Restaurants and stores that have opened recently in Davis Square have caused Tufts students to take note of the area's growth. But few people understand the evolution and the history of the Davis area as well as Lee Auspitz.
Students watching the Olympics in Beijing last summer may have been interested in more than sporting events. Although the Tufts language requirement has always stimulated high enrollment in language courses, current events seem to heavily impact which languages students choose to study. The past few years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of students enrolled in Chinese and Arabic, languages spoken in regions that have received high media coverage in recent years.
The news media have been abuzz for the past few weeks with articles, documentaries and other features about the unearthing of a very old set of bones. The bones belong to Ardipithecus ramidus or, as she is commonly referred to, "Ardi." Her remains are the earliest of any hominid ever discovered. This revelation has been most exciting to the anthropological and archaeological communities, giving them fresh insight into how humans have evolved. But to many scholars within these fields, Ardi is old news. "It isn't a new discovery," said Stephen Bailey, associate professor of anthropology at Tufts. "We've been getting bits of descriptions for a long time now. And people who work in the field pretty much knew most of what was going to happen." People knew what was going to happen because, despite the recent hype, Ardi herself was actually discovered almost 15 years ago in Ethiopia. But the researchers had reservations about heavily publicizing the story until further study had been conducted. And completing satisfactory research took a long time — 15 years, to be precise. "They wanted to do such a detailed study and have it all out there," said Lauren Sullivan, a lecturer in Tufts' anthropology and archaeology departments. "The initial findings were released in 1994, [and] they put out press releases, that kind of thing. In the Science Magazine that came out recently, there were [about] 50 different scientists looking at her and doing analysis, and it takes a while to get that done and turn it into a publication." Bailey cited an additional reason for the length of time between discovery and release of information. "The cleaning is excruciatingly painstaking," he said. "It may take a year to clean something like a femur," he said, referring to a particular bone in the leg. "[It is] very tedious work, and you can't rush it." But now that the scientific community has conducted the research to support Ardi's weighty discovery, she is changing some of the most widely held perceptions about how humans evolved. A prevailing theory within anthropology for years has been the idea that bipedalism, or walking on two legs, developed when early hominids moved from the forest to the savannah. The idea was that early humans were scavengers, so being able to move around and carry things at the same time was an evolutionary advantage — especially for males, who could carry the groceries back to their chosen mates. But Bailey explained that the discovery of Ardi has altered this view. "Ramidus takes us away from that model — from the savannah into the forest. Ramidus quite clearly lived in the forest. You also see the morphology — the curved phalanges, [and] a skeleton that is probably equally as adept at going up a tree fast as it is walking on the ground," he said. Ardi's sheer age is also a significant factor in her academic importance. "One of the big things is the fact that they have a detailed analysis of an ancestor that's a million years older than ‘Lucy,'" Sullivan said. Lucy, found in 1974, was the oldest and most complete skeleton of an early hominid until Ardi's discovery. "Lucy is 3.2 million years old. Ardi is 4.4 million years old. Up until now Lucy was the largest portion of an individual that they'd found. She had 45 percent of her skeleton. So, with Ardi, they are able to get information on an individual going back about a million years," Sullivan said. Fossils even older than Ardi have been found, but they are fragments, making it more difficult to get an accurate vision of how the species lived. With a lack of fossils to study, it has been common practice for anthropologists to use chimpanzees as models for how early human ancestors would have behaved. Since the discovery of Ardi, many researchers have been rethinking that approach. "Since Ardi, chimpanzees have evolved along their own track, and humans have evolved too. Scientists hadn't necessarily realized that modern apes have evolved a lot more than previously thought," Sullivan said. Bailey referred to studying modern chimpanzees for their similarity to common ancestors as dangerous, since chimpanzees are so specialized. "They're knuckle walkers, they live in an increasingly marginalized environment, they're in danger of extinction. It's not clear that their behavior even in the wild is anything like it would have been 6 million years ago," Bailey said. "A long time ago, there were so many more of them that they could have been the successful ones, and we were the weird, offshoot population." Studying Ardi has allowed paleontologists to make great headway in their understanding of why humans have evolved the way they have, but the discovery also adds insight to the archaeological record. Archaeology is often thought of as the study of ancient buildings and artifacts, but Ardi lived 2 million years before the earliest manmade tools in the archaeological record. "This is just another kind of [archaeological] site, and this provides information about our ancestors way before buildings and way before we had social inequality and pottery and all the stuff that comes with that, so it gives people on the street that are just reading about it another perspective of what life was like many, many years before you see Homo sapiens," Sullivan said. "Most of the sites that people think about when you think about temples or pyramids are associated with modern Homo sapiens. When you're looking at human evolution and early bipedalism, you're pushing the record back millions of years ago and bringing in other species," Sullivan added. In the case of Ardi, Bailey said looking at how she lived matters because of the place she holds in history. "The large majority of physical anthropologists and human paleontologists see Ramidus as a direct ancestor of ours. There's a minority opinion that all of that line goes its own interesting direction and at best are [our] cousins. But I would say that in general people feel that she's on the main line — she becomes us," Bailey said.
Tufts' religion and anthropology departments officially settled into their new homes in Eaton Hall yesterday, christening their offices with a celebration attended by professors, students and University President Lawrence Bacow. The departments will share the third floor in Eaton Hall, previously home to the political science department. Professors Kevin Dunn and David Guss, chairs of the religion and anthropology departments, respectively, expressed satisfaction with the new space and the opportunity to share the office. "This is not a ceremony for two different departments, but a celebration of sharing the land, sharing intellectual space," Dunn said. "It is a marriage made in heaven." The departments were previously housed at 126 Curtis Street, a location that is considerably removed from Tufts' main campus, Guss said. At their new Eaton Hall location, both centers have the capability to expand and become more active voices in the Tufts academic arena. Renovations to Eaton's third floor were completed over the summer to make the setting more hospitable for both students and professors. The space features open conference rooms, windowed offices, a coffee bar and a glass display case for antiquities donated by Religion Professor Emeritus Howard Hunter. Prior to the facelift, Guss said the third floor closely resembled a Motel 6. Eaton is by no means new to religion and anthropology faculty; the basement of the building once housed the departments for 20 years, according to Guss. But the previous Eaton Hall basement was not at all an ideal working environment, Guss said. The new space, however, offers a good fit for the relatively small departments. Political science faculty and staff moved to the newly refurbished Packard Hall over the summer after the department's considerable growth. Guss said the university was "doing an impressive job" figuring out how to effectively accommodate the growth of maturing academic departments in a tight economy. Prominent members of both departments and the broader Tufts community attended the celebration for the departments' move. Bacow read a brief statement from the Talmud, and Hunter read a favorite poem to celebrate the move. University Chaplain David O'Leary recounted dozens of noteworthy religious events, ending at "the ninth year of the reign of Lawrence Bacow," to commemorate this critical development for the departments. Dunn said the new space complemented the growing value of studying religion, which has become even more pertinent thanks to today's explosive religious conflicts. "The study of religion is increasingly important," Dunn said. As a housewarming gesture, the departments followed a Palestinian tradition of placing a wreath made of dough and flowers over the department entryway to bring good fortune to both departments in the future. Guss read a Spanish proverb by Saint John and placed a piece of parchment featuring the traditional Spanish verse behind a plaque on the department doorway to bring good fortune to all students. Later in the ceremony, Dunn, the religion department's chair, honored Hunter for his pioneering attitude and his role in encouraging the growth of Tufts' religion department. "When religion was not modish, he persevered single-handedly," Dunn said. Bacow emphasized the responsibility of students to "inspire their faculty." To celebrate the growth of student interest in the two departments, Bacow read a proverb from the Talmud: "I have learnt much from my teachers, more from my fellow students, and most from my students." The ceremony concluded with a musical march through the new department offices.
Roger Winter, the deputy secretary of state's special representative from 2001 to 2006, last night delivered the Institute for Global Leadership's Dr. Jean Mayer Award Global Citizenship Lecture. The presentation, entitled "Sudan Before and After 2011" featured Winter and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the North American representative of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
The Somerville branch of the organization formerly known as National Student Partnerships is sporting a new brand after a national restructuring conferred additional attention and resources on the local office.
Students craving chili at Carmichael Dining Hall yesterday were at the right place. Spicy food was in no short supply as the eatery's annual Station House Chili Fest treated 107 local firefighters and police officers to lunch alongside Tufts students.
For centuries, artists, writers and intellectuals have traveled to Paris to be inspired. It has always been a cultural center, and for many — including Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Diego Rivera and Ernest Hemingway — the city's beautiful streets, people, culture and "je ne sais quoi" forever altered their lives and shaped the rest of their careers.
Between filling final major requirements, researching for honors theses and beginning the dreaded job search, seniors often look to social outlets in hopes of blowing off some steam. But Senior Pub Night, long a Tufts tradition, may no longer be an option for seniors looking to celebrate their final year.
Judging from my experiences, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who want everything to do with the French and those who want nothing to do with them. OK*, perhaps that's a slight oversimplification, but I'm sure you've seen it play out. For centuries, the French have been celebrated as sexy, sophisticated, stylish and classy — all of the things that are inherently "un-American" and inspire dishes like freedom fries and toast.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate will host the second-ever Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council (BILC) summit on Saturday, bringing together student government leaders from 10 Boston-area colleges and universities in an effort to share ideas on ways to solve common problems in governance.
A group of politically-driven students brought to Tufts this semester a chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a completely student-led think tank, with the goal of giving students a greater voice in national political issues.
The Medford and Somerville Police Departments have incorporated new technology into their operations in an effort to provide more up-to-date information to their communities about crimes occurring in their area.
This is the second article in a two-part series on free activities, items, food and events available to Tufts students.
Acutely drunken behavior during this year's first Senior Pub Night has cast doubt on the future of the event, widely seen as a staple of senior year — and now an independent student group is spearheading an alternative event to fill the void.
At some point in the future, the Joey might do more than just shuttle students to and from Davis Square. If a group of chemical engineers is successful, the Joey could also dispose of waste cooking oil produced in the kitchens of Tufts' eateries. Although the Tufts biodiesel project is only in its preliminary stages and may not come to fruition, those involved believe it can contribute to Tufts' mission of environmental sustainability.
On Monday nights, senior Keith Hofmann attends enlightening lectures, studies the Quran and learns about Islamic tradition with the Muslim Students Association. However, many are unaware that he came from a conservative Catholic high school before he attended Tufts. Hofmann attributes his change from Catholic to Muslim faith activities to his experience at Tufts, citing the student body as a strong influence. "There is a more diverse population at Tufts," Hofmann said. "When you're exposed, you inevitably become more tolerant." Hofmann represents the view of many other students — from not just Tufts, but other colleges around the United States. A recent study conducted by Professor Seth Ovadia of Bowdoin College and Professor Laura Moore of Hood College found that people with college degrees and those living in college communities tend to be more tolerant towards political views and diversity in areas of race, religion and sexual identity. They also discovered that most evangelical Protestants who are tolerant towards atheists and homosexuals have college degrees. Other published research has also yielded similar results. James Q. Wilson, in his textbook "American Government," concluded that attending college has a "big impact on [people's] political attitudes" and that it proved especially true for students "who attended the most prestigious colleges." Similarly, many Tufts students, particularly upperclassmen, exhibit the same trend — attributing much of their changing mindset to exposure to different groups. "I have absolutely become more tolerant in every way, [and] everyone I know has become more tolerant too," senior Nick Lamm said. "[College] forces you to confront other social groups that you haven't confronted before." International students, however, may express different viewpoints on Tufts' level of exposure to diversity. Freshman Charmaine Poh came to Tufts after previously living in Singapore. Having experienced exposure to other cultures before, she found that coming to Tufts was less of a leap. "I'm already a [minority], being international — and it's not really a problem," Poh said. "But Tufts is doing [a] solid job in making people more tolerant." The already-open mindset of Tufts students may also help to make incoming international freshmen more comfortable in their new environment. Junior Ashley Asiedu-Frimpong, who is from Ghana, recalled that she was one of them. "People were tolerant of my views when I arrived," Asiedu-Frimpong said. "They were more excited about my differences than taken aback by it." Dr. Margery Davies, director of the Office of Diversity Education and Development, believes that the admissions process is the key aspect that creates the diverse atmosphere of students from radically different backgrounds. "By having such a diverse student body, Tufts is then able to provide an extremely rich social and educational setting for people to learn about their fellow and sister students' diverse experiences, beliefs and approaches to life," Davies said. "And it is this rich setting that makes such an excellent foundation for the development of critical thinking and the ability to understand diverse points of view, which can be such a hallmark of an excellent higher education." The office, created in 1998, collaborates with students and faculty to establish and develop activities, workshops, projects and consultations related to diversity issues. According to Davies, the goal of these endeavors is to foster critical thinking among students. "[It] encourages them to think about many parts of their lives — not just the academic parts — from different points of view and encourages them to learn from others as a way of understanding a wide variety of approaches and beliefs," Davies said. Asiedu-Frimpong noticed differences between those who were college-educated and those who were not in her home town. She said that her college-educated parents are less likely to be afraid of radical views, whereas those who are less educated may be wary of diversity and change. In contrast, freshman Long Pan, whose parents did not attend college, feels that they are more conservative as a result. "They [want] me to stick to Chinese people when I'm in college," Pan said. Although the education from both the Tufts curriculum and the Office of Diversity may play large roles in shaping students' mindsets, many students still believe that their social networks have affected them the most. Asiedu-Frimpong said that her classes had nothing to do with making her, or others, more tolerant to diversity or race. "It's more the social scene," she said. Hofmann echoed a similar sentiment. "I don't think education has much to do with it," he said.
Be it the gay pride flag hanging from the Bolles House on College Avenue or the upcoming National Coming Out Day events, there is no question that the Tufts gay community plays a very visible and involved role on campus. That is why some students were surprised when Tufts didn't make the Princeton Review's list of Top 20 Gay Accepting campuses. However, Tom Bourdon, the director of the LGBT center, explained that these results haven't discouraged the Tufts gay community. "The methodology used is completely inconclusive when it comes to creating a top 20 list," Bourdon said in an e-mail to the Daily. The Princeton Review compiled their list based on answers to only one question from 122,000 students at 371 colleges. Students were asked to respond "yes" or "no" to the statement "Students, faculty and administrators treat all persons equally regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression." Bourdon's main concern about the results of the survey lies in how prospective students will interpret them. "Teenagers typically don't stop to ask what measures were used, and who had the opportunity to actually respond to the questionnaire," he said. Nevertheless, Bourdon noted that potential students have many other resources at their disposal when trying to determine if a campus is accommodating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. One such resource is Campusclimateindex.org, which uses more than 50 measures, and gives Tufts 4.5 out of 5 stars. Another is The Advocate's "Guide for LGBT Students," in which Tufts ranks among the Top 20 "Gay Point Average" scores. "I don't think it'll knock us down, but to have other reports that put Tufts on top is good for us," Alex, a senior involved with the LGBT community and activities, said. Alex did not give her last name because she wanted her sexuality to remain private. More important than lists, however, are actual Tufts students' experiences. "I feel both safe and accepted here at Tufts," Kim, a senior, said about her experience on campus. Kim asked to be quoted anonymously out of concern for the privacy of her sexual identity. "I personally have never come across anyone who has an issue with my sexuality or who I am dating here at Tufts and I have also found that professors and staff on the whole are also very accepting." Alex added that despite a few discrimination incidents off campus, her experience has been positive. Bourdon reported an increase in students visiting the Tufts LGBT Center "just to hang out," noting that it has always been one of his main goals "for the Center to feel like a space that students consider their second home." While the LGBT Center is a useful resource for many students, Kim feels many students do not feel the need to take advantage of it. "A lot of gay people on campus do not even feel the need to go to these resources because they are so well accepted by their Tufts community as a whole," she said. While Tufts has achieved much in the way of creating a welcoming environment for LGBT students, Alex feels there is still work to be done. "There's a need for people to be more active in the community and not to be complacent," she said, adding that studying in a liberal state like Massachusetts may lead to false assumptions that all states are equally as accepting. "[If more people] were more active and continued to fight it may improve things even further," she said. Bourdon expressed similar opinions, and he noted that one of the LGBT Center's main goals is to encourage all people, not just gay students, to get involved in order to achieve a more universal understanding of LGBT issues. Events such as "Guess the Straight Person"and LGBT training with different departments are ways in which Bourdon hopes to bring community members together. Cindy Stewart, co-chair of the LGBT Faculty/Staff Caucus, explained that the Center is also working on an initiative to bridge the gap between LGBT students and faculty. This program focuses on "providing support and social networking for LGBT staff and faculty as well as creating an awareness that there are gay faculty members," Stewart said. Alex expressed excitement about the program. "Having faculty members who identify themselves as queer individuals will be really beneficial, because they're an additional resource," she said. Another way in which the LGBT community is expanding its audience is by offering more courses like Intro to Queer Studies. After an immensely successful spring semester, Professor Jennifer Burtner was asked to offer the course again in the fall due to the high student demand. Whereas the first semester attracted students who were already active in the LGBT and Women's Centers and had wanted to take the course for a while, this semester has drawn students who are not necessarily familiar with queer theory. Burtner, along with other faculty members, is currently in the beginning stages of expanding Tufts' queer studies department and course offerings in order to meet the needs and requests of students. Burtner explained that interest in LGBT issues is no longer limited to queer individuals. "[It is] not just about an identity; it's a way of looking at the world, human rights and public service, understanding who you are and how you relate to people in larger society," she said.
The photo accompanying the article, "Alumni, others to ‘stampede' in 5K" that ran in the paper on Oct. 8 incorrectly credited Joanie Tobin as the photographer. In fact, the photo was taken by Tufts Daily photographer Josh Berlinger.
"Welcome to Tufts University … your home away from home!" This statement, found on the Office of Residential Life's (ResLife) Web site, aims to display a hospitable mood in dormitories, but four freshmen finding this element lacking in Hill Hall are looking to embellish their walls with a bit of color to better reflect a sense of community. Freshmen Ryan Kollar, Joshua Pearl, Theodore Lui and Justin LaTorraca are trying to create a mural on the fifth floor of freshmen-only Hill Hall, hoping to show a different side to the healthy living lifestyle designated as mandatory throughout the dorm. "Our idea is to enforce healthy living in terms of community bonding," Kollar said. "[The mural is] an open door … Now that you've come to Tufts, here is the invitation to explore your academic and creative potential." Their idea came to the attention of a Resident Assistant (RA) in Hill Hall who encouraged the students to explore the concept and begin paperwork for the proposal. The freshmen have made some contact with ResLife regarding the idea but have not yet submitted a formal proposal. Director of ResLife Yolanda King said that ResLife is still waiting for more specifics about the design before giving a response. Students are allowed to decorate their respective rooms following a number of safety precautions outlined by ResLife, but standards for acceptable murals are less clear. King said that the office uses an internal document to approve mural proposals on a case-by-case basis. Usually, King said, student murals tend to arise as a result of active community involvement and deliberation. She encouraged the group to involve more of the Hill Hall community in discussion surrounding the mural, adding that it was unusual for such a small group of students to propose an idea of this sort, particularly in a location that likely only the five or so residents of the fifth floor will see. Though murals do currently exist in many other dormitories, they are usually done in more communal areas like common rooms and stairwells. "Typically it has been a more critical mass in the building, not a handful of students deciding to do a mural," King said. "There needs to be a conversation with the residential staff to see the message they're trying to create and the impact it will have on the community." The procedure for creating a mural includes submitting a request and proposal to ResLife, according to King. The proposal must include a sketch and color scheme of the mural, in addition to outlining the message that it will convey. ResLife will then review the proposal with Residential Facilities to work out the logistics and give final approval. While the students have not finalized the design, they have a general sense of the mural's main components. Kollar said that the mural would actively demonstrate the idea behind a healthy living dorm. "Hopefully we can rouse support in the sense that there are a lot of other creative outlets other than situations with unhealthy choices," he said. LaTorraca said they hope to draw on Tufts' roots to create the mural. "The goal is to unite traditional Tufts values with more modern elements … and assimilate what the founders of the school had in mind into one image," he said. Last February, residents of Miller Hall came together to create a mural in the staircase of the main lobby after a drunken student defaced parts of the dorm with offensive vandalism. Residents worked with members of the Bias Education and Awareness Team (BEATBias) to turn the vandalism into a positive representation of the students of Miller Hall. Associate Director of ResLife Doreen Long said that community involvement was a key factor in the mural created in Miller Hall last year. "The way they did it in Miller was to open [the mural] up to the whole building, through 10 or 11 little pictures within the elephant, each submitted by residents," Long said. Long said that this sort of collaboration might be helpful in setting the Hill Hall mural in motion and may offer the group a way to get funding. "There might be another student group that they can work with or that will co-sponsor with them, like the [BEAT]Bias team co-sponsored the mural in Miller," Long said.
