is to change Tufts\u2019 major in women\u2019s studies to one in women, gen- der and sexuality studies. \u201c[This] is a model that many other schools have taken,\u201d Nelson said. Replicating this would mean Tufts could offer \u201cmore queer studies courses under that major that you could de facto concen- trate in,\u201d she said.

Yarbrough recommended that the university hire professors for its other academic departments who can teach courses in the queer studies program.

\u201cYou can always work to see if there are other departments who are looking for something specific and would look for a queer studies person as well,\u201d she said.

Greenberg said that the pro- gram would shine light on an under-addressed subject.

\u201cI think that\u2019s something Tufts really needs,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cPart of the mission of Tufts is to give its students a world perspec- tive and a diverse perspective, and I think we normally think of those words to mean differ- ent places, different countries, different colors of skin, but not different sexual orientation.\u201d

He continued, \u201cI think there is an aspect of diversity that is cov- ered in that field that is glazed over at the university level.\u201d

In the case of the three proposals under consideration last week, the CSL was not approached before the student body voted last April.

\u201cIt seems clear to us that it is the intention of the Constitution that these things be vetted before they go to a vote,\u201d said CSL Faculty Co-Chair Steven Hirsch, an associ- ate professor of classics.

Certain student groups, such as the Asian American Alliance and the Queer Straight Alliance, send community representatives to the Senate as liaisons.

The Nov. 21 ruling suggested altering the wording of the first amendment to more clearly estab- lish how great a majority of sena- tors is needed to grant community representatives to organizations.

The decision comes after the CSL decided in May to seek more input from the student body before ruling on the amendments\u2019 lan- guage. The CSL postponed action until this semester, when it gath- ered more input from students and other interested parties. The CSL kept the first hour of a Nov. 14 meeting open to the public.

Sophomore Chris Snyder had submitted a complaint against the amendments in April, alleging that ECOM failed to prominently display an \u201cabstain\u201d option on the ballot or sufficiently advertise the proposed amendments ahead of time.

Snyder withdrew his complaint last week, following a long and bumpy appeals process.

\u201cThe student body did not get the good chance to really look at this amendment back in April, and thanks to the CSL\u2019s ruling now the student body can really look at this and see what is the implication,\u201d said Snyder, who is also a copy edi- tor for the Daily.

The CSL recognized Snyder\u2019s claim about the lack of advertis- ing for the referenda, which were overshadowed in April by the TCU presidential election.

\u201c[W]e believe it will be in the best interests of the student body to take a new vote on the three amendments in an election where the proposals have been well-pub- licized ahead of time,\u201d the CSL rul- ing stated.

The Senate will lead a discus- sion about community represen- tation and other issues relating to the amendments, Pickard said. This initiative will follow recom- mendations made by the CSL in its ruling.

Pickard will propose new ver- sions of the amendments next semester. \u201cBefore we do that, cer- tainly we can have a conversation in the community about whether that\u2019s the best way to move for- ward,\u201d he said.

Pickard added that he will collect signatures for another 250-person petition for the new versions of the amendments.

\u201cI think that financial aid is not our responsibility, and the uni- versity has committed to meeting that need no matter what,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rest of the country is trying to save money, and I think we should be doing the same.\u201d

Shapanka said that since the recovered funds replace money allegedly skimmed from each fam- ily\u2019s contribution to the Student Activities Fee, they should be spent on all members of the community, not just those who receive aid.

\u201cMost parents and students would be upset if they found out their student activities money was going towards someone else\u2019s financial aid,\u201d he said.

Senator Greg Meiselbach, a senior, agreed. \u201cI think it is a noble idea, but unfortunately, the money is derived from the Student Activities Fee and thus shouldn\u2019t be allocated to financial aid,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not the role of student senators to pledge \u2026 activities fees as aid or grants for our peers.\u201d

Pickard responded to this by pointing to the symbolic value of a scholarship fund that would honor Tufts\u2019 commitment to its students.

\u201cGiving money in the scholar- ship benefits all students,\u201d Pickard said. \u201cIt leaves a legacy that honors not only the current students at Tufts but also past students who paid into the recovered funds and had money stolen from them as well.\u201d

\u201cEveryone is cutting spending \u2014 across the university, across the country,\u201d he said. \u201cFor us to be spending just because we feel obligated to spend this money \u2014 because we\u2019ve gone through a three-month process of soliciting opinions \u2014 is unwise.\u201d

Both Wallis and Shapanka advocated saving the bulk of the money while setting aside a por- tion for supplemental funding for the Allocations Board, which dis- tributes money to student groups. They have also considered allow- ing some of the funds to accrue interest, which could be spent on financial aid.

Senator Toby Bonthrone, a senior, said the plan to save the money is out of line with the Senate\u2019s obligation to support the university as much as possible on behalf of students.

\u201cFor us to turn around and not do anything in return when we have an opportunity that\u2019s equiva- lent to a lottery win \u2014 that doesn\u2019t seem very ethical and that seems to be abrogating responsibility for the future of Tufts to anyone but the students,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that is any form of leadership or solidarity.\u201d

Bonthrone added that the uni- versity\u2019s immediate goal after pro- viding for students is retaining the staff crucial to the institution\u2019s aca- demic caliber.

He suggested that supplement- ing financial aid would take some strain off the administration\u2019s focus on students and help it to

\u201cIf we give money to the uni- versity, it will help them with their overall goal to save as much as pos- sible on what makes the university important,\u201d Bonthrone said. \u201cWe would give the money towards financial aid and give them one less thing to worry about.\u201d

Bonthrone said that given the economy\u2019s current volatility, wait- ing for more data before acting would be out of touch with the reality of the situation.

\u201cThe last thing you\u2019re going to find is clarity at any point in this academic year,\u201d he said. \u201cIf peo- ple want a clear situation where they know what\u2019s going to happen with the economy, they\u2019re setting a benchmark that is far too high.\u201d

Pickard issued a similar call for swift action. \u201cI think that this is an opportunity that we have now, and I hear the concerns that we don\u2019t know what the financial situation is going to be like in years to come, but ultimately when we\u2019re making this decision we could always wait for more information,\u201d Pickard said. \u201cInstead of tying up the Senate and the student body with this conversation, we should make a decision unless there\u2019s a compel- ling reason to keep the money for the future.\u201d

The funds in question are left over from the $902,338 that the university gave the Senate in September as repayment for money allegedly embezzled by former Office of Student Activities employees Jodie Nealley and Ray Rodriguez.

seminar series, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Department of Economics have invited Andrea Vindigni, an assis- tant politics professor at Princeton University, to speak about dif- ferent facets of military dictator- ships.

ics professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, will talk as part of the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach\u2019s (CEEO) Engineering Education Seminar Series.

\u201cWOMeN\u2019s
sTuDies reseArch
cOllOquiuM\u201d

Health Lecturer Edith Balbach will address how the tobacco industry has used marketing techniques to target women.

\u201cGlObAl pOssibiliTies
Of reliGiOus
eNvirONMeNTAlisM\u201d

Roger Gottlieb from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute will look at the intersection of environmental-

\u201cMiDDle eAsT
chAlleNGes
fOr AN ObAMA
ADMiNisTrATiON\u201d

fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, will discuss issues that President-elect Barack Obama will have to deal with, such as the threat of a nuclear Iran and conflicts between Israel and the Arab world. A Kosher lunch will be served.

\u201chOW Will ObAMA
reiNveNT The
GOverNMeNT?\u201d

lunch, Elaine Kamarck, a pub- lic policy lecturer at Harvard\u2019s Kennedy School, will examine how the Obama administra- tion will change the way that the U.S. government functions. Under then-President Bill Clinton, Kamarck created and managed the National Performance Review. R.S.V.P. to Douglas.Foote@tufts. edu. Fruit and drinks will be pro- vided.

\u201cNeGOTiATiNG WiTh
TerrOrisTs iN The
MiDDle eAsT\u201d

Moty Cristal will talk about how he foresees the Obama adminis- tration approaching the Middle East. Cristal currently serves as a senior consultant to the Israeli

\u201cTrAciNG GlObAl-
scAle iNfOrMATiON
flOW usiNG iNTerNeT
chAiN-leTTer DATA\u201d

assistant computer science pro- fessor at Carleton College, will discuss how information spreads on a global scale with the rise of Internet chain letters.

director of space life sciences at the Johnson Space Center, will describe innovative space medici- nal and biomedical research strat- egies. Davis will also talk about the Orion and Ares projects, two new lunar exploration missions.

\u201cevOluTiON Of
AviAN visiON AND
cOlOrATiON\u201d

William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology at Yale University, will lecture about how certain birds evolve. Coffee, tea and cookies will be served in the lobby fifteen minutes before the event begins.

to publish syllabi online before course registration so that stu- dents can get a better sense of course material before signing up.

Pickard said he expects other groups to pick up on some of the goals of the Education Committee\u2019s plan. \u201cSome admin- istrators have described it as the next trend here in student pro- gramming,\u201d he said, referring to increasing faculty-student inter- actions.

Pickard stressed that faculty and students alike are interest- ed in establishing better con- nections outside of classes. \u201cWe want to find ways to fulfill that interest,\u201d Pickard said.

Rattiner echoed the belief that interest on both sides is present and noted that it is up to both stu- dents and faculty to get involved. \u201cI think it\u2019s time that students demanded that their teachers be more engaged, and I think it\u2019s time for teachers to demand that students be more interested,\u201d he said. \u201cIt works both ways.\u201d

Tufts may not be considered a \u201ccommuter school\u201d in the typical sense, but for the faculty \u2014 some of whom live as far away as New York City \u2014 getting to Tufts everyday is often more complicated than just getting in a car.

When Computer Science Lecturer Ben Hescott gets up in the morning to commute from Arlington Heights, Mass., to Tufts, he must often brave the inclement weather conditions, preferring, instead, to travel by bike.

\u201cI have a lot of pressure at home and from family members to buy a car and stop biking, but I resist this,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to deal with parking [and also my commute] is not that far. It\u2019s about 25 minutes on the bike, so it\u2019s nice to kind of collect your thoughts.

\u201cYou\u2019re not really in the traffic \u2014 you have to pay attention a little bit but I\u2019ve got a lot of bike paths on the way so it\u2019s easier in some ways,\u201d he continued \u201cAnd there\u2019s a lot of free- dom because if I want to get to MIT or Harvard for a meeting it\u2019s very close and it\u2019s very quick to get there, and I don\u2019t have to worry about parking and stuff like that.\u201d

Hescott is one of many professors at Tufts who hits the road on a bike everyday. Associate Professor Alva Couch, also of the computer science department, has the luxury of choos- ing from his extensive bike collection when he makes the seven-mile com- mute from Woburn, Mass.

\u201cI have 30 bicycles in my collection, including seven I have earmarked for commuting,\u201d Couch wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. \u201cAmong these, I have several fixed-gear bicycles \u2026 and a one-speed beach cruiser equipped with ice tires with car- bide studs. I ride different bicycles depending upon my mood, how tired I am, the weather and my route to Tufts, which I vary from day to day.\u201d

Couch also varies his morning trek by choosing from a number of differ- ent routes.

\u201cThough Tufts is only seven miles away via the shortest route, I usually add a minimum of two miles in order to make for a more pleasant ride,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I have the time, I may add

up to five more miles on the inbound journey. It is a really fun part of my day. I need the exercise and also use the time to reflect on what needs to be done today. I vary the bike I ride and the route to get more exercise on

year and a half has passed since Alec Ernest set foot on campus, and in that time, we\u2019ve seen him go from

the cloyingly boisterous, big-haired and belligerent freshman to the slightly more subdued sophomore who, shedding his dark locks, also seemed to shed a bit of his ram- bunctiousness.

Yes, I think many would agree that Alec is a tamer beast these days \u2014 thawing the hearts that once hardened against him and his sur- plus ruckus. But despite the reformation, there is no end to the irony of the last name, for Alec is still anything but earnest.

The first day we met, I remember sitting shotgun in his SUV as we drove around Santa Monica and wondering, \u201cDid he just call himself a ladies man?\u201d It seemed a stretch. My girlfriend at the time also met Alec and reported that she was surprised by his candor in discussing the women that ebb and flow throughout his life. She also added that he made a few brazen attempts at flirtation. So I guess I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised when she visited Tufts six months later and, upon our returning from a night on the town, found her suitcase missing a number of delicates. And by delicates I mean thongs. Guess who shot them all over the room?

I guess the main question that comes to mind when one thinks of Alec is not who he is, but who the heck he thinks he is. He brandishes a big game. An accomplice to his big game is the classic Ernestian technique for getting attention: He says blasphemous things and sits back with a grin as he watches his listeners\u2019 faces contort with forced smiles in attempts to conceal how uncomfortable they are. Once you\u2019re used to it though, it\u2019s not half bad; entertaining, even. And I\u2019ve seen it evolve: He\u2019s honed his skill into a marvel- ous ice-breaking social instrument. He uses it mostly around girls he is interested in. And the girls seem to like it too; they see it as a sort of fearlessness. And so does he.

\u201cLook at the dirty things that spill from my mouth!\u201d he seems to exclaim. \u201cEach one a monument to my audacity! My utter distaste for the rules!\u201d

I\u2019ve got to admit, it\u2019s impressive. I\u2019ve been surprised more than once by the interested fluttering of a girl\u2019s eyelashes and her slightly embarrassed rouge cheeks. Yes, some fall for it, his sort of candid crudity, for it\u2019s not without its particular charm \u2014 a mirthful laugh and rogu- ish look from those light blue eyes.

When asked if he had any remarks about the TUTV series \u201cMouthwash,\u201d Alec, who plays Travis, said, \u201cI really didn\u2019t kiss as many girls in the show as it seems like. Everyone thinks I\u2019m kissing mad girls, but I counted and it really was only like three.\u201d Ah yes, only three. A wee number compared to his lifetime of smooching.

Alec was one of the few students around campus this Thanksgiving weekend. When we spoke on the phone, I kind of felt like I was talking to the planet\u2019s lone survivor of a freak catastrophe: \u201cWanna know how many people I saw on campus on Thanksgiving? Not one,\u201d he said.

Bored out of his mind, Alec got to think- ing about his priorities in life. \u201cI have a list of things I need to do in my life,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, be a fireman.\u201d But number one on the list: \u201cBecome the guy that drives the horse car- riage through Central Park.\u201d

As you may know, Alec is not wholly the macho troublemaker that I\u2019m making him out to be. He has a softer side, whether he\u2019s willing to admit it or not. Heck, he told me he\u2019s still afraid of the dark. Adding, \u201cDude, I have a nightlight at home,\u201d as if I didn\u2019t believe him.

As an ode to our California roots, we will occasionally skateboard late at night under the glow of campus lights. I\u2019ve caught glimps- es of the earnest Alec, a guy who squeezes a kind of blunt honesty from us all, whether he knows it or not.

Because of its smoothness, strength and luster, silk has long been used in clothing. In recent years, how- ever, researchers like Biomedical Engineering Professor David Kaplan have been experimenting with new applications \u2014 particularly in biologi- cal integration \u2014 of this unique mate- rial.

It\u2019s mechanically strong, it\u2019s versatile, you can process it in water and it\u2019s compatible with the

then be used in a variety of applica- tions.

In the summer of 2006, Kaplan, while working on engi- neering an artificial cornea out of silk, went to Associate Biomedical Engineering Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto, a specialist in femtosec- ond lasers and ultra-fast nonlinear optics.

\u201cDavid asked me to poke holes on some silk,\u201d Omenetto said. \u201cThey were making a scaffold to make a cornea out of silk. I looked at it and saw that it looked like it would be a good mate- rial for optics. No one had done any-

Kaplan and Omenetto immediately began researching silk\u2019s optical prop- erties, and over the past two years, silk has proven itself an ideal material in many respects.

Michael Goetzman is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Michael.Goetzman@tufts.edu.