Liberal arts undergrads may choose things like French or Arabic to fulfill their language requirements, but all students should have a dictionary to help them navigate the unique language of Tufts. Here are the ABC's of living and learning on the Hill that you'll need to know to get by:
Active citizenship: Defined by the Tisch College as "building stronger, healthier, and safer communities." Used as a broad term across campus to describe everything from voting to using the recycling bins.
Bacow, Lawrence: Tufts' university president until he retired last year to make way for our new University President Anthony Monaco. Campus icon, husband to Adele and homeboy to any student who bought the t-shirt that said so.
Bias Incident: Term popularized by the "bias incident" of April 9, 2009, in which a student shouted racial slurs at members of the Korean Students Association, got into a fight and was then suspended. 2. n. Derivative of above definition. Blanket term for any offensive incident.
Bikes: As in Tufts Bikes, the bike share organization started last year to bring you the two-wheeled beauties stationed outside of Tisch. Generally reliable, they can be checked out of the library like a book and used to get anywhere from your dorm to Davis Square.
Brown and blue: Our school colors make for some of the most attractive — or ugly, depending on how you look at them — athletic uniforms in the country. Wear them proudly.
DARS: Degree Audit Reporting System. Tracks your progress toward degree completion and tells you how many more econ classes you need until you can call yourself an IR major, for example.
Gifford House: Most coveted real estate on campus, home to President Monaco, his wife Zoia, their sons and possibly a pet or two.
Green Line extension: A plan to offset the environmental effects of the Big Dig by extending the T's green line to include a stop on the Tufts campus. At one point planned for completion in 2015, it has now been delayed until sometime between 2018 to 2020. Either way, it's now completely irrelevant to you and at least the next three classes to matriculate after you.
Joey: The shuttle bus between Tufts and Davis Square. The JoeyTracker in the Mayer Campus Center will tell you when it's coming, or you can text findjoey to 41411, but you're best off memorizing the schedule and getting there 5 minutes early.
Monaco, Anthony: Tufts' new university president and former University of Oxford professor. Say, hi, as he's just as new to Tufts as you are.
NQR: No longer officially sanctioned by the university for safety reasons as of this year. Officially, the Nighttime Quad Reception. Really, the Naked Quad Run, an age-old tradition in which the undergrad student body would drink itself silly and streak the Res Quad in December. See: WinterFest.
Pro Row: Slang for Professors Row and home to most Greek houses. The place to be on a weekend night if you're looking for some debauchery.
Quaffle: One of four balls used in the fictional game of Quidditch. Tufts has its own nationally ranked Quidditch team, the Tufflepuffs. Don't make fun of the players; those broomsticks can hurt.
R25: The system for reserving space in an academic building for a club meeting or pizza party. Found online at webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu.
Rape steps: The stairs behind Carmichael Hall that lead to the corner of Capen St. According to legend, built to be the length of a woman's stride so as to help her escape from rapists to the shelter of campus.
Res Quad: Housing quad next to the academic quad. Once home to a reservoir. Now home to guitar players and spontaneous sports games.
ResLife: short for the Office of Residential Life and Learning. They're in charge of dealing with room switches and assignments. Find them on the first floor of South Hall.
RA: The sophomore, junior or senior whose job it is live with you in your dorm, help you adjust to college, keep you out of trouble and provide you with snacks.
SIS: Found at https://aseonline.tufts.edu, Tufts' Student Information System is your stop to register for classes, check your grades and file transcript requests, among other things. Unavailable at strange times of the day and night for inexplicable reasons and much more aggravating than it needs to be. Soon to be replaced, or so we're told.
Stir-fry night: A twice-weekly occurrence in Carmichael Dining Hall, it might not be fine cuisine, but peanut sauce is worth the — often lengthy — wait.
Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate: The student government body that passes resolutions, allocates the Student Activity Fee and who knows what else. Hotbed of idealistic student politicians and self-proclaimed future U.S. presidents. Run for a seat, or pop in on one of their weekly meetings.
T: Boston's public transit system. Your ride to Harvard, Chinatown, Logan Airport and everywhere in between for $1.70 each way.
TDC: Tufts Dance Collective is open to everyone on campus regardless of dance experience, for better or for worse.
TEMS: Tufts Emergency Medical Services is made up of students trained to deal with everything from a broken wrist to your passed-out friend. As a verb, it means to call TEMS to assist an injured or dangerously intoxicated friend. As in "Don't TEMS me, bro!"
TUPD: Tufts University Police Department. Great for late-night rides uphill and coming to the rescue when you lock yourself out of your room, among other things.
Trick-turn: See: money saving article.
Trunk: Online academic resource for organizing assignments, viewing your grades etc. It's new this year, replacing the old Blackboard system.
WinterFest: The festival devised last spring as a replacement to NQR after the naked — er — Nighttime Quad Reception was nixed by Bacow.
WMFO: Tufts' freeform college radio station founded in 1970. Host a show or listen to your friends ramble on about the latest CAKE album during their 3 a.m. slot.
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Editor's Note: This article contains information used in previous Matriculation issues.
