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Jumbo Drop recycling program canceled this year

    Students will have to look elsewhere for second-hand mirrors and microwaves. Jumbo Drop, the annual sale that redistributes used student items, will not be held this year due to cost issues.     Items for Jumbo Drop are collected in May and resold in September in an effort to reduce the waste created by move-outs. Funds raised are donated to charity, but facility department recycling coordinator Dawn Quirk, who is in charge of the program, said that inefficiencies have prevented the operation from giving money to charity in the past five years.     Jumbo Drop — which began as a student-run initiative six years ago — receives $5,000 from the Facilities department every year, but the funding is not enough to pay student employees, store items over the summer and operate the sale in the fall.     Items collected by Jumbo Drop employees last year will be donated to a charity rather than resold to Tufts students, and workers will continue to collect goods in the future. The hope, Quirk said, is that a bigger organization will be able to turn a profit from the donated items.     Quirk said that she regretted the cancellation of the sale but emphasized that the sale's main objective — waste reduction — may be better facilitated through other means.     "As a facilities and Tufts Recycles! operation, our main goal is to keep items out of the trash. Absent the many hours of organizing usually dedicated to running the sale, I was able to ramp up other efforts," she said.     Student workers and volunteers helped to recycle six cubic yards of cardboard, 96 bags of compost, 350 pounds of food and 25 bags of glass, metal and plastic in just one day of freshman orientation, according to Quirk.     Although she said the cancellation of the sale may be a blow to veteran student shoppers, Quirk did not feel they would be too inconvenienced thanks to other venues that are available for reselling used items, including popular sites like Craigslist.com and TuftsLife.com.     Quirk added that most students who buy Jumbo Drop items live off-campus and seek furniture. With its "yard sale" format, she said, Jumbo Drop never received the best furniture anyway.     The quality of items left behind or donated by students also created inefficiencies for the Jumbo Drop team.     Senior Audra Buckley, a Jumbo Drop student worker, said that student workers spend a lot of time testing donated electronics. "A lot of the electronics end up not working and have to be thrown away," she said in an e-mail. "So in the end, much time is wasted."     Buckley further explained that many students take items from Jumbo Drop without paying.     Storing the Jumbo Drop items until the sale in the fall also proved problematic. Junior Kelsey Schur, another Jumbo Drop worker, described the physical condition of the warehouse as a major roadblock to the sale's success.     "The warehouse that we keep things in leaks badly, there is serious flooding and the conditions became so incredibly hot and moldy that it is hard to work," Schur said. She added that some goods were damaged or destroyed through transport and flooding, which decreased the total quality of the sale.     "[Jumbo Drop] is a noble effort, but people could do that themselves from year to year," Schur said. "They could make more of an effort to save things and find ways to reuse this stuff without us helping them."     Quirk said that in the time she would have dedicated to Jumbo drop, she was able to review recycling guidelines with the custodial staff earlier this year. "This means that the cardboard generated from the move-in process will be recycled more diligently because I already had face time to instruct every person on the cleaning crew," she said.

Nutrition, academic performance linked to healthy morning meal

    For many students, the routine is not uncommon: roll ot of bed, rush to class, and skip breakfast entirely — save for little more than a cup of coffee. But this daily ritual (or, rather, lack thereof) may contribute to more than just a hectic morning.     Nutrition experts such as Dr. Christina Economos, associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, warn that skipping breakfast can have negative consequences on weight and academic performance. It is part of the larger problem of college students' questionable nutritional habits.     It is no secret that college students are frequently sleep deprived, so when one has to choose between breakfast and sleep, breakfast often gets pushed to the wayside.     Sophomore Sam Sazer said he usually skips breakfast because his first class is at noon this semester. "Between sleep and breakfast, sleep wins out," Sazer said.     According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, less than 30 percent of college students get the recommended eight or more hours of sleep a night. Experts like Economos, however, warn that skipping breakfast for an extra 15 minutes of shuteye is no way to get more energy for the day ahead.     "When people [skip breakfast] and their blood sugar or blood glucose levels fall overnight and they wake up and try to perform on low blood glucose, they tend to get really irritable, and they're so hungry that the next time they do eat, they might overeat," Economos said.     Forgoing bowls of cereal or scrambled eggs can also adversely affect academic performance. "It depends on how long you're going to try to perform with low blood glucose levels, but your brain certainly relies on a certain level of circulating blood glucose or blood sugar, and when that starts to dip, you can't focus [or] maintain that focus for long periods of time," Economos said.     Sophomore Robyn Jong said that breakfast usually helps her feel energized in the morning, even if it comes at the cost of a few minutes of sleep. "If I don't eat breakfast, then I tend to fall asleep in class," she said.     Senior Claire Stevenson says she also never skips breakfast. "I'm always hungry when I wake up," she said in an e-mail. "You're going to start thinking about food, and your mission, biologically, is going to be to get food, so it's a real distraction."     Other students, like sophomore Austin Glassner, don't prioritize their morning meal. "I skip breakfast all the time," Glassner said. "I always eat late at night, so I'm never really hungry when I wake up, and it holds me over until lunchtime."     For students like sophomore Katrina Knisely, breakfast is practically sacred. One semester, Knisely made it to Dewick every morning by eight so that she had time for a "relaxing" meal before her 8:30 calculus class. But for those who can't stop hitting the snooze button, there are more portable solutions.      "During the school year I try to make sure I eat a full breakfast," sophomore Aaron Bartel said in an e-mail. "I would rather be a little sleepier and avoid hunger. If I don't have enough time to sit down, I will just drop by a dining hall and leave with a mug of coffee and bagel to eat on the way to class."     Economos stressed that students should avoid falling into a pattern of skipping breakfast and at the very least should follow Bartel's strategy and have something small to eat in the morning, even if they are in a rush. Otherwise, they run the risk of frequently overeating at lunch or dinner. "Small, frequent eating is actually better," she said.     Economos added that breakfast is only part of the problem when it comes to college students' nutrition and health habits.     "A lot of times, students sacrifice their nutrition for other things that feel more pressing at the time, like studying or socializing, or doing laundry or something they might not have been responsible for earlier," Economos said.     Students often replace the calories they would get from healthful foods eaten at home, like fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy, with calories obtained from late-night snacks, salty or fatty foods and alcohol.     Economos said that the so-called "freshman 15" is actually usually closer to a five-pound weight gain over the course of freshman year. "It's still significant for a lot of students," she said. "And the weight often remains with students through the rest of their college years."     "It's something to be really aware of when you arrive at school and try to remain in energy balance by consuming the same [number] of calories that you expend," Economos said. College students are often less active than they were in high school, particularly if they no longer participate in organized sports.     Students do play a role in shaping the university's food options, according to Economos, who encouraged students to be aware of this. "The more students request certain foods, the more [likely] those demands will be met, so students really need to speak up," she said.     Luckily for junior Yein Kim, the dining halls are doing fine with her most important meal of the day.     "Breakfast is the only meal I actually like here," she said.

Tufts receives $40 million gift

    Inventor Bernard Gordon (H '92) has committed $40 million to the School of Engineering in order to bolster engineering leadership programs for undergraduates, the university announced yesterday.     Gordon, a Tufts trustee emeritus who had previously donated $35 million to Tufts to support the Gordon Institute, the construction of Sophia Gordon Hall and other causes, has long been a proponent of leadership training for engineers.     The money will go largely toward redesigning a minor centered on engineering leadership, hiring more engineering professors and increasing the amount of project-based learning opportunities for undergraduates studying engineering.     "Dr. Gordon's gift is another significant investment in Tufts by one of our most loyal and generous supporters," University President Lawrence Bacow told the Daily in an e-mail. "We are enormously grateful for his latest vote of confidence in Tufts, especially during these challenging economic times."     Gordon's donation will provide resources for the expansion of preexisting programs at the Gordon Institute, a leadership-development center within the School of Engineering. It will also help provide leadership and practical training for a wider swath of engineering students.     "I think that this is going to help us achieve a really unique program in educating engineers," Dean of Engineering Linda Abriola said. "I'm looking to not only benefit the students who would be part of some kind of engineering leadership minor, but also benefit all of our students."     The gift will bolster the School of Engineering's expanding efforts to prepare undergraduates for leadership positions in technology by teaching them practical skills, a mission that falls in line with Gordon's extensive philanthropic giving to engineering education over the years.     Gordon, whom Bacow called "one of the engineering giants of the 20th century," holds over 200 patents worldwide and is known as the father of analog-to-digital conversion for his invention of the high-speed analog-to-digital converter. Other creations of his include the fetal monitor, CT scanners and the Doppler radar.     Gordon founded and formerly led Analogic Corporation in Peabody, Mass. and co-founded and currently chairs NeuroLogica Corporation in Danvers, Mass.     Gordon lived at Tufts in 1944 while participating in a Navy officers training program during World War II. More recently, he sat on the university's Board of Trustees for a decade (he left in 2006) and he currently serves on the School of Engineering's Board of Overseers and as an honorary co-chair of Tufts' ongoing capital campaign.     At Tufts, the push for the more practical training backed by Gordon has primarily occurred under the aegis of the Gordon Institute, which Gordon founded in 1984 and which moved to Tufts in 1992.     Recent curriculum reviews within the School of Engineering have led to a number of ideas for ways to improve leadership training, according to Gordon Institute Director Rob Hannemann.     "Engineering leadership has been on the docket to be discussed there for most of the last two years," he said. "This gift is going to allow us to carry out some of our plans, certainly more quickly than we would have been able to do."     Over the next academic year, planning and advisory committees aim to put these concepts into action, according to Hannemann.     "Our directions are going to emphasize engineering practice and engineering leadership," he said.     Project-based learning that will expose undergraduates to real-life engineering problems will be a centerpiece of these changes. Also, funds will most likely support the School of Engineering's professor-of-the-practice faculty model, in which experienced engineers come to Tufts to share working knowledge of their fields with students. The Funds may also help support the creation of additional internship opportunities for engineering students.     The reinvention of the Gordon Institute's long-standing engineering management minor aims to breathe new life into a program that has only attracted a handful of students in recent years. The minor stands to gain a new component that will give students real-life consulting experience, according to Hannemann, and will change its name to "engineering leadership."     In addition to that minor, the Gordon Institute offers a minor in entrepreneurial leadership to undergraduates in the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering.     With Gordon's donation, Tufts' Beyond Boundaries capital campaign hit over $1 billion.     The $1.2-billion campaign, which began its quiet phase in 2002 and was publicly announced in 2006, stood at $1.02 billion as of Monday, according to Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations Christine Sanni (LA ‘89). It aims to achieve its goal by 2011.     Conversations about Gordon's gift began months ago. Administrators learned of the inventor's commitment over the summer but waited until the start of the semester to make an announcement.     Beyond Boundaries has seen a number of high-profile donations over the past few years, and Gordon's donation ranks among the five largest, according to Sanni. In April, Tufts received $136 million — the largest gift in the university's history — from a charitable trust set up by engineer and businessman Frank Doble (E ‘11).     Other sizable contributions include around $100 million from Pierre and Pam Omidyar (LA ‘88 and ‘89, respectively) in 2005 to create the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund; $50 million from William S. Cummings (A ‘58) in 2004 to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine; and $40 million from Jonathan Tisch (LA ‘76) in 2006 to endow the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.

Video | Fall Ball '09: Cutting the line

Swine Flu prompts worries about Fall Ball

    Tufts officials "seriously considered" pulling the plug on Fall Ball for fear that cramped attendees might spread the swine flu virus, the university's medical director and dean of student affairs said yesterday in an e-mail to students.     Dean Bruce Reitman and Medical Director Margaret Higham urged students to stay away from the Friday dance if they feel ill, and to take precautions if they come to the dance.     The annual event typically is densely packed and highly populated. This year seems poised to keep up the precedent, as the line of students waiting to retrieve Fall Ball tickets yesterday snaked around the block.     Higham and Reitman encouraged students who had fallen ill to avoid attending not only Fall Ball but also all other school-sponsored social events this semester.     "This is a situation we've never encountered before, this type of pandemic flu," Higham told the Daily. She noted that there is the potential for an "explosive outbreak" of the virus on campus.     She said that the decision not to cancel Fall Ball had not been easy. "It's a hard call," she said.     But Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Brandon Rattiner said he was "not concerned at all" about the potential for an outbreak. He added that the Senate, which runs Fall Ball, was not consulted on the possibility of its cancellation.     "To be panicky and start implementing social-distancing policies at this time would be shortsighted," said Rattiner, a senior, alluding to the official e-mail's insistence that ill students avoid social gatherings. Such policies are sometimes implemented on college campus during disease outbreaks. Nearby Babson College shut down for two days last spring during a severe outbreak of the norovirus.     Reitman agreed with Higham that the extent of the flu's spread is impossible to know, but explained that because Fall Ball is an important tradition, the administration decided against canceling the event.     "It's the first social night of the year," Reitman told the Daily. "We want to be prudent about not adding an event that's likely to create an opportunity for the virus to spread ... but we don't know that [will happen]." But he emphasized that students should not attend if they are nervous about contracting the virus.     Higham stressed the importance of personal hygiene in helping to limit the risk of spreading the virus during the event. The e-mail offered suggestions to help limit potential exposure, including washing hands frequently and not sharing drinks. It also urged students to "be mindful about physical contact with others."     In May, Tufts confirmed cases of swine flu in two students, both recent graduates of the Class of 2009. No Medford-campus cases have yet been reported to the university this fall, according to Reitman.     Higham remains optimistic that if students are "conscientious" about hygiene and personal behavior on Friday night, there will be no major problems. Regardless, extra measures are in place to help encourage hygiene at the event, including hand sanitizer stations and extra staff on hand to maintain the Gantcher Center bathrooms. Extra bathroom facilities will also be added adjacent to the main building for use by attendees.     Administrators have not yet discussed canceling other university-wide events later in the year, according to Reitman. "I think Fall Ball presents the first real opportunity to see if people will be a little bit cautious," he said.

Shepard Fairey strikes again with new mural

This piece is the first in a two-part series examining the history behind Shepard Fairey's work on the Tufts campus.

$65 million influx boosts prospects for development in Assembly Sq. area

    After years of planning and delay, the development of a new transit-oriented community along the Mystic River in Somerville is on the road to completion.     Governor Deval Patrick this summer announced plans to provide funding for the project through a state-federal partnership. The plans call for more than $65 million in state-bond and federal-stimulus funding to construct public infrastructure at Assembly Square which would resemble that of nearby Davis Square.     Highlights of the proposal include plans for an Ikea furniture store that is expected to open by the end of 2011, a new Orange Line T station and a new waterfront park with bike and pedestrian paths.     The project is the result of a lengthy effort by the City of Somerville to develop 66.5 acres of former industrial space along the waterfront of the Mystic River.     The development of Assembly Square will create 1.15 million square feet of new stores, restaurants and a hotel, and 1.75 million square feet of office space. It is intended to produce around 20,000 permanent jobs. The development is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.     "Assembly Square is a critical piece of land for the City of Somerville that is being underutilized and underused," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone told the Daily. "The project … will build great new housing and create an incredible new dynamic space along the waterfront that residents from Somerville can live in and enjoy."     The key to the multi-phase program is the collaboration and partnership of various levels of government - federal, state and local - and several businesses in the private sector.     "The only way Assembly Square could have happened is if all the stars aligned with our partners from the residents in the community, the city of Somerville, the help of our private sector partners and the help of the state and federal government who have the leverage to get this project off the ground because of the money they control," Curtatone said.     The state has committed $50 million to public infrastructure through a bond-funded program devised to encourage investment from the private sector. The other $15 million comes from the highway transportation component of the federal government's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.     Twenty-five million dollars are exclusively earmarked for the development of the new T stop, according to Curtatone.     The project is being developed in partnership with Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust, a real estate trust specializing in large-scale projects.     "The fact is, during tough economic times it is because of this true public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Somerville and Federal Realty that this project continues to make steady progress," Federal Realty spokesperson Janelle Stevenson told the Daily.     The significance of Federal Realty's involvement is hardly limited to financial concerns, according to Curtatone. Federal Realty in 2006 played a key role in ending a nearly decade-long stalemate between Somerville landowners and Ikea over the location of the new Ikea store. The dispute threatened to end the redevelopment project, but Federal Realty arranged a deal that put it back on track.     The Assembly Square project is based on an urban-planning theory known as smart growth, in which development is focused on a central transportation hub. The policy advocates for environmentally friendly development that encourages bike, pedestrian and mass transit.     For those wondering what planners hope to accomplish with Assembly Square, the answer is waiting in Somerville's backyard. "Davis Square is a great example of what we're talking about," Curtatone said. "Most people that go there don't use a car. They travel on bike, they travel on foot, they use mass transit."     While the Assembly Square project seeks to speed up economic recovery in Somerville through its creation of construction and temporary jobs, it seems that the best economic stimulus may come later. Assembly Square should bring in $15 million in additional tax revenue, almost 9 percent of Somerville's total budget, according to Curtatone.     "We are talking about an economic development showcase - the only one of its magnitude on the East Coast that is currently under construction," Steve Azar, the city's senior program manager for Assembly Square, said. "Tax revenues from a project of this scale will help sustain Somerville services and assist in relieving the residential tax burden by offsetting them with new commercial tax revenues."

From the Editor-in-Chief | An eye on the present, a cursor on the future

    It seems like a tough act to follow and then, all of a sudden, it's outdone itself again. The news cycle: At the Daily, it makes our lives easier but keeps us low on sleep. Even before the university's infamous embezzlement scandal had wrapped itself up this summer, we found out that Bernard Madoff had left Tufts short $20 million.     But if there is one thing that has seen just as much forward momentum in recent years as the news cycle, it is the Internet — something that  has the power to either thrill or demoralize anyone in journalism.     It is with one eye trained on our obligation as Tufts' leading and most consistent news source, and the other on our need to continue riding the ever-mounting wave known as the Web, that we have defined our duties for this semester. Two years ago we trotted out our new-look Web site: brighter, easier to navigate and — most importantly — ripe for blogs, videos, audio and the other new media components that have come to define today's journalistic landscape.     But without any real infrastructure for consistent production of online-only content, our Web site has wasted opportunities — posting no more than a video here, an interview clip there and a blog post maybe once every few days.     That is why the implementation of a solid New Media Department is this semester's major initiative for reform. It's clear that the only way the Daily can make sure to stay relevant in the future, and to stand up to the forces of competition that inevitably arise even within a community as small as ours, is with a Web presence that draws clicks and transcends the capabilities of a piece of paper.     This semester, our fresh New Media Department plans on unveiling the Five O'Clock Foreshadow, a podcast that is recorded in the newsroom at 5 p.m. the night before each paper comes out and summarizes the next day's top stories. We will beef up our blogs, particularly The Scene, which covers arts on campus and in the region. And with a full staff committed entirely to the creation of videos, audio, slideshows, maps and the like, we will seek to make our Web site a more involving and exciting destination than before.     We started down this path with the semester's inaugural issue on Sept. 2, supplementing our four-page, pull-out Matriculation Guide with interactive maps, an audio feature and slideshows — choose-your-own-adventure tools that you couldn't find in print.     We are hopeful that we can continue to put out an increasingly engaging Web product, but we do need help. If turning the day's news and features into new media content interests you, please make sure to find your way to our general interest meeting on Sept. 16.     If you are more interested in simply figuring out what that construction that wakes you up at 8 a.m. each morning is for, what the football team's prospects for a title are this year or which campus play you should see this weekend, just head over to tuftsdaily.com and join the conversation. Sincerely, Giovanni Russonello Editor-in-Chief

Third Eye Blind's 'Ursa Major' fails to evolve

    When Third Eye Blind's eponymous debut album first hit the radio in 1997, it took only a matter of days for the band to become a household name among alternative and mainstream rock fans alike. Fueled by raw, anarchic musical and lyrical energy and a healthy dose of twenty-something angst, the album generated a string of massive hit singles, including such perennial radio classics as "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper." In a music industry dominated by grunge and post-grunge sewage like Bush, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden — all of whom largely spent this part of their careers attempting to replicate Nirvana — Third Eye Blind's upbeat, deftly-produced pop styling was a welcome breath of fresh air.     Despite its meteoric rise to fame, however, Third Eye Blind's second and third albums — "Blue" (1999) and "Out of the Vein" (2003) — were considerably less commercially successful. While they were tremendously popular among the band's condensed and devoted fan base, each album sold far fewer copies than its predecessor, and the pair produced fewer recognizable radio singles combined than the debut album had generated by itself. With dwindling record sales and a departure from its original record label, Third Eye Blind's heyday seemed to be at an end, and the following six years saw no new studio releases as the band faded more or less into obscurity.        Released on Aug. 17, Third Eye Blind's "Ursa Major" is only the fourth studio album in the band's 16-year career. Originally scheduled for release in 2007, the album's completion was delayed for a full two years by band leader Stephen Jenkins' writer's block and perfectionism. The album is characterized by the same signature sound that has driven every Third Eye Blind recording before it: a blend of '90s alternative pop and fuzzed-out heavy metal riffs, backing Jenkins' semi-guttural, in-your-face vocals and dark, uncensored lyrical posturing. All of this is capped off by a pulsing, psychedelic lead guitar, with a tight and laser-like tone unlike the guitar sound of any other band past or present.     The lead single, "Don't Believe a Word," is reminiscent of the band's later hits like "Crystal Baller," while the intense, sexually charged lyrics of "Why Can't You Be" and the instrumental "Carnival Barker" both hearken all the way back to the band's self-titled premiere. In short, the album is perfectly consistent with everything fans have come to expect from a Third Eye Blind album, and they have broken their recording fast in comfortable style.        As delightful as it surely is to the preexisting flock of rabid Third Eye Blind devotees to see their favorite band in the midst of an apparent musical comeback, listeners must consider exactly why Third Eye Blind faded from the spotlight in the first place. The band's first album was tremendously successful because of its comparative novelty in the extant musical climate of the late 1990s. It was sharp, fresh and groundbreaking, conducive to both headphone listening and a little bit of head-banging at the dance club. It was upbeat and poppy when most major rock labels were only interested in perpetuating the grunge sound that had become so infernally pervasive since Kurt Cobain's rise to power. It was, in a word, different.     Sadly, history shows that novelty when repeated ad nauseum gives way to formula, and both of Third Eye Blind's subsequent albums strictly adhered to the same pop rubrics that had led to the band's early success. In the end, both "Blue" and "Out of the Vein" appealed to the fans who had been reeled in by the first album and were looking for more of the same, but the lack of musical innovation across releases prevented the band from expanding their fan base or recapturing the favor of the modern rock radio stations that had so adored them in the past. Third Eye Blind simply wasn't new anymore.     A new album on the coattails of a six-year recording hiatus, then, seems like a prime opportunity for self-reinvention. By broadening their stylistic horizons and diversifying their songwriting portfolio, Third Eye Blind very easily could have rendered themselves once again musically relevant. The fact that they opted instead to doggedly employ the same compositional conventions with which they began their career is a befuddling disappointment.     The key to sustained critical and commercial success, as has been demonstrated time and time again, is evolution: When a band refuses to progress, what started as a distinctive, signature sound becomes simply a cliché, and even the most dedicated fans will eventually drift away. "Ursa Major" is fantastically well-executed, tightly performed, brilliantly produced and almost totally indistinguishable from any other Third Eye Blind album. As a collection of Third Eye Blind songs, "Ursa Major" is decent; as an album, a standalone entity, it has no distinct character unto itself, and — especially in light of the absurdly delayed release — is ultimately a letdown.

Steps to improve diversity awareness making little progress

    Plans to improve diversity awareness this semester have met a slow start and may go unnoticed by members of Tufts' Class of 2013 during orientation, but administrators pledge that a number of initiatives are in the works and will eventually address students' calls for increased awareness.     With last April's bias incident in hindsight, in which a then-freshman shouted racial slurs and engaged in a physical altercation with members of the Korean Students Association, administrators agree that orientation is an ideal environment to raise diversity issues. The office of University President Lawrence Bacow released a statement in the days following the incident that included plans to review the diversity component of orientation and "maximize its impact."     Most changes to diversity programming during orientation, however, remain behind the scenes or in the planning stages.             "There's definitely talk and a recognition that orientation is an important time to have this type of programming," said Office for Campus Life Director Joe Golia, an orientation organizer, but he added that no formal committee has been formed to discuss improvements to diversity education during orientation.     Orientation organizer Ryan Heman, a junior, attributed the slow start to a lack of people, money and experience. Most administrators and student organizers involved in orientation are new this year, he said.     "The way you get things to change is not to tell people you need things to change," he said. "We would love to see more people involved in diversity actually come forward with a program."     Golia said any changes discussed will be implemented in future years.     "It doesn't mean that we're not doing anything," he said. "If any time is great for this type of programming, it's orientation."     Orientation is largely run by students. Heman is working in a committee of eight.     "The problem is just that [for] our little committee," Heman said, "[diversity] is a big thing for us to tackle."     A number of diversity initiatives throughout the university are in planning stages but will not be revealed until later in the semester, according to Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman. He added that events and programs of this nature may not be appropriate for an orientation setting.     "You could have all the desire to include more things in the world, but there's only so much you can do in the two and a half days [of orientation]," he said.     Executive Director of Institutional Diversity Lisa Coleman and Provost Jamshed Bharucha plan to release the university's first annual report on diversity this fall, offering a "status report" on diversity initiatives across Tufts' campuses, according to Reitman. Coleman declined to comment on the report until it is released publicly.     Presenters at one of orientation's major programs, "Many Stories, One Community," which will take place on Thursday evening, also will announce a new social justice initiative to begin this fall, according to International Center Director Jane Etish-Andrews, one of the organizers of the program.     The program will offer diversity workshops for interested students. Organizers, including the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and members of the "Group of Six," a collection of Tufts student centers that seek to promote diversity, hope to offer a certificate in future years to students who partake in a number of these workshops.     Major changes to orientation this year have centered on Orientation Leader (OL) training, which has been informal in the past, Heman said. Coordinators created a new position to direct OL training and have set up formal training events focused on diversity issues.     Orientation Leaders have attended presentations on diversity-oriented programming that all freshmen are required to attend, including "Many Stories, One Community" and "In the SACK." OLs also have attended a training session by BEAT Bias, a student group that seeks to improve awareness of campus diversity.     "In general, we are putting a lot of emphasis on realizing that not everyone who comes to Tufts is that kind of stereotypical Tufts student," said senior Shani Scheiman, who is the first to hold the OL training coordinator position.     But Scheiman agreed that the task should not be confined to orientation     "Orientation is a great time for this type of training, but it's not just the orientation team that should be taking this challenge on," she said. "The entire university should be implementing programs."

LRAP program surges into second year

    Nearly 300 alumni in the non-profit and public sectors received help in the past year in paying off their student loans, thanks to a trailblazing university program encouraging many others to consider applying for funding as the program enters its second year.     The Loan Reduction Assistance Program (LRAP) disbursed over $450,000 in grants to 288 alumni of the university's undergraduate and graduate schools working in public-service occupations, which traditionally earn significantly less than those in the private sector. University officials have billed it as the first university-wide loan-repayment program in the nation.     "I was very pleased with the impact in the first year," said Tisch College Dean Robert Hollister, who was significantly involved in designing LRAP. He said the high volume of applications received — over 400 — indicated the existence of a real need for the program.     Eligible Tufts graduates received need-based awards ranging from $500 to $5,000. Money is given out on a year-to-year basis, and last year's recipients can reapply this year.     "The alumni who received awards have been very positive about the impact of them of getting this support," Hollister said.     The quantity of applications and level of interest ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline was on track with last year, according to Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler. In the first year, over 100 people were turned away, largely because "they didn't fall into the realm of need or they didn't qualify," LRAP Administrator Judi Kennedy said.     Josh Wolf (LA '08), who plans to apply to the program this year, said student-loan debt has muddled his hopes of attending graduate or law school. An LRAP grant, he said, would make a big difference.     "It's really hard for me to say that I'm going to go to law school," he said. "I'm going to go take out a bunch of loans for the second degree when I haven't even finished [paying off] the first one?"     LRAP's creation and its continuation into a second year, in which over $500,000 will again be put toward the program's administration and awards, reflect Tufts' commitment to active citizenship and its encouragement of students to give back beyond graduation, according to alumni and university officials.     "Tufts always sort of preaches this mission of public service and thinking globally and acting locally," said Courtney Boen (LA '06, MPH '07), a policy analyst for the Boston Public Health Commission's Center for Health Equity and Social Justice. She received $4,500 this year to put toward her $47,000 in student loans; the unexpected grant, she said, served as a "cushion" for her income.     "For me," Boen said, "Tufts really put its money where its mouth was."     New Hampshire State Rep. Scott Merrick (D), who was elected to office in 2004 as a sophomore at Tufts, praised the program and said an LRAP award would help a lot.     "Being a state rep in New Hampshire doesn't pay," Merrick (LA '08) said, adding that the position pays $100 per year. He is thinking about going to graduate school, but says his limited income and remaining student-loan debt have made that unfeasible for at least the next couple years.     "It's one of those things where it definitely impacts my current situation," he said, referring to the possibility of receiving an LRAP award. "If this does happen, it will greatly increase the chance I have to go on to grad school or law school … or whatever higher education I do."     No significant changes were made to the program this year other than "streamlining" the application process, according to Hollister. The initiative remains in its beginning stages, and administrators are still learning how to most effectively implement the program in all of Tufts' schools, he said.     Some have argued that one set deadline might not be the best approach to accommodate alumni.     "Unlike jobs in the private sector, where there's a very strict recruiting schedule, jobs in non-profits and the government pretty much start anytime in the year," said Stephan Vitvitsky (LA '06), who was ineligible for LRAP this past year because of the timing of a position he held.     Multiple deadlines throughout the year, or a rolling application process, would work better with the untraditional recruiting and hiring process in those fields, he said.     Director of Career Services Jean Papalia disputed the assertion that different schedules exist across the board, though. A single deadline ensures fairness in allocating awards, according to Hollister and Thurler.     For Wolf, the deadline is not the problem so much as the question of his eligibility. His status as an aide to a Maryland state legislator in both a legislative and campaign capacity has made him unsure of his chances.     "I really enjoy what I'm doing," he said. "I'm working on policy on a day-to-day basis. I feel that my work is actually affecting people."

Green Line extension costs to top $1 billion

    The plan to bring the T's Green Line to Tufts is feeling some growing pains.     Completion of the Green Line extension project is facing delays of up to six years from its 2014 deadline, and its price tag continues to grow.     Officials this summer raised the project's estimated price tag to over $1 billion. The cost of the project's first six stops, which will culminate near Tufts at College Avenue, rose from $600 billion to $934 billion this summer. A seventh stop was added to the plan in February, and summer estimates put its price tag at $130 million.     Project Manager Kate Fichter said the increased figure came about as officials developed a more comprehensive picture of expenses. "The original [$600 million] number, which has been out there for five or six years, was generated from a very preliminary planning study," Fichter, an official with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT), told the Daily.     The EOT is responsible for finding funding for the extension, but the debt-ridden Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will service the extra stations and fund their everyday operations once they are built.     The project is slated to extend the Green Line past the Lechmere station, the current terminus of all northbound trains. The change would add seven stops throughout Somerville and Medford.     While the Green Line extension as far as College Avenue is still on schedule to meet its 2014 deadline, construction of the seventh stop at Mystic Valley Parkway/Route 16 was pushed back this summer. Completion is now expected between 2016 and 2020. The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for allocating federal funding, has "identified funds" for the Route 16 stop in that four-year period, Fichter said. The costs of service   Some of the recent cost increase can be attributed to revelations about Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues. Originally, the seven new stations were to be outfitted with simple platforms, similar to the street-level concrete pads at the Green Line stations on Commonwealth Avenue.     But consideration of the disabilities legislation forced the EOT to reassess its plans. The extension's tracks, which would run parallel to the existing commuter rail track for a majority of the line, are by and large below street level, meaning elevators and escalators would be necessary to achieve compliance with the law.     "We're now talking about full stations … escalators, elevators, CharlieCard equipment, heating," Fichter said. "Those are obviously much more expensive."     According to Ken Krause, a member of the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance, which is made up of local citizens, waiting to complete the final Green Line stop has a separate downside aside from the delay. "It's of concern, because by doing it in a second phase, it would cost $50 million more" due to inflation and other added costs, Krause told the Daily.     "It's going to be disruptive to the neighborhood to do one construction project, and then two years later have another one begin," Krause added. "It seems a lot more practical to do it all at once." MBTA woes     The MBTA is currently confronting a $5.2 billion budget deficit, and strategies to right its financial woes through fare increases and service cuts have been met with public criticism and outrage.     Former MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas resigned last month amidst a public spat over fare increases with the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick. He was given a $327,487 severance package, earning more public critique.     Repeated calls to the MBTA were not returned in time for this article.     Patrick's embattled position at the State House and the impending election cycle have only served to further politicize the current debate over mass transit.     In recent weeks, Patrick and Grabauskas have feuded in the press over the origin of the fare-hike proposal, with each saying that the other was responsible for the idea.     After the first in a series of open-to-the-public meetings discussing the proposed fare increases, Patrick announced the cancellation of the remaining 12 meetings.     The proposed increase would raise the CharlieCard subway fare from $1.70 to $2.00 and the cash subway fare from $2.00 to $2.50. Bus fares would jump $0.50 to $2.00. At this time, however, there are no formal plans to implement fare hikes or cut service in the T system.

MFA makes noise

    September has finally come, but there's still time left to take in the summer displays at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Over the past few months, the museum has opened several exhibitions, each examining diverse topics — the interaction of visual and musical arts, the convergence of Chinese and Tibetan painting and the interface between American artists and Mexico in the 1900s.        One of the most compelling exhibitions is "Contemporary Outlook: Seeing Songs." It opened at the MFA — which is free for students with a Tufts ID — this summer and runs until Feb. 21 in the Foster Gallery. Visual artists and musicians have been intertwined, and at times in competition, with one another for centuries; the display examines the work created when the two meet, through media such as portraits of musicians and paintings with musical titles.     Among the portraits displayed are four of the Beatles by Richard Avedon. Each shot depicts a member of the renowned group with bright colors and sharp contrast, recalling the era in which the band was so influential, and the images are very striking on the gallery's stark white walls.     The exhibition also features photos by celebrated photographer Herb Ritts of artists including Mick Jagger, Little Richard, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin. While the representations are simple, they still display each artist's personality clearly.         The most noticeable work of the exhibition is Candice Breitz's "Queen (A Portrait of Madonna)" (2005). The work is made up of 30 screens that each display, according to the description in the museum materials, one of "thirty hardcore and diverse fans" belting out "the full 73 minutes of Madonna's ‘Immaculate Collection' album." The passionate and eccentric subjects of the piece are sure to catch your attention, and though the vocals are generally dissonant, the rare moments of relative harmony more than make up for it.     Another exhibition, "Tibet/China Confluences," recently opened at the MFA and runs until May 23 in the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Gallery. Although "confluence" is not a word that many would use to describe the two countries' recent relations, the paintings and scrolls attest to the lively artistic dialogue that took place between the two cultures over several centuries. The exhibition's introduction guides visitors to several paintings which depict Ahrats — Buddha's immediate disciples. Even though they all depict the same subjects, each piece renders the figures and surroundings very differently.     The Chinese paintings are exceptionally detailed and include very realistic landscapes, while the Tibetan paintings are somewhat less detailed and instead focus on vibrant colors and figure arrangements. However, as the works in the rest of the exhibition demonstrate, Chinese and Tibetan artists borrowed ideas and techniques from one another over the centuries to the point where, as the introduction in the museum materials states, "The two traditions are often so closely woven … [that they] constitute new, hybrid traditions."         "Viva Mexico! Edward Weston and His Contemporaries" runs until Nov. 2 in the Herb Ritts Gallery. The exhibit features works by the American photographer Edward Weston and several photographers from the same period.     The photos in the gallery demonstrate how American artists, many of whom traveled to Mexico in the early 1900s because a traditional tour of Europe had become difficult after World War I, were captivated by the country. The photos capture many different subjects and demonstrate how Weston and his contemporaries were in some cases so moved that they came to personally identify with Mexico's joys and sorrows. One example is Weston's portrait "Rose Roland (Covarrubias)" (1926). The piece is simple but dramatic, and it conveys a sense of invigoration that Roland and other Americans must have felt during their time in Mexico.     The MFA also opened two other exhibitions, "Vida y Drama: Modern Mexican Prints," which relates nicely to "Viva Mexico!" in the neighboring gallery, and "A ‘New and Native' Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene" exploring the careers of architects Charles and Henry Greene.     These special exhibitions complement the museum's permanent collection and serve as a wonderful introduction for any Boston newcomer to this dynamic and ever-changing museum.

Letter to the editor

Dear Editor:     The May 19 article of "The Cultural Culinarian" may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup.     High fructose corn syrup may have a complicated-sounding name, but it's essentially a corn sugar that is nutritionally the same as table sugar.     High fructose corn syrup is not sweeter than sugar; high fructose corn syrup, sugar and honey all contain the same number of calories (four calories per gram).     The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that "high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners."     Even former critics of high fructose corn syrup dispel long-held myths and distance themselves from earlier speculation about the sweetener's link to obesity as the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition releases its 2008 Vol. 88 supplement's comprehensive scientific review.     High fructose corn syrup is made from corn, a natural grain product. High fructose corn syrup contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives and meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's requirements for use of the term "natural."     Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.SweetSurprise.com.     Sincerely, Audrae Erickson President Corn Refiners Association

Music and Movies and Museums, Oh My!

Get lost amid the dark, screeching depths of the United States' oldest subway system, and you just might end up emerging to the sweeter sounds and brighter beauty of Boston's ripe arts scene. Here are a few fantastic venues to explore on the T. Use this guide as a springboard into the Boston scene, but remember: There are plenty of amazing locales that didn't make it onto our map, so just keep exploring.

The Daily's Guide to Davis Square

Click on the push pins to find out more about each exciting Davis Square destination.

The Hill | Mid-Summer News Recap

School's out, but there's still plenty of Tufts news to keep up with. In June alone, Somerville won the prestigious All America City Award, a Fletcher School alumna was named as a State Department envoy to the Middle East, and embezzlers Jodie Nealley and Ray Rodriguez were sentenced to prison terms, among other news.

Nealley and Rodriguez plead guilty, sentenced to two years in prison

Jodie Nealley and her former co-worker Ray Rodriguez pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing close to a combined $1 million from Tufts in separate schemes. Each received a two-year sentence in state prison, followed by five years of probation. Woburn Superior Court Judge Sandra Hamlin also ordered them to pay full restitution. "The discovery last fall of the thefts by Jodie Nealley and Ray Rodriguez was a devastating blow to the university community," university spokeswoman Kim Thurler told the Daily in an e-mail. "Appropriately, justice has now been rendered."

Bringing diversity to Tufts

College is a great place to wander and collide with people with substantial differences from yourself and, as Columbia University President Lee Bollinger writes, to "cross sensibilities" and to see "the world through different eyes ... realizing that your perceptions may not be accurate." Diversity on a college campus is critical to this understanding, and while we should embrace diversity in its many forms, Bollinger writes that racial diversity presents one of the most important challenges to our sensibilities.