2010-10-4.pdf

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Showers 58/55

VOLUME LX, NUMBER 17

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010

Goodbye, Blackboard — say hello to Sakai BY

DAPHNE KOLIOS

Daily Editorial Board

ANDREW MORGENTHLALER/TUFTS DAILY

Junior defensive lineman and tri-captain Donnie Simmons watches from the sidelines in the Jumbos’ 21-20 loss.

In Homecoming clash, Bates beats Tufts for first time since 1985 BY

ALEX PREWITT

Daily Editorial Board

Call it a curse or just call it old-fashioned dumb luck, but wherever Tom Beaton goes, he just winds up on the losing side of the rivalry. A defensive assistant for the Tufts football team, Beaton graduated from Bates in 2009 after finishing 10th in the NESCAC in receiving yards per game and ninth in all-purpose yards per game, good enough

for all-conference honors. But the one obstacle the 5-foot-9 former wide receiver could not hurdle was to finally get the Bobcats that elusive win against the Jumbos. Heading into Saturday’s Homecoming tilt at Zimman Field, Bates was trapped in a 24-game losing streak against Tufts, stretching back to 1986. That consequently put Beaton on the wrong end of things for four years. Given the streak, things were looking up for

Beaton as he made the move to Medford. But just as Joe DiMaggio did not get a hit after 56 games, Cal Ripken finally took a break after 2,632 contests and Johnny Unitas stopped throwing touchdown passes after 47 games, so too did the Jumbos’ winning streak come to an end in spectacular fashion this weekend with a 21-20 Bobcats triumph. It was a historic loss for Tufts see BATES, page 14

Tufts students starting next year will log onto Sakai instead of Blackboard to access resources for their classes, from readings to discussion boards and assignments. University Information Technology (UIT) expects the open-source learning management system (LMS) Sakai to replace Blackboard in Fall 2011, according to Director of Educational Technology Services Gina Siesing. The move, which will affect undergraduates first, comes after several years of deliberations on updating the university’s LMS to replace the outmoded Blackboard system. Sakai boasts improved capabilities, from “e-portfolios,” which offer remote file storage, to support for blogs, scheduling tools and calendar tools, according to Neal Hirsig, assistant director of instructional services at Information Technology Services. UIT began researching alternatives to Blackboard three to four years ago, according to Siesing. The drive to replace Blackboard with a new LMS took off a year and a half ago, following official university endorsement of the project. The change is necessitated by a desire to upgrade the educational tools available to students and faculty, according to Hirsig. “We looked at Blackboard and the tools available and looked at what we thought

would be the future, and it was very clear to all of us that we needed a different platform,” Hirsig said. But there was another, more pressing reason to switch, Hirsig said. “In another sense, we were forced to make the move, some move, because we expect sometime this year our version of Blackboard will no longer be supported,” he said. Tufts currently uses four different kinds of LMS across its undergraduate and graduate schools, including Blackboard, ANGEL Learning, TUSK and Moodle. The move to Sakai will streamline and simplify Tufts’ LMS usage, Siesing said. “One of the major goals was to get to a common platform, or at least to reduce the complexity across the institution, and to be able to do more interdisciplinary work across schools,” she said. Sakai will be configured for Tufts by January 2011. The following month, UIT will host workshops and orientations for faculty to help them adjust to the new system first, according to Siesing. “In the nine months between January and the new school year, we’ll be migrating the old course information to the new environment,” Siesing said. Sakai, an open-source program, is more flexible than Blackboard, allowing the university to modify it to better suit the needs of faculty and students, Siesing said. “We will have the potential see SAKAI, page 2

Career fair draws prospective employees to Gantcher Center BY

BETH MEBRATU

Daily Staff Writer

Over 100 prospective employers met with hundreds of students at a Career Services-organized career fair in the Gantcher Center Friday afternoon. One hundred and five companies, organizations and other groups representing areas including consulting, communications, education, government and law sent representatives to the annual event, which drew over 800 people, according to Director of Career Services Jean Papalia. Yet while some students were able to make use of the fair’s resources, others felt that the event’s scope was unsuited to political science and International Relations (IR) majors. This year’s fair attracted a greater number of employers overall, an increase from last year’s 95, according to Papalia. “This is my first time at the fair, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” Ellen Hall, who represented the Perkins School for the Blind, told the Daily. Hall said she

came to the fair with the aim of recruiting teaching assistants for the school. “Everyone warned me, ‘Oh, you’re not going to get any interested students. Tufts is a technical school,’” Hall said. “But I’ve spoken with many students with majors such as psychology and sociology, which is great for working in this field.” Some companies sent Tufts alumni as their representatives. Erin Young (LA ’07), who represented Invensys Operations Management, became interested in her employer after attending a Tufts Career Fair during her senior year, she said. “Someone else from our company came last year, so I’m not sure about how this year’s turnout has been compared to previous years, but we’ve seen a lot of interest,” Young said. “These events are great and will hopefully give students more insight on what they want to do.” Companies present at the fair ranged from private firms Abt Associates and Fidelity Investments to nonprofits like Teach for America. Government entities see CAREER FAIR, page 2

Inside this issue

MEAGAN MAHER/TUFTS DAILY

Dean Lynne Pepall hopes to bring her experiences to the GRE Board.

Graduate dean named to GRE Board BY SMRITI

CHOUDHURY

Daily Staff Writer

Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Lynne Pepall has recently accepted a position on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board, where

she will be one of a panel of academics to review and consider changes to the graduate admissions exam. Pepall will begin her four-year term on the board starting in January of next see PEPALL, page 2

Today’s Sections

The life experiences of the de Monteiros have informed the FrenchCambodian cuisine of The Elephant Walk.

‘The Event’ tries to channel ‘Lost’ but falls short with forgettable characters.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts | Living Comics

1 3 5 7

Editorial | Letters Op-Ed Classifieds Sports

8 9 14 Back


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