Battle Report

The following is a retelling of three days' events of the International Relations "Nations" Simulation. Warning: Contains Game Spoilers.

Jumbo Spirit

With Tuftonia's Day approaching (Friday), we're seeing a lot of great spirit on campus...everything from excitement over the election of Tomas Garcia as out new TCU President (by a 78% landslide victory), to some creative tree decor, to mascots in the dining halls. Here's a quick peek:

The campaign was a huge success; Tomas was elected by a 56-point margin with roughly 31% electoral participation. 

Cannon Watch

Wouldn't it be cool if we had someone who posted new pictures of the cannon to TuftsLife or a blog each day? I'm not volunteering - yet - but I'll just float the proposition. Until then, here's some awesome cannon campaigning from yesterday. It was my first time painting (Sunday night!) and it looks good.

Bob Woodward, Reporting Live

The Richard E. Snyder President's Lecture brought a second well-known speaker to the university this year: Bob Woodward. If the name sounds familiar, that's because your American education probably mentioned the Woodward/Bernstein Watergate Papers, breaking the Richard Nixon scandal to the world. So that's who we're talking about.

Bob Woodward

He Has Risen, Bread Hasn't

Sunny day. I woke up, dressed up in nice clothes, and made myself some jelly on matzah. Crunching away at the table outside my room, I wondered what I would reply to any passerby who asked, "What are you all dressed up for today?" No one came, so I never got the chance. The answer would have been an interesting one: I was dressed for Easter services; why yes, this is matzah, would you like?

Just kidding atheists, we love you too.

Massive Multiplayer Real-Time Strategy

If you've played Civilization or higher stages of Spore, you know what it's like to run a little virtual society. If you've played World of Warcraft or Runescape, you know what it's like to play with a ton of other people in the game's universe. But if you haven't taken Intro to International Relations, you haven't experienced the ultimate in gaming: the IR Simulation.

Official, provided map of "Lostralia"

Passover on Campus

Wonder what it's like keeping Passover at Tufts? I was surprised to learn how accommodating the university actually is. At the dining halls, they actually have stations set up with Kosher-for-Passover food, complete with disposable plates and silverware.

They've got lots and lots of Matza!

Tomas for Tufts

Next Tuesday is the presidential election for the Tufts Community Union senate. Candidate Tomas Garcia will be running, and his online presence will be provided by none other than:

www.tomasfortufts.com

A screenshot of the website. Elections take place 4/26/11.

A website created by...you guessed it...yours truly (in conjunction with others)! Check out the site, and, if you're a Jumbo, vote for Tomas on April 26th!

Tufts Mock Trial: 3rd in the Nation

In 2003, the Tufts Mock Trial team was founded. It did not compete. In 2005, TMT competed in its first Regional tournament, and in 2006, its first Invitational tournament. In 2008, it hosted its first Invitational, the Mumbo Jumbo. In 2010, TMT went to its first National tournament. It did not rank. This weekend, then, made for TMT history, as the Jumbos took 3rd in the division at Nationals. Out of over 600 teams originally competing, whittled down to 48 before Nationals in De Moines, Iowa, and broken into two divisions (24 teams each), Tufts established itself as one of the best programs in the country.

The three freshmen on the eight-person team. 2014, represent!

Blogging for Dollars

According to this Tufts Daily article, blogging might actually help me land a job. In journalism, that is.

Still, if the question "Do you blog?" is the number one interview question posed to graduates of Tufts' Communications & Media Studies Program minor, it might prove useful. After all, graduates of CMS go on to work in marketing, web development, public relations, issue advocacy, law, reporting, editing, and the like. Some of those sound pretty good.

"Cure" Hits Campus Headlines

The top drawer of my dorm desk is full of odd things. An electric razor, a pack of Ice Breakers (mints), a beat-up box of Princess Beads (a prop for this year's mock trial case)...these are a few of the items inside. Buried under them sits a small stack of thin newspapers: editions of the Tufts Daily. Two ran articles on mock trial. Another three ran Op-Eds that I wrote.

Now, for the first time, a new sort of article has joined the collection. It isn't anything I wrote, and it isn't about any club I joined. It's a front-page article complete with a full-color photograph. It continues onto page 2. It looks like this:

The Tufts Daily, Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Holi at Tufts

Sunday, Jumbos celebrated the Hindu festival "Holi," throwing colored powder at one another. A few upper-classmen had mentioned that it was pretty fun, but that was an understatement. It was awesome! So many people, all running around on a warm sunny day, armed with bags of colorful clumps - it was thrilling.

Wondering why that side of my face is so colorful? Ask the innocent-looking one...

A New Order

And now, three quick updates from the Hill:

1) I auditioned (Tuesday) for a theatrical performance here at Tufts. The Directing II class is presenting a series of one-act plays (roughly 10 minutes each) on Monday, May 2nd, 2011. After auditioning, I have been given the part (woohoo!) of Des in Harold Pinter's "New World Order." It's kind of dark.

What New World Order could look like. If I were 50.

95 Theses?

Last night, at approximately 10:43pm EST, a firestorm of comments broke out in response to a status I posted on Facebook:

Moral dilemma: I need to dry laundry. The two-dryer system is blinking "select type;" that is to say, someone has paid for one of the dryers but not hit "go." I can use their credit on the other dryer, drying my laundry for free. Or, I can hit "go" on their machine, drying their laundry for them. Pros and cons: go!

Islam Awareness Week

This week at Tufts, the Muslim Students Association is holding "Islam Awareness Week," dedicated to teaching everyone what Islam is all about.

I made a point to stop by the booth in the Campus Center today before lunch. Just from a brief few-minute knowledge survey, I've already learned some things. For the sake of brevity, they are, simply:

Ticket Stubs

Friday

Shabbat at Hillel for the first time in quite a few weeks (thanks to Mock Trial and Spring Break) was lots of fun, although I had to ignore the Rabbi's weekly encouragement to "eat slowly," as I was rushing off to see a performance of Pippin, an odd but ultimately enjoyable musical with a redeeming ending and some pretty cool sets.

Through the Looking Glass

Ever wanted to read Peacelight through a bizarre filter? Now you can - in 5 new styles!

"Flipcard," one of five new viewing styles. Click to enlarge.

Try our yummy new flavors, including:

1. Flipcard
2. Mosaic
3. Sidebar
4. Snapshot
5. Timeslide

Sometimes I wonder why Google pays people to come up with these things. Then I remember how much money Google has.

Construction Update

I received the following email yesterday, regarding construction taking place near my dorm:

[Begin Forwarded Message]

Dear Members of the Tufts Community:

As some of you may have noticed, there have been many construction workers operating in the area between South Hall and the Campus Center. We have received many calls and emails from the community regarding the noise from this project. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused. However, we feel that, given the nature of the project, it was imperative that we begin construction as early as possible.

For the past 10 years, Lawrence Seldon Bacow and Adele Fleet Bacow have been an integral part of the Tufts community. While we in no way wish to belittle the legacy they have left in our hearts, we are incredibly grateful for the generous legacy the Bacows have decided to leave to the campus.

Although they prepare to depart from the Hill, the Bacows will continue to be a strong presence on campus. We are pleased to announce that, thanks to a considerable donation from our university's First Family, a monumental marble statue, towering at 20 feet tall, will be erected in the space beside the Performance Hangar. Larry's likeness and the surrounding hillside will be renamed the "Bacow Pavilion."

This statue will be the largest monument to be built on campus since the model of Jumbo replaced our beloved mascot in the 1970s. In light of the recent cancellation of the Nighttime Quad Reception, the administration hopes that new and meaningful traditions will be built around the Pavilion. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place May 21st, the evening before Commencement, so that the graduating class of 2011 and their families will have the honor of being the first to behold this monolithic marvel.

Several members of the Board of Trustees have raised concerns in regard to the possibility of overshadowing the university's only other statue on campus: Jumbo the Elephant. In an exclusive conference, board members met to determine whether or not the mascot would need to be renamed in order to reflect the apparent discrepancy in relative size. Suggested replacement names included "Dogo," "Tiny," and "Peanut." President Bacow spoke out against this idea, saying, "Between the train and the fire, the poor mammal has suffered enough."

We hope that this tribute will leave a lasting impression on the community, long after students have outgrown their "Larry Bacow is my Homeboy" T-shirts.

Any further questions related to the construction project should be directed to:

Olaf P. Loris

Office of the Bacow Legacy

Ballou Hall, 8th Floor

Medford, MA 02155

http://construction.tufts.edu/

[End Forwarded Message]

Someone had fun crafting this for April Fool's Day. Nice work!