News
News
Lack of communication with Somerville Fire Department slows down Zeta Psi construction
October 9Brothers of the Zeta Psi fraternity have yet to move back into their house this semester, due to a delayed construction project.
News
Interview | Jeswald Salacuse
October 9In preparation for the Daily's weekly radio show this weekend, we sat down with Task Force on Freedom of Expression Chair Jeswald Salacuse. University President Lawrence Bacow charged the task force in January with proposing "university-wide policy language" on dealing with free speech and harassment.
News
Hoffmann takes on Middle East in packed room
October 8Harvard University Professor Stanley Hoffmann spoke to a room that was so overcrowded last night that audience members flooded into an adjacent hallway to watch from a monitor.
News
MTV cofounder Freston to deliver Snyder Lecture
October 8Tom Freston, a founding member and former chief executive officer of MTV, will deliver this semester's Snyder Presidential Lecture, relaying his experience in backing what was once considered a doomed enterprise and turning it into a media mainstay.
News
When punishment is pending, one group of students works to protect and assist accused
October 8It may come as a surprise to Tufts students facing disciplinary action that their strongest allies in the judicial process are concentrated in a small organization of fellow students.
News
City of Boston bans trans fats in dining sector
October 8Over the past weeks, a meal of French fries and fried chicken may have started to taste a bit different in the city of Boston.
News
Police substation opens in Somerville
October 8Attempting to increase the accessibility of local police, the City of Somerville unveiled a new police station in East Somerville on Monday and will soon open a second near Tufts.
News
After cancellation, shuttle to return
October 7The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate may restart the on-again, off-again Boston Bus Shuttle as soon as Oct. 17, if contract negotiations pan out.
News
Kaplan discusses art and minorities
October 7SUNY, Purchase Professor Paul Kaplan gave a lecture last night entitled "Jewish Artist and Black Africans in Renaissance Art." He spoke about the presence and representation of these minorities, citing examples such as the poor treatment of Jews in Venice. He profiled one talented Jewish artist, Moisè dal Castellazzo, and described how he gained special privileges due to the popularity of his works. For more information, see Arts.
News
Ally Gimbel | When kiwis fly
October 7I just want to make one thing perfectly clear: I am not a sports fan. I have no idea what "offside" means and the only time I ever cared about Tom Brady was when he modeled underwear for Calvin Klein. Other than that, sports have never really entered my field of interests.
News
The Microblog | For a change of pace, professors discuss the way they want their students to study
October 7With midterm season upon us, students across campus are feverishly reading textbooks, some for the first time this semester. While some will swear by the near silence of the library, others will passionately defend their choice to study with the sounds of Blink-182 and Jay-Z blasting in the background.
News
Trick turning and beyond: Students shop for their groceries at Tufts' dining halls
October 7While few claim to leave Dewick-MacPhie or Carmichael Dining Halls with empty stomachs, their bulging pockets might indicate otherwise.
News
Senate to focus on health issues
October 7Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators Sunday night toyed with the idea of creating online avenues to respond to students' frequently asked questions about issues relating to student medical services.
News
Massachusetts residents to vote on whether to keep income tax
October 7What would happen if the Massachusetts income tax were abolished?
News
Obama, McCain spar on economy
October 7John McCain got what he wanted last night: a town hall-style debate.
News
Ranking the ranking systems
October 6At the onset of each school year, prospective students typically flock to two sources of information regarding the long and arduous college admissions process that sits inevitably ahead of them: U.S. News & World Report's and The Princeton Review's annual rankings and descriptions of the country's top colleges and universities.
News
Ranking the ranking systems: As approach comes under fire, a look at leading strategies
October 6At the onset of each school year, prospective students typically flock to two sources of information regarding the long and arduous college admissions process that sits inevitably ahead of them: U.S. News & World Report's and The Princeton Review's annual rankings and descriptions of the country's top colleges and universities. While some students view college rankings as a wealth of information over the course of the application process, dog-earing pages and color-coding their lists of choices, others consider them neither beneficial nor valid. As a result, a new breed of college ranking systems is being developed to target high school students in a different way. The college ranking industry is a complex business and a crucial component of the college admissions culture. In spite of their dominance, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that some rankings can be misleading. "While I can't speak for everyone at Tufts, guides are often arbitrary, and the methodology of collecting data can be anything but scientific at times," Reitman said. "I don't typically look at the reviews and I don't give a lot of credence or validity to the college guides, but I also know that we can't just disregard them, because a lot of students look at them." The two most popular ranking resources represent a dichotomy. While U.S. News & World Report uses five factors to calculate an institution's score, The Princeton Review uses more subdivisions. For example, The Princeton Review's "quality of life" rating evaluates beauty, safety, location, food, dorms, the friendliness of students, student interaction and the school's relationship with the local community. While U.S. News & World Report awards the most weight to "Peer Assessment," which has deans and presidents from other institutions evaluate a peer school, The Princeton Review relies solely on students from the institution to gather its information. But the fundamental difference between the two systems is that U.S. News and World Report actually ranks the schools in numerical order, while The Princeton Review does not. "We don't rank on a one-to-100 scale because there is no such thing as a best school. Rather, there is a best-fit school for every student. We provide what we believe to be the best schools in the country, and they are all excellent for different reasons, but it is not appropriate to assign rankings to schools that are all completely different from each other," said Rebecca Lessem, senior editor of The Princeton Review's publication "The Best 368 Colleges." Considering the number of colleges and universities to which students apply, college guides are becoming increasingly crucial for some. For those who cannot come to the school for a tour or stay overnight with a current student — like many of Tufts' international contingent — there is little to rely on beyond a reputation and an image promoted by guidance counselors, word of mouth and tools like The Princeton Review and U.S. News and World Report. Proponents of the system contend that the main advantage of rankings is that they provide a way for families to make smart financial decisions and allow students to compare colleges and universities in a standardized way. And in the chaotic world of college admissions, guides are sources of accessible, comparative data. But Director of Admissions Susan Garrity Ardizzoni explained that there has been an ongoing discussion in admissions circles encouraging schools to withhold the information U.S. News & World Report uses to formulate its list in an effort to discourage students from relying on a ranking system. As traditional rankings systems are being called into question, a number of new ones are emerging. Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, has spent the last year matching internal data from employee evaluations with information about the colleges its engineers attended. This information will be used to create a ranking system that links a college with its graduates' success. "It's really about improving the dialogue on curriculum, performance and how we can build a stronger relationship between the colleges, universities and us because, ultimately, their students become our employees," said Richard D. Stevens, Boeing's senior vice president for human resources and administration, in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) is also producing its own ranking system: America's Best Colleges. According to the business publication Forbes, the ranking will include more practical evaluations such as future career prospects and amount of debt after college, and is based on considerations such as student review Web sites, notable alumni, the number of students graduating in four years, and the number of students and faculty members who have won nationally competitive awards. Another development in the world of college rankings is called the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE), which works to comprehensively determine the quality of the student experience. The NSSE gathers information about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and development. The results are intended to show how students spend their time and what they gain from attending college. Among Tufts students, there seems to be a consensus that a college's ranking is less important than finding a school that matches interests. "How you feel about Tufts depends on where you are coming from and how you wish to be involved. And there are some measures that schools look at that the ranking process doesn't or can't take into account," Reitman said. "I think there is a subconscious college ranking system within our culture that I was somewhat dependent on during the application process. But when I sat down and weighed the pros and cons of each school I was considering, I realized that ranking is secondary," freshman Tori Elliott said. "The point is to get the most out of your education, and that transcends rankings." Nevertheless, rankings and guides have become such important advertising tools for schools around the country that they seem to have carved out a lasting place for themselves in the market. "While we put the guide together for the benefit of students using it, the guide secondarily serves as an advertisement for the school, especially because we often feature small-name schools or schools that give these student consumers the best financial deal," Lessem said.
News
Police Briefs
October 6LAPTOP LOST AND FOUND The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) received a call from the Medford Police Department at 11 a.m. last Wednesday requesting that an officer come to a store on the corner of Boston Avenue and North Street. An individual was attempting to sell a laptop to the store, but when the worker checked it, the computer turned out to belong to a Tufts student. A TUPD officer called the student, who told the officer that he had left his room at 123 Packard Avenue days prior when a fire alarm went off and that when he returned, his laptop was missing. He never reported the theft. The student came to the store and identified his laptop. The individual trying to sell the laptop was arrested for receiving stolen property worth over $250. ECO UNFRIENDLY TUPD officers responded to a call at 12:25 a.m. last Wednesday reporting a verbal altercation at South Hall. Two students had disposed of a large plastic pretzel container in a garbage bin because the recycling bin was full. Another student excitedly told them that they should have recycled it. He was "passionate about recycling," TUPD Sgt. Robert McCarthy said. The officers talked to the three individuals and told them to stop arguing, and that while they probably should have recycled the container, it was not worth starting a fight.
News
Jessie Borkan | College Is As College Does
October 6I learned very early on that when my mom says something is "interesting," it means she doesn't like it. This goes primarily for food, but also applies to clothes, movies, haircuts and boyfriends.
Trending
The Print Edition
