Features

Features

Tufts Green Dot, Sex Health Reps provide education with CARE

By Owen Bonk | January 30

Established in April 2014, the Tufts Center for Awareness, Resources and Education has been a campus resource for topics like sexual health and consent for almost nine years. In CARE’s near decade serving the Medford/Somerville campus, its initial office of one has transformed into a collective of more than 150 people. Green Dot and Sex Health Reps, CARE’s two sibling programs, have reached ubiquity at Tufts, cropping up everywhere from stickers on people’s laptops to high-profile, thoughtfully curated programming at first-year student orientations. 

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Columns

Caffeinated Commentary: Diesel

By Natalie Bricker | January 30

This week, I stopped by Davis Square’s Diesel to sip some coffee and assess the overall vibes. Confession: this wasn’t my first time at Diesel. In fact, I stop by this coffee shop (located at 257 Elm St. in Somerville) at least twice a week. The coffee is just that incredible. I usually order a latte with oat milk, but sometimes I opt for a chai latte. The coffee is smooth and flavorful, served in a big mug with thick foam.

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Features

‘Correctional’: Tufts poet Ravi Shankar’s memoir explores forgiveness and hope behind bars

By Mark Choi | January 26

“The impulse for writing this book came out of this time I spent in Hartford Correctional and the men I met,” Ravi Shankar, an English lecturer at Tufts and a Pushcart prize-winning poet, said. “I had filled probably seven or eight composition books, you know, full of everything.”

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Features

From basements to nightclubs, Tufts student organizations host a variety of formals

By Sarah Firth | January 26

With the end of every semester comes final exams, final papers and most importantly, formals. Many student organizations at Tufts host social events known as formals where members pull the fanciest outfit they brought to college out of their closet for a special night with friends or maybe even a date.

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Features

SAPAC 'Resistance' show uses fashion as a medium of POC expression and empowerment

By Kaitlyn Wells | January 24

On Dec. 3, 2022, the Tufts South Asian Political Action Committee hosted “Resistance,” an affinity fashion show open to all POC student organizations on campus. More than 10 identity-based clubs participated in this new SAPAC event, wherein each club prepared outfits to be modeled by their members on a makeshift runway in the Joyce Cummings Center Ballroom.

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Columns

What I Wish I Knew: Study abroad equals freshman fall

By Abby Stern | January 24

Three years ago, as a first-semester freshman, I somehow made friends, found my way around a new city, survived living on my own and experienced new classes, all while watching people I knew on social media seemingly have the time of their lives.

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Features

Vulnerability in the Classroom: CELT’s Pedagogical Partnership Program

By Carmen Smoak | January 20

Over the past five semesters, the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching has worked towards fostering more equitable and inclusive teaching practices through their Pedagogical Partnership Program (P3). The program pairs a student and faculty member in a mutually beneficial partnership in which the student attends and observes one session of the faculty member’s course a week. The pair then meets once a week to discuss equity, inclusion, student interaction and other general feedback on the classroom environment as well as the pedagogical practices of the faculty member.

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Features

Transitioning to college life from a pandemic high school experience

By Ella Sanders | January 18

Members of Tufts’ Class of 2026 were high school sophomores when the COVID-19 pandemic left the educational world scrambling to find new ways to teach. The class has just concluded their first semester of college, which for many students also marks the first return to regular school life since the pandemic.

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Features

Medford to Montauk: A solo road trip

By Vedant Modi | January 18

A long weekend falling right at the end of midterms seemed like a great opportunity to unwind — perhaps to boot up a video game, watch movies or just sleep in. For this past Veterans Day, though, I had a plan. 

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Features

Despite changing structures, foreign language education at Tufts remains strong

By Owen Bonk | December 12

Language programs have always played a curious and multifaceted role in academics at Tufts University. As a foundational requirement for School of Arts and Sciences students who don’t test out through a language proficiency evaluation, they could be considered the closest thing to a universal experience at a school with more than 70 undergraduate majors. Also noteworthy is the extent of the language requirement: The six semesters Tufts students must spend studying another language and/or culture is unusually rigorous for universities of its kind. Language education is also a key part of the international relations major and international literary and visual studies major, both of which require eight semesters of commitment to studying a single language. In this sense, learning a foreign language is quintessential to a Tufts education. 

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Local

Half a century since the lawsuit that shook the city: Reexamining Boston school desegregation

By Sam Berman and David Van Riper | December 8

“Boston made me feel that I didn’t have a chance, and that’s what racism does to you,” Beverly Crockett-Taylor said as a Black woman who grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston amid the tumultuous events preceding and during the desegregation of the Boston public school system that began in 1974.

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Local

Boston highways: A bridge or a divide?

By Jillian Collins | December 8

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the interstate highway system into existence — forever changing the country’s built environment and social infrastructure. Wealthy white families could now live in suburbs and commute to cities. While highways bridged suburbs and cities, they built straight through urban communities of color.

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Local

Tufts and local community members react to impending Davis Square renovation project

By Maya Katz | December 7

Due to its close proximity to campus, Davis Square has been a place for many Tufts students to spend time and enjoy a variety of local businesses in the area. But according to recent local news reports, Scape Development plans to construct a four-story lab building that would displace beloved businesses including When Pigs Fly bakery, McKinnon’s Meat Market, Sligo Pub, Kung Fu Tea, Martsa on Elm Tibetan Cuisine and Dragon Pizza. On Sept. 22, the City of Somerville’s Planning Board officially approved the renovation plan. 

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Columns

Liz in London: The final stretch

By Elizabeth Foster | December 7

At what point am I not a tourist?

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Features

The pianists of Granoff basement

By Katie Furey | December 6

Twelve piano practice rooms are tucked away in the basement of the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, but to those who know about them and utilize them, these rooms are an enclave of creativity and relaxation. At any hour, Tufts pianists who practice simply for their own pleasure can be found playing away in Granoff basement. 

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Features

Lex Eat!: Lex Cook!

By Alexa Amorosino | December 6

Unfortunately, my time here is coming to an end. I want to go out with a bang — I figured I’d put my skills to the test and report back for my final article.

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Local

A conversation on reproductive justice and sexual education with Saniya Ghanoui, program director of Our Bodies Ourselves Today

By Grace Nelson | December 5

Sex. For many college students, the subject is unavoidable, and yet there still remains a sense of stigma shrouding the topic. Finding answers to our sexual health questions can be a daunting task with differing advice and misinformation littered across the internet.

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Local

Tales from the T: These are a few of my favorite things

By Kevin Zhang | December 5

Another semester of sleep deprivation, missed deadlines and existential dread about the future later, I am yet again writing my last column. So for this column, I’ll talk about my favorite station on the T. Today, we’re talking about … Ruggles?

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Local

Tales from the T: Amtrak doesn’t have to suck

By Kevin Zhang | December 2

In today’s column I’m going to stretch the limits of what can be considered Boston transit by talking about intercity trains. That’s right. Today we’re talking about the national passenger rail operator, Amtrak. 

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Features

A cappella groups release new albums after a long hiatus

By Isabelle Kaminsky | December 1

Editor’s note: Abigail Sommers is a video journalist at The Tufts Daily. Sommers was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

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