News

Brionna Jimerson | Respect Your Elders

When I was applying to colleges, none of my potentially first?generation college?bound friends had the nerve to entertain the thought of a gap year. I never thought critically about the prospect of volunteering on a political campaign or working full?time at an internship before delving into the overpriced pressure cooker that is higher education. “College is not an option; you will go to college,” my grandmother would say at the outset of any conversation we had about higher education.

History on the Hill: Alex’s Place

Tufts’ medical, dental, veterinary schools offer ‘early assurance’ to sophomores

Tufts alumna picked as chair of drama department

New minor in environmental science and policy to debut in fall

Dean Knox inducted into engineering honor society

Associate Dean of Engineering Kim Knox on Thursday will be inducted as an eminent engineer into Tau Beta Pi, Tufts' engineering honor society.

TCU Constitution to see new draft pending student input

"Old Guy" project addresses ageism, provides professional film experience to students

Falcon Reese | Tongues Tied

Three arrested at TransCanada headquarters protest

Three Tufts students were among 25 people arrested Monday for protesting the proposal for the Keystone XL Pipeline outside the Westborough, Mass. offices of TransCanada, the Calgarybased energy company behind the pipeline.

Advising program effective, but not without challenges

Most students have one advisor. Senior Demi Marks has three. Professors from the Drama and Child Development departments and the Communication and Media Studies program advise Marks in completing her selfcreated, interdisciplinary major in childrens entertainment. While Marks situation may be unique, the benefits and drawbacks of Tufts advising program remain a common experience for both students and faculty.

Snow removal pushes Facilities $100K over budget

Facilities Services exceeded its snow removal budget by more than $100,000 this winter in the wake of two major snow storms in February and March.

Sharewood Project partners for translation services

The Sharewood Project, a volunteer-run, Tufts-affiliated medical clinic that provides free healthcare services, in January launched a partnership with Found in Translation, a nonprofit organization that trains low-income, bilingual women to be medical interpreters.The new relationship between the two groups provides improved patient care for Sharewood clients and job opportunities for Found in Translation graduates.Sharewood is run by medical students and physicians affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and the Cambridge Health Alliance, as well as other Tufts health professional students. Tufts undergraduates also play a role at the clinic they facilitate patient intake and patient flow throughout the clinic and conduct initial patient assessments.The idea for the partnership began as a school project for TUSM students Marc Kimball and Jessica Gonzalez. The duo recognized a need for translation services at the clinic that was not being addressed, Kimball, advancement team administer on the Sharewood Executive Board, explained.Most of our patients didnt speak English, and we didnt have the appropriate language services, he said.Laura Glick, president of the Sharewood Undergraduate Board, has seen an increased need for translation services based on the population the clinic serves during her two years with Sharewood. She believes the high need for translation services at Sharewood is due to both the clinics location and the wide range of free services it provides.[Sharewood] does accept patients regardless of economic status, no matter whether they have insurance, no matter whether they are a legal or illegal immigrant, so I think that is probably an important aspect in why we have such a diverse patient population, Glick, a senior, said.The partnership with Found in Translation has already created a profound impact on patient care at the clinic, according to Kimball.The standard [of] care we are giving our patients has risen dramatically things that would ... normally take a couple of hours to do or situations that would be sticky because people have social issues they dont want to talk about or they dont know how to talk about, all of that has been completely avoided, he said. Language is no longer an issue.Glick explained that having an interpreter with no relation to the patient is preferable to relying on the assistance of a bilingual family member or friend because it allows private concerns to be more easily and directly addressed.When patients feel more comfortable, they are more willing to explain their entire situation, how they feel, what symptoms they have and what services they need, she said. Not having to overcome a language barrier is helpful to make sure they are receiving care and that we are giving them the services that they need.Sharewood is entirely volunteer-operated, so translators are being paid directly by Found in Translation, according to Executive Director Maria Vertkin. While the organization only has funding to continue the partnership until June, Vertin hopes to raise enough funds to establish a long-term relationship with the clinic. She also wants to expand to assist other clinics in need of interpretation services.The partnership serves the two-part mission of Found in Translation allowing low-income, bilingual women to capitalize on their language skills by entering the professional world of medical interpreting and helping fight disparities in health care, according to Vertkin. The partnership has helped boost employment placement rates for graduates in a difficult job market, she noted.By being medical interpreters and working at a place like Sharewood that doesnt have the funds to afford their own medical interpretation, we are living out the second part of our mission we are giving equal access to health care to patients who otherwise would never get it, Vertkin told the Daily.Found in Translation graduates both provide medical interpretation services and teach workshops to TUSM students on topics ranging from cultural competency to how to collaborate successfully with interpreters, Vertin said. Found in Translation will also help train fluent, bilingual TUSM students to use another language effectively in medical settings.The interpreters increase publicity for the clinic and draw more patients, providing the over 400 Tufts undergraduates on the Sharewood listserv with additional opportunities to volunteer, Glick explained.[Patients] who may have shied away from coming before because of the language barrier can now have the opportunity to receive the services that we offer, she said.

Senior Kristen Ford wins Wendell Phillips award

Senior Kristen Ford will deliver an address at this years commencement ceremony in May as the winner of the 2013 Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship, the Committee on Student Life (CSL) announced yesterday.The scholarship, presented annually by the CSL, honors a junior or senior who exemplifies outstanding speaking skills and a dedication to public service. Ford secured the win over three other finalists, seniors Aparna Ramanan, Ethan Peritz and Emily Poole.A panel of judges awarded Ford the prize after the finalists delivered short speeches yesterday afternoon, according to CSL co-chair and Associate Professor of Biology Philip Starks.[We] heard all four talks, then discussed both the content and presentation skills of each finalist, he said. Once we had carefully discussed the merits of all candidates, we voted.Starks said that the caliber of the contestants presentations was extremely high, noting that the award could have gone to any of the finalists.The overall quality this year was phenomenal, he said. Kristen really knocked it out of the park. Her abilitywas just fantastic. I believe Kristen won today because of the depth and relatable content of her talk and the grace and humor with which she presented it.Ford will receive a cash prize in addition to the honor of serving as the sole student speaker at the Baccalaureate Service. She said winning the award was exciting both because she will represent the Class of 2013 at the ceremony and as a matter of redemption: Ford was in the running to speak at her high school graduation, but was not ultimately chosen.I remember thinking at the time, My life is over; I dont know what to do, but this actually just reminded me that everything comes full circle, she said. If you dont succeed one time, just keep trying. Sooner or later, itll work out.She hopes to use the opportunity to thank the university for all that she has learned over the past few years.Im so excited to speak on behalf of my class. Its really an honor to talk about this journey that Im sure weve all had, Ford said.The Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship was established in 1896 to pay homage to the Boston preacher and orator for which it is named. One student at Tufts and one student at Harvard University are awarded the scholarship each year.The CSL selected the finalists out of a pool of 14 applicants, who submitted a resume, a description of their community service experience, an essay and a recorded oral presentation, Starks explained.The topic of this years final presentation was the effect of social media and technology on awareness of social issues, according to Starks. Each finalist was allotted five minutes to provide their take on the prompt.Ford said advancements in technology have hindered social awareness, using unlimited food buffets as an analogy. As you know, social media and technology gives us this endless buffet of information, and at the moment we think, This is great I can eat whatever I want, I can take in all the information, but were not really digesting anything, she said. You get a little bit of everything but dont wind up with anything.Ford believes the analogy she used in her presentation helped secure her the award over the other competitors.I think it really painted a good picture for what Im saying and carried people through the whole talk, she said. I think because I kept drawing it back to the analogy of food, thats something we can all relate to, and that kind of kept people listening.

Students low on patience with stagnation on diversity program

Last spring, a major breakthrough in the decades-long push for a presence in the universitys curriculum of issues of identity and diversity arrived on the Hill: A new program called Critical Studies in Disparities and Diasporas (C2D), had been envisioned, was set in motion and was slated to serve as an umbrella program for an Africana studies major and minor, an Asian American studies minor and further identity-related studies.

USC professor kicks off new minor with lecture on identity

University of Southern California professor Nayan Shah, the chair of that universitys Department of American Studies and Ethnicity, spoke yesterday on the significance of Asian-American history at a lecture last night celebrating the Asian American studies minor, saying that immigrants to the U.S. often have trouble finding a sense of belonging.

iSIS launches tomorrow, meant to streamline course registration

The new Integrated Student Information System (iSIS), a web-based system that will replace the Student Information System (SIS) as Tufts system of recording student information, will officially open up to members of the Tufts community tomorrow.

Committee to choose fourth, fifth sororities by end of March

The sorority extension committee will choose two new sororities at the end of this month to join the Tufts Greek community, due to growing recruitment numbers in Tufts three current sororities. The fourth sorority will colonize at Tufts this fall, while the fifth could join as early as fall 2014, according to Panhellenic Council (PhC) President Carolyn Pruitt.

Pulse performs in nationwide Indian dance competition

Pulse, Tufts Indian classical dance team, wrapped up its season with a well-received performance at the University of Maryland (UMD)s inaugural national intercollegiate competition for classical Indian dance, titled Mayuri, on Saturday. Though Pulse was not awarded the first- or second-place prize, audience members gave the group much positive feedback, Pulse co-captain Avani Patel said.

Tufts Christian Fellowship will not seek Judiciary recognition

Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF) leaders announced yesterday that the group will not reapply for (TCU) Judiciary recognition despite a policy created for religious groups by the Committee on Student Life in December that would have allowed TCF to reapply without changing unconstitutional clauses in its governing documents.