THE TUFTS DAILY
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TCU Presidential Election The Tufts Community Union (TCU) presidential election began today at midnight and will continue through 11:59 p.m. tonight. Students can access the ballot by logging onto WebCenter, choosing “Election Online” from the drop down menu and following the instructions. The two candidates in the election are juniors Wyatt Cadley and Logan Cotton. Information about these candidates can be found in the news section of yesterday’s edition of the Daily and on the Elections Commission website. All undergraduates, including seniors and students studying abroad, can vote.
TUFTSDAILY.COM
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
VOLUME LXIII, NUMBER 55
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
Brian Williams discusses career, election season by
Elizabeth McKay
Daily Editorial Board
NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams discussed his career, entertainment journalism and the upcoming elections in front of a packed Distler Performance Hall yesterday for the seventh annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism. The forum, which was moderated by University Trustee and Co-Chairman of the Board of Loews Corporation Jonathan Tisch (LA ’76), was sponsored by the Communications and Media Studies (CMS) Program, the Edward R. Murrow Center for Public Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Tisch
—by Patrick McGrath
see WILLIAMS, page 2
Justin McCallum / The Tufts Daily
NBC Nightly News Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams visited the Hill yesterday to discuss his career and the upcoming elections at the seventh annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism.
Senate passes resolution backing fee waiver by Julia
Evans
Contributing Writer
told the Daily in an email. The minor has kept the same format it had while within CIS, requiring students to take five courses from at least three of the following departments: Anthropology, Art History, Child Development, Community Health, Economics, Education, History, Sociology, Political Science and UEP. UEP wanted to preserve the traditional interdisciplinary structure of the minor, Wu said. “We want to keep that tradition so that our students are exposed to discussions of urban issues from anthropology or even history, from humanities to social science,” she said.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate on April 15 passed a resolution (15-7-1) supporting a financial assistance program and fee waiver for student parking passes as a way to address the high cost of the passes. The resolution states that $550 for a full-year overnight student parking pass is a significant financial burden for many students who need a car on campus because of distance from home or a significant commute length to work-study jobs. The resolution was submitted by Gavin Matthews and TCU Associate Treasurer Ard Ardalan, both juniors. Matthews said his personal situation motivated the creation of the resolution. Although he receives assistance from the financial aid office, Matthews needs to work in order to cover the cost of going to Tufts and needs a car for transportation for certain obligations, but he could not afford the student parking pass. “While my case is uncommon, I was required to have a car,” he said. “Having a car is not necessarily a privilege. At a certain point, the car stops being a privilege and becomes almost a burden.” The final resolution supported the enactment of a fee waiver program through the Department of Public Safety rather than through the financial aid office. Going through the financial aid program would require setting aside money for financial assistance whereas public safety would only have to waive the fee, Ardalan explained. “In this way, it would be much more efficient,” he said. Owning a car does not necessarily reflect a higher socio-economic status, Ardalan said. “Students should shy away from the idea that students with a car do not
see URBAN STUDIES, page 2
see PARKING, page 2
Scott Tingley / The Tufts Daily
The Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning has re-launched the Urban Studies minor, which was previously housed in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.
UEP relaunches Urban Studies minor by Victoria
Leistman
Daily Editorial Board
The Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) this semester relaunched the Urban Studies minor, which was previously housed in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS). According to Professor of UEP and Urban Studies Minor Program Coordinator Weiping Wu, UEP, which offers two graduate programs, took the initiative to re-launch the minor program in order to reach out to undergraduates. “We basically felt that given how closely our master’s program matches
the undergraduate minor, we put in a little bit more effort to get students into this field,” Wu said. “If you have a department that can house a degree program or even a minor program, it’s always better for the students,” she added. CIS, which administers four of the university’s academic programs and is affiliated with 20 other interdisciplinary studies programs, was unable to give the Urban Studies minor enough resources and attention, Wu explained. “It makes sense to house Urban Studies in a setting as close to its core knowledge base as possible,” Assistant Professor of Sociology Ryan Centner
Inside this issue
Today’s sections
The battle for women’s rights is not over and feminism is still alive and well on the Hill.
The Daily interviews Joss Whedon, director of “The Avengers,”which hits theaters on May 4.
see FEATURES, page 3
see ARTS, page 5
News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters
1 3 5 8
Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports
9 10 14 Back