The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Page 1

Tisch College initiative develops staff, faculty emotional learning through courses, programs see FEATURES/ PAGE 5

MEN’S LACROSSE

Jumbos secure victories against top NESCAC competition

Men’s crew turns in strong performance at last home regatta see SPORTS/ BACK PAGE

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 53

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tuftsdaily.com

Tuition, fees increase again for next academic year by Seohyun Shim, Liza Harris and Sara Renkert News Editors and Staff Writer

Undergraduate students will have to pay $2,723 more to attend Tufts University next year, seeing a 3.8% increase in tuition and fees over the 2019–2020 academic year. The increase, announced in an email sent out to the community on Tuesday, raises the projected cost of attending the university from $70,941 to $73,664, a nearly $10,000 jump from the 2015–2016 academic year’s $63,698. Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser and Dean of the School of Engineering Jianmin Qu wrote in the email that the increase needed to “advanc[e] the University’s reputation for excellence in teaching, learning, and research.” They added that “the university has taken many successful steps to control costs and raise new revenue” to minimize the increase, saying that some costs, like inflation and healthcare, are inevitable. In an email to the Daily, Glaser said that the tuition increases were tied to increases in operating costs, citing new academic buildings, facility renovation and “union contracts and the provisions.” “The schools have made substantial investments in our infrastructure … and these costs are now part of our budgets and have to be met. Philanthropy, endowment income, and non-tuition revenues are part of our budgets,

but most of our revenue comes from tuition,” Glaser said. “Naturally, some are unhappy with the increase, but students and their families are often also urging the university to do more.” Since the announcement, many students have voiced their frustrations over the increase, and one of these students, Elizabeth Dossett, a Tufts Student Action (TSA) member, said that the increase cannot be justified. “This is a trend that needs to stop,” Dossett, a senior, said. “The growing trend of higher education getting more and more expensive every year is a product of money being pooled in admins’ salaries and in endowments, rather than actually going toward students needs, staff needs, financial aid.” Another TSA member, Karen Ruiz, echoed Dossett’s sentiment, noting that tuition increases have become a fact of life at Tufts. “First-years will be paying almost [$]80,000 by the [2021–2022 academic year],” Ruiz, a first-year, said. “And that’s not to mention how [much first-years] four years ago have had to pay.” The increase should not have a significant impact on the number of students that Tufts can support with financial aid packages, according to Glaser, who noted that the university has a “full-need aid” policy.

KYLE LUI / THE TUFTS DAILY

James Glaser, dean of Arts and Sciences at Tufts, poses for a portrait outside of Sophia Gordon Hall on March 27. “We meet the full demonstrated need of all our undergraduate students,” Glaser said. “Last year, we even adjusted the formula in a way that increased aid packages across the board because of recognition of increased book/materials costs. Our full need policy also means that if a student’s family has a

change in circumstances, their aid is adjusted accordingly.” Dossett, however, said that the university could do more to meet students’ financial need, saying that she knows from students’ see TUITION, page 2

Sack Sackler, calls on Tufts to cut ties with Sackler family by Gil Jacobson and Noah Richter

News Editor and Assistant News Editor

Students and alumni recently formed Sack Sackler, a new student group calling for Tufts to cut its ties with the Sackler family. The group held a meeting on April 3 to begin discussing plans. As part of its ongoing efforts, the group also staged a speak-out at the Cannon on Tuesday evening for members of the Tufts community to voice thoughts, frustrations and personal experiences with the opioid crisis. The first part of the April 3 meeting focused on discussing the general situation and more information about the Sackler family, according to Nathan Foster (LA ’18), a spokesperson for Sack Sackler. The group plans to put pressure on the Tufts administration to make the results of the independent review being carried out by Donald K. Stern public, which was announced in a March 25 message to the Tufts community from University President Anthony Monaco. “[We want] Tufts to fund opioid treatment programs and other ways to pay

Please recycle this newspaper

Sunny 59 / 41

/thetuftsdaily

back survivors for our connections to the Sacklers and then [put] standards in place to prevent future donors from taking advantage of Tufts like this,” Foster said. Julia Zubiago (LA ’18, M ’19), one of the students coordinating Sack Sackler efforts, said the group hopes to spread awareness throughout Tufts’ campuses about this issue. She emphasized the group’s intention of pushing the administration to remove the Sackler name from the Medical School building at 145 Harrison Ave. in Boston and noted the group already has a petition circulating amongst the Tufts community pushing for this and other demands. “This movement was formed [because] it is horrible that Tufts took money from the Sackler family,” Zubiago, an MPH candidate in the School of Medicine, told the Daily in an electronic message. “The Sacklers precipitated the opioid crisis by lying- they told doctors that OxyContin wasn’t addictive when they knew that it was, and profited off the opioid crisis that For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

followed overprescription. For all those who are in recovery, for those who still use opioids, and for those who didn’t survive the crisis, we believe Tufts needs to disaffiliate from the Sackler family.” Foster said that Sack Sackler plans to deliver their petition to the Tufts administration in the near future. “We’re thinking about in what capacity … in particular because our petition, the medical student petition, the [Tufts Community Union (TCU)] Senate resolution [and] the Faculty Senate resolution all call for a fair and transparent investigation,” Foster said. “Which is patently not what is going to happen [given] that the findings of the investigation are going to be kept secret. We are considering delivering it in a way that brings that up.” Zubiago believes it is ridiculous to have a health professions campus named after a family who has caused an “empire of pain.” The health professions campus, however, consists of multiple buildings, schools

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018,  Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com

and institutes, according to Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins. This includes the medical education building and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, which both carry the Sackler name. “In both cases, those naming gifts were given to the University nearly two decades before OxyContin was introduced to the marketplace,” Collins told the Daily in an email. “The University takes the concerns that have been raised very seriously and looks forward to the findings of Attorney Stern’s review.” An email to the Daily from Purdue Pharma Executive Director of Communications Robert Josephson reiterated Purdue’s support for pain research at Tufts, saying that such collaboration between academic and industrial communities is both common and appropriate. “Purdue acted properly at all times in its interactions with Tufts,” Josephson told

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................5 ARTS & LIVING....................... 7

see SACK SACKLER, page 2

FUN & GAMES.........................9 OPINION...................................10 SPORTS............................ BACK


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.