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Tufts looks to expand data science field

May 18

Tufts Universitys Office of the Vice Provost for Research hosted its 10th Research Day on May 2, focusing on the emerging field of data science a topic that looks to analyze enormous amounts of data collected by modern technology, such as sequencing techniques, electronic medical records and social media outlets. "Now, thinking about data science is almost like how we used to think about reading and writing," Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Shafiqul Islam said. "How do we get insight? Most of the data is noise. The challenge then for academic communities is to figure out ways to get the signal from the noise." Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science Soha Hassoun, chair of the Research Day Committee, proposed data science as this year's topic because the field is expanding and she feels that Tufts should join the dialogue surrounding the subject. Hassoun explained that the committee had three objectives for the Research Day. First, it wanted to identify what problems are being worked on in data science at Tufts, what techniques are being used and what data sets could be shared. Next, the committee wanted to identify people with different skills who can collaborate on big data issues. Lastly, it aimed to start a conversation at Tufts to discuss enhancing infrastructure for research and education in data science. "There are lots of people from different disciplines talking about data science," Hassoun said. "Harvard, MIT, Columbia, University of Virginia and other schools are already ahead of us in their various initiatives, and it would be really good for us as a community [to see] what we can do with our resources." The day was broken up into three rounds of lightning talks. The first session, "Big Data Analysis: From Fundamentals to Engineering Applications," provided attendees with background information about data science, according to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. Session two, "Data-Driven Discoveries," examined how researchers use large data sets and what they are discovering within those sets. The third session, "Data Enabling Medicine," explored medical applications for large data. "[The Research Day] features three very different areas to give you a flavor of what's going on here at Tufts," Barbara Booras, project administrator in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, said. "Broadly, we are using the day as an educational tool to educate about resources that we have already available to faculty and students related to data." The lunchtime digital poster session gave graduate and Ph.D. candidates the opportunity to share their research in areas of data science. According to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the goal of the Research Day was mainly to educate the Tufts community about the available resources connected to data. Tisch Library, for example, had a table during the poster session to answer questions and talk about its data management plan that is currently in place for students and faculty. "So many times faculty say, 'We want to collaborate across campuses but how do we facilitate those collaborations?'" Booras said. "This is an opportunity to bring people together to start a conversation that can continue outside of the event, as well." Sophomore Mary O'Kane, a quantitative economics major, was one of approximately 10 undergraduate students who attended the event. O'Kane said she appreciated hearing about all the opportunities to get involved with Tufts research in the field of data science through the poster session, but wished that more undergraduates had been able to attend. "Listening to what the graduate and Ph.D. candidates are doing was really cool," she said. "It would have been great if Tufts had scheduled it at a different time. If it wasn't during finals period ... [they] probably would have gotten a better undergraduate response." The day concluded with a panel presentation that focused on the infrastructural and educational importance of continuing to develop data science at Tufts. A discussion and question and answer session followed, in which participants and attendees debated how Tufts could best improve its data science courses. Some panelists, including Professor of Computer Science Carla Brodley, advocated for the strategic hiring of more data science researchers. Others, like Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Associate Dean for Research Elena Naumova, argued that the priority should be pooling Tufts' preexisting resources in order to broaden course offerings. "We don't have a statistics department," Naumova said. "I feel that's a tremendous limitation. I feel our students have very limited access to high level courses in statistics. We need to put more resources into building a wide range of courses our students can take." Namouva also emphasized the importance of communicating across various departments and levels of the university. Islam echoed Namouva's sentiments. "I think the first thing we need to do is to pull together the resources we currently have," Islam said. "Once we do that, we can identify the knowledge gaps. Then we can decide what can be done to fill these gaps." O'Kane agreed. "One thing that stood out to me that was brought up was the lack of cohesiveness between the departments," she said, reflecting on the panel discussion. "[We] just ... [need to] have an awareness of what people are doing and utilize [that] expertise. They talked about needing to hire a lot of people, and a lot of it comes down to simple infrastructure issues and management."12

News

Former administrator Murnane passes away

May 18

Tufts former Senior Vice President for University Development Thomas Murnane (A 58, D 62, DG 65, AG 68), who was an influential member of the Tufts community for nearly 50 years, passed away on March 20 at the age of 77. While working at Tufts, Murnane helped raise over $1 billion for the university, according to current Vice President for University Advancement Eric Johnson. After receiving a Doctor of Dental Medicine, an Advanced Dental Certification and a Ph.D. from the university's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Murnane practiced dentistry for a short time. He quickly moved into an administrative role, however, and became the interim dean of the School of Dental Medicine in the early 1970s. "He did that for a few years before [former University President] Jean Mayer tapped him to take on a fundraising and alumni relations role," Johnson said. "Even though he wasn't a practicing dentist, he still kept his hand in it, since he taught anatomy classes at the dental school." Murnane worked closely with Mayer, who was, at the time, the associate dean of the School of Dental Medicine. Together, they established a veterinary school, which had not existed in New England for 75 years, according to a March 17 Tufts Now article. "We were pretty sleepy at the time a regional school just staggering along and we didn't know what we were doing as a college or as university," Alice and Nathan Gantcher University Professor of Judaic Studies Sol Gittleman said. Gittleman, who served as Tufts' provost during most of Murnane's tenure, emphasized the important partnership Murnane formed with Mayer. "He was remarkable in that he played as much [of] a role as the president did in transforming Tufts," Gittleman said. "[Murnane] and Jean Mayer started really the first capital campaign in Tufts history in 1979," Johnson added. James Stern (E 72), the former chair of the Board of Trustees, explained that when he first joined the board during Mayer's presidency, there were three people who were known as the "troika:" Gittleman, who as provost ran the academic side of the university, Steven Manos, who served as executive vice president and Murnane, who raised the money required to bring Mayer's vision for Tufts to life. Upon joining the board, Stern said he understood that the university's last attempt at a capital campaign to raise $7 million had failed. When Murnane first proposed an ambitious capital campaign to raise around $20 million, many of the board members resigned, according to Gittleman. "They thought he was crazy, that we couldn't raise that kind of money, but we did," Gittleman said. Mayer subsequently put Murnane in charge of fundraising campaigns with a new goal of raising $145 million, Gittleman explained. According to Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler, Murnane completed that campaign and then ran two more successful ones, including one for $250 million and another for $600 million. "This was a school that was not known to raise money," Stern said. "In each of these campaigns, the dollar goal of the campaign exceeded our endowment when we first started the campaign." Murnane's efforts put Tufts fundraising in line with other accomplished universities, Johnson added. "Prior to 1980, places like Brown and Dartmouth and some of our peer institutions had been raising funds for years, while Tufts didn't have a history of fundraising," Johnson said. "But at the end of [Murnane's] tenure, Tufts was raising similar amounts as peer institutions and that is largely due to [Murnane]." With the money raised, when Mayer advocated for new professional schools to improve the undergraduate college, Tufts was able to build new schools for veterinary medicine and nutrition, according to Gittleman. He said the campus center was also built as a result of Murnane's fundraising campaigns. "Tufts today is unrecognizable to the Tufts when Tom Murnane took over development," Gittleman said. He described Murnane and Mayer's relationship as symbiotic because of their deep trust in one another a view which was also echoed by Manos. "Tom and Jean Mayer were perfect soul mates because they were both very creative, both dreamers [and] they were both ambitious." Manos said. "They were both ready to take chances, were both ready to court failure [even], because they had a vision of something better." Gittleman added that Murnane and Mayer's charisma contributed to their fundraising prowess. "Tom had a political gene, and he was wired in the State House in Massachusetts," Stern said. "He was very well-connected there, and it was important for Tufts ... He was what you would expect of someone doing that kind of work, but Tom was a good guy a real good guy." Johnson said Murnane was a mentor who taught him how to manage and organize, as well as how to effectively build relationships with other people. The current students at Tufts, and the generations of students who will follow, are the major beneficiaries of Murnane's efforts, Stern added. "For those of us who were lucky enough to be a part of it, it was a lot of fun to watch and to play a small part in," he said. "But I cannot underestimate the role that [Murnane] really played in the university's development."

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New project to revamp TuftsLife in progress

May 18

When TuftsLife launched a redesign last March in an effort to streamline the site and make it more accessible from mobile devices, many students were disappointed with the changes. Finding the new version difficult to navigate, some stopped using the website altogether. Now, the website is primarily used to post classified ads, but juniors Tony Cannistra and Tara Kola are heading a small team of student programmers to bring TuftsLife back to its original role: an aggregator of all events happening on and around the Tufts campus. "TuftsLife became basically dead," Kola said. "Tony and I were both among the students who didn't feel too positively about the redesign, which is why we wanted to take another shot at it." Last year's relaunch was not executed with the average user in mind, Cannistra explained. Rather than updating event postings and classified listings, the students in charge of that redesign focused on features many students don't want or use, such as adding apps and news. Additionally, many found the three-column layout confusing; some even said creating a simple post became problematic. John LiBassi, a staff assistant for the Department of Sociology, has been trying unsuccessfully to use TuftsLife since last year's redesign. "As a staff member, I often need to publicize department events to the Tufts community," he told the Daily in an email. "Without access to TuftsLife, staff and faculty are limited to posting on department websites, taking out advertisements in the Daily and circulating flyers. None of these methods are as convenient or immediate as TuftsLife, and they are likely to reach a smaller audience." The site's plunge in popularity has caused the Tufts community to question its ownership and management. According to Joseph Golia, director of the Office for Campus Life , staff and administrators often assume the OCL is in charge of the site and call him when they experience difficulties using it. In the past year, however, the students in charge of the new TuftsLife have not contacted the OCL at all. "It's a point of frustration for our office," Golia said. "We don't have any answers. ... We are just as lost and in the dark about TuftsLife. It's a student organization, [but] we have no contact information. We don't know that much about it." Junior Tyler Lubeck, who has been working on the project since the beginning of the semester, said that TuftsLife is a student organization that receives Tufts Community Union Senate funding, which goes toward paying for server space and the site's domain name, among other things. "The university definitely does have involvement with the site," he said. "They let us do what we want, but they also do the funding so we can exist." Kola said further administrative support would be helpful, particularly if the university were to pay students to work on TuftsLife. "It's not uncommon for the university to pay students who work on other things, like Tufts WebServices," she said. "[TuftsLife] is a product that is so useful to the student body, and a better product might come out of it if students felt like they were being paid for their work." Golia said TuftsLife has come up in recent discussions with the TCU Senate. While students have been working on the site all year, no one in the OCL has been updated on their progress, he said. In particular, there have been some discussions about whether TuftsLife should remain a student group or be operated by the administration. "There are so many different ways to look at it whether it does become a university thing or [remains] a student group that's funded [by TCU]," Golia said. "If they come to us, certainly, we would help ... it was a student thing, and if students want ... [support], then they should bring it back. We would be interested if students wanted to come talk to us about how the administration can help them manage this year to year." Regardless of whether TuftsLife seeks out administrative assistance, Cannistra said he believes the new site will be ready for the Tufts community in the coming months. "Ideally, it will be available in the fall," he said. "I'm going to stand by that." Kola explained that the group has been designing the new TuftsLife from the ground up, Kola said. "One of the issues with the current TuftsLife is that the code is so messy, [so] we are starting completely from scratch," she said. "We're going a lot slower with building the site, so as a result, we're spending a lot more time talking with people and making sure we've created features that are meaningful to the student population. Cannistra explained that one of the issues that is particularly relevant to professors and faculty is automatic post approval. Unfortunately, this feature sometimes fails to work. The team is hoping to find a better solution and incorporate it into the revamped version. Cannistra also noted that the layout of the site will change, making it easier for users to find events that appeal to them. "The new TuftsLife is going to feature a pretty calendar-heavy approach," Cannistra said. "We're definitely still going to have a classifieds section, but the main focus is getting the word out about events." "We're focusing on separating events and listings into two separate pages or tabs on the same page, so people aren't bombarded with both," Kola added.12

News

TCU Senate: a year in review

May 18

The Tufts Community Union Senate concluded its 2013-14 session last month, marking a year of many accomplishments and little conflict. Former TCU Senate President Joe Thibodeau, a graduating senior, explained that one of his primary objectives for the Senate this year was to achieve a meaningful and productive analysis of pertinent, on-campus dilemmas, and to follow through by drafting and passing corresponding resolutions. "This year we tried to foster a setting that encouraged civil debate and talk about issues that impact a lot of students in their everyday lives issues of equity and justice," he said. Over the course of the year, the Senate debated and passed a number of resolutions, with some resulting in new school-wide policies. In early September, the school added a Good Samaritan clause to its alcohol policy, limiting the judicial consequences for students found to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The change was initially proposed in a Senate resolution passed last school year. Other policy changes supported by the Senate are currently pending administrative approval, including the establishment of an undergraduate education major and the construction of an outdoor beach volleyball court. The resolutions reflected senators' broad range of objectives, including facilitating student transportation in and around campus, assisting students with the voter registration process, improving the school's extracurricular athletics programs, enhancing on-campus social life for upperclassmen by building an on-campus bar and eliminating economic barriers that may prevent students from enjoying the complete Tufts experience. According to former TCU Vice President Stephen Ruggiero, a graduating senior, the Senate was particularly successful this year in using input from outside organizations while drafting its resolutions. For instance, the Department of Education contributed to the resolution calling for an undergraduate education major, club volleyball players were consulted on the resolution calling for a new outdoor volleyball court and members of the Tufts Garden Club helped to push for the construction of an on-campus greenhouse. "I'm happy that we were able to talk about a lot of projects with our key stakeholders, rather than just hearing from members of the Senate," Ruggiero said. "We made sure that a lot of student voices were heard, and we were receptive of a lot of student groups." During the fall semester, senators passed a resolution calling for a late-night dining option to be available with meal swipes, and they saw their idea come to fruition this semester when the Commons Deli and Grill began accepting meal swipes on Friday and Saturday nights. In order to make the change, Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos worked closely with members of the Senate Services Committee. Newly elected TCU President Robert Joseph said he hopes the Senate will continue to work with outside groups to make necessary and important changes across campus. "The biggest success for the Senate was that we came together to work with student groups across campus, which allowed us to lay down the foundation for even more great projects," Joseph, a rising senior, said. Joseph added that senators were generally able to function well together as a unit, and he hopes that the organization will continue to maintain this positive collaboration. "There were very few, if any, internal conflicts on the Senate this year, and none of them were particularly big," he said. "We were able to cooperate well and move forward on a lot of projects. We [laid] down the groundwork for next year, [and] I'm really excited to see a lot of these projects come to fruition." Ruggiero said he is confident that the Senate will continue to serve a valuable role on campus next year, especially as the university enters a transitional period marked by a major fundraising campaign and the arrival of several important new deans and administrators. "Next year is a big year on [the] Senate and a big year for Tufts," he said. "I think [the Senate] will be able to get ideas on the table and build things effectively." With his tenure as TCU President now over, Thibodeau said his experience on the Senate was worthwhile. "It has been a real honor and a real privilege to serve in the positions we've held over the past year," he said. "We're really grateful for the opportunities the Tufts community provided for us and the trust which they instilled in us. This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my Tufts career, and it has helped me to grow as a person."

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Office for Civil Rights, Tufts at odds on Title IX compliance

By Stephanie Haven | April 28

Updated: Tufts University plans to meet with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the next week to discuss its sexual assault policy and compliance with Title IX.Following a four-year investigation into a Title IX complaint filed by a student in 2010, Tufts had signed ...

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Tufts OEO: "If we're not in compliance, I'm just wondering who is"

April 28

Tufts University plans to meet with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights within the next week to determine whether its current sexual assault policy violates Title IX. Busy with today's White House endeavors to fight sexual assault on college campuses, the OCR has not confirmed ...

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Tufts Engineering Mentors celebrate first year

April 27

Tufts Engineering Mentorship Program hosted its end of the year ceremony last night, wrapping up its first year with awards for its dedicated participants. The mentorship program was started this fall by junior brothers Michael and John Kenny, who explained that they realized the school was lacking such a program after transferring from University of Massachusetts Lowell before their sophomore year. "We were talking with my older brother, and he has sort of been a mentor to us, and we were talking about how we can make an impact on campus," Michael said. "In our own lives we had noticed that there were a lot of things we found out too late, [things we] wish we had known sooner. It really started about a year ago ... with going around, talking to professors, getting their ideas, talking to students, seeing if they were interested and the response was overwhelmingly positive. We were able to get some departmental support, even at the end of last year, to host this initial meeting that we called our launch party." John added that he and Michael looked into other school's programs and discovered very few universities had similar programs. "One of the biggest things you find is in huge corporate businesses, all of them are starting to incorporate mentorship programs if they don't already have them," John said. "That's something that grabbed our attention. As we researched other schools, some of them have online mentorship programs, but none of them really have a peer-to-peer mentorship program where it's students mentoring other students. ... That's something that we thought would be really cool ... It's really valuable having someone to kind of share the inside knowledge." John explained that the current program is limited to 70 students 35 mentors and 35 mentees and seeks to connect students on both a personal and professional level. He said the program began with a speed dating event, where students could find someone who shared similar academic and non-academic interests. "We'd like it to be a relationship outside of the academic atmosphere," he said. "We found the big problem with advisers was no one felt comfortable with their adviser ... We wanted to build on top of that, as well as expand the reach of the mentor." Michael divided the program into three pillars, including peer mentorship, professional mentorship and career mentorship, and explained that each accomplishes a unique goal. One of the program's major components is hosting biweekly events to encourage participants' professional and academic growth. John added that the group has brought in various professionals, including a venture capitalist, to discuss the value of networking. "The engineering school brings in speakers, but they're really targeted to the graduate students and the professors," he said. "We started to take in from our own network and our professors' networks, and bring in these interesting speakers." Darryl Williams, the faculty adviser for Tufts Engineering Mentorship Program, said that the university is supportive of the students' efforts, as it fills an important role in the School of Engineering. "We basically see the value added in being able to develop a whole engineer," Williams, who is also an associate dean for recruitment, retention and community engagement, said. "There [are] the technical aspects they're gaining ... but there [are] also the social skills that they need to be competitive students beyond their Tufts experience, so I think the Engineering Mentors Program is another avenue for them to gain those skill sets." Williams said that he hopes the program continues to expand and develop its mentorship objectives. "I'm looking at it from the community engagement perspective, so I can really see how the school can leverage the program as a way of creating an environment that allows students to build those lines of communication." A major component of the program is branding, according to both Michael and John, who explained that they have sought to hold high caliber events. "One of our main focuses has been building the brand, and we've put a lot of extra time into making sure that we don't put anything out that's not up to our highest standard of quality," Michael said. "We've really worked to build our email list. We'll have a speaker come in, and we'll offer a door prize, and to get the door prize you'll have to RSVP and show up to the event." Michael added that because the program is student-run, it is better equipped to reach out to students. "The fact that it's run by students, I think, makes other students more comfortable with it," he said. "One of the things we've heard ... feedback from the administration is ... they don't know how to move students ... There's all this social media stuff going on, so we have an advantage in being aware of what's effective with students." John and Michael expressed gratitude for Williams and the program's other advisers, including Associate Director for Employer Outreach and Engineering Career Services Robin Kahan. At last night's ceremony, the program organizers handed out two awards, one of which was the Linda M. Abriola award named for the dean of the School of Engineering and was presented to Kahan. The second award, John explained, was a blue jacket created as a symbol to distinguish the Tufts Engineering Mentorship Program from other groups. "People who have shown a longtime commitment to the program are those who are considered for the blue jacket, which is really the ultimate thanks," he said. "We're really excited to be able to give that award out. It does take more time and [is a more of a] serious commitment than the typical leadership position."12

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Two students receive Truman Scholarship

April 27

Juniors Safiya Subegdjo and Amber Rose Johnson were recently chosen by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation to become two of the nation's 59 2014 Truman Scholars. According to the foundation's website, the Truman Scholar title is awarded to college juniors on the basis of their academic achievement, leadership and the likelihood they will pursue careers in government or the non-profit sector. Students were chosen from 655 candidates nationwide to receive this scholarship, which provides $30,000 for graduate school, along with priority admission to leading graduate schools and access to internships with the federal government. Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service Alan Solomont expressed excitement for the selections of Subegdjo and Johnson. "We're very proud to have two students, both of whom have really not just excelled, but been exemplars of active citizenship and civic engagement," Solomont said. Johnson could not be reached for comment prior to publication; however, Subegdjo explained that she first heard about the scholarship over the summer and began the application process at the beginning of the school year. "The application was really extensive and time consuming," she said. "There were eight to 10 little essays ranging from talking about your leadership experience to your public service experience and what you wanted to do in the next three years, what you want to do in the next seven years. You really had to know every detail about your future." The last part of the application was a policy proposal in which applicants crafted a solution for a problem they saw in the world, Subegdjo said. "I wanted to do something that I was already interested in and had already done work in, and I do a lot of work with TU-RAP [Tufts University Refugee Assistance Program]," she said. "So in my proposal I talked about implementing mental health screenings for resettled refugees." Subegdjo explained that refugees often come to the United States from war-torn countries where they have fled persecution and violence. Upon arrival, they lack treatment and access to beneficial physical and mental health care. "One of the ways I [sought] to fix this was implementing a 15-minute questionnaire survey for refugees once they come into the U.S. to kind of assess where they are in terms of their mental health status and see ... whether they had any kind of condition that could be treated earlier on, rather than later," she said. "Because when you have a mental health condition, that's obviously going to be a huge barrier to achieving independence in a completely new foreign country." Once screened, patients would be paired with the right services to receive treatment, Subegdjo added. The Truman Scholarship emphasizes choosing people who are confident that they will spend their futures in public service, Subegdjo said. "The Truman Foundation only wanted to pick people who they thought would actually carry out the mission and their passion they had written about in the application," she said. "So for me, I ultimately want to work on health issues within refugee and immigrant communities. I'd like to get my medical degree, so that's where I'm probably going to be using the resources." Subegdjo stressed the importance of not only picking a problem that was personally relevant, but also one for which she could realistically provide a solution. According to Subegdjo, the most valuable aspect of the reward, beside the $30,000 for graduate school, is the connections to those in public service. "In the first few hours after being notified that I'd won, my inbox was flooded with dozens of emails from Truman Scholars just congratulating me and welcoming me to the community," she said. "I was just blown away by the warmth and in an instant I was immediately connected to some of the most prominent public service people in the country, so I was really excited about that." "[Subegdjo] is a great example of everything we wish for in the Tisch Scholars Program, and we're just delighted that she [has] been recognized this way," Solomont said.

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Tufts dance community seeks greater institutional support

April 27

Renata Celichowska, director of dance in the Department of Drama and Dance, estimates that over 700 students at Tufts participate in some form of dance activity on campus. Despite this substantial number, most students may not be aware that more than 15 student dance groups exist on campus. While larger groups like Tufts Dance Collective (TDC), Sarabande and Spirit of Color (SoC) are fairly well-known, Tufts boasts many smaller outlets for dance, as well. According to Celichowska, the dance community lacks a broader institution that binds individual groups together. She said that she would like to see the various troupes become more unified. "In the way that [Pen, Paint, & Pretzels (3Ps)] acts as an umbrella organization for the drama groups on campus there doesn't seem to be that for dance," Celichowska said. "And that's a pity because ... [the drama department] really form[s] such a huge support network for a lot of community engagement [and] socialization. But I understand the need for autonomy from all the other commitments on campus, [and] for [dance] students to just really have their own thing." Flora Cardoni, a member of Sarabande, agreed that an extensive, close-knit community for dance groups does not exist on campus. However, Cardoni described Sarabande's efforts to connect to other dance groups through performances. "I think that some groups are closer than others," Cardoni, a sophomre, said. "Sarabande gets to know groups a little bit better because we invite a lot of guest groups into our shows between each of our dances is a guest group. That's cool because it's not only a performance opportunity for them, but it also makes our show more encompassing of what Tufts has to offer." Hayley Grossman, a sophomore in SoC, also discussed the effort to create a sense of community by forming stronger connections between groups like SoC and Sarabande. "There's definitely camaraderie, especially because half of Sarabande is on SoC there's a really big overlap," Grossman said. "I know I make a point to know all the Sarabande people, and we both perform in each other's shows." Madhuri Khanna, a member of Tamasha, a Bollywood-South Asian fusion group, described a similar sense of unity between the different Indian dance groups on campus, which she attributes to their mutual relationship as part of Tufts Association of South Asians . Additionally, their relationships extend to other aspects, like sharing resources. "Sometimes there's a little bit of rivalry ... but ... I think that, with time, we've all become way more supportive of each other," Khanna, a senior, said. "When I first came in, the teams were a bit broken in the sense that they didn't really interact much, but over the past few years we now [help] record each other when we need to send in audition tapes." Despite a lack of institutional support for the many student-run dance groups, the Department of Drama and Dance provides opportunities for student involvement, offering about 12 classes a semester that range from "The Art of Salsa" to "Advanced Ballet." The Department of Drama and Dance, with no academic major, offers a minor that graduates approximately four to eight students in any given year. That number, however, is growing, along with the number of students who have been consistently involved in the department without receiving a minor, according to Celichowska. While there is no official affiliation between the department and student groups, Celichowska explained that there is potential to develop a stronger connection. "I think in terms of the partnership between the dance program and the dance groups, I would love to continue to build that support because I feel like it's really nice when it flows," Celichowska said. "I have the directors of the dance groups come in, and we chat, and it's an exchange of ideas, and it gets beyond the logistics." The Department of Drama and Dance puts on a program concert each semester, which is a combination of class performances where students can share what they have learned throughout their respective courses. In addition to these performances, there are shows put on by student groups that give dancers a chance to see their peers from other groups perform from SoC and Sarabande shows that include guest acts to Parade of Nations, Tufts Best Dance Crew and culture shows. Some groups, like Tamasha, have even taken their dancing to competitions and exhibitions.12

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Students protest treatment of janitors

April 27

Members of Tufts Labor Coalition last Wednesday held a rally and march in support of the school's janitors, presenting demands to the administration after discovering that custodial service provider DTZ/Unicco appeared to be in breach of its contract. Rae Axner, TLC vice president and one of the event's organizers, explained that the janitors' employer has been manipulating the workforce and its schedule. "The janitors are clearly in a precarious situation because they are not employed by Tufts University; they are employed by their contractor DTZ/Unicco," Axner, a senior, said. "There [have] been a lot of problems with the contractor in the past couple of years. There are three major issues that are going on right now, two of which are contractual violations, one of which isn't specifically a violation of the contract it's just mistreatment." Axner said that DTZ/Unicco's main issues are having too few full-time employees at Tufts, the janitors not receiving weekly paychecks during time off and having increasingly large workloads. "The janitors are not being employed full-time at the rate that their contract states that they should be," she explained. "The contract says that 75 percent of the janitorial staff should be full-time employees and that DTZ should be aspiring to employ 90 percent of the janitorial staff full-time. Currently, about 58 percent are full-time and that number is corroborated between the janitors, the union, DTZ and Linda Snyder, the vice president of operations at Tufts." Snyder explained that the contract DTZ negotiated with the union, Service Employees International Union , was agreed upon last year. "With respect to the obligation to reach a goal of 75 / 25 in full-time / part-time employees, DTZ has told us that it believes it is not in violation of the contract," she told the Daily in an email. "The SEIU contract requires that the goal be reached through attrition, which is a provision that the SEIU negotiated to avoid layoffs. DTZ says that attrition, in which an employee voluntarily leaves employment, in the university custodial workforce is very low and therefore has not been sufficient to reach the goal." Axner, however, suggested that the issue is complex and expanded upon the hiring practices of DTZ. "When janitors leave full-time positions, they are not replacing those full-time positions, but rather letting people continue to work part-time and really just dividing that workload among part-time employees, reducing the staff, not actually hiring to replace full-time employees and not promoting within the staff from part-time to full-time," she said. She suggested that DTZ has engaged in schedule manipulation in order to avoid paying for the benefits that come with being a full-time employee, including healthcare and paid time off. "It is our understanding that DTZ has actually been manipulating the schedules of the janitors specifically so they don't have to grant full-time status to employees that are essentially working full-time," Axner said. "For example, they will have full-time hours for two weeks, and then their hours will be reduced for one week so that they aren't working full-time for the amount of time that they would legally have to be [in order to be] considered full-time employees." Giovanna Castro, the incoming TLC vice president and current chair of the group's janitors and dining hall workers committee, led the rally, which consisted of students, professors and janitors. She said the rally was purposely planned during the lunch breaks of many custodial workers. "We had a bunch of posters and ... a fair amount of janitors came and they also had their posters," Castro, a junior, said. "Three of the janitors came up and spoke, and I translated for some of them. One of the things that just really touched me was that one of them said, 'Remember, kids, you are the engine of this university.'" Rally participants marched down Professors Row, up Packard Avenue and over to Ballou Hall where they presented a list of demands to Snyder and other administration officials. One of the other demands included fixing the pay schedules for workers on vacations, who, according to Castro, are supposed to receive checks every week. "That's something they want and that DTZ isn't doing," she said. "That's an issue that DTZ has been [confronting] nationwide, so if we win at Tufts, it could be a huge win for DTZ employees nationwide." While not an actual violation of the contract, the increasing workloads of DTZ employees are unjust, according to Axner. "Their work strain has gone way up, and the quality of their work has gone way down," Axner said. "They take great pride in the quality of the work they do. ... We have janitors who are assigned to three, four, five buildings every day and DTZ also does not keep staff on retainer to cover when other janitors are sick." Axner said that this means DTZ is likely cutting corners and providing less to Tufts than it is contractually obligated to do. Snyder explained that the contract cost to the university was agreed upon in last year's negotiations, and she could not speculate on how costs could potentially change in a new contract. The agreement runs through July 31, 2016, according to a copy of the contract Axner provided to the Daily. "[The contract] is signed and final," she said. "We are very conscious of the fact that the costs of operating the university, including the costs of custodial services, contribute to the cost of higher education and therefore tuition."12

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GlobeMed partners with new health organization, expands membership

By Mengqi Sun | April 24

Founded by six members in the fall of 2011, Tufts GlobeMed, a chapter of the national organization that pairs students with international community-health groups, has vastly increased its presence on campus over the past three years. This year, GlobeMed has partnered with a new organization, Practical ...

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Junior plans second staff appreciation reception

April 24

Between Hurricane Sandy and the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers last year, Tufts staff stayed hours beyond their normal working days on several different occasions. To honor their work, junior Gabe Rothman organized a staff appreciation reception -- a tradition he will continue this year.

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ICRC president addresses humanitarian protection

April 23

Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross , spoke about the current state of the organization and challenges facing the group's humanitarian efforts at the The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy's ASEAN Auditorium in the Cabot Intercultural Center yesterday afternoon. His lecture, entitled "New Battlefields, New Actors and New Weapons: Challenges of Humanitarian Protection in the 21st Century," coincided with the 151st anniversary of the foundation of the ICRC.

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Robert Joseph elected TCU Senate President

April 23

After a more than 12-hour delay, junior Robert Joseph was elected the next Tufts Community Union President, defeating opponent Andrew N??ez, a junior. Joseph received 1151 votes, or 65 percent of the vote to N??ez's 35 percent and 627 votes."I am literally overjoyed, and just stunned by the love and support and caring of everybody at this school," Joseph said. "I really have to thank everybody on my campaign team, especially Ben Kaplan, my campaign manager, and I am overwhelmed just so much by all the love and support from my friends and everyone on the campaign who helped out. I really owe it to all of them they kept me sane over the last few months, and they kept me going, and they are a big part of why I ran ... I am so excited to continue working with everyone at the school, to start making positive changes and to start working with students to make strides toward a better school."One thousand eight hundred and eighty-three students, or 32.5 percent of undergraduates, voted in the election a significant decrease from last year when there was a 57.5 percent voter turnout rate. While turnout was the highest among freshmen, with 45 percent voting, 36 percent of sophomores, 35 percent of juniors and 24 percent of seniors also cast ballots. In addition to the votes allocated to Joseph and N??ez, 105 people voted to abstain."While we always hope for a higher turnout, the distribution of votes across classes is in line with past elections, and the overall turnout percentage was also in line with past elections and predicted by ECOM based on this particular election," members of the Elections Commission said in a statement released to the Daily.Despite glitches in the voting system, VoteNet, and a delay in the release of final results, Dan Johnson, the chair of ECOM, said he does not foresee any future issues. Johnson explained that while there were initial concerns that students could have voted twice once through the online system and once by email ECOM was able to verify that there was only one vote from each student while maintaining anonymity. ECOM requested that students who emailed in their votes provide their temporary username and password, as well, so as to ensure there were not two votes aligned with those login credentials. ECOM stated that they were satisfied with the results."Despite these setbacks, we feel confident in validating the election after conferring with the TCU Judiciary, the TCU Senate, the Office [for] Campus Life, Tech Services and VoteNet," the statement said. "Having a normal distribution of votes through classes and an acceptable total turnout shows that the issues that some students were experiencing were not drastically affecting the outcome of the election."Joseph said that, while the wait was frustrating, he is relieved that the process is over."It was the most anxious, nerve-racking 15 hours, possibly of my life," Joseph said. "Over the past week I've been telling myself, 'At least it will be over on midnight after the elections on Tuesday.' Of course, that proved not to be true, which was very frustrating. Right now, I think I am so incredibly relieved to be done with the campaign."During the campaign, Joseph had emphasized his history of engaging with relevant student groups who may have been impacted by Senate resolutions. He has worked with the Tufts Transit Coalition in fighting for the University Pass, which would enable students to ride the MBTA for free, and has met with the university's Department of Education to work toward the creation of an education major."Tufts is a relatively small campus, so Robert and I made the decision early on to have as many face-to-face conversations with students as possible," Kaplan told the Daily in an email. "Robert spoke with hundreds of students across campus about his platform, his values and his ideas to improve Tufts next year. I credit our victory to the extraordinary work of our campaign team and Robert himself, who made sure to have as many meaningful conversations with voters as possible."Both campaigns were fairly active on campus with "N??ez Now" and "Run with Rojo" signs dotting the library steps and campus walkways. While the influence of external factors, including Generic Candidate and the abstain campaign cannot be measured, Joseph was happy that neither campaign resorted to mudslinging."What I would like to think is ... we ran an incredibly positive campaign," he said. "We refused to bend to making any attacks or campaigning in any negative way. We really kept it on the positive side."Johnson agreed that while there were problems with the voting system and external influences, both candidates ran fair campaigns."Other than the problems with the voting issues and some problems with Generic Candidate and the abstain campaign, the two campaign staffs themselves did a great job," he said. "They both performed very well at debates. It was a very smooth campaign from both ... staffs. There were no issues with campaign violations."N??ez said that he is still mulling his options and will decide in the coming days whether or not he will remain on Senate for the next academic year. He added that he is considering running for Diversity and Community Affairs Representative of Senate's Executive Board, a position that is elected in-house."I've been in contact with people who have run for president in the past and who haven't made it, and [I am] just getting their experiences and trying to reach out and figure out what they decided to," N??ez explained. "I am heavily considering running for the DCA position. ... I think that with my very extensive experience with students of color, queer students and the perspective of marginalized students on campus, that that would be a very effective position for me to make sure that the experiences of those students are at the forefront of the conversation of Senate, as they often are not."12

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Literary publications make new marks in politics, music

April 23

Making the newest marks on the Tufts literary scene are PostScript and Melisma, a political journal and music magazine, respectively. While PostScript is breaking ground as a new politically-focused publication for independent opinions, Melisma was founded in 2004, but is recreating itself with a new emphasis on music. Both publications, however, seek to fill gaps in the literary scene that its members see at Tufts."[PostScript] is a political magazine," Austin Berg, a senior and one of the founders of PostScript, said. "It came out of there not being any alternative political voice at Tufts besides dominant, 'progressive' discourse, and I think a lot of kids were frustrated by that that they didn't have a place where they could voice opinions in a supportive environment." While PostScript hopes to provide an environment for open political discussion, Melisma hopes to cover Tufts bands and the local music scene, according to Rebecca Sanai, managing editor of Melisma. "The music scene at Tufts seemed to be dying down for the past few years," she said. "There were less shows on campus and fewer opportunities for student groups to get exposure. We wanted to showcase that Tufts really has an amazing music scene; although it's small, there are people who are interested. If we bring attention to it, it will only benefit the music community in general."PostScript currently exists only as an online forum, but will be releasing its first print edition before the end of this semester. According to Berg, the articles featured in the magazine will focus largely on political discussion, aiming to establish the journal's presence on campus."We've got an article on tuition increases [and] there's an article on political dialogue at Tufts, which makes sense because it's the first issue of a publication designed to foster better political dialogue at Tufts," Berg said. "[There are] a lot of different perspectives. There's nothing specifically in this issue that would be called conservative; it's mostly independent [perspectives]."Although the first issue of PostScript is still being assembled, Berg said he hopes the magazine will be successful on campus."I got good responses on the first article posted online on political dialogue at Tufts," Berg said. "So if the whole thing gets feedback as good as that, I'll be happy."Berg also discussed his disappointment with the current status of the literary scene on campus."Kids are afraid to write what they feel because of how polarized things are about certain issues," he said. "I'm trying to fix that with [PostScript] ... I think that if you're able to create a well-respected political journal where different swaths of opinions are accepted, then there's not much need for other avenues to express political thought."While PostScript is just picking up steam, Melisma has made a transition of focus. The magazine has narrowed down its previously broad emphasis on arts and culture to focusing strictly on music. Established in 2004, Melisma has gone through periods of success and struggle, and has changed how often it prints several times."I think it was very underground for a long time; not many people really knew about it," Mitch Mosk, the current editor-in-chief of Melisma, said. "It was run by small groups of people and small groups of friends."One of the problems that limited the success of the magazine over the years was the lack of focus, according to Mosk."Looking at previous issues, it sometimes ranged from being a 20-page magazine to an 80-page magazine," Mosk said. "We changed the title from being music, arts and culture to just [a] music magazine."According to Mosk, Melisma staff members needed to carry out numerous changes to the magazine this year to rejuvenate its presence on campus."The executive staff determined that music, arts and culture were already covered by other publications," he said. "We wanted to really hone in on one aspect of the Tufts sphere that could not only be our niche, but also what we've covered so far which is the Tufts music scene and the local music scene."Another important aspect to reestablishing Melisma on campus was recruiting more writers, editors and publication designers, according to Mosk."When I became editor-in-chief this year, it was myself and two or three managing editors," he said. "Marketing is a huge thing. Nobody heard of Melisma last year. To most people, Melisma is a new magazine, but that's just not true. It's been around for 10 years. We put on a really big campaign to writers and staff members alike to say, 'Hey, this is a real thing and you're going to know our name.'"Sinai echoed Mosk's emphasis on Melisma's outreach as being critical to its success."I'd say just the name Melisma is more well-known than it was before," she said. "We're working on getting a stronger community of writers, but it's hard because people don't know if they can write about music."Her exposure to Melisma began during a campus-wide push to bring back the vibrant Tufts music scene of previous years.12

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Campus Sustainability Council progress report outlines concrete goals, cultural changes

April 22

In the fiscal year 2013, Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus produced over 3,000 tons of total waste, recycling at a rate of just over 50 percent. In the fall, residence halls on campus collected 1,500 pounds of compostable waste. Total water consumption decreased on both the Medford/Somerville campus, as well as on the Boston and Grafton campuses. By switching to using natural gas instead of oil, the Central Heating Plant saw an eight percent reduction in carbon emissions.The Campus Sustainability Council outlined these updates and many others in a progress report for 2014, released last month. The report discusses recent developments and growth in four areas of sustainability on campus including waste, water, and energy and emissions and includes the next steps that the university plans to meet its goals in regards to each."If we can practice within our [limited natural resources] that we have, then that allows other humans in the future, future generations, as well as other sentient beings on the planet or plants to also exist," Sustainability Program Director Tina Woolston said. "It's an equity and fairness issue, so it's a moral issue."Director of the Environmental Studies Program Colin Orians expanded on sustainability's importance."I think that if you value an Earth that has its total splendor of life, from human cultures to biodiversity, you have to think about ways to minimize our own ecological footprint, and that's really what sustainability's about," Orians said.University President Anthony Monaco created the Campus Sustainability Council in January of 2012, in an effort to establish Tufts as a leader in confronting environmental issues. Sophomore Rachael Grudt, an eco-rep in Houston Hall, explained the role that students can play in environmental efforts. "A college is a perfect place to emphasize sustainability because everyone here is a future leader in America and around the world," she said. "I think that it's important for everyone to realize that what you do does make a difference."Included in the report is data showing the progress of sustainability on each Tufts campus:? Medford/Somerville, Grafton and Boston in the areas of waste and recycling, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.Currently in the proposal stage, one major development suggested by the council is the metering system, which would measure energy use in each building on campus, according to the report. The hope is that the system will allow the university to both identify other energy-saving strategies and measure progress more easily."[Metering] is something that both students and faculty have been crying out for," Woolston said. "They want to know, how much energy is my building using and if we do this whole initiative is it making any difference?"The report also highlights some of the lesser-known projects that many may not have even realized were ongoing, such as constructing additional walkways to prevent erosion where it has already taken place. According to Monaco, however, truly making an impact in sustainability requires a campus wide commitment."During ... [the council's] deliberations, it became apparent that success would require the full engagement of the entire university community," Monaco wrote in a message at the forefront of the report. "Working together, we can make Tufts a safer, healthier, and more sustainable place to live and work."Nevertheless, Woolston discussed how many environmentally-conscious efforts don't receive much attention on campus."I think sometimes when you're walking around, a lot of the important sustainability stuff we do isn't necessarily visible, especially the stuff that facilities does," Woolston said. "We're hopefully in the future going to be able to continue to come out with these reports so people can stay up to date on all the stuff that's going on."Orians pointed to two phases of sustainability at Tufts, both inside and outside of the classroom."I think [the administration] made a very strategic decision, which was a good starting place, which was to focus on how to make the campus more sustainable," he said. "Phase two is thinking about how we can get sustainability in the curriculum."This semester, an environmental studies course called, "Environmental Action: Shifting from Saying to Doing," has allowed students to work hands-on in the wood-frame houses on campus, such as Wilson House and the International House."There are very few courses that environmental studies actually offers," Orians said. "What the environmental studies [program does] is just try to create linkages to professors and departments to increase the offerings both of courses that focus on sustainability but also on the environment more generally."Orians explained that the behavior and cultural changes referenced in the report are necessary to create a sustainable campus."There is a challenge of getting people to change their behavior, just slow down a little bit and say I can hold onto this bottle a little bit longer and make sure it ends up in the recycling ... [or] I can take a slightly shorter shower," he said. "[Sustainability] takes thinking. You have to slow down."Much of Tufts' sustainability success has been rooted in larger projects. One discussed in the report is the plan for a new high performance science and engineering center at 574 Boston Ave., which will use minimal energy and resources while still allowing its occupants to work effectively.12

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Marathon Team has successful day in Boston

April 21

More than 150 Tufts faculty, students, alumni and friends of the university members of the Tufts Marathon Team toed the line at yesterdays running of the 118th Boston Marathon.While the runners were generally exhausted, and in varying degrees of pain following the race, all expressed appreciation for the support from their coach, Don Megerle, from their teammates and from the nearly one million spectators who turned out to watch the 26.2 mile race.This was the third marathon and second Boston marathon for Laura Hoguet (LA '10, G '11), a double jumbo, who competed as part of the Tufts team."The spirit was incredible I was drowned in voices of people screaming Tufts, screaming my name," Hoguet, said. "I just cannot thank the people of Boston enough ... they are just amazing and they make this race special. No wonder people come from all over the world."Liz Idhaw added that the crowds were a major motivating factor in her fifth marathon. While she previously ran the Boston Marathon in 2012, this was her first time qualifying for the race."2012 was the really hot year so we took it really easy, so this year I really wanted to try and run and see how I could do," she said. "It was definitely kind of hot out there. I had fun, the crowds were amazing and they really pumped you up."Although the temperatures were nearly 25 degrees cooler yesterday than in 2012, many members of the Tufts team still said that they made for some uncomfortable racing. Neal Freed, a 2006 alumnus of the School of Arts and Sciences and a 2011 graduate from Tufts Medical School, said that the temperature, while high, was not terrible."It was hotter than I wanted, but it was perfect for the spectators and that was probably more important," he said.Freed explained he received an invitational number from the Boston Athletic Association after writing an essay about his involvement in treating the wounded during last year's marathon."I'm an [Emergency Room] doctor at Boston Medical Center and I was working last year when the bombs went off so I was in the emergency room taking care of the victims," he explained. "I got a free number from the BAA, one of the invitational numbers after writing an essay about my story ... It was the perfect way to kind of lay it to rest and remind me why this city is so great." Miriam Nelson, a professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a co-captain of the Tufts Marathon Team, explained that she ran this year's marathon with her daughters, one of whom is a Tufts senior. Although Nelson trains with TMT, she typically does not run and instead manages the team with Megerle."[It was] the most enjoyable marathon I've ever had," she said. "This was my sixth and I ran the first one 30 years ago when I was a Tufts graduate student ... I ran with my daughters and it was a blast."Alexandra Earle, Nelson's daughter described the experience of finishing her first marathon with her mother."She met up with me around mile 22 and I couldn't be happier to see her," Earle said. "It was hard, mile 22, but in seeing my mom, I was just incredibly overjoyed and we finished together."Nelson said that this year's training was particularly difficult given the cold winter, but she believes it made the team stronger."This was a brutal year, it was cold, so icy, but I think it made us I know it's clich? but it made us tougher," she said. "Then you finally get beautiful days like this and it's so great. This was such an epic year [and] I think that there was just so much [positivity] and so much focus on the team."Although members of the Tufts team flew in from around the country and world, Nelson said the team was particularly cohesive during this year's marathon."We have team members all over the world, but between Facebook and Don and everything else, I think there's a real sense of the team it's a pretty extraordinary year."Paola Chanes-Mora, a friend of Tufts who competed as part of this year's team explained that she was worried about safety after not finishing last year's marathon due to the bombing. She said that Megerle played a major role in helping her overcome the fear and motivating her to run."I've been running with Tufts for six years and he's like a father to me, he's helped me grow and learn and become so much stronger, not only as a runner, but as a person," she said. "He's more than just a coach, he's a mentor. He's just unbelievable."Megerle coached Chanes-Mora through stress fractures, and while she was in pain, she was able to walk upon finishing."I have a stress fracture and I talked to coach and coach was just extremely helpful," she said. "I did nothing for the last month, I didn't run a single mile and I was terrified, and then I ran 26.2 miles. I'm very tired, but I did it thanks to coach and the entire team."Chanes-Mora was hardly the only runner in pain, however, as junior Jeremy Aaronson said he felt extremely nauseous upon finishing.12

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Faculty, students to bike 100 miles around campuses

April 21

Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris will lead the 2014 Tufts Century Ride on May 9, a 100-mile bike ride, open to the entire Tufts community, around the university's three campuses.

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Tufts Marathon team, Team of 57 strive to move forward

April 21

Every year, the Tufts Marathon Team gives out 100 marathon bibs to Tufts seniors, staff, alumni, parents and graduate students. These bibs are always highly sought after by the Tufts community, but this year, the team was overwhelmed with applications in light of last year's tragic events. Members of the Tufts community wanted to be a part of what was already shaping up to be a year of redemption, strength and perseverance.University President Anthony Monaco, at an April 12 Fan the Fire event honoring the marathon team, thanked the team for the determination."If I've learned one thing from [Tufts Marathon Team] Coach [Don] Megerle, it's that if there are obstacles or setbacks, we persevere." Monaco said.After they were unable to complete last year's marathon due to the bombings, 57 members of last year's Tufts Marathon Team opted to run the race again this year. These participants made up the Team of 57, according to Mergele, who joined the 100 members of the Tufts Marathon Team at the race yesterday. These runners, along with the 5,000 other participants who could not finish 2013's race, arrived at the starting line hoping to finally finish what they started after months of training last year."It's not like ... [those runners] dropped out," sophomore Jimena Sanchez Gallego, who finished the marathon with the team last year, said. "It's not like they got injured. It was someone actually restricting [them] from something [they] wanted and trained for so badly. I think ... crossing the finish line will be amazing for them."Megerle, who has coached the team for 10 years, discussed his motivations in sponsoring the runners who were not able to complete the race."I just want to connect with these kids," Megerle said. "They felt that they failed, [that] they didn't make it, they didn't complete it. And psychologically, that's very difficult."Mackenzie Loy (A '13), a member of last year's marathon team, was stopped at mile 25 last year. Loy, however, committed to another eight months of training this year to have the chance to finish the 26.2 miles."As far as training goes, I just wanted to make sure I take advantage of this opportunity," she said. "One, to run Boston again is insane, but two, with the support, with the environment the fact that we need to finish it just for closure ... I really want to make sure I do that justice."While many runners were aiming for a top finish time or a personal record, Loy said that this year is more about the experience of the marathon itself."You're not really running Boston for time this year," she said. "When you see [Coach] Don at mile nine, when you see your family at 16, you're going to stop, you're going to hug them, you're going to say, 'Hi,' and then keep going."In addition to those who were prevented from finishing last year, many members of the Tufts team participated in the marathon for the first time yesterday. Senior Emily Cannon, a marathon team member and Boston native, explained why she wanted to run this year."I always thought it would be really cool," she said. "How many people can say they've run a marathon? And to be able to not only run a marathon, but to run a marathon in the city that I love after what happened last year makes it that much better."Senior Rachel Chazin-Gray, another first-time runner on the Tufts Marathon Team, reflected on last year's events and how the Boston community came together after tragedy."I was abroad last year, and it was really strange," Chazin-Gray said. "Talking to everyone about the aftermath from really far away was hard. But coming back and seeing that nothing has brought us down was really cool, and I'm really happy to be part of that Boston Strong momentum."Despite the whirlwind of emotions surrounding this year's event, Megerle said he worked hard to keep his team focused on the task at hand."People keep asking me what's different about this year from last year, and I said really nothing," Megerle said. "We don't talk about the bombings, we don't talk about the restrictions."Megerle reiterated the importance of looking to the future instead of to the past, in order to honor both this year's marathon, and marathons to come."We don't talk about it, because if that's all we talk about then [we're] imposing these things in [the runners' minds] to think about," he said. "By thinking about it all the time, you anticipate the negative, and I'd rather them enjoy it."12

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Speakers discuss China, U.S. relationship during annual symposium

April 21

The seventh annual China-U.S. Symposium, held from April 17 to April 19, explored Chinese strategies when it engages with other nations, including the United States. The symposium began with a formal buffet dinner and opening keynote last Thursday, where Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) Founding Director Sherman Teichman, both spoke, according to symposium co-chair Lizzy Robinson.Russel was one of the chief architects behind the strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific Region and gave a comprehensive speech, given the constraints of being a top government official, Ben Wang, a moderator for the symposium's "China and the US in Africa" panel, said. "I thought that he gave a very good speech, and he was definitely a very approachable and nice guy," Wang, a senior, said. "It was a nice event to have before the conference, to have a chance to talk to many of the speakers before the actual symposium."The symposium itself began Friday with a breakfast and private roundtable discussion and a welcome address from University President Anthony Monaco, according to the symposium website. Following the kick-off of the event were the "United States' Pivot to Asia and Asia's Response" and the "China and the U.S. in Africa" panels. Wang explained that he organized the latter panel because of the research he is doing for his senior thesis on Chinese investment in Africa. He said that during a semester in Washington, D.C., he had a chance to meet with many experts in this area. One of the speakers, Professor Fei-Ling Wang of the Georgia Tech Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, touched on the topic of the so-called Chinese illegal immigration into Africa."The elites in Africa are divided, with some believing that [the Chinese] represent mercantilism and some see our presence as a substitute to the Western model," he said. "Even ordinary consumers in Africa seem to have a stealth approach towards Chinese products."Fei-Ling Wang added that Chinese visitors to Zimbabwe seemingly experience discrimination in attaining landing visas and must pay significantly higher amounts of money for their visas than citizens of other countries, including those from the U.S. Seifudein Adem, the associate director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton, described China's presence in Africa as similar to a wolf in sheep's clothing.Adem addressed and reconstructed three claims that the Chinese have made: that China never colonized Africa, that China supported Africa's national liberation movement and that China's intentions are different from those of the colonization-minded West."I thought that it went very well, since it had all these different perspectives, with one Chinese speaker, an African speaker and a U.S. ambassador as well," moderator Ben Wang said. "The panel really had a wide range of perspectives, and I really liked that the speakers didn't all agree with each other, so we had a very constructive debate."According to Robinson, the symposium was first established in 2007 from a lecture commemorating the life of Tufts alumnus David Rawson (LA '07). A David Rawson Memorial Lecture is a part of each year's symposium and this year's address was delivered by Greg Austin, a professional fellow in the department of policy innovation at the EastWest Institute. Symposium attendee Li Fan, a freshman, described the lecture as moving, and explained that organizers showed three videos about Rawson, an EPIIC alumnus who was actively involved with IGL and had a strong interest in relations between China and the U.S.The last day of the symposium featured a new event where Boston's Asian-American organizations were invited to present, according to Robinson. "There were directors of the organizations and people on the executive boards of those organizations speaking about what they are, their goals and how to get involved," Robinson said. "It was the first time that we had done an event like that ... originally [Tufts Global China Connection] was going to do a networking event, but there were complications ... so we took the concept of a networking event and tweaked it to be slightly more informational and slightly less networking."12