This is the second article in a two-part series looking at a funding request from the student journal Discourse. The first piece looked at the proceedings of a treasury appeal in the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, while this article focuses on Discourse's relationship with the Institute of Global Leadership and how the TCU Judiciary approves new student groups.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan signs a copy of his new book "Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All," in Goddard Chapel yesterday evening. McLennan, the dean for religious life at Stanford University, gave a talk about the book as part of the Ofice of the Chaplaincy's Forum on Religion and Media series.
Or at least that is what several psychologists in the business of criticizing the media have to say. I'm not the first to point out that there are problems with the 24-hour news cycle, but an honest assessment would be lacking if it didn't point out that we suffer from information overload. We are bombarded with so many snippets of information — be it from MSNBC/FOX/CNN, the Internet, the uber-hectic New York Times front page or even flyers on the library steps at Tufts — that we don't have time to invest ourselves in any one story and end up not caring about any of them. In truth, this doesn't seem so bad: Why be bogged down with countless vote counts in the Senate, and what does Balloon Boy have to do with me?
Sophomore Samujjal Purkayastha resigned from his position on the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary on Tuesday, a move that will necessitate the second special election of this semester.
Classes will be held on Veterans Day next week, after Tufts officials found the academic calendar one day shy of the required number of school days for this semester.
This is the first article in a two-part series taking a deep look at a funding request from a student journal. The first piece focuses on the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meeting at which students representing the publication appealed for more funding. The second piece will focus on Discourse's transition away from Institute for Global Leadership sponsorship, and the Senate's procedure for allocating funding to student groups. Fifteen leaders of the student magazine Discourse stood in a stuffy room in the campus center last month watching thousands of dollars and, essentially, the future of their publication debated in an intense and at times confusing Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meeting.
This is the first article in a two-part series that profiles recent alumni and their experiences after graduation. From finding a job and a new apartment to making new friends, life after Tufts can seem daunting. Yet leaving behind hour-long Dewick lunches and a campus where classes and activities are all within a 15-minute walk of each other might not be so scary. The Daily caught up with five recent Tufts alums to examine the transition to life after Tufts.
Up until fairly recently - okay, up until yesterday - I had given little thought to the history of the famous word used by performance magicians almost universally. I need hardly say it: "abracadabra."
The hunt is on — for off-campus housing, that is. Although students may feel as though they've just moved into their current rooms, many of those planning to live off campus for the next academic year are already searching for their future accommodations. In some cases, students have even signed contracts and put down deposits "I think students have started [looking for off-campus housing] early," Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) Director Yolanda King said, adding that it seems to be part of Tufts' culture that students start the housing search earlier every year. Tufts guarantees housing only to first- and second-year students. According to King, only 392 senior and 368 juniors are living on campus this fall (seniors are given priority in the housing lottery). Thus, many students that would like to live on campus aren't able to and must brave the Boston-area rental market. Roy Seidenberg, who is an employee of Boston Rental Exchange, a rental agency focused on offering apartments located along the Red Line, said the phenomenon of looking for housing months in advance is not common in the normal rental market. Seidenberg said that the primary renting season is from May to September, as that is often when most leases expire. Most landlords do not start advertising until 30 to 60 days before a lease is scheduled for termination, according Seidenberg. "Somerville and Cambridge have a large student population, but they also have a large number of professionals as well," Seidenberg said. "I suppose [signing a lease this early] makes sense if you're very close to the Tufts campus." He added that with so many students graduating each year, landlords might prefer to line up tenants as early as possible, even if most leases for houses around campus do not begin until June 1. One fear among students looking for an ideal off-campus apartment is that if they don't sign a lease sooner rather than later, someone else will. Sophomore Jonathan Hendrickson is one of the individuals who rented an off-campus house early in order to secure an ideal location. Hendrickson and friends put down a deposit for a 10-person house on College Avenue last week. "It was less of a decision of, ‘We want to know where we're living now,' as it was, ‘Houses start disappearing if we don't do it now,'" Hendrickson said. "[The landlord] informed me that there were people that were going to take the house later in the afternoon if we didn't take it," said sophomore Ian Donovan, a friend of Hendrickson. This is a common problem, according to the Boston Rental exchange Web site. "There is always a limited supply of quality housing available. What that means to you is that you do not have the luxury of ‘shopping around.' If you like something, TAKE IT," the site advises. However, students that have gone so far as to put a deposit on a house seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. Sophomore Rebecca Wang is one of those who have just begun their housing search. "We were looking at the links on TuftsLife.com and Craigslist.org, but we haven't got that far yet," Wang said. Other students who are planning on studying abroad, such as sophomore Tim Lesinski, are also more likely to wait to decide on housing. Lesinski is planning on participating in the Tufts-in-Washington program in the spring of 2011 and is letting his current roommate do most of the house searching. Lesinski plans to sublet, which he said seems simpler. "You don't have to sign a lease or anything," he said. "You can sign a lot later because I know that if I were to sign a lease, it would have to be this month, and if I sublet, I can sort of make a commitment, but I don't have to get any money together or anything for a while." Lesinski added that he would rather sublet than take his chances with the housing lottery. "I'm sort of being steered by my parents to live on campus, but I'm going to try and fight back and live off campus, because I don't want to get stuck in a single in a bad dorm," Lesinski said. One thing is for certain: The Boston-area rental market can be expensive. According to a 2008 report by Forbes, Boston is the nation's third most expensive rental market, behind only New York City and San Francisco. King said that in order to avoid paying more than they should, studentsshould check the prices of similar housing in the area and attempt to negotiate their rent. ResLife strives to make the house-hunting process as easy as possible, according to King. She recommended the Off-Campus Housing Resource Center Web site (ase.tufts.edu/och). The site contains a house listing blog, sample leases, common questions and a list of things that students should investigate, such as the presence of smoke detectors and the cost of utilities. King also stressed that students should consult their parents throughout the housing search. In order to aid students who are not sure if their housing lottery numbers are good enough to live on campus, the ResLife office will send out a survey to rising seniors this month asking if they plan to seek on-campus housing for next year. Although the responses are not binding, they will give a rough idea of which students have good enough lottery numbers to live on campus. To help students in the search for off-campus apartments, the Sophomore Class Council will host an Off-Campus Housing Information Session on Monday, Nov. 9. According to Dan Halpert, the vice president of Academic Programming for the Sophomore Class Council, the event is being held because of the success of an on-campus housing information session the then-Freshman Class Council held at this time last year. The event will feature a presentation by King as well as a panel of students currently living off campus who will talk about their neighborhoods and give out landlord information. Even though some have already largely finished their housing search, Halpert believes the event can still be a valuable one. "While some sophomores have signed leases for next year, there is still an overwhelming majority of people who haven't even started the process," Halpert said in an e-mail. "Regardless of whether or not you've looked at houses yet, this event is very useful since it gives you a very detailed overview of the entire process, which seems daunting at first. We think it's going to be a very helpful program for the Class of 2012."
Think that all it takes to graduate is 34 credits? Think again.
During the power outage of parents' weekend, while many Tufts students scrambled to find flashlights, the students in the Tufts chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) had other concerns. Tufts was supposed to host the Regional portion of the annual ACM Intercollegiate computer programming contest on Oct. 18, but due to the blackout, there were no working computers.
The Education Committee of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is looking to create a Web site to facilitate the advising process and create a resource that students can use to learn more about prospective faculty advisors.
Not all members of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate have the same rights, and some senators are trying to change that.
Two trustee representatives on the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate have traded committees with each other.
Tufts students and faculty gathered yesterday morning at the campus center's lower patio to celebrate Black Solidarity Day, an annual day of reflection that aims to unite the African American community around a set of goals.
A crowd of political science enthusiasts, including students, faculty and alumni, gathered outside Packard Hall Friday evening to witness its official re-opening as the new headquarters of the Department of Political Science.
Before high-rises and Citgo signs peppered Boston's skyline, Prospect Hill offered an unparalleled view of the city. Though Prospect Hill's importance has dimmed in recent years, it now overlooks another bustling urban area: Union Square.
Many people hear about so many worthy causes that it can become difficult to choose one to contribute to at all. Tufts junior Sally Sharrow isn't one of these people, though, as she decided to commit her time and her legpower to help curb the effects of global warming. This past summer, Sharrow biked around the state of Massachusetts campaigning for clean electricity to prevent climate change. Having already worked with Massachusetts Power Shift on campus, Sharrow wanted to continue spreading the word about the importance of sustainable energy. She also desired a non-traditional summer experience that wouldn't require her to sit passively at a desk. The opportunity presented itself through Power Shift, a student-focused organization that is dedicated to fighting climate change with the emerging Massachusetts Climate Summer program. Even though Sharrow was not an experienced bicyclist, she knew that she wanted to make the leap when she heard about the program. "I had never really biked before, so that was a little intimidating," Sharrow said. "I went into it not knowing what it was going to be like, but I knew it was going to be an adventure." For two months, Sharrow played the role of team leader to 20 students who biked from western Massachusetts to Cambridge and then around the North Shore, through Winthrop, Arlington and Malden. The group moved every four to five days, biking around 10 to 15 miles on those days. Members were accommodated in churches most nights, facilitated by a partnership between Power Shift and the Massachusetts Council of Churches. All in all, Sharrow's group biked about 600 miles over those two months. Every day, members would go door to door canvassing for clean electricity. They tried to engage people in the conversation about climate change and asked them to sign a petition to achieve 100 percent clean electricity within the next 10 years in Massachusetts. Members also recruited participants for the International Day of Climate Action, which took place last Saturday on campuses with great success. "We were really just trying to gauge interest. If they seemed interested, we tried to get them to take another step," Sharrow said. She admitted that she faced her share of difficulties over the summer, especially when talking to people with rather "unique" theories, like one person who wanted global warming to occur so Greenland could be colonized. But Sharrow said there were positive experiences as well. "For all of the bad days though, you would have one really good day where everyone would be happy to talk to you and excited about what you were doing," Sharrow said. "We did get to meet a lot of cool people." Jay O'Hara, Sharrow's coordinator for this summer, said that the plan was somewhat imprecise because this was the first time they had organized a canvassing program for college students over the entire state. He lauded Sharrow's abilities as a team leader, despite the difficulties such a role inevitably brought on. "The most important thing was that the team leader's role was to facilitate the group and not to have all the answers or to boss people around," O'Hara said. "She had to deal with some characters, but she handled that with aplomb and brought a team together who did some good work." Both Sharrow and O'Hara agreed that the summer was a success, with about 5,000 people signing the petition and dozens of workshops being held in 43 towns across the state. "We emerged from this summer with an energized, educated and passionate group of community organizers who are [now] able to go out onto campuses and create a good example," O'Hara said. Sharrow has since become the Boston community outreach coordinator for Power Shift's Leadership Campaign, the college campus constituency in which Sharrow and others hope to bring students in on the movement for clean electricity. She spoke about a current campaign for students to sleep outside until December, when the International Climate Treaty negotiations will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Students are also invited to lobby with Sharrow and others every Monday until then at the State House. Power Shift is a cause that Sharrow has devoted herself to not simply because she is an environmental studies major but also because she thinks the dangers are much closer and much more severe than most people realize. "Predictions are getting so much worse than they have been in the past. This is a huge problem that will hurt so many people and could cause many people to be displaced from their homes," Sharrow said. She also seemed to believe that the majority of the responsibility lies on people to pressure the politicians into taking legal action and passing the bill. "It's this huge problem that nobody seems to be doing anything about," Sharrow added. "Politicians need to think we can change the way we live." Sharrow is doing everything possible in order to get Tufts students interested and active. She described the sleeping outside campaign as something that anyone can do, even for just one night, if interested. Her experiences this summer helped her to develop an even stronger commitment to the organization for the school year, Sharrow said. "Not only did it increase my sense of urgency about the issue, but this summer also increased my sense of community of people who are working to solve the problem," Sharrow said. "It was really empowering to be with people who felt as strongly as [I did]."
When I was younger, my mom would insist that I help her cook dinner. She still does. During my most rebellious phase, I asked her, "Why do I have to learn how to cook chicken for the thousandth time?" "Because, Griff," she replied coolly, "girls like a man who can cook." Consequently, food is very important to me. It seems as though every time I enter my house, I'm punched in the face by a wall of hypnotic smells. It could be from the downstairs girls, who cook different ethnic foods nightly, or it could be from my apartment upstairs, where some housemates experiment with fresh produce and spices to create something resembling eggplant parmesan. I hate to feed stereotypes, but sometimes they just happen to be true. It's humbling, exciting and even a little frustrating that my female housemates are excellent homemakers. And I admire the maturity that comes along with making a great meal. I'm not saying that I think, even for a second, that all girls are master chefs. But I happen to live with a few talented, generous people. And I hope I can steal a few of their secrets. Last week, my kitchen, although not terribly clean, was heavenly. My housemate volunteered to bake hundreds of different types of cookies for her student group. There were doughy bowls on every countertop and sticky wooden spoons and spatulas lining the stove. But I couldn't be mad about the mess. My housemate had worked her butt off to make every type of cookie known to man. She tried an oatmeal, cranberry and white chocolate recipe which sent me into a tizzy. The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were particularly popular. And when I asked her where she got these recipes, she replied rather nonchalantly, "Oh, these are just a few of my own." Other girls in the house will buy special ingredients and find ways to incorporate them into dishes. And maybe I'm not a very picky eater, but they all turn out splendidly. How do these girls know how to cook so well? The most complicated thing I've made this year has been a quesadilla — basically just bread and cheese. And these girls are acting like contestants on a competitive cooking show, trying to improve on old favorites and impress the judges. The best part is I'm the only judge. No offense, Mom, but it seems as though girls like a man who can eat their delicious food. My mom knows how to cook. My eight housemates know how to cook. Most of my other girl friends outside of the house regularly bake seasonal pies and succulent frittatas. And my guy friends are mostly clueless. I remember one late night where my guy friends had a competition to figure out who made the best bananas foster. There were flames and melted butter and half-reduced pots of gritty caramel and smoking pans. And the result was a gooey mess. I still ate it, of course. I have one guy friend who insists on following all of Betty Crocker's instructions. Baking is a science, after all. But look at my adventurous housemate, who took every sweet ingredient she could think of and created hundreds of tasty treats without instructions. Even though my mom trained me well — I can fry a mean over-easy egg — I'm still overly cautious when I cook. And when I do cook, it's something simple and childish. Most of my housemates agree: Cooking makes them feel grown-up. They like the feeling of providing themselves with something delicious and homemade. Us guys just need to grow up and start taking care of ourselves. Or maybe it's just me.
Opting to forego the traditional route of traveling across the country or the world on a sabbatical, Professor of Computer Science Carla Brodley took a significantly shorter trip during her time off from regular teaching duties — she headed just across the Charles River, to Tufts' Boston campus. After meeting with professionals at the School of Medicine a couple years ago, Brodley envisioned her skills in computer science playing a valuable role in furthering the doctors' research. An upcoming sabbatical, typically taken every seven years by many Tufts faculty members, presented her with a chance to put those ideas into practice. Brodley's self-titled "interdisciplinary sabbatical" kept her within the university, and this practice of staying close to home is gaining supporters. Already a petri dish for interdisciplinary collaboration, the university is extending its multidisciplinary opportunities to sabbaticals so that professors can team up with Tufts colleagues from completely different fields of study and establish extensive research cooperation. Faculty members on sabbatical typically spend a semester or two at another university or in a research center unaffiliated with Tufts. Under this new approach, a faculty member would collaborate with Tufts experts from other disciplines only a few miles — or across the Academic Quad — from the comfort of his or her office. Brodley said her idea to partner with the medical school received enthusiastic approval from the head of her department and from Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha. Bharucha called the sabbatical a successful stepping-stone to increasing productive interactions among faculty. "I place a lot of value on the collaboration across the schools at Tufts," Bharucha said, adding that it has great potential to spark new research. Brodley's interdisciplinary sabbatical "was a pilot that worked extremely well," he said. "I would consider supporting another faculty member if another came along," he added. Not all research concentrations equally benefit from the interdisciplinary sabbatical that the provost envisions. Brodley spent the 2008-2009 academic year exploring how machine-learning could be applied to automate a process that screens thousands of scholarly article abstracts for medical research purposes, she said. Taking this kind of sabbatical "requires wanting to collaborate, but also having interests that make sense to collaborate," Bharucha said. Though Brodley remains the only faculty member to have taken an interdisciplinary sabbatical at Tufts thus far, many professors around the university are interested in following her lead. Eric Miller, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, is four years away from eligibility for a sabbatical and said that an in-house break could be "a viable, enriching experience." A year off from teaching offers an opportunity to immerse oneself in a completely unfamiliar field of study, and faculty generally travel far from their usual environment, said Miller, who is already collaborating with the medical school. At Tufts, he said, one need not walk far to travel light-years away in a scholarly sense. "It's important to be as close to the data as possible, to be where the problems are," he said. Brodley credited the ongoing success of her sabbatical project to working on site directly with her collaborators at the medical school and physically close to where research is conducted; she still travels to the medical school for the project once a week. Professor of Biomedical Engineering Sergio Fantini called interdisciplinary sabbaticals "a fantastic idea" because they allow a professor to dedicate more time to research or gaining expertise in an area related to his or her existing multidisciplinary research. Fantini said that faculty can profit more from interdisciplinary projects by taking an active role in understanding the work of their research partners. "It is much more effective if you have a better understanding of what others are doing, and [that] would make collaboration more efficient to investigate new avenues of research on your own," Fantini said. Outside of sabbaticals, interdisciplinary collaboration already occurs at Tufts on a daily basis. "I am always doing interdisciplinary work — that is my everyday life," Professor of Child Development Marina Bers said. While many faculty members already work across disciplines, a sabbatical would allow researchers the chance to get to know collaborators from other academic fields, Bers said. "There is a lot of talk about multidisciplinary research as part of the Tufts experience," Miller said. "It's a small, collegial university where it's easy to talk to people, a place where crossing borders to do research is easy to do." Just sitting and talking with a faculty member from a different discipline could result in "serendipity," or the sparking of a new collaborative idea previously unimaginable, Miller added. "You are stretched to think about things you wouldn't normally think about," Brodley said.
