For most students, studying abroad is an oportunity to explore a new culture and city. However, senior Jorel Roth, an international student at Tufts, did something unique with his time abroad. He spent a year in his home city of Paris with his own mom as his host mother.
Members of the Alcohol Task Force are moving closer to recommending a policy to prohibit students from carrying alcohol onto the President's Lawn during next semester's Spring Fling, according to members of the task force. Task force discussions have occurred behind closed doors, a practice the group agreed upon by consensus in an effort to encourage honest conversation and prevent false rumors about the task force's plans from spreading, according to Director of Health Education Ian Wong, chair of the task force. The task force, comprised of students, administrators and staff, is comprehensively examining current alcohol policy. One of the group's three subcommittees focuses on how to manage major on-campus events like Spring Fling. The task force aims to offer recommendations to a policy-setting steering committee on alcohol policy by winter break. The task force plans on publicizing information as soon as it has a draft proposal, which could be as soon as today, according to Wong. Following its release, the proposal will be made public for student input, Wong said. "We'll go back and we'll try to seek an open conversation with the complete student body," he said. Several task force members told the Daily that the body was considering a proposal to ban alcohol from being carried into the grounds of Spring Fling. The members requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about task force discussions. In past years, official policy has permitted of-age students to bring a limited quantity of alcoholic beverages onto the event grounds. But last year's celebration was marked by an unusually large number of students seeking medical attention for alcohol-related issues, causing a mass-casualty incident when the number of students needing medical attention exceeded the capacity of health personnel on hand. In an attempt to prevent dangerous levels of alcohol consumption among students, task force members have suggested creating a pub section for of-age students on the President's Lawn, in a setup similar to that of the annual Winter Bash dance, according to task force members. While a number of the members told the Daily that various proposals remain under consideration, some said that this approach is gaining momentum. One member said the proposal "has seemed almost inevitable from the very beginning" of the task force's deliberations. Several other members who were contacted declined to comment on the record regarding the matter, citing confidentiality concerns. Since the group's formation earlier in the semester, the discussions and meetings of the body have been closed to the public. Minutes are kept private and members are discouraged from speaking publicly about task force proceedings. Most task force members interviewed for this article defended the group's confidential nature as important to creating an honest discussion. They said it was not a concerted effort to withhold information. "It's not that we don't want information to get out," Wong said. "It's just; how can we have a very tough discussion about a very tough issue in an open and honest way?" Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Brandon Rattiner, a senior and the only person on both the task force and the steering committee, agreed. "I think it's critical to its effectiveness," he said of the task force's closed-door policy. He added that if task force members did not have the guarantee of confidentiality, they would be unable to amend positions they had previously taken. "Nothing would be discussed in honesty," Rattiner said. But others took issue with some aspects of the body's lack of transparency. "It seems very odd that they wouldn't publicize it more and get student opinions, since ultimately they're the ones affected by the policy," senior Tom Bennet said. Task force member Kevin Wong, who has no relation to Ian Wong, said that the secretive nature of the body has limited students' access to information. He distinguished between publicizing the information up for discussion and attributing that information to individuals. "I think it would be helpful for people to know what issues and strategies we are discussing," said Kevin Wong, a senior. "I understand that attributing suggestions to specific people might cause restraint during discourse, but publicizing the content could prove very enlightening." Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said the number of students on the task force — 16 of its 24 members are students — and the many demographics they represent have made the group successful in garnering a variety of ideas and feedback. "The reason why there are so many students on the task force and it was structured that way … was to have a broad student opinion and perspective," Reitman said. "It's probably the most effective way to get the student input and, from what I understand, it's an active and lively conversation." Reitman is not a member of the task force, but he sits on the steering committee. He emphasized that while students might not be aware of the task force recommendations now, they will learn about its work eventually. TCU Senator Bruce Ratain is a member of the task force and the chair of the Senate's Administration and Policy Committee, which authored the resolution on alcohol policy that the Senate passed on Sunday. He said that the goal of preventing rumors through confidentiality was logical. "There are a lot of very legitimate issues being discussed, so to have misinformation out there is dangerous," said Ratain, a junior. The tendency toward privacy caused confusion last month, when Kevin Wong sent an e-mail to hundreds of undergraduates suggesting that the task force was considering canceling Spring Fling outright or banning alcohol at the event. Task force members were quick to deny these allegations, but at the time did not counter them with details of the body's discussions. Rattiner noted that students do not need access to task force discussions to stay engaged in the debate, citing the "town meeting" to be hosted by Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg tonight as one avenue of involvement. The town meeting, entitled "Changing the Alcohol Culture at Tufts," will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Remis Sculpture Court. The event is open to the Tufts community. Reitman sent an e-mail last week urging task force and steering committee members to attend. He told the Daily yesterday that the forum could be seen as an "open meeting" of the task force and steering committee.
When I went home a few weekends ago, I felt overwhelmed by college application déjà vu as my little brother spent his Saturday afternoon writing essays and bookmarking pages in the dozens of college guidebooks scattered across the living room. After some requisite big sister teasing, I grabbed "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2009" that was lying on the kitchen table and flipped though to see what it had to say about a certain university that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Students and administrators met in Dowling Hall this Saturday for Social Justice 101, a new diversity training session in which participants discussed issues of personal identity and social justice leadership.
College students will inevitably answer one question more times than they can count: What is your major? But minors get much less attention. From architectural studies to ethnic groups in America, the range of minors offered at Tufts is often overlooked.
Grieving processes and rituals have perpetuated throughout vastly different cultures for thousands of years. But in today's age of technology, some aspects of dealing with death have taken an unexpected turn. With the use of social networking sites and other innovations, people can now keep their loved ones present online long after they have passed away.
This year's Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate student survey, administered today, differs substantially from past surveys thanks to the work of political science Professor Kent Portney and his class. Portney and his students helped design and analyze the survey using professional research methods.
MONDAY "Costa Rica's Vision on Sustainable Development and Climate Change" Details: Ambassador Jairo Hernandez Milian (F '90), permanent representative of Costa Rica to the UN, will discuss Costa Rica's goals for international environmental policy. When and Where: 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.; Cabot 206 Sponsored by: Tufts Energy and Climate Forum, the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, Tufts Institute of the Environment, Department of Economics TUESDAY "Word or Image: Lexicography, Factography and the Visual Culture of Stalinism" Details: Anna Wexler Katsnelson (LA ‘99), a Mellon postdoctoral fellow, will speak about her research on Stalin. When and Where: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; Center for the Humanities, 48 Professors Row Sponsors: Center for the Humanities at Tufts "Mixed and Asian - A discussion about identity, assumptions and all of the politics" Details: Jen Chau, founder of Swirl, Inc., an organization that confronts society's ideas about race, will speak about multi-racial identities. The event is followed by a free reception dinner at the Start House. When and Where: 6 p.m. to7 p.m.; Pearson 104 Sponsored by: Asian American Center WEDNESDAY "Can President Obama Avoid War with Iran?" Details: Juan R. I. Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, who has worked for years chronicling the relationship between the West and the Muslim world, will speak about the future of relations between the United States and Iran. When and Where: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; ASEAN Auditorium Sponsors: The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, the International Security Studies Program "Guantanamo Bay, National Security and Immigration in the Courts" Details: Lee Gelernt, (LA ‘84), deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project, will speak about the changing role of a public defender in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and his time as a public defender at the ACLU. When and Where: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Braker 001. Sponsors: Experimental College, Peace and Justice Studies Program, Department of History, International Relations Program THURSDAY "Sixth Annual Debate on Energy and Climate" Details: William Moomaw, professor of international environmental policy, and Bruce Everett, adjunct associate professor of international business, will discuss climate change and clean energy in an annual debate. When and Where: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; ASEAN auditorium Sponsors: Center for International Environment and Resource Policy
For many Jumbos, throwing roaring parties in the absence of vigilant resident assistants (RAs) marks the transition to off-campus housing. Gone are the days when hosts kept the music down and stood on the lookout for RAs.
While the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is internationally known for educating scientists, engineers and mathematicians, the university hopes to add one more title to that list: leader.
This year's Winter Bash will barely resemble the crowded Gantcher Center event of years past.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate has broken its silence on the university's new alcohol policy.
There was a time some months ago when the threat of swine flu was easy to ignore, when the dreaded H1N1 virus had yet to hit the Tufts campus and there remained a possibility that the entire epidemic was all just overblown media hype. That time has come and gone. Flu masks populate the Health Service office and H1N1 e-mail updates appear in some students' inboxes even more frequently than Facebook.com notifications.
The Tufts Timmy Foundation hosted a gala at Goddard Chapel last night, offering students the chance to interact with professors outside of the classroom while raising money for a Guatemalan non-profit.
Boston is a city in which the economy and culture is built, in part, on the many institutes of higher education that populate the area. The ones that immediately spring to mind are the big-name universities: Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College and, of course, Tufts.
Junior Rebekah Holtz feels the strain as a female physics major in a field of study dominated by men. Holtz is one of just seven women, compared to 16 men, currently majoring in physics in the College of Liberal Arts at Tufts. Holtz said the gender disparity has never made her "uncomfortable" but that it does change her attitude towards her studies. "Being in a class with mostly males puts more pressure on me to do well," Holtz said. "Whenever I take a test, I feel that my performance is reflective of women in general. I worry that if I do poorly in a physics class, it reinforces the notion that women may not be as strong in science as men." Holtz is enrolled in two physics classes this semester, one of which she said contains four females out of 45 students total. This marked gender gap isn't exclusive to physics and other natural sciences, nor does it solely skew in the direction of a male majority. A search of Tufts White Pages found particularly notable discrepancies in art history (five males out of 57 declared majors), computer science (eight females out of 50 declared majors in the College of Liberal Arts) and child development (15 males out of 107 declared majors). The women's studies department currently has no male majors. Women make up close to 30 percent of the School of Engineering's student body, a low proportion despite being nearly double the national average male-to-female engineering student ratio, according to the school's website. "The child development major draws mostly women, and this is unfortunate all around," George Scarlett, Child Development Deputy Department Chair, said. "We have fantastic majors, but the major itself would be enriched by the presence of men." Scarlett said the significant lack of gender parity within the field of study "isn't because the major and department are better suited to women. It has more to do with misunderstanding than it has to do with people making rational choices about what to major in." "The primary misunderstanding has to do with the question, ‘What can you do with a child development major? The correct answer is, ‘Anything you want,'" he said. Scarlett cited alumni in health-related professions, public policy, the law, education, psychology and research as examples. "Without this understanding that majoring in child development can lead almost anywhere, I think men on campus see it as headed for education careers only and not for careers that men typically gravitate toward … [It] may be that we still live in a culture where the interests of children are associated with women's work," he said. Sociology Professor Susan Ostrander, too, cites a sex-segregated work force as a cause for the gender gap in some majors. Ostrander teaches Sociology 30: Sex and Gender in Society, in which the topic of gender roles in the labor force is a component of the curriculum. "Some jobs [are] reserved for men and others for women," Ostrander said. "It's not surprising that students often end up in majors that match the kind of paid work they will have later. Only a few women and men defy the odds and major in fields where they are a minority," like women in the natural sciences and men in child development, Ostrander said. For Ostrander, a "solution" to the gap could be found in the establishment of "gender equality in paid work," she said. Pay equity in the work force would allow students to choose majors based not on the particular traditional gender association (and correlated earning potential) of a profession, but based on their interest for the subject regardless of societal norms. Women, who Ostrander said are more likely than men are to work in professions like teaching, social work, nursing and child development, are currently paid 78 cents for each dollar earned by men, according to a presidential proclamation released in April. "The jobs that women are most likely to do are paid less," Ostrander said. Still, students majoring in fields of studies traditionally (and statistically) associated with the opposite gender overwhelmingly said they felt comfortable and were not aware of any modicum of classroom sexism. "I think it's almost a cycle because the lack of women could make other women feel out of place. But I don't feel uncomfortable because I'm used to it and I don't think it's a big deal," senior physics major Erin van Erp said. "I sometimes wish my classes were more gender-balanced, but I accept that there's something about physics that just appeals to more men than women. I would probably be confused if I had a class that wasn't mostly guys, but no one has ever questioned whether I belong in this major." "All that really matters is whether or not [a potential male child development major] is really interested in the study of child development," junior child development major Spencer Ross said. "If child development is really something that he wanted to pursue, then it shouldn't matter that the classes are made up of mostly women." According to sophomore physics major Michelle Cohen, "There's nothing wrong with being outnumbered in your field. It would be stupid to turn down a major because it's all guys."
Drunken students and clean energy activism didn't mix well yesterday.
As alcohol-related incidents continue to weigh on the minds of students and the administration, the Red Watch Band, a nationwide organization designed to train students in how to respond to binge drinking, has come to Tufts.
Sometimes I miss the pre-school days when yellow-green-purple outfits were considered fashionable. It's not that the clashing colors were acceptable back then because we were too naïve to form opinions about one another's belongings. It was that the colors made us cool. The more colors, the cooler; the most colors, the coolest (with our superlatives still fresh in our minds). And there was one possession that — if you were among its lucky owners — made you part of an elite class, the cool-hunters of cool, the envy of show-and-tell, color-possessors of the universe: the Crayola Big Box.
