2009-12-09

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Wintry Mix 45/35

Wallis resigns from Senate to study abroad BY

MATT REPKA

Daily Editorial Board

Junior Sam Wallis has resigned from his seat in the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, he announced publicly last night. In a written statement, Wallis explained that as far back as last spring’s TCU elections, he had wrestled with the prospect of studying abroad during the spring 2010 semester. He has decided to follow that path, and therefore cannot serve on the Senate next semester. Wallis declared his resig-

TUFTSDAILY.COM

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009

VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 60

nation privately to the TCU Senate following the body’s final meeting of the semester on Sunday. “I finally decided that I did not want to miss the opportunity of learning in a different part of the world,” Wallis said in his statement. He will study in Israel next semester. Wallis told the Daily last night that he stayed on this semester in order to continue his work on various projects. Tufts’ Election Commission will conduct a special election in January to fill his spot. He said he is open to the possibility of running for another Senate spot upon his return. “I haven’t thought about senior year,” Wallis see WALLIS, page 2

Sternberg to step down

Dean of arts and sciences leaving after five-year term BY

MATT REPKA

Daily Editorial Board

On the occasion of his 60th birthday, Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg yesterday announced that he plans to step down from his position at the end of June. In an e-mail to the Tufts community announcing his decision, Sternberg detailed his plans to devote more time to his involvement in professional associations and to his research in psychology, but remained noncommittal about plans to continue teaching in the future. “I have greatly enjoyed being dean but it was time for me to move on in my life, whether to another administrative position or to full-time teaching and research,” Sternberg told the

Daily in an e-mail. Sternberg’s five-year term as dean of arts and sciences ends on June 30. In addition to continuing his research, Sternberg plans to revise the newest edition of a cognitive psychology textbook he authored and is starting a new book project, in addition to his six books currently in the process of publication. He also announced that he and his wife, Karin, with whom he has co-authored several psychology works, are expecting a child. University President Lawrence Bacow praised Sternberg’s tenure at the university. “Under his watch we have made important strides in admissions, financial aid, teaching and the curricusee STERNBERG, page 2

With an eye toward outreach, Hillel adds position BY

CARA PALEY

Tufts Hillel has added to its ranks this year Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg as its senior Jewish educator, a new position that is part of a nationwide initiative to engage more Jewish students on college campuses. The role of a senior Jewish educator is to forge connections with students who are interested in embracing their Jewish roots, but who have not found a niche within the on-campus Hillel organization, according to Ruttenberg. “Tufts Hillel is one of the best Hillels in the country,” Ruttenberg said. “But one mothership can’t be everything to everybody. Some students haven’t found their see HILLEL, page 2

LAURA HILL/TUFTS DAILY

The LGBT center is co-sponsoring a panel on religion and homosexuality tonight.

At event, panel plans to examine various religious views on homosexuality BY

EMMA GOLDSTEIN Daily Staff Writer

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg plans to step down after his five-year term ends this summer.

Coakley wins Democratic Senate nomination

Daily Staff Writer

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is filling Tufts Hillel’s new senior Jewish educator position.

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Local religious leaders from the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist traditions will discuss the intersection between religion and homosexuality at a panel tonight. The panel, which will take place at 6 p.m. in the Interfaith Center, is the culminating event in a semester-long series of film screenings and discussions on religion and sexuality that senior Elizabeth Field and LGBT Center Director Tom Bourdon organized. The first part of the panel will feature a discussion in which LGBT Center graduate intern Clayton Harmon, who will moderate the discussion, will pose questions that probe the panelists on their respective religions’ position on homosexuality. This will be followed

Inside this issue

by a question and answer session. The intention is for the panelists to speak as religious experts rather than to present personal opinions on the subject. “What the chaplains are saying at the panel are not their own opinions,” Field said. “They are acting as experts.” Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the senior Jewish educator at Tufts Hillel and one of the panel’s speakers, did not think that panelists would have trouble maintaining objectivity. “I am perfectly capable of separating what I think and what I know is going on,” she said. According to Alexander Watling, a sophomore intern at the LGBT Center, the aim is to “foster an event where there could be a candid and very open

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley last night won the Democratic nomination for the late Edward Kennedy’s vacant U.S. Senate seat, beating three other contenders in an election marked by paltry voter participation. On the Republican side, State Senator Scott Brown (LA ’81) ran away with 89 percent of the vote, beating his lone opponent, Jack Robinson. As expected, turnout was generally low across the state, with election officials reporting a 10 percent turnout in Boston and similar figures in the rest of the state. Freshman Steve Goeman, a volunteer for the Coakley campaign, and junior Michael Hawley, who served as president of the Tufts Republicans last year, both said that the results were unsurprising — though Goeman said that Coakley’s margin was unexpectedly large. The attorney general captured 47 percent of the vote; her closest challenger, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, garnered just 28 percent. “She won by a pretty substantial margin that I don’t think was expected,” Goeman said. “I thought it would be a little closer.” The general consensus is that Brown will face an uphill challenge in the Jan. 19 general election to fill Kennedy’s seat, given Massachusetts’ largely Democratic leanings. “It’s a deeply blue state and it’s Kennedy’s seat, which means that the Republicans are going to have a really tough time,” Hawley said. Still, he believes that the Republican has a credible stake in the race. “Coakley comes across a bit as an everyday, ladder-climbing politician, whereas Brown is quite a bit more charismatic,” Hawley said. “I think he has a chance but he has his work cut out for him.” — by Ellen Kan

see LGBT, page 2

Today’s Sections

Butler University filed a lawsuit against a student after he criticized an administrator in a blog post.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists drove their message home on Saturday night with a singeing performance.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters

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Op-Ed Comics Sports Classifieds

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