You've probably seen the "wrench/gun" images that were plastered all over campus starting Thursday night. They depict a white hand holding a wrench juxtaposed with a black hand holding the same wrench. The word "wrench" is printed below the white hand, and the word "gun" is printed below the black hand.
On Thursday, I was getting some last−minute homework done in my dorm room when I saw that an e−mail had arrived. "Safety Alert: suspicious person reported with a handgun" was the subject line. Thinking that was kind of a scary thing on a college campus, I opened it immediately, only to learn that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) had received a report about a man with a gun and that a TUPD search turned up nothing. I figured it wasn't so bad, and I went back to my homework.
Students on Thursday afternoon became aware of a false alarm when a person reported seeing an African-American man carrying a gun that turned out to be a ratchet wrench. Following the incident, a group of students put up posters across campus suggesting that racial discrimination had led to the false alert.
In a spectacle of bold defiance, WikiLeaks has begun publishing yet another groundbreaking series of secret documents. On Sunday, Nov. 28, the website dedicated to global transparency began publishing over 250,000 U.S. embassy cables. Though the cables will give people around the world an unprecedented look into the inner workings of U.S. foreign policy, there has been international backlash against their publication.
Director of Intramural Sports Cheryl Milligan on Monday announced that the Athletics Department has cancelled the winter intramural sports season due to space considerations and other concerns. Intramural sports will resume in March at the earliest, while relatively unorganized "open gym" sessions will fill the void until that time.
Over the last month, there have been no fewer than six op−ed articles and letters to the editor dealing in some way with the Israeli−Palestinian conflict, and as public editor, I felt it appropriate to voice my concern about the discourse.
Last week, communities across Boston and New England were introduced to a new concept for the day after Thanksgiving. Presenting an alternative to the big box retail-driven "Black Friday," locally owned and independent businesses joined 14 local business networks, including Somerville Local First (SLF), in promoting Plaid Friday on Nov. 26.
The HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix have received their fair share of controversy since their approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and 2009, respectively. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now discussing whether or not the vaccine should be used by boys in addition to girls.
If all goes according to plan, on Friday, Dec. 3, over 40 student groups, vendors and local nongovernmental organizations will gather in the Mayer Campus Center for the second annual OneWorld Global Crafts Bazaar. They will sell fairly traded goods made by artisans from all over the developing world, educate the community about issues facing various impoverished communities, and promote innovative and sustainable solutions to poverty and ways for students to get involved.
The search is over. Tufts announced yesterday that Anthony Monaco, pro-vice-chancellor for planning and resources at the University of Oxford, will replace beloved University President Lawrence Bacow next summer. Monaco's noteworthy accomplishments as a teacher, pioneering geneticist and biomedical researcher make him a highly qualified presidential pick.
WikiLeaks began on Sunday the process of releasing a cache of over a quarter-million U.S. diplomatic cables to the public. In anticipation of the leak, the U.S. Department of State warned foreign governments of the impending release, and world leaders braced for an embarrassing diplomatic fallout.
In an interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, Pope Benedict XVI conceded that the use of condoms could in rare cases be acceptable to the Roman Catholic Church. In his comments, which appear in Seewald's book, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," released last Tuesday, the pope specified that the use of condoms by male prostitutes could, in his opinion, be justified in an effort to prevent the spread of HIV.
Our recent commemoration of American veterans both past and present should be a reminder to all of us that the lull in the fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq does not mean that our involvement is coming to an end. The war situation in both places is far from over for the simple reason that we still hear and read about casualties among Afghani and Iraqi civilians and military personnel, as well as among U.S. and coalition forces. My intention in bringing this up at a time when we are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season is to keep us focused on matters of national security instead of sliding back into disengagement, apathy and complacency.
On Nov. 16, the Daily featured a profile of Matthis Chiroux, a veteran of the U.S. Army who served for five years and is now a student at Brooklyn University and an anti−war activist. This article was presented to the Tufts community as part of a feature on veterans past and present, and Mr. Chiroux was portrayed as a typical modern−day veteran unique only for his outspoken objection to our current wars. In fact, Matthis Chiroux is anything but representative of the U.S. Armed Forces; he does not speak and act on my behalf, nor does he represent the vast majority of my brothers and sisters in the services. While he purports to speak for a plurality of veterans, in both word and deed he demonstrates that he speaks only for himself — and the screed he pushes is highly inflammatory and suspect.
The implementation of full-body scanners and enhanced pat-down procedures in airports across the country has stirred up a storm of controversy in the past few weeks. Many Jumbos traveling through Logan Airport to return home for the Thanksgiving break will likely find themselves at the forefront of this debate, since full-body scanners were installed in Logan in March as part of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) plan to deploy 1,000 of the scanners — each costing around $150,000 — to U.S. airports by the end of next year.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate conducts a student body-wide survey each semester to ascertain the level of support for the Senate's initiatives and proposed projects. In this semester's survey, e-mailed to students on Wednesday, students were asked questions in order for the Senate to gauge student support on topics ranging from the creation of an Africana studies department to the new sexual assault policy and the possibility of creating a communal kitchen.
What would you do if you lived each day with the threat of deportation on your mind? Thousands of teenagers in this country must live like this, despite growing up here and knowing no other country. Even though they are American in every other way, this population must live and work with no legal status to protect them from this threat. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act aims to mitigate this very pressing problem.
British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke on Monday announced that the government will compensate 16 British citizens and residents who were interned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including six men who filed lawsuits against the British government. Clarke stressed that the settlements, which will result in substantial payments, should "not be taken as any admission of liability." Instead, resolving these lawsuits against the British government could pave the way for an independent investigation into torture allegations.
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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