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WOMENS TRACK AND FIELD
Bowman breaks school record in the mile
‘Black Mirror’ explores white fetishization of black death in ‘Black Museum’ see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4
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Katy Tur to headline 2018 Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism by Austin Clementi Contributing Writer
The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life will host NBC News journalist Katy Tur as its main speaker for the thirteenth annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism on Wednesday, April 11, at noon. The forum, held in conjunction with the Department of Film and Media Studies and the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World, is part of the Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series. The event is spearheaded by Professor Julie Dobrow of the Film and Media Studies Department, who has been involved in the Murrow Forum since its conception. Dobrow stated that its creation was inspired by the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s collection of papers from CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow’s library. “It just made sense because we have the majority of Edward R. Murrow’s papers at Tufts that we do an event named for Murrow,” she said. Dobrow said she worked with Neal Shapiro (LA ’80), former executive producer of “Dateline NBC” and current CEO of WNET, to select the speaker for this event. Dobrow also stated that the speaker is interviewed each year by Jonathan Tisch (A ’76), Chairman Emeritus of the United States Travel Association who serves on Tufts’ Board of Trustees. “[Tisch] is a marvelous interviewer and [he’s] become a really important part of the tradition,” Dobrow stated.
Jen McAndrew, the Director of Communication and Strategy Planning at Tisch College, said she views the forum as a celebration of journalism’s role in society. “This event is really a recognition … that bringing high profile journalists and anchors to campus to have a candid conversation for students really advances all of our learning of how journalism and media work and how they contribute to informing the public on important issues,” McAndrew said. She added that this is the second year Tisch College has been involved in planning the event. Civic-mindedness in media consumption will also be central to the forum, according to Jessica Byrnes, Special Projects Administrator at Tisch College, who sensed that the public generally views media consumption as passive. “I think it’s important to reframe that idea of what it means to consume media and to produce media,” she said. Tur, the featured speaker, was NBC’s embedded reporter for the Trump campaign throughout the 2016 Republican primaries and the general election. During the election campaign, she appeared on television nearly 4,000 times, according to a press release by Tisch College. For her coverage of the election, Tur received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Journalism, according to the press release. She currently works as an NBC News correspondent and anchors the 2 p.m. hour of “MSNBC Live.”
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Katy Tur speaks at an event titled “The War at Home: Trump and the Mainstream Media” on March 16, 2017. While at Tufts, Tur will hold a signing for her 2017 book “Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History,” based on her experiences covering the 2016 election. Dobrow stated that Tur’s “front seat” position in the Trump campaign as well as her success in its coverage made her an optimal speaker. “I’m hoping that this will be an opportunity for students, regardless of their political affiliation, to come and learn from somebody who I think has had a really interesting perch to observe what’s been going on in our country for the last couple of years,” she said.
“I think she represents a new generation of journalists who are doing some really interesting and cutting-edge things,” Dobrow added. McAndrew reaffirmed Dobrow’s sentiment that Tur represents a new trend in journalism. Referring to the fact that then-candidate Trump had ridiculed Tur along with other journalists, McAndrew added that Tur has had “really interesting experiences with being both the reporter and being in the story.” “I’m really interested in talking about that and hearing about the perspective. I’m sure students are, too,” she said.
University looks to create data science major, expand community health major by Ethan Isenman and Kunal Kapur Contributing Writers
Over the past three years the university has taken steps to implement and expand programs in response to student demands. In particular, Tufts plans to implement a new major in data science, according to Dean of the School of Engineering Jianmin Qu, and is adding resources to the Community Health (CH) major. Qu explained that though data science is not currently offered, the School of Engineering hopes to offer it as a new undergraduate major next fall. This weekend, the Board of Trustees will vote on whether to approve the major, according to Professor of Computer Science Lenore Cowen.
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Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Shafiqul Islam said data science is increasing in popularity in colleges and universities across the country. “Student interest in data science is pretty high. Over the last three or four years, I can tell you at least 40-50 new degree programs have opened up across the country,” Islam said. “Why is this happening? Because there is a sense, in the business community, in the student community, in the professional community, that data will give us something that we have not had before.” Islam also addressed the need for an education in data science in today’s world. “Data by itself has no value,” Islam said. “Data can only have value when it can deliver insight for making something for the future.”
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Cowen echoed Islam’s sentiments. “We’re having these big, massive data sets, and a lot of value can be unlocked in figuring out how to analyze those data sets,” Cowen told the Daily in an email. Cowen said the data science major is meant to reach across a variety of fields. She added that job opportunities for students with a data science major range from work in the financial sector to public health. Cowen expanded on how the new major would achieve this interdisciplinary nature. “When we structured the new major in data science, what we did deliberately is we have an area concentration… you get this disciplinary breadth concentration and you take that in a particular department,” she explained.
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Islam elaborated on the specific construction of the major. “For us to develop the data science major, what we need are four types of knowledge and skill bases … formal knowledge … practice techniques … something in policy and decision making … [and how] to communicate findings that you have from data so that your insight gets put into action,” he said. Cowen said that the collection of data can raise complex moral and ethical issues. To address this concern, she said the university plans to incorporate ethics classes into the major so that students learn how to handle data responsibly. Like data science, public health is one of the fastest growing majors nation-
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