Josh Litvak is an assistant news editor at the Daily. He is a first-year planning to study political science and can be reached at joshua.litvak@tufts.edu.
The City of Somerville hosted a community design workshop Monday evening at East Somerville Community School to discuss sustainability considerations for a proposed new school building at 115 Sycamore Street.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on March 5 that 53 medical schools, including the Tufts University School of Medicine, had signed on to Kennedy’s federal nutrition training initiative.
After 25 years leading the Somerville Arts Council, Executive Director Greg Jenkins was fired by Mayor Jake Wilson’s administration in February. The leadership change comes as part of Wilson’s government restructuring at the start of his mayoral term, but it has rattled the city’s arts community and prompted public responses from Wilson, the Arts Council board and local elected officials.
Two Medford residents have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down the city’s newly enacted Values-Aligned Local Investments Ordinance, which requires the city to divest public funds from companies involved in weapons manufacturing, fossil fuels, private prisons and entities accused of human rights violations. The lawsuit sets up a legal and political battle over the limits of municipal authority and the role of local government in international affairs.
Tufts is piloting a new initiative this spring break designed to bridge the gap between undergraduate education and professional careers. The Jumbo Undergraduate Mission for Personal Insight and Navigation program, spearheaded by Elise LaMotte, associate provost for student success, will offer approximately 100 first-year students hands-on experience across four different academic tracks, connecting them directly with the university’s graduate and professional schools.
Tufts administrators are evaluating a potential overhaul of the university’s heating and cooling systems as part of a broader plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The proposal under consideration involves adopting ground-source heat pumps, an all-electric technology that administrators say could significantly reduce emissions while lowering long-term energy costs.
The Office of Residential Life & Learning ended its use of professional cleaning services in on-campus apartments and woodframe houses over the summer, requiring students and theme house managers to clean the residences themselves. The change, which was announced to students living in these houses in an August email, has led some students and faculty advisors to raise concerns about the burden on residents.
On Sept. 19, Somerville residents voted to deny incumbent Mayor Katjana Ballantyne another chance to hold onto the city’s top executive position, signaling widespread disapproval of her four-year tenure.
