The Presidential Search Committee this week held two open forums on the Medford/Somerville campus to gather student input for the university president selection process.
Panelists at the fifth annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism last night compared media censorship in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to McCarthy−era blacklists.
Massachusetts State Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville), along with State Reps. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford/Somerville) and Denise Provost (D-Somerville) and dozens of other state legislators, is co-sponsoring a bill in the Massachusetts Senate that promotes state spending transparency through the creation of a comprehensive Web site.
As the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) two-year map replacement project progresses, commuters have increasingly become aware of the renaming of the New England Medical Center T station, now called Tufts Medical Center. The MBTA is currently in the process of updating system maps, which will reflect the renaming of the medical center station on the Orange Line. Tufts Medical last fall signed an agreement with the MBTA to pay $150,000 to fund this name change. Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the MBTA, said that the station's name change was required for accuracy, as Tufts Medical officially changed its name from New England Medical Center as part of a March 2008 rebranding. "In this instance, a name change was obviously warranted since the place known as New England Medical Center no longer exists," Pesaturo said in an e-mail to the Daily. The process of changing the name on T signs and maps from "New England Medical Center" to "Tufts Medical Center" began in the early fall of 2009, according to Brooke Tyson Hynes, a Tufts Medical spokeswoman. The main sign at the T stop itself has already been changed, and the name will gradually be modified on maps of the entire system as part of the MBTA's map replacement project, according to Pesaturo. The project is slated for completion later this year. Pesaturo said that the $150,000 price was necessary to cover the costs of replacing the signs and maps at the station itself, as well as the 230 large maps located in the 18 other stations on the Orange Line. Tufts Medical is willing to pay the price, according to Hynes, because it places heavy importance on officially changing the name at the T stop. "We are working with the MBTA so we can financially support them to change the name," Hynes said. Hynes added that changing the T stop's name is necessary to provide clarity to MBTA riders and patrons about the medical center. "It made sense if the name of the medical center changed that the T stop name also be changed so as not to confuse the riders of the T," Hynes said. Hynes explained that the medical center decided to rebrand as a means of shortening its title and also to demonstrate its connection to Tufts. "The change was really to articulate the close relationship the medical center has with the university, particularly the School of Medicine," Hynes said. "The name before was long and cumbersome, so we felt a change really was necessary." Tufts Medical worked closely with the MBTA in order to identify an appropriate time to officially alter its name, according to Hynes. She added that the medical center coordinated its plans to coincide with the MBTA's two-year map replacement project. "We timed the name change with the MBTA so that it could be coordinated at a time when the least amount of change was required for us specifically," Hynes said. "We wanted to find a time when it would be most efficient and convenient for the T to make the necessary changes." Renaming of T stops is an unusual occurrence, according to Pesaturo. "Changing the name of a station is very rare," Pesaturo said. "In fact, some stations have had the same name for more than a century." The most recent station name change occurred a few years ago, when the Institute of Contemporary Art moved from the Back Bay to South Boston, according to Pesaturo. The Green Line station formerly called Hynes/ICA is now Hynes. According to Pesaturo, changing the station name at the Hynes stop was significantly easier, because MBTA staff only had to obscure or delete the letters "ICA" to modify the name. It was "a much simpler process because staff was not adding … they were subtracting," Pesaturo said. He added that there were no foreseeable complications for the renaming process. Hynes agreed, adding that the process of changing the station name has proceeded smoothly thus far. "It seems like the process is going well at the moment," Hynes said. "We are happy to see everything working efficiently."
What could people do if they were given $10,000 to donate to nonprofits of their choice? How would they decide to whom they would give this money? Students in Experimenting with Philanthropy, an Experimental College class currently being offered for the fourth year, are investigating the possible answers to these questions as they learn the ins and outs of the philanthropic field before deciding how to allocate the $10,000 grant and to which organizations.
Two nights ago, some friends and I attended Judah Friedlander's comedy show. Afterwards, we went home and discovered the Web site www.snacksandshit.com. The Web site, which chronicles horrendous/hilarious lyrics from rap songs (Busta Rhymes is by far the best contributor) was way more entertaining. I was perplexed. Was I becoming one of those technology−crazed Gen−Z−ers who can't enjoy real interactions with live people, preferring to relate instead to a screen? Or was I modeling my Depression−era grandparents who couldn't enjoy something that cost money when there was a free option available? Nope — I'm pretty sure Judah Friedlander just wasn't very funny.
The 14th annual national Day of Silence, a student-organized event intended to draw attention to the silence, bullying and harassment endured by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, will take place this Friday.
The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University's student newspaper, has sparked claims of censorship after refusing to publish an open letter that it deemed "too controversial" challenging the scholarship of Harvard professor Roderick MacFarquhar
−Philanthropist Doris Buffett founded the Sunshine Lady Foundation in 1996.
A clinical partnership between the Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital and Tufts Medical Center started last month with the intention of providing increased specialized care to the greater Brockton community. Efforts have been made to expand the connected departments and programs since the new clinical affiliation was announced in December, according to Deborah Wilson, senior vice president of ambulatory services and patient relations at Brockton Hospital. The community-based teaching hospital is the most recent partner of Tufts Medical, which currently has affiliations with a number of area hospitals, including Winchester Hospital in Winchester and Jordan Hospital in Plymouth. Brockton Hospital provides the first line of medical care accessible to its community members, according to Julie Jette, Tufts Medical's media relations manager. Tufts Medical differs from Brockton because as an academic medical center, it provides more specialized high-level treatment. The new partnership, which includes Tufts Medical's Floating Hospital for Children, is an extension of the existing long-term relationship between the two institutions, which have been affiliated for approximately 30 years. "We've had a teaching relationship with them for a very long time," Jette said. Jette explained that the partnership allows specialists from Tufts Medical to provide care to patients at Brockton, who will in turn consider future tertiary treatment at Tufts Medical should the need arise. "It is establishing a two-way partnership," Jette said. "We hope that we can provide a slightly more specialized level of care in the community and help the hospitals deliver that level of care, and when their patients really need high-level tertiary care, we hope that they will refer their patients to us." Wilson said this consolidation of medical services is useful to patients. "It avoids the time and cost of going into Boston, and it's beneficial to us because we can have further relations with the physicians from Tufts Medical Center as they're rotating through our site and taking care of our patients," Wilson told the Daily. Jette explained that this and the other partnerships Tufts Medical has formed are an embodiment of the Distributed Academic Medical Center model, which strives to keep medical care in the local area. The Tufts model differs from that of other academic medical centers, many of which attempt to use the model to bring all care to the hospital center. "We are really committed to enabling our partners to keep care in the community," Jette said. The Distributed Academic Medical Center model was a major impetus for the partnership, according to Wilson. "We decided that it was our desire to be a high-quality, low-cost, community-based hospital system," Wilson said. Jette added that other benefits of centralized and coordinated healthcare through such partnerships include stronger communication between institutions regarding patient care and lower costs. "If we're communicating very well within these networks, then we will eliminate repetition and waste," Jette said. "It's about creating a network of providers that will be able to work closely together to provide coordinated care to patients." Media and Public Relations Coordinator for Signature Healthcare Rachel Labas said that health care reform's effects on insurance policies also promote a larger network of care. As Tufts Medical is a larger institution, a partnership grants Brockton Hospital greater negotiation power with insurance companies. "Partnering with Tufts puts us in a better position to negotiate rates with insurance companies and make sure that we're paid fairly for all the services we're providing," Labas told the Daily. "Being able to negotiate the best rates helps out the organization as a whole." Jette said that Tufts Medical and Brockton Hospital are in the process of expanding their connected programs. "We brought Tufts specialists to Brockton for cardiac electrophysiology services, and then we also anticipate having sports medicines doctors come in May, and then pediatric, orthopedics and bariatric to follow in the summer," Labas said.
In high school, big words were prized possessions. Everyone had a few classics stowed away ("copious," "supercilious," "cantankerous" — you know the ones I'm talking about) that always seemed to prove surprisingly useful in counteracting the many run−on sentences in thesis−less essays about books we hadn't read.
On Sunday night, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate voted down an appeal by the Media Advocacy Board (MAB) to fund a stipend for the public editor next year. This was a significant setback not only for the future of this position, but also for the entire Tufts community.
The 11 rising sophomores who have announced their candidacy for the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Sophomore Senate last night gathered in Hotung Café to address the student body at the Candidate's Forum.
Editor's Note: This week's column is written by guest columnist Xavier Malina, who is a senior majoring in International Relations.
One of the 10 rising seniors competing for the nine available Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate seats allocated to seniors yesterday dropped out of the race, leaving the Senior Senate race uncontested.
The eighth annual Tufts Relay for Life on Saturday night was the only event on campus that lasted until 6 a.m., running on its participants' energy and passion for the cause of fighting cancer.
Going out in Boston can be fun for students from Tufts and other colleges in the area. With so many young people craving a release from academic stress, however, club hopping can be an exercise in claustrophobia as well.
Even as two recent evictions this semester have raised questions about the maintenance of fraternity houses, one Tufts student is heavily lobbying for the passage of a U.S. Senate bill that could have a significant impact on Greek organizations.
Following the March 2008 departure of local bookstore McIntyre and Moore Booksellers from Davis Square, community members have organized a grassroots effort to attract another independent bookstore to the area.
This afternoon, members of the Tufts community will be able to see undergraduates from all academic disciplines display their research.
