After being suspended four years ago, the Beta Mu chapter of the Delta Tau Delta (DTD) fraternity will return to Tufts this spring with a new member class.
Rush events over the past week saw an increase in participation among female students interested in joining sororities on campus, despite last year's suspension of Alpha Phi for hazing and alcohol policy violations.
For most junior and senior Jumbos, the intimidating decision about what to do after college is now looming. While some students may have thought they had it all figured out when they were freshmen, the economic crisis of the past year and a half has likely shaken their confidence. Many came to Tufts in hopes of starting their own businesses when they left, but the credit crisis makes finding people to invest in a start-up company or getting a sizable loan from a bank seem like a fantasy.
Former U.S. Associate Attorney General Wayne Budd spoke yesterday in Goddard Chapel about Barack Obama's election to the presidency and the event's relevancy to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Budd also served as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. His presentation came as part of a celebration of King's legacy, and was sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the University Chaplain, among others.
Go to class, do the work, study hard, and the final result should be a big, fat A on your transcript. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, grading at any school is never that simple. The process of evaluation and distribution of letter grades is often a subjective process, and disagreements and disappointments are bound to occur.
This is the second in a two-part series examining the communications and media studies minor at Tufts. The first part, which ran in yesterday's issue, discussed the limitations that the minor poses to students interested in business. This installment will focus on the role of internships in the minor and the restrictions of the program as a résumé-builder. While many students choose to take the traditional route to completing their requirements — opting to sit through lectures, fill out problem sets and suffer through grueling multiple-choice exams — students in some disciplines choose to take a less conventional path. The communications and media studies (CMS) program at Tufts allows students a wide range of options when completing the requirements for the minor, one of which includes taking part in internships in a variety of concentrations. Senior Christine Attura, who is majoring in psychology, has completed two internships for credit. Attura explained that through her internships, she received valuable experience in several communications fields, including public relations, strategic communications and publishing. Attura said that her experiences with internships gave her a new look at the field. "It was interesting to compare what I've learned in class and then see what more I could learn through an internship," she said. In addition to the internship option, the Experimental College (ExCollege) plays a large role in the minor, and students who are involved in the program commonly take a wide variety of classes to fill their requirements. CMS Program Director Julie Dobrow explained that each semester, the CMS directors ask the entire faculty to send courses for them to consider counting toward one of the three CMS minors: mass communications, film studies and multimedia arts. "We examine syllabi to see if a course has content about media and communications that are at least 50 percent of the course content," Dobrow said in an e-mail to the Daily. "ExCollege classes are different — prospective instructors have to go through a rigorous process of submitting an application, having their proposals reviewed by faculty, being interviewed by student and faculty committees and then getting decided upon by the ExCollege Board, who look at all the data and try to pick an interesting slate of diverse courses," she continued. "We at CMS look at the selected courses and go through the same process described above to see if they should count for CMS credit. As for our own courses, we try to listen to what students are interested in taking and develop new, cutting-edge classes to add to our roster." Students pursuing a minor in communications must complete the one required course for the program, Sociology 40: Media and Society, as well as a senior project or option course in addition to the regular classes they take within the minor. According to senior and CMS minor Victoria Alberini, some students find it frustrating that the option course, which requires students to take a class and write an extended paper about their experience, can only be taken senior year, and even if a student has already taken an approved option course class as a junior, he or she cannot use that credit. "[It] seems silly, because senior year is hectic, and it doesn't make much sense to require a class [that can] be taken only senior year," Alberini said. Dobrow explained that the senior requirements are meant to help students bring together all of the knowledge that they have acquired throughout their media studies education. "We want these [senior projects or courses] to be the capstone experience that pulls together courses, internships and other experiences, so they are taken in senior year," Dobrow said. "The senior project is an opportunity for a student to do an original project in the media and/or communications field. It can take many forms, from an empirical thesis to a film to an advertising campaign to a screenplay to a photojournalism essay to a Web site — the list goes on." Dobrow continued that the course option is an alternative to the senior project for people who feel that they cannot undertake a senior project either because of time constraints or for any number of other reasons. Another criticism that some students have of the program is that because it is not offered as a major, completed CMS minors are not tracked on students' degree sheets, according to CMS Associate Director Susan Eisenhauer. This limitation can be frustrating when students are submitting their degrees and applying for jobs later in life. Still, the minor is becoming increasingly popular at Tufts, and many students see value in taking the courses for their own sake, regardless of what their degrees say. Attura, who will likely go into some communications field after she graduates, said that overall, her experience with the CMS program has helped her shape many of the views about what she wants to do with her career. "I've definitely been influenced by the CMS minor. It's opened my eyes to that path, which is nice, because even though I think liberal arts is great and opens your eyes to more than vocational schools, it's nice to know that you can go into marketing or something like that with a liberal arts degree," she said. "So many people are interested in communications, and it's such a good perspective to have just as a person living in society, because everyone watches TV, everyone goes to the movies, everyone is exposed to thousands and thousands of advertisements in their lifetime." Dobrow shares Attura's views. "Media are a part of how we live today, and there's no question that to be an informed and engaged citizen in the 21st century, as well as to get a job in almost any field, you need to understand media," she said. "Students know this, and combined with their own great personal interest in various forms of media, I think this is why they flock to CMS in such large numbers."
Liberal arts students studying Hebrew now have the opportunity to add the language as a minor after the School of Arts and Sciences unanimously supported a proposal that would institutionalize a program of Hebrew-based study.
The Perseus Digital Library Project recently received a $285,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to use government supercomputers to research methods of automatically analyzing ancient languages.
After emerging from a high-stakes showdown against the state's largest insurance provider, Tufts Medical Center officials remain tight-lipped about a deal expected to stave off widespread patient disruption.
I n last semester's installment of The Cultural Culinarian, I shared quite a few things about myself as I discussed culinary topics from soup to nuts — literally. I have a spontaneous peanut allergy; I get sick every October like clockwork and crave my grandma's chicken noodle soup; Anthony Bourdain is my culinary Buddha and Rachael Freaking Ray is my bête noire. So, in the interest of sharing, I'd like to divulge a new piece of information: I am pretty fashion illiterate. My winter wardrobe consists of lots of jeans, Tufts sweatshirts and down vests; I choose warmth and comfort over style. As I was channel surfing one night over winter break, I came upon a segment on my local news station that asked viewers to "go nuts with their clothing" this season. I was intrigued and decided to tune in for some pointers. The segment took place in a Footlocker in New York City. A very peppy correspondent was discussing the latest trends in exercise gear and loungewear. I've got the whole pajama bottoms and sweatpants thing down pat, so I was about to change the channel when things got interesting. It turns out the woman literally meant using nuts for fashion. The segment focused on apparel made from CoCoNa, an eco-friendly fabric that contains charcoal made from coconut shells. New Balance has been using CoCoNa in their running gear since 2007, and now several of their running shoes feature liners made with the fabric. There are many benefits to CoCoNa over other natural fabrics: it's odor resistant; it has cooling properties; it is a natural anti-microbial; and it has high levels of UV protection. If you think about it, CoCoNa does the same thing to you as a coconut shell does to coconut flesh — it keeps you cool, protected and free from harmful microbes and UV rays. Clearly, this is a far cry from your average coconut bra. I starting flicking through the channels again once the CoCoNa segment was over, and when I landed on a Style Network montage of the annual Chocolate Show, my heart skipped a beat. It was like the perfect night of TV. To understand my excitement, you need to know another thing about me: even though I am hopeless with my own fashion choices, I love fashion-themed reality TV. I don't answer my phone during "Project Runway" and I want Stacy and Clinton from "What Not to Wear" to give me a makeover. The Chocolate Show is my all-time favorite fashion TV experience. Like CoCoNa products, it combines the culinary and textile arts — fashion designers are paired with pastry chefs and chocolatiers to design avant-garde gowns made entirely from chocolate. It's part culinary demonstration, part fashion show, part fundraiser that travels to major fashion meccas around the world. The show draws big names from both industries each year; Carmen Marc Valvo was a guest designer in 2007 and Jacques Torres is a perennial collaborator. The gowns are extraordinary and usually look like they are designed from fabrics and not chocolate. Watching highlights from the Chocolate Show every year is like satisfying my TV sweet tooth. Food and fashion may not seem like an obvious match. Most people think that if you want to indulge in one, you need to cut back on the other. CoCoNa and the Chocolate Show, however, prove that food and fashion are the perfect mix — both involve cutting-edge techniques and constant innovation. Even though I will never become a fashionista, if wearing your food is in, I'm all for it.
This article is the third in a four-part series about how the recession has affected different parts of the university. As the economic situation remains gloomy, students are buying fewer high-end food products, utilizing the dining halls more and spending less on food in general. But Dining Services is trying to ensure that empty pockets do not result in empty stomachs. The recession impacted campus food services noticeably "across the board," influencing customers, employees and vendors, and Dining Services has made cuts to try to keep prices down while ensuring food quality, according to Associate Director of Dining Services Ralph Perrotto. "It certainly impacts the way our customers choose to spend money," Perrotto said. "Since we're customer-focused, we need to do a lot of adapting." While food prices in general have been increasing for nearly a year, prices on campus have remained unchanged. In fact, Dining Services has begun to offer lower-cost options in the campus center, including a ten-item value menu in the Commons, with the hope of appealing to more customers. But even though Dining Services has worked to keep food prices on campus consistent, campus eateries like Brown and Brew, Tower Café and those located in the Mayer Campus Center have all experienced decreases in business, according to Perrotto. Brown and Brew has been hit the hardest, he said, explaining that a combination of causes, including the eatery's location and uncooperative weather have impacted revenue. Perrotto added that the effects are compounded by "the fact folks are spending less to begin with." Students have begun decreasing their use of JumboCash, especially toward the purchase of more expensive, luxury food products. Sales of higher-end goods — such as sushi, Odwalla products and all-natural vegetarian meals available at a number of eateries — have declined. On the other hand, the number of students enrolling in meal plans this semester has increased, Perrotto said. He could not say, however, whether this change was a result of the economic downturn or of this year's changes to the meal plan structure. To combat the decrease in business, Dining Services has followed multiple strategies, including looking carefully at decisions regarding which products it should buy, reigning in costs by suspending certain services and making staff adjustments. A food cart in the Tufts building at 80 George Street and a small lunchroom in the Tufts Administration Building were closed over break. In addition, the faculty and staff luncheon buffet service in the Chase Center in Carmichael Hall was suspended this month. Dining Services has not laid off any of its employees, but the department has made changes to employees' hours and locations. "We may have employees who typically work in one operation on campus working in other operations depending on where the customer flow is at that time," Perrotto said. The recession's reach is not limited to dining on campus though; student business at several restaurants that are part of the Merchant Off-Campus Partners (MOPs) system has declined as well. At Andrea's House of Pizza in Watertown, business in general has slowed down almost 30 percent due to the economic downturn, according to owner Bob Iliopoulos. Business from Tufts students is down by about 15 percent from last year, he told the Daily, attributing the smaller decline to the fact that Tufts students continue to make purchases using JumboCash. Zeynep Sutlu, a manager at Wing Works in Somerville, has seen an even greater decrease in student business. "There's definitely probably like a 40 to 50 percent difference in the sales totals from last year to this year from Tufts students," he told the Daily.
Whoever devised the old proverb "You may pick your friends, but you can't pick your family," has clearly never experienced Greek life at Tufts.
When students launched their Web browsers Monday night, something unexpected greeted them: "TuftsLife 2.1," the newly revamped version of Tufts' popular informational Web site.
WEDNESDAY "Beyond Politics: Voices from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" Details: A panel of students will speak about their personal experiences living amidst conflict in the Middle East, and an open discussion will follow. This is the third installment in a collaborative effort among student groups following the conflict in the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. When and Where: 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Crane Room, Paige Hall Sponsors: The New Initiative for Middle East Peace, Arab Student Association, Pathways, Tufts Friends of Israel, Muslim Student Association, and Tufts Hillel "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Celebration" Details: A celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work and legacy will include a presentation by Wayne Budd, a former U.S. associate attorney general. When and Where: 5:15 p.m.; Goddard Chapel Sponsors: Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of Institutional Diversity, the Africana Center, the Office of the University Chaplains, the Protestant Chaplaincy, the Catholic Center, Tufts Hillel, Peace and Justice Studies department, Office of Equal Opportunity THURSDAY "EPIIC Film Series: WALL·e" Details: The first installment of a film series preceding the upcoming 2009 EPIIC International Symposium on Global Cities. The popular movie "WALL·E" will be shown. When and Where: 7:30 p.m.; Braker 001 Sponsors: EPIIC: Global Cities, the Institute for Global Leadership
This is the first article in a two-part series that will examine the increasingly popular communications and media studies minor at Tufts. The first installment will focus on the dissatisfaction that some students have with the program's lack of marketing-related classes, while the second part, to run in tomorrow's issue, will take a look at the role of the ExCollege and internships in the minor, as well as some of its limitations the program has as a résumé builder for students' futures.
French Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont spoke yesterday of the importance of American and European relations in combating the challenges of a changing world in a lecture at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
This article is the second in a four-part series about how the recession has affected different parts of the university.
As the semester -- and this column -- gets started up, I hope you'll enjoy reading. This column will focus on the Tufts community and things that students really enjoy.
Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Duncan Pickard began the Senate's spring term on Sunday with a focus on how the body should adapt to the deteriorating financial climate. Pickard specifically highlighted the need to reevaluate campus-wide expenses and to preserve the student body's socioeconomic and cultural diversity.
While many Jumbos remained on the Hill yesterday, flooding the campus center to watch inauguration speeches and grumpily sitting through classes, hoping to be released early, some Tufts students braved the snowy highways and traveled to Washington, D.C., to witness President Barack Obama's acceptance speech and absorb the atmosphere of the historic day.
