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Senate discusses semester goals in first 2014 meeting
January 20The Tufts Committee Union Senates first meeting of the semester was held last night in Eaton 206.
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Hamilton pool closed for emergency repairs
January 16Hamilton Pool, the training facility for hundreds of Tufts swimmers and community members, will remain closed until at least mid-March due to concerns about the pools structural integrity.According to Matt Malone, the manager of Facilities, Fields and Game Management, problems with the pool were first discovered during winter break.[Facilities staff] drained the pool for general maintenance over winter break and found a crack that needed to be repaired that goes completely through the base of the pool, Malone said. For right now, they are starting to do some ground penetrating radar to make sure that the integrity of the pool and the underneath of the pool [are] still in shape.Both the mens and womens swim teams are currently in the middle of their seasons and are currently preparing for the upcoming NESCAC meet, according to Adam Hoyt, the head coach of the mens swimming team. The pools closure has forced the swim teams to relocate their daily training to alternative facilities at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, Hoyt said.We are going to be waking up early a lot and going to bed late a lot because our practice times are six oclock to 7:30 so were going to be leaving Tufts around 5:30 in the morning, mens team senior tri-captain Austin Wood said. There is another optionwe can go from 9-11 p.m. at MIT.Wood said the change in training times to the early morning and late evening hours will impact students sleep and homework schedules.We are not going to have time to do our homework at night if were getting back at 11 oclock, so we have to do it during the day, he said. Being told we have to rearrange our schedule to sleep is a speed bump for sure.However, both coaches and swimmers remain optimistic that the inconvenient situation will only make their teams stronger.The best thing we can do right now is keep everybodys attitudes up, Wood said. It would be really easy to let this get us down and impact our performance, but I think if we suffer through it together, and take it as a challenge and overcome it, well have even better results.Hoyt said that he and Nancy Bigelow, the womens swimming teams head coach, are optimistic despite the circumstances and have great teams. While its inconvenient timing for everyone, hopefully our teams will rise to the occasion and overcome these challenges, he said. Its just a time management thing and so far everyone has a great attitude toward it.According to Wood, there are typically four different practices each day and swimmers can choose which practices to attendThe alternative facilities will allow the teams to train together, Hoyt said.One of the great parts of our training trip when we go away over winter break is that we actually train together as a team, Hoyt said. These two training opportunities are going to provide us the ability to train together as a team which is hugely helpful.The quality of the alternative facilities is another positive aspect of the situation, according to Hoyt.From a training standpoint, if anything, its a better training situation, Hoyt said. MIT is a much newer facility than the Tufts pool, a much better facility in a lot of ways in regards to their pool so were in a great position to get great training in.The remaining meets will be held at alternative facilities so seniors will be unable to swim in a final senior meet, according to Wood.For the seniors, it is probably most upsetting because we are missing our senior meet at home, Wood said. Im on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and Im hoping to do something where we can get a fan bus out to Wheaton to celebrate our senior meet.The impact of the pools closure is not limited to just the swim teams, Malone said. Students who hold lifeguarding positions at the pool and faculty who regularly use the pool to swim will also be inconvenienced by the emergency maintenance. According to Malone, the athletic department will work to find other positions for lifeguards receiving work-study money. We are going to find other work around the athletic department for the lifeguards that were work-study students, Malone said. Between the athletic offices, the fitness center and the equipment room, we will be able to allow them to pick up a majority of their shifts.Malone said that the university administration is fully supportive of fixing the pools current problems. He explained that, while there is a desire to put in a new pool, the current issues will not necessitate ones immediate construction. [University President Anthony Monaco] is an avid swimmer and uses the pool daily, Malone said. Hes put his full support behind it and wants to see the problem get fixed as quickly as we can without compromising the integrity of the pool and the structure below the pool. Theres a need and desire to put in a new pool, but the issue here is not something thats going to make them break ground on a new pool immediately.12
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University creating new, accurate JoeyTracker
January 16Tufts University Department of Public and Environmental Safety (DPES) is currently collaborating with Tufts Technology Services to unveil a new web and software application that will show the Joeys exact location, schedule and expected time of arrival.
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Saakashvili to become Fletchers first senior statesman
January 14Former president of the Republic of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, will serve as the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacys first Senior Statesman starting this January. The position of Senior Statesman is a new idea, intended to provide students with access to internationally known leaders and practitioners in a variety of fields, Admiral James Stavridis, dean of The Fletcher School said.Our concept is to try to bring each year some important international political figure to be affiliated with The Fletcher School, he said.Saakashvili, who served as president for two terms between 2004 and 2013, founded Georgias United National Movement Party and led the Rose Revolution, which forced the resignation of the Republic of Georgias president at the time.Saakashvili will not be in residence at Fletcher full-time, but is expected to visit on three or four occasions during both semesters of his one-year appointment. Saakashvili is excited to interact with students at The Fletcher School in both informal and educational settings, he said. I like to talk to students, Saakashvili said. I have always loved to talk to them, even when I was elected in politics.After graduating from the Institute of International Relations at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Saakashvili came to the United States to study law, receiving a Master of Laws from Columbia University and taking doctoral-level classes at the George Washington University Law School. In 1995, he received a diploma in Comparative Law of Human Rights from The International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.Saakashvili was first elected to the Parliament of Georgia in 1995 and five years later became the countrys Minister of Justice under President Eduard Shevardnadze, his presidential predecessor. In 2004, after a bloodless revolution, Saakashvili became the youngest national president in Europe and third president of the Republic of Georgia. Throughout his presidency, [Saakashvili] was able to improve the economy dramatically, reduce corruption in the state and connect with the West, the United States and with NATO, Stavridis said. He is a practitioner of diplomacy in a very challenging position in a small nation, and has done a very good job leading his nation in its early days since finding independence. Stavridis believes that one of Saakashvilis most important contributions to Georgia was leading the Rose Revolution a 20-day long peaceful protest that ended the previously totalitarian period of Soviet Era leadership. Saakashvili was instrumental in organizing more than 100,000 protesters during the revolution.To turn this many people out in a non-violent revolutionary setting was really quite remarkable, Stavridis said. I think it is fair to say that [Saakashvilis] personal leadership and charismatic personality were very much a part of organizing all of this. According to Academic Dean of the Fletcher School Ian Johnstone, Saakashvilis experiences will be valuable to the students and faculty at Fletcher.[Saakashvili] was a very lively figure in a very crucial part of the world and has a lot of international experience as a result, Johnstone said. We are hoping he comes and shares that experience and the perspective ... on relations with the United States, Europe and Russia, the evolution from authoritarian to democratic leadership and anti-corruption measures all of which he was associated with when he was president. Saakashvili chose to join The Fletcher School as Senior Statesman because Fletcher is a prestigious school with many faculty and students who focus on his region of the world,12
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New alcohol policy alters judicial process
January 14Before last semesters changes in Tufts drug and alcohol policy, students often feared judicial consequences when seeking assistance during alcohol emergencies. The recent additions of the limited Amnesty approach and Good Samaritan policy, however, marked the first major changes to the universitys drug and alcohol policy in three years. The new policy eliminates judicial consequences for medical alcohol emergencies and makes alcohol violations solely medical issues allowing students to call for help without worrying about the judicial penalties.The last major change in the Tufts drug and alcohol policy occurred when the administration made the original distinction between dangerous drinking violations and code of conduct violations. According to Dean of Campus Life and Student Leadership Bruce Reitman, the most recent change in policy brought the bifurcation one step further.This time we brought that same distinction to the next level of separation, which was medical incidents being just medical, not judicial, Reitman said.Reitman noted the particular focus on the student experience in the recent changes.The removal of Judicial Affairs from that piece, were told by the [Tufts Community Union ] Senate leaders, makes it feel like a friendlier process one that is more supportive to students [in getting] them to go see the alcohol educators and to focus on their own use of alcohol, instead of focusing at all on whether or not theyve violated the new code of conduct.According to the Tufts Student Handbook, the change in policy states that no student who seeks treatment for oneself or others will receive disciplinary action. The limited Amnesty approach eliminates judicial sanctions for up to two instances of medical intervention due to substance abuse for students. These changes have greatly reduced Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carters level of involvement in alcohol-related incidents.I do see some [students] for Code of Conduct violations, but I dont see any of them for the medical transports, and thats taken a major load from me, Carter said. Last year, I saw everybody for every offense on alcohol, and that was really a lot. Despite the significant change in Carters involvement, Director of Emergency Management Geoffrey Bartlett has not seen much transition in the role of Tufts University Police Department on campus.Its had no change to our role. Our role has been for years and years to provide help in an emergency, and the role of [Tufts Emergency Medical Services] TEMS is to provide for medical needs, Bartlett said. Most of the calls are for illness or injuries, not alcohol-related incidents.Ayal Pierce and Paul Pemberton, the current and former TEMS executive directors, respectively, said that TEMS is not directly affected by the change in disciplinary policy.[The limited Amnesty policy] is on the discipline side of things, and, honestly, we have nothing to do with that side of it, Pemberton, a senior, said. As far as our medical treatment goes, we still only care about medical safety.While TEMS issues medical reports, those reports are strictly confidential and are not seen throughout the disciplinary process.TEMS reports are totally confidential, Carter said. I dont see TEMS reports. The only things we see are police reports. But we do have interaction with TEMS, and we talk to them and get numbers from them.Pemberton viewed the sharp distinction between TEMS actions and Judicial Affairs, as well as the deans offices, as a benefit to TEMS. While the organization is not involved in the disciplinary process for alcohol-related incidents, TEMS members have seen the merits of the new policy in their interactions with students.The hope is that nobody is going to say, Im worried about my friends life, but Im not going to call because Im scared he might get in trouble, Pierce, a junior, said. The hope is that you call and, best-case scenario, [in] ten minutes we say its all okay. We dont want people not calling because they are scared of getting in trouble.While TEMS has only limited interactions with Judicial Affairs, the group is more strongly connected with another Tufts authority force the Tufts University Police Department . TEMS members and TUPD officers work together during emergencies in different manners. TUPD provides important support to the operation of TEMS, according to Pemberton.I would say, with TUPD, we are definitely on the same team, but at the same time we have very different functions, he said. Police reports are not at all related to the medical reports, [but] the police are there to facilitate our care.TUPD, like TEMS, does not have any connection to disciplinary actions after an emergency, apart from filing a report.Actually, we dont have any role at all [in judicial affairs], TUPD Deputy Chief Mark Keith said. We respond to a call [and] provide assistance. We do a report for each and every call. What happens after that reports go to the Dean of Students office and then they handle any after action.12
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Campus takes sides on ASA boycott
January 14Over 250 students have signed a statement, currently circulating with the help of several student and alumni organizers, in solidarity with a resolution by the American Studies Association (ASA) to boycott Israeli academic institutions.The ASA is an academic association committed to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history with over 5,000 member institutions and individuals, according to its website.The ASAs National Council voted to endorse an academic boycott of Israeli institutions on Dec. 4. Less than three weeks later, on Dec. 23, the Office of University President Anthony Monaco released a statement, opposing the resolution while stating that the university is not an institutional member of the ASA.As an institution of higher education, Tufts University is deeply committed to the principles of academic freedom and educating students to be active global citizens, the statement from Monacos office said. Boycotting academic institutions in response to government policies would undermine the academic freedom of scholars around the world.The statement from Monacos office came a day after student organizers released their own statement with a differing viewpoint. The group of students and alumni believe that the current Israeli academic system is unfair to Palestinians.The undersigned support the boycott of a system that represses Palestinian peoples opportunities for intellectual freedom, political expression, physical safety and overall well-being, and thereby support the American Studies Association in their decision to boycott Israeli academic institutions who partake in this system of oppression, the students statement said.In a collaborated response to questions from the Daily, student organizers said that Israeli academic institutions are a major part of what they call an apartheid social and political structure based on racism and settler colonialism.The students further explained the integration between Israeli universities and politics.The oppression of the Palestinian people is not the result of invisible and faceless government policies, they said. Although we like to imagine universities in a bubble apart from the political structure of [Israel], academies in Israel are deeply integrated and complicit in the occupation.The statement released by student organizers said that members of the Tufts faculty have been targeted for their individual support of the ASAs resolution.According to the statements authors, a letter sent by an alumnus to President Monaco and Tufts deans singled out two Tufts professors who had independently signed onto the ASA resolution. The letter suggested that some members of the Tufts Alumni Association were prepared to put social and financial pressure on the university administration to speak out against both the ASAs resolution and the faculty in support of it, the students said. The student organizers are concerned this response from select alumni will affect campus life. The fact that professors are being targeted for signing onto the resolution could change how comfortable students, faculty and staff are with expressing their opinions and continuing the conversation, they said.Tufts supports the right to diversity of opinion amongst its faculty, in addition to the right of faculty members to participate in the ASA and other professional associations, according to Director of Public Relations Kimberly Thurler.Tufts is strongly committed to freedom of expression and the right of faculty and students alike to express their individual views on this or other issues, she told the Daily in an email.Research Professor of Judaic Studies and Executive Director of Hillel Rabbi Jeffrey Summit said that universities are important centers of communication between the Israeli people and their Arab neighbors.I spoke with colleagues who teach at Hebrew University who spoke about how diverse their student body is [with] Israeli Jews and Arabs studying together and how Israels universities are a site for open, self-reflective and critical debate in Israel, he said. Summit said he believes that conversation among scholars is vital to conflict resolution between Israel and Palestine.Boycotting and shutting down contact among universities does little to advance peace, Summit said. Open contact among scholars and universities offers more productive ways to address, mediate and solve conflict and presents a better model for our students as global citizens.However, the student authors of the statement in favor of the ASAs resolution believe that there is a distinction between boycotting Israeli academic institutions and ceasing communication.12
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Saakashvili to become Fletcher's first senior statesman
January 14Former president of the Republic of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, will serve as the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy's first Senior Statesman starting this January. The position of Senior Statesman is a new idea, intended to provide students with access to internationally known leaders and practitioners in a variety of fields, Admiral James Stavridis, dean of The Fletcher School said."Our concept is to try to bring each year some important international political figure to be affiliated with The Fletcher School," he said.Saakashvili, who served as president for two terms between 2004 and 2013, founded Georgia's United National Movement Party and led the Rose Revolution, which forced the resignation of the Republic of Georgia's president at the time.Saakashvili will not be in residence at Fletcher full-time, but is expected to visit on three or four occasions during both semesters of his one-year appointment. Saakashvili is excited to interact with students at The Fletcher School in both informal and educational settings, he said. "I like to talk to students," Saakashvili said. "I have always loved to talk to them, even when I was elected in politics."After graduating from the Institute of International Relations at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Saakashvili came to the United States to study law, receiving a Master of Laws from Columbia University and taking doctoral-level classes at the George Washington University Law School. In 1995, he received a diploma in Comparative Law of Human Rights from The International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.Saakashvili was first elected to the Parliament of Georgia in 1995 and five years later became the country's Minister of Justice under President Eduard Shevardnadze, his presidential predecessor. In 2004, after a bloodless revolution, Saakashvili became the youngest national president in Europe and third president of the Republic of Georgia. "Throughout his presidency, [Saakashvili] was able to improve the economy dramatically, reduce corruption in the state and connect with the West, the United States and with NATO," Stavridis said. "He is a practitioner of diplomacy in a very challenging position in a small nation, and has done a very good job leading his nation in its early days since finding independence." Stavridis believes that one of Saakashvili's most important contributions to Georgia was leading the Rose Revolution - a 20-day long peaceful protest that ended the previously totalitarian period of Soviet Era leadership. Saakashvili was instrumental in organizing more than 100,000 protesters during the revolution."To turn this many people out in a non-violent revolutionary setting was really quite remarkable," Stavridis said. "I think it is fair to say that [Saakashvili's] personal leadership and charismatic personality were very much a part of organizing all of this." According to Academic Dean of the Fletcher School Ian Johnstone, Saakashvili's experiences will be valuable to the students and faculty at Fletcher."[Saakashvili] was a very lively figure in a very crucial part of the world and has a lot of international experience as a result," Johnstone said. "We are hoping he comes and shares that experience and the perspective ... on relations with the United States, Europe and Russia, the evolution from authoritarian to democratic leadership and anti-corruption measures - all of which he was associated with when he was president." Saakashvili chose to join The Fletcher School as Senior Statesman because Fletcher is a prestigious school with many faculty and students who focus on his region of the world,12
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Interview | Monaco discusses recent changes, progress at Tufts
December 8President Anthony Monaco sat down with the Tufts Daily last month to discuss recent changes and events on the Hill ranging from the Council on Diversity to the recently approved Strategic Plan and unionization. The Tufts Daily: Could you speak to some of the administrative changes that have come about this semester? Anthony Monaco: These transitions are part of normal business, but were very excited, particularly about the two new deans. [Dean of The Fletcher School James Stavridis] is a very internationally known figure, admiral and [military commander], and he already has hit the ground running with external relations with alumni and his faculty. [He is] very good at reaching across the schools. ... [Dean of Tisch College] Alan Solomont isnt quite here yet, but hes getting ready to take things over.[Former] Board of Trustees Chair ... Jim Stern is really hard to replace after he spent 32 years on the board half of his life. He was a great mentor to me, as he guided me through my first two years. Already Peter [Dolan] has been taking over, and in the transition period, we would have a tri-partite discussion once a week. ... Peter was essential in being the leader of the trustees on the Strategic Plan. ... [He helped] [Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris] understand from [the boards] perspective what things were important to the plan. ... [Dolan] cares deeply about the university.[University Chaplain Greg McGonigle], I think, has also hit the ground running. Hes been very popular among the students, engaging students across the faith groups, working with the CSL policy and being a positive force. TD: A major theme of the Strategic Plan is transformational experiences how do you define them, exactly? AM: Ive learned it mostly from alumni, because youre too immersed in it at the moment to probably realize youre having a transformational experience. When you go to alumni and they say, Tufts changed my life, ... they dont realize it until theyre out five years out or 10 years out. ... [For] example, we talk about the [Boston Marathon] bombing and how that was kind of a negative transformational experience for students who were involved, but [also] how weve supported [them] and came back together as a community will be something theyll never forget. ... For others, it will be the co-curricular activities. So we just thought ... it was a very central theme and really what it means to be part of an academic-residential community. Its not easy to replace that with an online course. TD: Could you talk about online courses potential at Tufts? AM: We think theyre important. We want to use digital technology as best we can to enhance the learning experience. I think the summer courses, as an example, allow students to do an internship somewhere but also continue to get credits if they want to, and we also want to make sure faculty are up-to-date with the best practices of how to use digital technology. TD: Could you comment on issues with students not being able to find housing, and if the university is planning to address these? AM: I have asked David Harris to convene a committee to look at a resident housing strategy for Tufts. ... Its not just about building a new dorm. Its about ... things like programming that [Dean] John Barker is interested [in] and already piloting this year with the ACE Fellows and through the [Resident Assistants]. ... The problem with our current dorms is ... we can renovate the bathrooms and the common rooms, but we cant really do a gut renovation and reconfigure it to more modern ways in which students want to have a residential life, [an initiative] we would like to support. TD: Could you comment on when you think youll be implementing policies discussed at the Council on Diversitys meeting on Oct. 10? AM: Diversity issues are not ones that change overnight. David Harris always talks about administrative time and student time. Students would like to see things happen quickly, but administrators are here for a little longer, and they have plans they would like to implement to see long-standing and sustainable change. I am very eager to make as many of those changes as quickly as we can.I initiated the diversity council within my first six months because I felt I heard from the students a very robust argument that we needed to change the climate on campus, and I looked at the numbers and our compositional diversity had been flat. ... The consensus is [that] we need a chief diversity officer [at board discussions], so I think ... we are going to begin the preliminary steps of writing the job description and think about how we want to recruit someone in this role. Then theres all the kind of changes we need to do to help our faculty and staff to become more ... aware on diversity issues. These are things we need to promote on campus since we cant do just one big step. TD: Do you have an estimated time frame for hiring a chief diversity officer? AM: We may have a very good internal candidate when we compare all the applicants then, that person could be appointed quite quickly. But if its an external candidate, we want to do a national search. ... Id like to have an appointment by the end of the academic year, for the next academic year, starting over the summer. TD: Are there any truth to the rumors of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts changing its relationship with Tufts? AM: Yes. All I know is that the new director of the [SMFA] is contemplating [the schools] ability to grant its own degrees, rather than relying on Tufts. So thats a discussion thats going on. We value our relationship with them ... We would like to make sure [the director] understands the consequences of breaking down our relationship, but if thats something that he really, really wants to do, its not for us to stand in his way. ... I have not been involved in those negotiations. Those are done at the level of the deans of Arts and Sciences.12
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TCU Senate update
December 8The final Tufts Community Union Senate meeting of the semester took place in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room last night with discussion of the final version of the Diversity Report and an announcement regarding the Committee on Student Lifes (CSL) justified departure policy.
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Crafts Center increases programming, hosts workshops
December 5The Crafts Center, located in the basement of Lewis Hall, has long been frequented by Tufts students seeking a space for a relaxing, art-oriented atmosphere. The centers free resources are often used to complete class projects or banners for sports teams and clubs.
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Author speaks about mass incarceration as New Jim Crow
December 5Michelle Alexander, a well-known civil rights advocate and associate professor of law at Ohio State University, delivered the Center for the Study of Race and Democracys inaugural Gerald Gill Keynote Lecture in Cohen Auditorium last night.
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Transgender operations to be covered in faculty health plan
December 5The universitys faculty health insurance plan will this January offer new benefits to transgender faculty, including coverage for gender reassignment surgery.
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Tufts joins IIE Syrian Consortium to aid student in midst of civil war
December 4The university last month became an official member of the Institute of International Education (IIE) Syrian Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis after the Office of Undergraduate Admissions agreed to become involved with the organization. The decision resulted from an Oct. 14 Tufts Community Union Senate resolution calling for Tufts to join the nearly 40 colleges and universities that have chosen to offer scholarships to Syrian students through the program.
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Tufts ranks high in health and fitness, campus initiatives promote health consciousness
December 4Earlier this year, Tufts was ranked as one of the top 25 healthiest colleges in the United States by Greatist, an Internet media startup focusing on health and fitness. Between late nights at Tisch Library, running to club meetings, going to class and attempting to get enough sleep, college is a true balancing act. Finding the time to eat properly and exercise often falls by the wayside, so when it comes down to it, how healthy and nutrition-conscious are Tufts students?A study by the American College Health Association , which surveyed more than 150 schools and more than 96,000 students, found that while only about five percent of national college students reached USDA fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, an impressive 20 percent of Tufts students reached those levels.One resource to help students stay healthy is Balance Your Life , a healthy lifestyle club from the Department of Health Education at Tufts.Beth Farrow, health education and prevention specialist and a staff member of BYL, explained that Tufts students are typically highly cognizant of health issues.I think Tufts students are very much aware of health issues and wanting to maintain a healthy and balanced life while in college, Farrow said.The struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle begins as soon as Tufts students arrive on campus, according to Farrow. As freshmen, students are required to be on the unlimited meal plan. While there might be a tendency for students to overeat in the dining halls, this kind of buffet mentality dissipates after being on the meal plan over time, she said.With the most popular meal plan option being 160, Tufts Nutrition Marketing Specialist Julie Lampie said she believed that students are probably eating healthier in the dining halls than they would be by cooking for themselves.The more choices that are available, the better, she said. Students tend to make better choices having greater variety. According to data from last years dining survey, students ranked a desire for more variety as the third most important factor to improvement of the dining halls and a wish for healthier options as fifth.When looking at the top choices for dinner, the number one item is General Gaus chicken, followed by breaded chicken tenders and salmon. According to Lampie, while the first two items are deep fat fried, salmon has recently become a much more popular item, appearing five times in the top ten food items.There was a time when very few students ate salmon, and you can see it is our number one fish by popularity, so food trends do change, Lampie said.According to Lampie, more people have also been asking for more vegan and vegetarian options.Over time the vegetarian population has definitely increased, Lampie said. I think some of that interest in eating lower on the food chains is for environmental reasons, but for the most part its about health.Lampie discussed the deliberate layout of the dining halls in order to encourage students to make healthy choices. For example, in the Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall, the station closest to the entrance serves vegetarian food.If you watch the pattern, students will go through that line to see if anything looks good, Lampie said. They are not thinking, Oh this is vegetarian. If it looks good they are going to take it.Sophomore Jenn Rabbino, education materials coordinator of BYL, agreed that the layout influences what students choose to eat.In [Carmichael Dining Center], the salad bar is in the center, so you gravitate towards it, she said.Lampie said she always strives to include fresh ingredients when selecting the menu and recently has been trying to incorporate more locally grown and seasonable vegetables. Three vegetables are offered for students so that they are encouraged to find one that is palatable, she said.At Tufts its not all about the least expensive option, she said. The priority is first quality, nutritional value, thirdly price. We try to balance that out.The Real Food Challenge, a new student group on campus currently seeking Tufts Community Union Senate recognition, aims to increase the amount of sustainable and fairly sourced food available in the dining centers.While the creators of The Real Food Challenge are currently working through some administrative hurdles, co-founder Meghan Bodo said that Tufts Dining is supportive. Bodo, a junior, got the idea last summer and the group has about ten members so far.Tufts Dining already values sustainably produced food and as such has been supportive of our request, she said.Sophomore Mel Goldberg said that although Tufts offers healthy food options, she would like to have more information about where the food actually comes from.We have a great salad bar, and we have a good rep for being such a veggie friendly and sustainable dining hall, she said. But I really have no idea where any of the produce is coming from, so I think it would be really interesting to get more clarity on that.The Real Food Challenge is just one way that Tufts students are expressing their interest in nutrition-related issues. Tufts Dining has responded by including healthier options on menus and by changing dessert portion sizes, like cutting brownie sheets into 84ths instead of 70ths.When we try to put new menu items on, Im not looking for deep fat fried high saturated fat items, Im looking for a fresher more nutritious product that we can bring to students, Lampie said.Lampie offered her best tips for eating right in the dining halls.One of the strategies is always of course to either look at the menu ahead or peruse the choices before taking your plate and actually taking food, she said.12
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Students launch app for location-based messages
December 3Four students last Tuesday unveiled the new iPhone and iPad application, Marko, which allows users to leave photos and notes in physical places that can only be viewed from the location in which they were taken.
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Panel discusses felon disenfranchisement
December 3Tufts Democrats, the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and the Peace and Justice Studies program yesterday evening hosted a panel discussion on felon disenfranchisement in the United States.
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ASAP, QSA push for Rainbow Steps name change
December 2Members of Tufts Action for Sexual Assault Prevention and Tufts Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) last Sunday laid rainbow bricks along the steps located near Wren Hall, as part of a campaign to change the stairs name to the Rainbow Steps.
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Tufts Greek and Athlete Christian Fellowship connects religion, college experience
December 2Many students hope to continue their involvement with faith and fellowship in college, but find it challenging to make the connection between religion and other aspects of their college experience. Tufts Greek and Athlete Christian Fellowship, a group geared toward students involved in Greek life or athletics, aims to provide a safe and supportive place for students to discuss religion and build a relationship between their faith and the rest of their experience at Tufts.
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ASAP, QSA push for 'Rainbow Steps' name change
December 2Members of Tufts Action for Sexual Assault Prevention and Tufts Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) last Sunday laid rainbow bricks along the steps located near Wren Hall, as part of a campaign to change the stairs' name to the "Rainbow Steps."
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