News

News

Easing of COVID-19 restrictions at Tisch Library allows for increased capacity, extended hours

By Evelyn Altschuler | October 6

Tisch Library introduced a series of changes at the beginning of the fall semester in response to the COVID-19 situation on campus. With vaccination rates high, the library no longer requires individual seat reservations and social distancing. Additionally, the library is open to vaccinated community members and has extended its operating hours. 

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News

Tufts Hong Kong Student Association considers restructuring amid concerns of exclusivity

By Flora Meng | October 5

The Tufts Hong Kong Student Association (HKSA) has traditionally been a student organization with a rigorous application process, but some suggest that culture clubs should be open to anyone in the Tufts community.

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Clingan, Mbah drop threats, Tufts lodging permits pass

By Yiyun Tom Guan | October 5

Despite threats from city councilors, the lodging license renewal for 31 Tufts University properties in Somerville passed Somerville City Council’s Licenses and Permits Committee unanimously.

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News

Diane Hessan talks the American electorate, political polarization

By Amelia Colafati | October 5

Diane Hessan (J’76), entrepreneur, researcher and author of “Our Common Ground”spoke over Zoom on Sept. 28 to the Tufts community about her work researching the true face of the American electorate. Sol Gittleman, the Alice and Nathan Gantcher university professor emeritus and Brighter World Campaign co-chair, led the discussion.

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News

Confusion surrounds COVID-19 isolation, contact tracing policies as delta variant spreads

By Peri Barest and Chloe Courtney Bohl | October 4

As the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to spread through Tufts University’s campuses in the form of breakthrough infections, the university has clarified its quarantine, isolation and contact-tracing protocols. Notably, close contacts of COVID-19-positive individuals no longer need to quarantine and the university has reduced capacityto house students in isolation. 

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News

Advice from former students guides Introduction to Psychology pedagogy this fall

By Emily Thompson | October 4

Professors Lisa Shin and Sam Sommers are once again co-teaching Introduction to Psychology this semester. This year, they have added a twist to their standard lecture on the psychology of student life, integrating advice from former PSY 1 students to apply psychology concepts to the everyday experiences faced by new Tufts students. 

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News

Tufts University School of Medicine opens new doctor of physical therapy program in Phoenix

By Fernando Cervantes Jr. | October 1

Tufts University School of Medicineannounced on Sept. 15 the opening of the new Tufts doctor of physical therapy program based in Phoenix, Ariz., with plans to enroll an inaugural class in the summer of 2022. 

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News

Tufts rises 2 spots on U.S. News & World Report rankings

By Ella Kamm | October 1

Disclaimer: Hana Tzou is an assistant copy editor at The Tufts Daily. Hana was not involved in the writing or editing of this article. 

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News

Kyongbum Lee named dean of School of Engineering

By Ria Agarwal | October 1

Professor Kyongbum Lee was named Karol Family professor and dean ad interim of the School of Engineering on Aug. 3. He replaced Jianmin Qu, who left Tufts to become provost and vice president for academic affairs at Stevens Institute of Technology at the end of the same month.

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News

BREAKING: ECOM announces TCU election results

By Alexander Janoff | September 30

The Tufts Community Union Elections Commission held a Tufts Community Union-wide election on Tuesday and Wednesday, filling vacant seats in the Committee on Student Life, TCU Judiciary and TCU Senate. 

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Greek life returns to in-person events, Zeta Psi disbanded after COVID-19 violations

By Rebecca Barker | September 30

Greek life is back to in-person activities for the first time since the spring 2020 semester. This fall, new local sororities Thalia and The Ivy are holding their first in-person events for their Membership Application Processes (MAP). However, Delta Tau Delta (DTD) has been placed on probation and Zeta Psi was disbanded by the university after both fraternities violated Tufts University COVID-19 guidelines last year.

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Science

Highly processed foods make up 67% of youth diets, Friedman study finds

By Peri Barest | September 30

As smartphones, online shopping and cryptocurrency have become more prevalent in the past 20 years, so too have ultraprocessed foods, which make up the majority of youth diets. The percentage of child and adolescent diets composed of ultraprocessed foods — those made with refined ingredients and additives — hasincreased from 61% to 67% in the past 20 years, according to a recent Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings may have implications for combating the development of ultraprocessed food-related disease in adulthood.

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News

Facilities Services in high demand as pests plague student housing

By Madeline Mueller | September 29

The start of the semester marks the return of students, professors and staff alike to campus, which means the facilities department is inevitably in high demand. This year, among other issues, students are facing pests in their dormitories.

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Athletics Department upholds firm COVID-19 protocols

By Jack Adgate | September 29

Prior to a Friday, Sept. 17 volleyball game between Tufts and Connecticut College, a Connecticut player tested positive for COVID-19. No Tufts athletes tested positive after the game.

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News

With Vouté Courts still unusable, Tufts varsity tennis teams continue use of South Courts

By Skyler Goldberg | September 29

The Vouté Tennis Courts on Professors Row remain unusable due to the modular housing units installed on top of the courts in 2020. This has caused Tufts’ varsity tennis teams to hold practices and games on the South Courts by Harleston Hall, as they did last year.

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News

Tisch College to launch new interfaith civic studies track within civic studies major

By Yiyun Tom Guan | September 28

A grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF) will fund the creation of a new track in the civic studies major, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, that focuses on the intersection of religion and civic engagement.

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Anthony Cruz Pantojas hired as new Tufts Humanist chaplain

By Bo Johnson | September 28

Anthony Cruz Pantojas was recently hired as Tufts University’s new Humanist chaplain, one of the many faiths represented as part of the Tufts University Chaplaincy. A graduate of the Andover Newton Theological School, their hiring followed an exhaustive nationwide search process taking into account the needs of Humanist students and other members of the Tufts Humanist community.

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News

TCU Senate elects additional trustee representative

By Alexander Janoff | September 28

The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed its upcoming retreat and interviewed an additional trustee representative applicant during its meeting on Sunday.

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News

Mass. renters struggle to receive rental assistance, face evictions as national eviction moratorium ends

By Jack Hirsch | September 24

In response to the Supreme Court’s blocking President Joe Biden's order to extend the national eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some local municipalities, including the cities ofSomerville andBoston, have instituted and extended their own local eviction moratoriums. Others, including the city of Medford, have let the protections become void. 

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Medford, Somerville, Boston reinstate indoor mask mandates

By Aditya Acharya | September 24

Local mask mandates for public indoor areas were reinstated on Aug. 20 in Somerville, Aug. 27 in Boston and Sept. 10 in Medford. The reinstatement of these mandates follows a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts counties, largely due to the Delta variant.

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