Tufts researchers have received a $2.3-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design an obesity intervention program for immigrants in Somerville.
Six of Tufts' dance groups will continue to compete for the title of Tufts' Best Dance Crew tonight. Last week, eight groups gathered in Cohen Auditorium to perform, and Tufts Tap Ensemble and the Burlesque Troupe were eliminated. Sarabande and La Salsa were chosen to move on by the panel of judges, while the audience chose TURBO and Garba as their favorites. Envy and Spirit of Color survived a 30-second dance-off battle at the end of the show between the bottom four groups to continue on to next week's competition.
This article is the final in a four-part series about how the recession has affected different parts of the university.
Nearly $40,000 from a quasi-governmental agency will help the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine fund a study to examine the possibility of using wind power on Tufts' Grafton campus.
Senior Stephanie Coplan is a fine example of the type of student that Tufts Admissions brochures so often boast about. Demonstrating a high level of community involvement both on and off campus, she uses her love for performing arts to teach Somerville middle-school students about history. Coplan's project, called the Broadway2Broadway Initiative, combines the students' current social studies curriculum with an after-school program, where they have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of musical theater, including singing, writing, acting and dancing. Funded by the Tisch Civic Engagement Fund, Broadway2Broadway provides students with an educational experience they otherwise wouldn't be able to enjoy. "The school is really busy, and they don't have the time to give these kids a proper performing arts education," Coplan said. Coplan's experience with community service began in high school where she played piano at hospitals for children and wounded soldiers. When she began college, however, Coplan stopped devoting as much time to community service. That changed this year when Coplan, a resident assistant (RA), moved into Haskell Hall, where a huge focus is placed on active citizenship thanks to a new partnership with the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. As a result, she has been constantly reminded of the importance of helping others and, as an authority figure, felt pressure to lead the way. "I just got so busy with school and friends, and I let my community service slide," Coplan said. "That really upset me this year when I was placed in Haskell. I realized I hadn't done very much, and community involvement was why I picked Tufts in the first place." Finding need close to home Last semester, Coplan began to brainstorm possible community service programs that she could present to the Tisch Civic Engagement Fund. With her rewarding involvement with the Jumpstart program in mind, Coplan was certain that she wanted to work with kids. Her love for the piano, as well as her extensive knowledge of musical theater, made her a good candidate for teaching the performing arts. Combining her performing expertise and her interest in children led to the creation of Broadway2Broadway. Because she had taken the class The American Musical in the Drama department last semester, she had many volunteers to contribute manpower and knowledge to her project. Coplan decided to focus on middle-school students as opposed to elementary school students, thinking that children had to be of a certain age before they could fully appreciate theater. She then discovered that West Somerville Middle School had no performing arts curriculum and is only five minutes away from campus. The school's principal, Pauline Lampropoulos, was receptive to Coplan's idea as long as the after-school program complemented what children were learning in school. An integrated curriculum Since the students were learning about civics, geography and ancient history, Coplan decided the best way to begin the program would be with a musical set in a different country, like Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." "I figured we could teach them about ancient history, civilization and mythology through this musical," Coplan said. For British history and culture, Coplan thought that "My Fair Lady" (1956) would work. To keep "My Fair Lady" fun, she plans to teach kids how to speak with a British accent as part of an acting exercise. "A lot of acting is imitation," Coplan said. "We want to teach [kids] how to listen to and understand speech patterns. We also plan on doing lots of improv games so they understand that a lot of acting is not planned. It's really about understanding your character enough to know what he or she would do or say without a script in front of you." Theater for culture Junior Samantha Tempchin, a Broadway2Broadway volunteer, spent a semester abroad in Austria and will use "The Sound of Music" (1959) to teach the students about Austrian history and culture as well as music theory through the famous song "Do-Re-Mi." Tempchin has known Coplan since high school and was excited to share her passion for singing with others. "In my high school there was a ton of support for the performing arts," Tempchin said. "Performing gave me a lot more confidence, and it's also a release outside of typical academic activities. This program can give these students a different activity to focus on and succeed in." Tempchin's lesson plan teaches the students about the geography of Austria, focusing on Vienna and Salzburg, and covers the history of Austrian composers such as Mozart. A clip from "The Sound of Music" will give students a view of the Alps while the group breaks for a traditional Austrian snack of apple strudel. In the second part of the lesson plan, Tempchin will sing and Coplan will play the piano to teach the students about the major scale. Following that, Tempchin plans to demonstrate two different musical stylings from "The Sound of Music": the operatic voice of Mother Superior versus the youthful sound of Liesl in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Volunteers welcome Coplan is still looking for more volunteers of any experience or availability, even though she is very happy with the support for her project so far. Tufts students go once a week on Wednesdays to the middle school from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Unfortunately, for many students, this time conflicts with academic work or other extracurricular activities. "So far, there have been people who have verbally committed, but who don't want to actually commit without officially knowing their schedule," said Coplan. "However, it's only a one-time commitment. You're doing a lot in two hours." Coplan stressed that volunteers have the opportunity to be face-to-face with the students and actually make a difference in their day without having to commit to a time-intensive program. She encouraged people of all interests and levels of experience to consider participating because performance teachers are only part of the manpower needed to keep Broadway2Broadway going. While volunteers are needed to teach lessons through theater, song and dance, Tufts students are also needed to research aspects of social studies and select movies and sound clips. "If you're the kind of person who has never been front and center, you could talk about what it's like to be in the chorus," Coplan said. "It's important for these kids to know how to make [themselves] stand out among hundreds of other people just like [them]. It's a very useful life skill to learn." Coplan emphasized that volunteers didn't need to be experts on acting or singing. "In order to teach, you have to know something either about a show or musical theater in general, but you can research a possible interest and then teach it to the students," Coplan said. "We just want people that have something to say about the arts." Establishing a legacy Coplan has many plans for the future, including bringing the children to work with Tufts actors in an improv workshop and to see Torn Ticket's production of "Into the Woods" this spring on campus. Eventually, she also wants the kids to put on their own play, but realistically, she expects this process to take a few years. "‘Into the Woods' will probably be the first actual show [they see] for some of these kids," Coplan said. "My hope is to get a Q&A session with the cast of the show. A lot of the people in the show might have been their teachers at some point. It also connects Tufts to the community, rather than taking the kids to downtown Boston to see a show." Coplan hopes that Broadway2Broad-way will continue even after she graduates this coming spring. While Coplan doesn't plan to pursue theater as a career, she does consider it a huge part of her life. "I want to be an attorney, and I would love to use my legal expertise to somehow incorporate performing arts into schools," Coplan said. "I'd love to make that a reality, but I don't know how yet. I just know it won't leave my life after I graduate."
In a victory for the week-old Obama administration, the House approved an $819-billion stimulus bill last night, despite a complete lack of Republican support. In a 244-188 vote largely along party lines, the body endorsed the package of federal tax cuts and spending that will serve as the cornerstone for President Barack Obama's plan to revive the ailing economy. The legislation contains around $550 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. The two-year plan will provide over $300 billion in aid to states, aiming to strengthen domestic infrastructure and healthcare for the poor. It also features a $500 tax cut for single workers and a $1,000 cut for couples. "This recovery plan will save or create more than 3 million new jobs over the next few years," Obama said in a written statement released after the passage of the bill. The measure reflects a belief in Congress that quick action must be taken in light of an economic crisis of historic proportions. Earlier in the day, Obama met with top business executives to promote his plan. He also worked hard to garner the support of House Republicans, making an unusual visit to the Capitol on Monday. Even with these efforts, which included the usage of traditionally Republican business-related rhetoric, Obama failed to entice Republicans to vote for the bill. House minority leaders pointed to the bill's failure to enact larger tax cuts at a time when thousands of jobs are being lost. Earlier in the day, a stimulus package put forward by House Republicans failed to pass by a vote of 266-170. That bill focused primarily on tax cuts. In a statement after last night's House vote, Obama noted the rift between Democrats and Republicans. "The plan now moves to the Senate, and I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk," the statement read. "But what we can't do is drag our feet or allow the same partisan differences to get in our way. We must move swiftly and boldly to put Americans back to work, and that is exactly what this plan begins to do." In the Senate, Republicans have indicated that they will seek to add an adjustment of the alternative minimum tax, which would impact middle-income citizens and possibly raise the cost of the stimulus package to $900 billion. There are signs that Democrats may support such a proposal.
Think playoffs. That was the atmosphere pulsing at the Garden Tuesday night as the two best teams in the Eastern Conference squared off for the third time this season. The 30-15-4 Washington Capitals had beaten the Boston Bruins at home the first two times they met this season, and the first-place (35-8-5) Bruins were looking for a little revenge. Despite the two losses earlier in the season, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara wasn't entirely dissatisfied with the previous two meetings.
Researchers at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine recently found that some animals, such as cats, dogs and horses, can be afflicted with the psychiatric condition obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Non-stop or out-of-control tail-chasing, wrist-licking and biting are all signs of this phenomenon.
Debates about the ethics of file sharing have been ongoing in the digital world for as long as technologies have been available to make it possible. Musicians and record companies alike have spent exhaustive amounts of money and time trying to catch computer pirates in the act of illegally sharing music, ...
Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi will resign today, ending a 30-year career as a state legislator amidst ongoing suspicion that he abused his powerful post. Meanwhile, local representatives have by and large lined up to support state Rep. Robert DeLeo in the contentious battle to succeed the outgoing speaker.
The Socialization of Sexual-ity, The History of Geography, Humor in the 20th Century, South Park and Society -- these are only a few of the student-taught courses that Tufts Experimental College has offered in the past or will be offering this semester.
The women's fencing team squared off against six schools on Friday in Providence, Rhode Island as part of the New England Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association's (NEWIFA) first conference meet. By the end of the day, it was a test of endurance as much as skill.
As hard as it might be for some Marc Jacobs or Dolce and Gabbana aficionados to grasp, this season's most chic and sexy accessory may be a voluptuous brain.
For Naif al-Mutawa (LA '94), the fantasy worlds in comic books contain a surprising number of real-world implications.
A new state law decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana went into effect on Jan. 2, but confusion on the local level has prevented it from having much of an impact.
Sophomore Mark Simons, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, greets Internet personality Tucker Max following a brothers-only screening of Max's upcoming film, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" (2009).
45: Percentage of American women who are on diets 25: Percentage of American men who are on diets 16: Percentage of American women who have tried low-carb diets 7: Percentage of American men who have tried low-carb diets 91: Percentage of women on college campuses who have tried to control their weight through dieting 40 billion: Dollars Americans spend on dieting and diet-related products per year 66: Percentage of American adults who are overweight or obese 60 to 90: Minutes previously overweight adults should exercise daily to sustain weight loss
This article is the first in a four-part series about how the recession has affected different parts of the university.
The start of every new year brings a flurry of snow and resolutions. Here at Tufts, new commitments to physical wellness send students to Gantcher in droves and lead many to wonder how to diet on a Tufts meal plan.
