In the weeks before returning to Tufts, the town neighboring my rural Illinois hometown became swarmed with commotion. As the home of a university with nearly 25,000 kids, I've grown up accustomed to the chaos accompanying the return of college students mid-August: sudden lines at Target, the abrupt influx of North Face-clad youth carrying MacBooks and our own meager version of "traffic."
After serving four years in prison for allegedly murdering her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy in 2007, American Amanda Knox was acquitted yesterday by an Italian court. Her ex-boyfriend and co-defendant, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, was also acquitted. The pair was convicted in 2009 with questionable evidence and prosecutorial claims that Kercher was killed during a satanic sex ritual.
This past week, hundreds of Occupy Boston protesters have been gathering in the financial district of Boston. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protesters, they are people who think this country is in need of some serious changes.
I felt a great deal of dismay as I read David Eder'sop-ed, "In defense of the state of Georgia," published on Wednesday in the Daily. I'm certainly not naive enough to think that all Tufts students share the progressive political outlook often ascribed to our university. And diverse points of view are essential to encouraging robust discourse on campus. I was very surprised, however, to see such a piece written by a peer, and I felt the need to respond.
It's been a busy week of reform for King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's octogenarian and progressive monarch. Over the past few days alone, he has granted Saudi women the right to vote and stand for office in municipal elections, and overturned a sentence of 10 lashes handed down to an activist who defied a female driving ban.
Red Sox fans, I feel your pain. I know what it's like to see your team hit cruise control with a month left to play and forfeit a seemingly insurmountable lead. I know what it's like to watch your entire season slip away like a feather in the breeze. And I know what it's like to lose it all on the final game of the season. Yet, don't feel too miserable, because only I know what it's like to see that same fate become my team two years in a row.
This past week, hundreds of Occupy Boston protesters have been gathering in the financial district of Boston. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protesters, they are people who think this country is in need of some serious changes.
The administration, by virtue of its position and its concern for this institution as a whole, will always prioritize its interests over those of the student body. I describe the administration's behavior not to demonize administrators, and I honestly believe those in power act in what they consider the best interest of the university in its entirety. This perspective, however, often seems to prioritize concerns of publicity and finance and minimize student concerns. If the administration is to maintain its benign neglect of student concerns, we must be more proactive in changing their minds. Lacking any formal power to do so, we must affect change by adopting strategies that will put student concerns in the vested interest of the administration. Our past tactics have amounted to glorified pleading, and we must now learn how to bargain.
Rick Perry doesn't believe in man-made global warming, and he thinks the federal government should play no part in protecting the environment against it. So how does he reconcile his own beliefs with the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that global warming is real?
The recent announcement that the Green Line Extension Project has been postponed yet again is a major setback in the effort to begin construction and a disappointment for Tufts and the surrounding communities of Medford and Somerville. The project, which was originally slated to be completed by the end of 2014, suffered yet another delay last month, and it is now projected to be finished sometime between 2018 and 2020.
I am just going to come out and say what many are afraid to: There are people in this world who deserve to die. Now, this is an extremely uncomfortable thought for the vast majority of people, and I hope it always remains that way. However, when a man kills for no reason other than to simply kill, when a man shoots a police officer who was rushing to protect the defenseless, that man deserves to die. The adamant outrage at the execution of Troy Davis is somewhat shocking to me. From what I have heard and read, those in opposition to the execution oppose it for two reasons. First, many are against the death penalty completely, and if they are not, then they do not believe there was enough evidence to sentence Davis to death. But as I review the known facts of this case, there can be no doubt in my mind that Davis is one of those men so evil that he deserves nothing less than death.
I've only been at Tufts for a few weeks and I have already met some of the most interesting people I've ever known. In my discussions with these people, the topic of music inevitably comes up: a topic near and dear to my heart. I've had discussions about musical topics as wide−ranging as dubstep mixing techniques, to the live performances of Irish folk−rock artists. I'm even taking an anthropology class that deals with Latino music. It is obvious to me that Tufts is a place where most people love music. However, I have encountered a shocking lack of individuals who share my passion for classical music.
Those picking up Friday's issue of the Daily in the dining halls may have noticed opinion pieces printed on standard printer paper and inserted into the Daily. The Daily had no prior knowledge of these pieces before they were brought to our attention.
On Sept. 14, 2011, Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger−Sweeney sent an announcement to the Tufts student community regarding multiple new initiatives focused on diversity and inclusion. Among these initiatives was the proposal for the creation of a new academic program. From her announcement, it seemed that this proposal stemmed from the task force on Africana Studies that convened throughout last spring.
Do you know the feeling of anticipation? The anxiety before taking a big test, standing up and giving a big presentation, or walking into an interview? The stomach−lurching feeling just before that moment, the sense of being at the height of a roller coaster, wondering why you got on the ride? Can you imagine having a terrifying appointment at 7:00 p.m. tonight, and checking your watch to find that it's 6:25 p.m.? Maybe you pace nervously. Maybe you rehearse what you are going to say, what you need to do. What if you knew that, in just a couple of minutes, you had to take a deep breath, ignore the quickening pounding in your chest and tell yourself, "I got this." Then you had to walk into a room, sit down, take a needle in the arm and die. Forever.
I returned home to Malaysia in early July to find a mix of fear and excitement hanging in the air. A widespread protest for electoral reform was scheduled to take place on July 9, energizing those agitating for political change and worrying others expecting government repression. A week later, thousands of peaceful demonstrators in the so−calledBersih 2.0 rally were doused with water cannons and fired with tear gas by the Malaysian police, and over 1,000 were arrested. Another brave attempt by Malaysian citizens to assert their freedom had been forcibly forestalled by their fearful government.
Op-ed submissions are an integral part of our connection with you, our readers. As such, we would like to clarify our guidelines for submitting op-eds and what you can expect from the process.
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