In an article a couple of weeks ago for my column, "The Social Entrepreneur," I proposed a list of 10 things Tufts students could do to become better members of the Tufts Community. One of these items was, "Say thank you to a Tufts worker." The overwhelming majority of my experiences with Tufts staff have been extraordinarily positive. Every transcript I ordered has been sent, every room I reserved has been reserved and every question I have had has been answered. But I witnessed something the other day that smeared my rosy image of Tufts workers.
It all started when I was tabling for one of my jobs as summer storage and shipping manager for collegeboxes.com and Tufts Student Resources. As many of you have experienced firsthand, tabling is an essential part of marketing for any event. Dragging yourself to the dining halls and heckling exiting diners about your event is a right of passage for any successful event planner. It was the last Friday afternoon before classes ended and the last thing I wanted to be doing was table at the dining hall. But I did it anyway for the sake of getting that extra customer.
As I was reading the Daily, a student came into the dining hall with newly minted copies of the Tufts Observer. Although I've never been a huge fan of the Observer, I always make a point to pick up a copy of the shiny weekly magazine when I see it around campus. I picked up my hot-off-the-press copy started perusing the latest issue. As I looked up, I noticed a Tufts dining worker pick up half of the copies of the magazine and throw them right into the trash. I was dumbfounded by such an utter disregard for all the hard work and student activities money that had just been thrown away.
I realize that there is a need to keep the dining halls clean, but this act was stepping over the line. The magazine had just been placed in the designated area in neat piles. There was no mess, just pages of writing and hours of hard work. Being an on-campus journalist this semester I know first-hand how much work goes into developing, writing and publishing an on-campus publication. I've spent hours writing, researching and editing my column. Similarly, students that write for the Observer have logged as many hours putting out a weekly magazine on top of classes, friends and extra-curriculars.
But all of this effort went into the garbage can last Friday. I was appalled by this act and felt it necessary to take the time to write a viewpoint about it. How many issues of campus publications have gone unread? How many painstakingly researched articles have not seen the light of day? How many witty columns have only been seen by the bottom of a trash pail? How many student activity dollars have been wasted?
I remember reading some college guide before coming to Tufts that said that campus publications do not get read by students. Is this a result of an apathetic student population or merely dining hall workers throwing away publications prematurely?
I'll be the first to admit that Tufts school spirit isn't the greatest, but I don't think it'll get any better by censorship of Tufts publications by dining hall workers. Most of the dining hall workers I have encountered have been friendly and assiduous. But seeing the dining hall employee throw away copies of an on-campus publication just as they were placed in a publication-designated spot has smeared my image of Tufts Dining Services.
Admissions tour guides are quick to brag to prospective students and parents that Tufts dining is highly ranked among colleges around the nation in food quality; I'd propose that Tufts dining is also highly ranked in Soviet style censorship of campus media. Tufts students (or their parents) pay a lot to attend a world class university with many opportunities at hand, one of which is writing and publishing a student publication. Seeing the Observer thrown away before it can have a chance to be read should be appalling to every Tufts student. Tuft Community Union Senators and Tufts administrators should make sure that this does not happen in the future.
Loi To is a junior majoring in political science and Russian.
