Opinion | Editorial

Editorial

Sam Wallis for TCU president

April 26

This year's campaign season for Tufts Community Union (TCU) president has seen a great deal of controversy surrounding the candidates' questionable campaign techniques and practices. Numerous students have criticized junior presidential candidate Sam Wallis' campaign for using spray chalk to advertise, as it resembles spray paint, and some believed that his campaign team had vandalized the campus. Meanwhile, members of junior candidate Lauren Levine's campaign have undergone criticism for using the TCU Treasury's signatory e-lists to promote her campaign, which would constitute a violation of Tufts Elections Commission's (ECOM) policies. Most recently, Wallis has also been engaged in an appeals process to contest ECOM's ruling that his decision to fly back from Israel — where he is studying abroad this semester — for the remainder of his campaign was a violation of spending limits.

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Editorial

Guest policy changes will still not see compliance

April 19

Last week, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate proposed several important changes to the guest registration policy. These revisions, if approved by the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife), will make the policy more practical and realistic. Even with the proposed changes, however, guest registration is likely to remain low. ResLife should therefore consider alternative means of achieving the goals for which the policy was created.

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Editorial

Syracuse should embrace Dimon speech

April 14

Syracuse University's (SU) recent decision to have Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jamie Dimon (LA '78) as the keynote speaker at its Commencement ceremony has raised a significant amount of controversy within the university's community. Students, alumni and members of the SU community at large have formed a group - Take Back 2010 Syracuse University Commencement - to protest the choice. The group has collected over 900 signatures on an online petition protesting Dimon as this year's speaker.

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Editorial

Editorial |

April 12

Imagine a woman who weighs only 75 percent of the normal body weight for a woman her size. She is anorexic, and when she was hospitalized, she weighed only two?thirds of the normal body weight. However, because of her insurance company's narrow definition of anorexia, at 75 percent body weight she no longer qualifies for in?patient care and may have to be discharged long before her doctor's treatment plan would dictate. Because of health care guidelines for diagnosing mental disorders, this dangerous situation has occurred for millions of Americans with eating disorders.

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Editorial

Eating disorders need inclusive insurance coverage

April 12

Imagine a woman who weighs only 75 percent of the normal body weight for a woman her size. She is anorexic, and when she was hospitalized, she weighed only two-thirds of the normal body weight. However, because of her insurance company's narrow definition of anorexia, at 75 percent body weight she no longer qualifies for in-patient care and may have to be discharged long before her doctor's treatment plan would dictate. Because of health care guidelines for diagnosing mental disorders, this dangerous situation has occurred for millions of Americans with eating disorders.

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Editorial

Editorial |

April 12

Imagine a woman who weighs only 75 percent of the normal body weight for a woman her size. She is anorexic, and when she was hospitalized, she weighed only two?thirds of the normal body weight. However, because of her insurance company's narrow definition of anorexia, she no longer qualifies for in?patient care and may have to be discharged long before her doctor's treatment plan would dictate. Because of health care guidelines for diagnosing mental disorders, this dangerous situation occurs for millions of Americans with eating disorders.

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Editorial

Supreme Court nomination should not be politicized

April 11

Friday's announcement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens' retirement has raised somewhat of a dilemma for Republicans whose seats will be contested in the coming midterm elections. With the minority party gunning to regain Congressional seats and possibly the majority it lost in the 2006 elections in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, many current Republican members of Congress are torn between opposing President Barack Obama's forthcoming selection on principle, thereby appealing to their more conservative base, or avoiding the political fight that would ensue and confirming the nominee — who is predicted to be centrist — as long as he or she does not seem to hold views that veer toward the left.

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Editorial

Abstinence-only education harmful to students

April 5

President Barack Obama and Congress recently passed health care reform legislation that seeks to extend medical care to all Americans. While the passing of the legislation represents a victory for many Americans who require affordable health care, certain elements of the legislation are not in the best interest of Americans' public health. The legislation includes a renewal of $50 million of federal funding per year for abstinence-only sex education. It is inappropriate for policy intended to improve public health in the United States to fund programs that have been repeatedly proven to not prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies among teenagers. As mentioned in a recent CNN.com article, the programs that can apply to receive this funding must "teach that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems," according to the Department of Health and Human Services. What's more, the programs must also teach that premarital sex is "likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects." Programs that comply with these standards withhold important health information and should not be sponsored by federal health care funds. In order to maximize their health and safety, young people should be provided with full disclosure about the different ways to protect their sexual health. While students should know that abstinence is the only 100-percent guaranteed way to avoid STDs and pregnancy, it is also necessary for them to know that condoms, birth control pills and other contraceptives, when used properly, are highly effective in preventing STDs and pregnancy. In funding abstinence-only education programs, the health care legislation is ignoring the empirical evidence on the efficacy of sex education programs. A 2007 study by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that "there does not exist any strong evidence that any abstinence program delays the initiation of sex, hastens the return to abstinence or reduces the number of sexual partners" among teens. This finding has been reiterated again and again in various studies. Since evidence shows that abstinence programs do not positively impact teens' sexual health choices, there is no place for the programs in federal health care reform. The idea of postponing sexual activity should be part of sex education, but it is unfair to young people to exclude information about practicing safe sex. Public opinion research has shown that a majority of Americans favor programs that include both abstinence and contraceptive education. The conclusions of both the American public and research studies support comprehensive sex education; why then is federal legislation providing $50 million of tax-payer money for abstinence-only programs? Legislation reforming health care in the United States should fund programs that are the most effective in promoting sexual health among young people. Abstinence-only programs exclude important health-related information about contraception and have been repeatedly proven ineffective in changing teen sexual behavior. Educators should receive funding for programs that provide students with as much information as possible so that students can make fully informed decisions that protect their health and safety.

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Editorial

Climate change legislation should be next on agenda

March 29

With the passage of the health care reform bill last week and today's signing of a student loan bill that will remove commercial banks from the student loan market, President Barack Obama has a lot to celebrate. With these recent successes, Obama is making some of his campaign promises real, and it is clear that his administration is able to pass sweeping reform bills through the current Congress.

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Editorial

Health care coverage changes need clarification

March 28

Despite health care reform's prominence in the federal government's agenda and the public arena, the outcomes on the Tufts community of the bill recently signed by President Barack Obama remain unclear. The legislation contains significant improvements for health care coverage for young adults, such as the ability for children to stay under their family's insurance plan until the age of 26.  Despite the positive changes for students that will come out of the legislation, the convoluted language of the lengthy bill has led to confusion about how it will affect Tufts' student health insurance. Tufts students need to be properly informed of how the health care system supported by the university will be affected by the legislation.

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Editorial

Proper implementation of education reform needed

March 15

President Barack Obama yesterday announced his plan to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Rather than continuing the previous act's emphasis on students passing national standardized exams for reading and math comprehension, Obama's plan will focus on preparing students for college and careers. With this goal in mind, the president will encourage schools to broaden their curricula beyond just emphasizing reading and mathematics, the areas that No Child Left Behind tracked. Obama's proposed overhaul of education policy contains many much−needed improvements. However, the Obama administration's execution and timing of this plan may end up actually hurting its goals.

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Editorial

Alcohol program should take new approach

March 10

Tufts has decided to take another stab at changing the drinking culture on campus by incorporating an additional program into freshman orientation. Proposals for the new orientation program include both a student presentation of personal drinking stories and a presentation by Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS). The event would be modeled after In the SACK (Safety, Awareness, Consent and Knowledge in relationships), the sexual awareness presentation held during orientation week.

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Editorial

FDA needs to better regulate calorie labeling

March 9

A recent study by Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy discovered a widespread trend in the food industry of significantly underreporting the amount of calories on nutrition labels. Specifically, the actual calorie count surpassed the stated count by an average of 18 percent, with some counts surpassing up to 200 percent on restaurant dishes and fast food.

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Editorial

Students should not ignore the census

March 8

Tufts counts. All students, both citizens and non-citizens, should fill out and return a 2010 Census questionnaire when it is delivered to their mailboxes this month for residential addresses or in April or May for on-campus housing.

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Editorial

Diversity representation on campus still needs work

March 7

As a university, Tufts prides itself on its acceptance and encouragement of diversity. With nearly a quarter of the class of 2013 identifying as "students of color" and a strong international representation, Tufts is widely recognized as a diverse school. Indeed, university President Lawrence Bacow's appointment to President Obama's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) seems not only to be an acknowledgment of his achievements in promoting diversity during his tenure as president of the university, but also the strengths of Tufts as a school in supporting and recognizing diversity. The university's two−day symposium entitled "Barack Obama and American Democracy" over this past weekend also afforded further opportunity for Tufts to highlight and promote dialogue around racial and ethnic diversity.

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Editorial

Sexual assault policy should be more stringent

March 3

Tufts students are greeted early on in their time on the Hill by an extensive sexual assault prevention program, from the blue light telephones introduced on campus tours, to presentations during orientation week, followed by the array of sexual crime prevention posters displayed in virtually every dorm on campus. However, incidents of sexual assault, unfortunately, do occur. The university maintains an official policy on sexual assault that allows a victim to pursue four different courses of action to be taken against his or her assailant: mediation between the victim and perpetrator, a campus stay-away order, a university hearing or the accused person leaving the university. These consequences have varying degrees of disciplinary action associated with them — the campus stay-away order, for example, is not a disciplinary measure.

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Editorial

U.S. Senate not a forum to push personal gripes

March 2

The U.S. Senate has been criticized heavily of late for allowing partisanship and bitterness between factions to prevent important decisions from being made. Many in the country argue that while senators are busy bantering about personal opinions and there is increasing animosity between parties, important issues are not being resolved. Most Republicans and Democrats, however, were finally able to see eye−to−eye on one recent controversy that has been causing contention within the body.

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Editorial

Unchecked editing of digital textbooks risky

February 22

This August, major publishing house Macmillan will introduce new software that allows individual professors to edit digital textbooks. With the software, called DynamicBooks, professors will be able to upload syllabi, notes, videos and related materials to the digital file, but they will also be able to edit specific paragraph content, equations and diagrams. The textbooks will be completely customizable, and Macmillan will not require that professors' changes and additions be approved by the publishers or the textbook authors.

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Editorial

Woods pays the price of fame

February 21

This past Friday, Tiger Woods joined the ranks of the many politicians and celebrities who have had to face the media with an official recognition of and apology for their personal transgressions. In his long−awaited press conference, Woods addressed his automobile accident on Thanksgiving night of 2009 and the reports of his infidelity that later emerged. While he expressed his deep apologies to his family, fans and those involved in his foundation, he also admonished the media for its intrusion into his private life and the lives of his family members.

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Editorial

Stimulus spending on the right track

February 17

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. The President yesterday stated that the program so far has run smoothly and successfully. Obama acknowledged some of the shortcomings of the program, such as the current high rate of unemployment, stating that the stimulus plan has achieved much in a temporary sense and is an ongoing project.

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