News

News

Renowned Middle East expert at Fletcher named Carnegie Scholar

May 17

Leila Fawaz, the Issam M. Fares Professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies, director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies and a professor of history and diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, received a Carnegie Scholar award in April for her work in spreading understanding of the Islamic world. The prize, which includes money for research, is presented by the Carnegie Corporation, which launched the award in order to spotlight "renowned scholars who will contribute to our understanding of Islam," according to Provost Jamshed Bharucha, who nominated Fawaz for the honor. After her nomination, Fawaz submitted a project proposal and was ultimately chosen as a recipient of the award and grant. Fawaz's proposed project focuses on research around "The Experience of War: Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia, 1914-1920." Fawaz's grant was one of 20 given out this year and will be worth up to $100,000, according to the Cambridge Chronicle. "I focus on World War I in the Middle East and South Asia because the Great War was a global war involving several continents and a multiplicity of people who seemed to have little in common and, yet, dealt with challenges in recognizable ways," Fawaz said in an e-mail to the Daily. She is currently traveling in Europe and Istanbul. "I am humbled and honored by this great gift from the Carnegie Corporation," Fawaz said. "I feel immense gratitude." In order to pursue this project, she predicted she will take time off from teaching but continue directing the Fares Center. "The Fletcher School is proud to have Dr. Fawaz among its faculty ranks and we congratulate Leila on her recent distinction as a Carnegie Scholar," Fletcher School Dean Stephen Bosworth said in an e-mail. Most of the grant money awarded to her by the Carnegie Corporation will finance her research and allow her to travel to archives so that she can access original sources. She will translate and extract data from these sources for her book.

---

News

Former Jumbos look back

May 17

Most outgoing Jumbos will go on to lead careers in a wide array of fields in all corners of the world; many will become lawyers, doctors or politicians or spend time living abroad. But a few might find that their careers land them right back on the Hill. Currently, there are a large number of alumni working for the university, most of whom initially worked for other organizations. By getting involved in alumni events and groups, these former students remained close to the school and eventually accepted job opportunities here. Such Jumbos have the unique position of being able to witness the changing landscape of Tufts and to compare their own college experiences to the lives of current students. Usha Sellers (J '58), who graduated from Tufts in 1958 and is now the program director for the alumni relations department, remembers the more formal manner in which students dressed when she lived on the Hill. "[The] mode of campus student dress then was what is today known as 'smart casual,'" Sellers said in an e-mail. "Men students wore chinos, collared shirts and white bucks [shoes]; women wore collared blouses, skirts and 'bobby socks' and shoes similar to white bucks. Similarly, faculty dress was suits, jackets and ties." Sellers came to Tufts from India in 1953 when she was only 16 years old. At the time, there were fewer international students, and many Jumbos commuted to campus from neighboring towns. Despite her international background, Sellers said she felt welcome at Tufts. "All of the above was new for me, and thus part of my favorite memories," Sellers said. "I also remember my classmates being very friendly and open and inviting me to their homes over spring recess and other holidays as gestures of American friendship." Years ago, Tufts was virtually split into two campuses, with the men living uphill and the women - who were technically students of Jackson College - living downhill. Save for particularly cold days, when they were permitted to wear pants, women were required to wear skirts when attending class on the Hill.

---

News

JJA asks Tufts to intervene

May 17

The Jumbo Janitor Alliance (JJA) presented University President Lawrence Bacow with a petition late last month urging the administration to push for better working conditions for Tufts' custodians, but the student group says it is still waiting to see action from university officials. Over 1,300 people signed the petition, which came as the janitors entered into contract renegotiations with their employer, OneSource/ABM Industries Inc., according to junior and JJA co-chair Kevin Dillon. The JJA is a fledgling organization aimed at supporting Tufts' janitors, and it is looking to this summer's contract negotiations as an opportunity to garner an increase in janitors' wages and an allocation of more than the three sick days per year custodians are currently allowed. While the administration has stated that it supports the janitors, Dillon said that the JJA is looking for more concrete action from Tufts during the contract negotiations. "What the Jumbo Janitor Alliance is advocating is that the administration put leverage on the contractor [OneSource/ABM]," said freshman Will Merrow, a member of the JJA who helped to compile the petition. According to Vice President of Operations John Roberto, however, the administration will stay out of the negotiations. "The university is not directly involved as an active participant in the negotiations ... they are between the union and ABM/OneSource," Roberto said. "All of us need to respect the collective bargaining process." The JJA feels that, as OneSource/ABM's client, the administration could influence how the company treats its workers. "Tufts usually says that they are not responsible for what happens to the janitors because that is ABM's realm, [but] if Tufts was vocal enough, ABM would change conditions for their workers," Dillon said. "It's a 'the customer is always right' mentality." The current contract between the janitors' union and OneSource/ABM is a four-year agreement that ends this summer.

---

News

2007 brings spike in MBTA riders

May 17

The renaming of the New England Medical Center (NEMC) station on the Orange Line will catch the eye of innumerable T riders, as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) saw a dramatic increase in ridership last year.According to statistics released recently by the MBTA, 353,132,600 passengers ...

---

News

Student course evaluations offer key feedback to faculty members, academic departments

May 17

At the end of each semester, students associate standard manila envelopes holding blank course evaluations with the opportunity to voice their opinions about teachers and curricula, and as indicators that classes are finally coming to a close. To the faculty, however, course evaluations exist to evaluate their performance throughout the semester and discern the areas in which they can improve, according to Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser. The evaluations ask students to rank their professors' clarity, accessibility and helpfulness - quantitatively, using bubble sheets - and allow students space for handwritten comments. The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate examines the comments closely, analyzing the information when looking at the tenure and promotion process. "We physically sit down at the department and look at the course evaluations," said junior Matt Shapanka, the incoming chairman of the TCU's Education Committee. "And from there, we read them and write up a short one-page report of what the students had to say." Associate Professor of English Sonia Hofkosh said that the evaluations are carefully read through and considered by professors. "Students have a lot of power here at Tufts," Hofkosh said. "And most may not think they do, but the evaluations they write become very much a part of the way the professor perceives their teaching." In fact, professors are often known to eagerly await the day that evaluations become available for their perusal. "I can't think of one faculty member who hasn't wanted to see their students' evaluations as soon as they're accessible," said John LiBassi, the interim administrator for the sociology department. Shapanka, who also works in the political science department, commented specifically on the department's eagerness to view course evaluations. "The [political science] professors get very, very excited about seeing the course evaluations," he said. "Professors will submit their grades and literally get up out of their office to look at their students' evaluations." Hofkosh said that while she always reads the course evaluations, the results can sometimes be difficult to discern.

---

News

Is there room for Facebook after graduation?

May 17

As graduates move away from their collegiate lives, one concern for many may be how to keep in touch with the people they have spent the last four years living with as they wonder whether they will ever see some of their classmates again. With Facebook.com creating new company networks every day to market to college graduates, alumni don't have to think twice about keeping in touch with friends. But such inclusiveness may be more of a burden than a boon for workplaces, and as a result, many are opting to block Facebook and other social networking sites from office computers. According to Tufts grads, keeping in touch and connecting with those around them are primary motivations for continuing to use Facebook after graduation. Christine Gary (LA '07) said that while the site helps to suck time away from work, Facebook also enables her to stay up-to-date with friends back home and from high school. "I'm from Colorado, so with a lot of my high school friends, who I don't get to see in person, I am able to keep in touch via Facebook," she said. According to Facebook statistics, more than half of the site's current users are non-college students, and its fastest-growing demographic is those aged 25 and older. This popularity among the working crowd doesn't necessarily sit well with their employers. Starting soon after the announcement that anyone could join the site, many corporations - particularly financial institutions like J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup - put up firewalls preventing their employees from using the site while at work. While some companies have blocked the site to increase productivity, some are doing it to protect against spyware and viruses. For younger employees, a lack of duty at work can cause frequent visits to social networking sites. Tufts alum Anna Martin (E '07) said that she spends a lot of time on Facebook, but only because she doesn't have a particularly demanding workload. "I mostly use it when I'm bored at work," she said. "I think a lot of entry-level people have a lot of downtime when they're sitting in front of their computer with nothing to do, so Facebook is always there."

---

---

News

Public masturbation a persistent problem at Tisch Library

February 17

At least four female students say they have been the victims of a peculiar form of sexual harassment at Tisch Library since last spring.

---

News

Jumbos hit the early states

January 15

After months of buildup, polls and predictions, some of America's voters finally had the opportunity to have their say in the first steps of the 2008 presidential race this month. As both parties' races remain extremely competitive, a sharp increase in youth voter turnout is impacting the shape of the coming election.

---

News

By the Numbers | A primary look at 2008

April 4

The early buzz about the upcoming 2008 presidential election is becoming steadily louder as politically interested Jumbos gear up for what may be a very competitive primary election season among Democratic and Republican candidates.

---