One is a redhead from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The other is a lanky Seattleite with a propensity for Arizona Iced Tea. Sophomores Ian Hainline and Daniel Heller may have their differences, but their tastes fuse together in cozy 311 Miller Hall to form a blast of style.
A lecture earlier this month has jumpstarted a few initiatives led by the Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF), including a book reading and special focus group — all fitting within the group's theme this semester of social justice.
MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay last night delivered a lecture and participated in a loosely structured, conversational question-and-answer session about the importance of forming personal relationships through racial dialogue, in a lecture in an almost-full Terrace Room in Paige Hall.
Since U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton selected Stephen Bosworth, the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, to oversee Washington's North Korea policy, on Feb. 20, the Korean peninsula has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity and escalating rhetoric.
They've helped push major legislation through the Massachusetts state legislature, organized conventions and rallies attended by hundreds of people, hosted famous speakers like 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry, and raised tens of thousands of dollars for their cause — and they've managed to achieve good grades in college while doing it. The majority of the members of Massachusetts Power Shift (MAPS), a recently founded network of activists advocating for immediate and bold efforts to alleviate the effects of climate change, may be young, but their enthusiastic efforts have proven to be effective. "There are incredible benefits to having the youth voice," MAPS co-coordinator Craig Altemose said. "Most of our members are college students or young professionals, and that gives us some advantages. Firstly, young people have the moral authority on this issue. Climate change will affect their generation. Also, it takes imagination … to change the status quo, to demand change. Young people truly have that imagination and that power." Altemose, a current law student at Harvard University, is one of the three initial founders of MAPS. Since its inception in the fall of 2007, MAPS has grown into a well-known organization with branches at 30 different Massachusetts schools and several successful campaigns under its belt. MAPS has created an Adopt-a-Congressperson campaign in order to pressure legislators to support climate initiatives, organized well-attended rallies for goals like clean electricity and wind power, and is currently working to create a summer grassroots program. "We have basically put ourselves out there to be one of the nation's most aggressive state networks," said co-coordinator Katie MacDonald, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "Massachusetts is one of the most progressive states, so it's really important for us to be a leader on the issue of climate change. We should be representing the boldest initiatives out there." MacDonald, who participated in eco-friendly campaigns at her high school and has been a longtime activist, said that she was nevertheless overwhelmed by the immediate and prominent opportunities MAPS offered her. She was invited to speak at a wind-power rally last year that, she said, helped result in the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act, a state bill aimed at reducing emissions by 10 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050. "It was amazing because it was my first public speaking opportunity, and the crowd was huge, and I was in the company of other incredible speakers like … John Kerry," she said. "I felt at first like I was out of my league, but you know … This is our issue. Climate change will affect our future, and no one is going to stand up for our future except us." This year, MAPS organized a rally on March 14 to demonstrate citizen support for the We Campaign, an initiative supported by environmentalist and former Vice President Al Gore that aims for 100 percent clean electricity in 10 years. According to Altemose, MAPS expected a turnout of 100 people at the State House and twice as many attended. "People care about this," Altemose said. "We're calling on the state to call on the federal government to implement Gore's goal. It's a non-binding resolution, but it puts pressure on the right people … and is a definite step in the right direction." The Massachusetts General Court passed the resolution last week, and copies of the resolution will be forwarded to President Barack Obama, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and the Massachusetts congressional delegation for further approval, according to a recent MAPS press release. "Passing the resolution is a show of commitment," MAPS Boston Regional Coordinator and Tufts freshman Daniel Richards said. "We want to harness the energy that we have now … and connect various different environmental groups to push for this goal." Richards said that cooperation with other groups and within the group itself is vital to success. "Bridging the gap between activist groups is important," he said. "Bridging the gap between young and old is important. Youth-based groups have many advantages, but one disadvantage is that we do get a high turnover rate every four years when students graduate. But we have good leadership training to combat that … People are trained for their roles one year ahead of time, so they can get acclimated." And, since MAPS is a new organization, there are plenty of open roles. MacDonald said that new member recruitment is a main MAPS mission. MAPS members, according to Altemose, come from all over the state and from different backgrounds, bringing valuable and diverse opinions to the group. But they all agree that climate change is an important issue that deserves widespread public attention. "Climate change is basically the single most important issue in the history of our species," Altemose said. To Richards, caring about the climate is simply common sense. "It almost feels intuitive to me," he said. "The more I learned about the issues facing our planet, the more obvious it seemed to me that our planet needs our help. Curbing climate change is what I want to put my efforts into." MacDonald emphasized that climate change is an ongoing threat that must be combated as quickly and effectively as possible. "Now is our time — while we still have time — to fight to curb climate change."
With Michael Pollan coming to campus today to give the Richard E. Snyder lecture, I decided it was time to address a glaring gap in knowledge that many Tufts people seem to have. It's about food. Organic food. Michael Pollan will almost certainly shed some light on this issue, and more intelligently than I ever could, but since the Daily comes out before the lecture, I get first dibs. Lots of people assume that organic food is healthier, more ethical, better for the environment and, in nearly every way, superior to food without that organic label. But what does organic really mean? If you're walking through Shaw's or any other grocery store, how do you make a decision between the bananas with the organic sticker and those without? They look the same and taste the same to me; to most consumers, the only noticeable difference is the price and that sticker. Organic food, according to the USDA, is free of chemical fertilizers and insecticides, does not contain genetically modified ingredients and is free of hormones and antibiotics. Well, mostly. In fact, food that carries the USDA organic label is only required to be 95 percent organic; that is, a product can display the label if everything in it is organic except a small amount. Products with between 70 and 95 percent organic ingredients can display an alternate label that promises "made with organic ingredients." This still sounds good, right? Organic food is good for a number of purposes — if you want your food to be friendlier to the environment, for example, organic seems like the way to go. No pesticides or insecticides means organic food must be great for the environment, right? Sort of. If you really hope to reduce the carbon footprint from your diet, experts agree that locally grown food is the best way to go. Likewise, a vegetarian or vegan diet would have a significantly lower impact on the environment than even an organic, locally grown omnivore diet. Perhaps you eat organic food because you're concerned about the way animals are treated before they are slaughtered. I'm not a vegetarian, but it occurs to me that if you are concerned about cruelty to animals, you probably shouldn't be eating steak at all — even if the beef is organic. But organic meat isn't necessarily raised in a more humane way than other types of meat. Animals must be given time outdoors; how much time is left up to the farmers. And, interestingly enough, much controversy has arisen over the organic labeling process itself. Inspections are contracted out by the USDA, and oversight is minimal at best. This begs the question: Is organic food safer or better for you? This is the third and arguably final potential reason for selecting organic products. Around the beginning of February, there was an outbreak of salmonella in peanut products. The contamination was traced back to factories in Texas and Georgia that were found to be totally unsanitary but, according to the USDA, organic. Some of your favorite organic companies like Clif Bar and Cascadian Farm had items that were contaminated with salmonella and pulled from shelves. So should you buy organic? Sure, if you can afford it. Organic food is generally safer, though not always, and the label does require all-natural fertilizers and pesticides, which is good. But if you have the choice, buy local AND organic. Try to limit the meat you eat in order to improve health and reduce your carbon footprint. And lastly, as Michael Pollan will surely explain, stop eating processed food-like substances and stick to fresh produce as much as possible.
With Michael Pollan coming to campus today to give the Richard E. Snyder lecture, I decided it was time to address a glaring gap in knowledge that many Tufts people seem to have. It's about food. Organic food. Michael Pollan will almost certainly shed some light on this issue, and more intelligently than I ever could, but since the Daily comes out before the lecture, I get first dibs.
Women are complicated beings. We have surging emotions and play complex games that can drive even ourselves crazy. If there isn't a fight, we craft one, and as crazy as it seems, we rationalize our manipulative and convoluted ways.
During its annual lottery earlier this month, the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) was able to fully meet students' demand for on-campus housing for next year.
MONDAY "Forum on Race: Progress on a Dream Deferred" Details: MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay will lead Tufts' inaugural Forum on Race. Clay will speak about the implications of what many consider to be an increasingly post-racial society. Clay was one of the first black students to attend the University of North Carolina. When and Where: 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Paige Hall, Terrace Room Sponsor: Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate "Gender, Violence, Health and Human Rights in Darfur" Details: A panel of guests from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and its partner groups will discuss the situation in Darfur. Speakers include Darfuri physician and human rights leader Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah and the director of PHR's Darfur Survival Campaign. When and Where: 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Cabot 206 Sponsor: Community Health Program TUESDAY "Richard E. Snyder Presidential Lecture Series: Michael Pollan" Details: Nutrition journalist Michael Pollan, the author of the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" (2006), will address the industrialization of food and agriculture. When and Where: 4:30 p.m.; Cohen Auditorium Sponsors: Office of the President, Human Resources WEDNESDAY "Opting In: Balancing Family and Career" Details: Tufts faculty members and alumni will discuss how family life and careers affect men and women differently. When and Where: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Sophia Gordon Hall Sponsors: Women's Center, Women's Studies Program THURSDAY "Money: What Every College Student Should Know About Their Finances" Details: Jameel Webb-Davis, the founder of Start Money Smart, will talk about how students can learn more about managing their own money. When and Where: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Barnum Hall 114 Sponsors: 85 Broads, Women's Center, Africana Center "The Upside of City Shrinkage: How to Decline into Urban Sufficiency" Details: Rutgers University Professor Frank J. Popper, a noted geographer and planner, will give a presentation about how economic decline and depopulation affect the landscape of urban areas. When and Where: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; 97 Talbot Avenue Sponsor: Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning FRIDAY "US-China Relations Symposium" Details: Speakers will discuss the future of relations between the United States and China in this three-part symposium. Retired Naval Admiral Eric McVadon will deliver the keynote address at 5:30 p.m. When and Where: 1:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Cabot 206 Sponsors: ALLIES, Chinese Department, International Relations Program "Noam Chomsky & Bill Fletcher: New Strategies Conference" Details: Prolific intellectual Noam Chomsky and political activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. will talk at the New Strategies for the Obama Era Conference. Admission is free for members of the Tufts community. RSVP at www.afsc.org/newstrategies2009. When and Where: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Pearson Chemical Laboratory Sponsor: Peace and Justice Studies Program
At a school as concerned with public service and active citizenship as Tufts, students constantly search for new ways to help people in their own communities and around the world. Sometimes, however, issues prevent some socially conscious students from contributing as much as they would like to. Kiva.org, a nonprofit microlending Web site, seeks to address this obstacle by giving people the opportunity to make loans to entrepreneurs in 39 developing countries. During times of economic downturn, most people — especially students — are unable to raise the large amounts of money often required to make a difference or cannot afford short- or long-term service trips. Kiva allows anyone to make a donation as small as $25, and what may seem like a small loan in American dollars can make a huge difference to an entrepreneur in a developing country. The Web site also addresses a concern associated with making donations through organizations. "If you're giving a big donation, you don't really know where it's going. Not all of your proceeds go straight to the cause. Microloans are more effective because they go straight to individuals and you can track them and see where they go," sophomore Kexin Chen said. Once the loan is repaid, the money is returned to the donor's account and can be either withdrawn or reinvested in another endeavor. Contributors are also able to choose who receives the loan by browsing through a list of entrepreneurs, looking at their names, countries, fields of work, requested amounts, purposes for the loan and brief biographies. At the moment, there are over 460,000 lenders who have participated, lending over a cumulative $64 million since the program began in March 2005. By 2010, Kiva expects to have facilitated $100 million in loans. Jonathan Morduch, co-author of "The Economics of Microfinance" (2005), extended the impact of Kiva beyond the benefits to individual donors and recipients. "The great success of Kiva, and microfinance in general, is that it shows a series of success stories at a time when there's great pessimism around foreign aid and what official aid approaches are doing," he said on the Kiva.org Web site. "Kiva and the microfinance world are set up, not just as a better way to fight banking, but also an important way to rethink traditional modes of giving and global social justice." Still, there are concerns associated with microlending that do not escape some potential lenders. Junior Gene Kurtysh, a member of Tufts Financial Group, noted a couple of them. "[Microlending is] a risky thing to do because the chances of default are very high. [Recipients] might not use [the loans] for the reasons that will allow them to repay you," Kurtysh said. "But if they use it for education and for raising the human capital of the area and are constructive with it, then of course it's a great idea." Kiva, aided by microfinance institutions that approve the loan applications by the potential recipients, provides this assistance, leading to only a 2.2 percent default rate in over 90,000 total loans. Sophomore Julia Stimeck, who plans on working in microfinance upon graduation, believes the low default rate is the result of a well-designed system. "There are a lot of different methods that they use — like people working in groups or people who have already shown themselves to be reliable," Stimeck said. "They know that if they don't repay it, it won't be an option anymore; that's pretty effective. It should be sustainable because that money will always be there, even when the economy is weak." Stimeck said that microfinancing organizations bring a needed economic change. "We've proven that the trickle-down theory doesn't work, so all of the things that people claim will be good for the economy end up helping the rich," she said. "The rich get richer, but there are more poor people and they're worse off." This philosophy is part of the reason why Stimeck has decided that she wants to pursue a career in microlending. "I've always wanted to do something for the world," she said. "I've always felt that I would never be satisfied unless I was actually being helpful."
In Monday's article "DMR team runs nation's best time at ECAC Champs," senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry was quoted saying that "winning [the distance medley relay] and almost beating the ECAC record was absolutely amazing." Ferry actually said that "winning [the distance medley relay] and also beating the ECAC record was absolutely amazing." Tuesday's article "Tufts hands over Ascot Partners documents to Mass. AG Coakley" incorrectly stated that Tufts invested $20 billion in Ascot Partners. Tufts actually invested $20 million. The caption for the Tuesday's photograph entitled "Partying like it's 5769" misspelled the name of Chabad House. Tuesday's article "Boston-area endowments decline" incorrectly referred to Harvard President Drew Faust as male. Faust is a woman. The caption for Wednesday's photograph entitled "Wednesday, bloody Wednesday" incorrectly stated that U2 was going to perform at the Somerville Theatre on March 12. The band was actually planning to perform, and did perform, on March 11. Yesterday's open letter to the Tufts community from Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser and Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman misspelled the artist Shepard Fairey's name.
At Tufts Medical Center (TMC), it pays — quite literally — for immigrants to study English. The center encourages its immigrant employees to take English classes, partly through financial incentives, and last month, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the English Works Campaign took note. The center, along with 10 other businesses, community organizations and partnerships, received the City of Boston/English Works Campaign Certificate of Recognition during a Feb. 18 ceremony. During the event, Menino praised the winners for their English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs. "I'm proud that the City of Boston has such strong partners in the ESOL community," he said. "The work that these organizations perform for our immigrants is about more than English-language classes. The strength of these award winners comes from the fact that they are helping to build better communities by investing in the immigrant workforce." In particular, the classes allow enrolled immigrants to acquire the English skills they need to move beyond entry-level jobs. "This is a personal and professional growth opportunity," Sherry Dong, the director of the Community Health Improvement Program at TMC, told the Daily. The English Works Campaign included TMC among the winners in honor of its partnership with the Asian American Civic Association (AACA). About a year and a half ago, the AACA and TMC applied for and received a three-year government grant, and now they offer three English classes and one General Educational Development training program for the center's employees. Currently, 36 individuals are enrolled in the courses. Dong said that the classes are already paying off. "[Participants] feel more confident and comfortable in their workplace," she said. Richard Goldberg, the AACA's director of education, added that the classes also help employees offer better patient care, even if it is just through basic communication. "[It's] better customer service, basically just small talk," Goldberg told the Daily. "Several supervisors say the understanding, the communication skills have improved." According to Goldberg, there is significant interest in the program, but several potential participants have trouble finding time for the classes. This is a common problem for ESOL efforts, particularly since new immigrants often balance several jobs. "The demands of [work] and raising a family make it difficult. They want to [take classes], but there's no opportunity," Goldberg said. To accommodate participants' schedules, classes at TMC are held on-site, which eliminates time and transportation costs. Also, half of the studies take place during the workers' free time, but the other half are during their paid hours, meaning that they receive compensation for taking the classes. According to Menino, the work that TMC and the AACA do is more important now than ever. As immigration rates swell and the recession cuts back on job opportunities, English skills can make or break a deal for immigrant workers. "In these difficult economic times, it is critical that business leaders understand the value of improving the English language skills of their employees," Menino said at the event. "It's not only the smart thing to do; it's also the right thing."
"Hi, my name is Ian. I'm a sophomore from North Carolina, and I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners and gummy worms," sophomore tour guide Ian Hainline said in a charming Southern accent to a group of visitors exiting the Office of Admissions. Several times a day, student tour guides gather outside Bendetson Hall and compete with their colleagues in enticing prospective students, parents and tag-along siblings with one-liner previews of their campus tours. For students who ahve to court admissions officers with thank-you notes and memorize statistics from Fiske's colossus of a guide, the college tour can be one of the more pleasant experiences under the "college process" umbrella. But seldom do prospective students shut off their cameras and wonder for a moment wh their tour guide is giving up free time to give tours on a Monday morning. "Many students I have interviewed about tour guiding have said that they wish more people knew about Tufts because they are having such a great experience here, and they want to share their excitement with prospective students and their families who visit the campus," said senior Adam Dworkin, a senior intern at the Office of Admissions and former tour guide. Sophomore guide Brian Agler shared a similar view. "I distinctly remember my [college] tour, so I feel it's a good way to give back, and at the end of the day I think it's what draws a lot of people here," he said. Other tour guides look back on their application experiences with less nostalgia and hope to improve the system by volunteering for the Student Outreach Program, the division of the admissions department that coordinates student-led tours. "I like being a tour guide because I hated the college process and everything that went along with it. It's like going through puberty all over again, except this time you have tests to monitor how well you're doing," sophomore Ben Jaye said. "I thought it would be interesting to finally be as involved in it as I could be and make it better." There are a host of reasons why students choose to take the tour guide path. Some sign up in order to practice their public speaking skills, while others want to get more involved with the Tufts community and meet new people. Agler, a member of Tufts comedy groups Major: Undecided and The Institute, thinks of his tours as an opportunity to practice his hand at stand-up comedy. Still others have no idea why they enjoy scheduling one hour a week to pitch the university to visiting strangers. "I ... like to hear myself talk," one anonymous freshman tour guide said. The one factor that does not seem to drive motivation is monetary compensation. While many schools pay their students to show visitors around campus, Tufts' only form of payment is a $10 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, awarded each semester to guides who complete three mandatory "special" tours in addition to their scheduled weekly tours. Still, roughly 100 students compete for fewer than half as many tour guide positions each year. "I never thought of tour guides getting compensated until someone else mentioned it. I understand that at other schools, the tour guides are compensated more heavily, but I also imagine it's a much larger time commitment," Hainline said. "The beauty of working in the admissions office is you can be as involved as you want to." At Tufts, tour guides are selected through a systematic process. Interested students fill out a general application form and interview with an admissions officer or current tour guide. Based on the interview, the first cuts are made, and second-round candidates are invited back to give a mock tour. The coordinators then invite a final group of tour guides from this cluster to undergo formal training and begin their work as campus guides. Each tour is essentially the same tour from a different perspective, Hainline explained. But tour guides agree that perspective and personality are what make a tour successful. "I want people to have a good time on my tour. Chances are, they just came from an hour-long [information] session that's been fairly dry," Agler said. "I like telling jokes and view it more of a performance than anything else … Sometimes, I also like sliding down railings when I'm giving tours." A more standard way to pique audience interest is with personal anecdotes relevant to campus landmarks. University President Lawrence Bacow, in particular, seems a popular protagonist in many of these sagas. "There's one I always tell, about when a tour of mine was walking by the President's Lawn one day and Larry came out and poured us all hot chocolate," freshman tour guide Diane Widergren said. Jaye had another story involving Bacow. "I tell [my tours] about the time I walked by the president's office with a cactus I'd just bought and he spent a couple of minutes telling me how to properly take care of my cactus," Jaye said. The legend of Jumbo, of course, is always a crowd-pleaser as well, but some tour guides prefer not to rely on orthodox tour material. "I'll take things that [the program coordinators] say and make them my own," said one sophomore tour guide, who requested to remain anonymous. "Like that story they tell us about how you'll marry the person you kiss under Bowen Gate — I explicitly tell people that I think it's B.S. Or when we pass by the cannon, I'll say that some people think it faces a certain school in Cambridge that I'm not allowed to mention by name but that rhymes with Harvard." Some tour guides even dabble in social experimentation. While none of his ideas have yet materialized, Jaye has planned several hypothetical skits for mid-tour entertainment. One involves spreading of a rumor among incoming students about a Tufts tradition to have someone on campus dressed as Waldo of the "Where's Waldo?" books at all times. But like most jobs, tour guiding comes with its obstacles as well — there are parents who ask too many questions, students who ask too few and, worst of all, those who ask the questions you had hoped to avoid. "The hardest questions are the most personal and the least personal ones," Agler said. "The two big ones for me are drinking on campus, which you can kind of dodge, and what the worst thing about Tufts is." Hainline also found questions pertaining to alcohol particularly difficult to address. "People's personal philosophies differ so vastly that what you view as acceptable can vary from one person to another," Hainline said. Questions that are beyond the scope of the tour guide's knowledge can also pose potential quandaries. "Like if someone asks me about Greek life," Jaye said. "I'm not a frat boy, and I don't go to frats very often. I'm too far removed to give an honest and fair response." That said, Jaye explained that students on campus are always eager to assist. "Oftentimes I'll be in the theater, which I don't know very much about, and I'll just stop a student working there and ask them to talk about it, and they always talk about it with pride," Jaye said. "People are more than willing to talk about what they do here because they're proud of what they do, and they're proud of their school."
A campsite set up in Carmichael Dining Hall greeted students who walked into the cafeteria on Tuesday. The event featured camping-inspired grub, a canoe filled with snacks to take on-the-go, and an employee dressed up in costume as a dog named Sparky.
Rivalries are evident in many parts of life. Businesses constantly vie with one another to increase sales, sports teams compete for championships, and politicians contend with one another for office. Competition is also present in the art world, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)'s new exhibition, "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice," which runs from March 15 through Aug. 16 in the Gund Gallery, very effectively examines the way that rivalry and competition shaped Venetian painting. Renaissance Venice
Iconic rock band U2 surprised area residents last night with a "secret" concert at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square after confirmations of the group's visit came at the 11th hour. The show was the third stop in a little-publicized preview of the North American leg of an upcoming tour, which will start in September to promote the band's new album "No Line on the Horizon." Last night's show was the last of the "3 Nights Live" series, which saw the band make appearances at small venues in Los Angeles and Chicago. Rumors have swirled over the past week that the band would visit Somerville. Radio stations became aware of the concert and began giving out tickets, and Somerville officials confirmed earlier this week that U2 would be playing at the Davis Square theater. Many local residents and Tufts students were disappointed to discover that none of the tickets at the 900-seat venue were for sale. Access to the concert, which was sponsored by Live Nation, was limited to invitations by the concert promoter or by radio station promotions. By the time the logistics of the quickly planned concert unraveled, the number of seats had dwindled to 750. "We had to kill a bunch of seats for film crews and stuff," Ian Judge, general manager of the Somerville Theatre, told the Daily. The band performed a combination of new and old songs and interacted with the audience during a question-and-answer session, according to the radio station WBCN-FM (104.1), which broadcast the show live and distributed tickets to listeners. "They were funny, they were off-the-cuff, they sounded like … you could have a beer with them," the WBCN DJ Juanita, who helped run the broadcast of the show at WBCN, said on the air last night. "I thought they sounded amazing, even on the new songs that you would think that there's so much production these days," she later told the Daily. "The new ones just sounded amazing live." The band also played a surprise concert on Friday at Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. U2 is the biggest name to hit the longtime Davis Square establishment since Bruce Springsteen played the venue in 2003. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone told reporters on Tuesday at the Somerville Theatre that he was excited that the band chose the city, which he said was a perfect location for a group with strong Boston roots. "Somerville rocks! Why else?" he said. Both Somerville Theatre and the Somerville Police Department were put on short notice for the event, which required 50 of Somerville's finest to report for duty. "The organizers have been very gracious in terms of the logistics and covering the costs that the city is incurring in hosting the event," City of Somerville spokesperson Tom Champion said. Somerville Police Captain John O'Connor told the Daily yesterday morning that he did not know what kind of turnout to expect. Initial estimates received from the police department for crowds in Davis Square ranged from 600 to 25,000 people, O'Connor said. "It is another indication that Davis Square is becoming an increasingly attractive venue for events," Champion said. "There is a lot of excitement in the city about this." At 9 a.m. yesterday, the police had shut down Dover Street and Meacham Road. Later in the evening, they had also blocked eastbound traffic on Holland Street in front of the theater. By the time the doors opened at 8 p.m., onlookers had gathered in Davis to catch a glimpse of the action. Two separate lines snaked down the sidewalk in front of the theater for VIPs and those who had won their tickets through radio promotions. "I think it'll be cool to see U2 in such a small location and not in a big stadium," said Jesse Russell, a Newburyport resident who was attending the concert with his family as what his mother called "guests of the band." In order to avoid parking problems, those who had won tickets were bussed over from the Museum of Science in Boston. Police motorcycles escorted the charted buses to the theater. The Somerville Fire Department was also on the scene. An anonymous fire department official said that measures were being taken to prevent overcrowding in local bars. Local businesses also prepared for a huge influx in foot traffic. Cate Vitagliano, a supervisor at J.P. Licks, said yesterday that all employees were going to be on duty last night. A chalkboard in the ice cream shop that usually listed the staff's favorite ice cream picks instead displayed a list of special flavors playing off of the band's song titles. Among the concoctions were "Sundae Bloody Sundae," "Peanut Butter than the Real Thing" and "The Ground Beneath Her Sweet Cream." Meredith Klein, Leslie Ogden and Ben Gittleson contributed reporting to this article.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dan Margalit won a Sloan Research Fellowship, a high honor for young researchers, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced on Feb. 17. Margalit is one of 118 fellows for 2009, all of whom are university and college faculty members from the United States and Canada conducting advanced research in fields ranging from physics to molecular biology. He was the only Tufts faculty member selected. Margalit received the fellowship for his research in the mathematical field of topology, which he described as "studying symmetries." "In my research, I attempt to understand the symmetries of the surface of something like a donut," Margalit said. "There are some obvious symmetries; you can rotate the surface, or you can flip it over. But there's a lot of hidden symmetries as well, symmetries that you don't necessarily see right off the bat." The fellowship, awarded to candidates based on past publications and research, consists of a $50,000 grant for a two-year period. The award is typically given to young researchers. Margalit is the fifth Tufts professor to be awarded the fellowship and the first in the mathematics category. The fellowships have been awarded since 1955. Many Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to win other prestigious awards. Thirty-eight have won the Nobel Prize in their respective fields, and 14 others have received the Fields Medal, one of the top honors in mathematics. "The award is really for them," Erica Stella, a fellowship administrator at the Sloan Foundation, told the Daily. "Each year, they're required to send progress reports on their research, but it's not for a specific project. Instead, it's for the promise of what they are to accomplish in the future." Margalit said his approach to mathematics takes an interesting angle. "A lot of what I study bridges various areas of math that are deeply connected," he said. "I'm lucky that I'm working in an area that's connected to a lot of different ideas." Professor of Mathematics Bruce Boghosian, who chairs the Department of Mathematics, agreed, explaining that Margalit must think about the classification of "knots and braids," non-Euclidean geometries and "configuration spaces." "Mathematicians feel the kind of abstract things that they look at have a certain reality to them," Boghosian said. "When you can glimpse that reality from two different ways, when you can take two subfields of mathematics and apply those to a single subject, well, there's a beauty to it." Though Sloan Research Fellows are not bound to continue their previous research, Margalit plans to maintain focus in the topology field. He will primarily use the grant to travel to different conferences and universities. "In math, I don't need to buy any lab equipment or get any fruit flies," he said. "You use the money to travel and talk to people." Margalit said he would like to focus on collaborating with other mathematicians. "A lot of people have the image of the obsessed mathematician working in his office," he said. "But ideas come from talking to people and bouncing ideas off each other." Bruce: "The kind of thing that [Margalit] does makes connections to other areas of mathematics," he said. "In order to study the symmetries of surfaces, [Margalit] ends up thinking of the classification of knots and braids," Boghosian said. "He uses non-Euclidean geometries, hyperbolic geometries, things called configuration spaces." Margalit: "Math is very collaborative," he said. Margalit: "So my main purpose is giving myself the opportunity to talk to different people." The Department of Mathematics, and the entire Tufts community, is extremely proud of Margalit's research and his prospects for the future. "The research that he's doing is very fundamental mathematical research. You know, in his career so far he's really made fundamental advances in math and we're all really happy and proud to have him here," Boghosian said.
Senior Anjali Nirmalan won this year's Wendell Phillips Award, an annual prize that will make her the only student to speak at May's Baccalaureate Commencement Ceremony.
Every year, college students travel to the beaches of Mexico in droves for spring break to take a much-needed break from studying. But this year, students may have to deal with more than finding a good beach and some bottled water, as the violence between the government and the drug cartels in Mexico has greatly escalated to such an extent that the United States Department of State has issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens.
