Where You Partly Cloudy Read It First 67/51 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LVI, NUMBER 8 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 TUFTSDAILY.COM Task force drafts declaration on campus speech BY GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO Daily Editorial Board The Task Force on Freedom of Expression, commissioned by University President Lawrence Bacow to craft a school-wide speech policy in the wake of the Primary Source harass- ment scandal, released its first public draft yesterday and requested feed- back from the Tufts community. The draft outlines “a statement of principle” for the university, not a concrete set of guidelines for dealing with free-speech debates, according to Task Force Chair Jeswald Salacuse. It directs members of the Tufts com- munity “to respect the freedom of other community members to inquire and express themselves freely; … to exercise freedom of expression and inquiry in ways that respect the digni- Solar taxi ty of others; and … to create a climate that is conducive to learning and in which all community members … are free from various forms of harassment driver stops and intimidation.” The draft, which the task force will amend after the community provides feedback, seemed to move away from at Tufts some of the directives Bacow gave the group in his charge in January of this year. Swiss schoolteacher Bacow has indicated his support for guaranteeing all First Amendment discusses worldwide journey rights to everyone on Tufts’ campus. He affirmed this in an e-mail to the in solar-powered car Tufts community in the wake of the 2006 Christmas carol parody that ignited concerns about how the uni- versity balances freedom of expres- REBEKAH SOKOL/TUFTS DAILY sion with preventing harassment. B Y MICHAEL DEL MO R O Palmer was able to secure two silicon Louis Palmer, a Swiss schoolteacher, made a The Primary Source, Tufts’ con- Daily Editorial Board batteries valued at $15,000 dollars each, stop at Tufts yesterday as part of his world servative magazine, released the as well as solar panels, thanks to dona- tour in a car powered by solar energy. carol, which many deemed racist, in A car powered completely by the sun tions from the manufacturers; the panels December 2006. The magazine then made a stop at the Fletcher School yester- were produced by Q-Cells AG. This made on solar power. released an article on Islamic funda- day during a global tour promoting electric it possible for Palmer and a team of about The car can travel about 60-66 miles mentalism in April 2007 that many vehicles as a means of alleviating climate 200 people, including Swiss students, to on “a day with good sunshine,” a distance also found offensive. For these pieces, change. manufacture the car in about a year. which Palmer said is adequate considering the Committee on Student Life (CSL) Louis Palmer, a schoolteacher from The vehicle uses solar energy directly that the average North American car covers found the Source guilty of harassment Switzerland, has piloted the “solar taxi” when in drive but can go about 200 miles about 30 miles a day. It uses about 8 to 10 and the creation of a hostile envi- through a 15-month voyage that will on a full charge of the battery, which it kilowatt-hours of electricity for every 100 ronment. The CSL ruled to force the have spanned 28 countries when it enters relies on when sunlight is unavailable. It kilometers (62 miles) and travels at a top Primary Source to attribute all its arti- Canada at the end of the week,. has never been tested during the winter. speed of about 55 miles per hour. cles to authors in the future, but Dean Palmer called the journey unprecedent- Palmer noted that he installed half of Palmer said that his next prototype, of Undergraduate Education James ed. “It’s, in fact, the first time ever in history the solar panels that he received on the car, which will likely not be produced until the Glaser overturned this restriction. He that a solar-powered car has traveled all and the other half on the roof of his home. around the world,” he said. This allows him to charge and run the car see SOLAR, page 2 see TASK FORCE, page 2 Alumni Ambassadors Program to double, increase Tufts’ connection with alumni B Y SA R AH BUT R Y M OWICZ Simoneau, the director of central es that we want, but [would idea to the Tufts advancement on a part-time basis, and a few Daily Editorial Board development programs. rather hear] what they want,” office. The Georgetown pro- recent graduates who inter- Last year, eight ambassadors Simoneau said. “We’re on a gram was created in spring of view full time. All together, the Fresh off a successful launch last conducted 50 interviews, mostly listening tour, so to speak.” 2006. ambassadors average about year, the University Advancement in the Boston area. This year, According to Simoneau, the “It started because George- 1,000 interviews per year. Division’s Student Ambassadors the program will hire at least program borrows ideas “lib- town, like many schools, was Whether Tufts’ program will Program will nearly double in size 15 people, and it is aiming to erally” from a Georgetown thinking about how we can reach the size of its Georgetown this year and conduct four times talk to 200 alumni. University program by the broaden our base,” said Tim counterpart depends in part as many alumni interviews. Simoneau said the inter- same name, a part of that Foley, program manager of on its ability to obtain fund- The advancement office emp- views’ sole purpose is to allow school’s overarching alum- the Discovery Initiative. “You ing. It is continually seeking to loys the student ambassadors alumni to connect with stu- ni outreach program, the have a lot of people that feel expand, Barr said. to interview alumni about their dents and provide feedback. Discovery Initiative. positive about Georgetown,” “First, we’d like to start meet- experiences at Tufts, their per- Ambassadors do not solicit Corey Barr and Nancy but that don’t necessarily have ing with alumni from the dif- spectives on the university’s money or propose new proj- Gram-olini, co-coordinators an ongoing relationship after ferent [graduate] schools [and direction, and their thoughts ects to the alumni. of the Tufts program, heard graduation, he said. to] expand geographically,” he about what Tufts could do to “The bottom line is we don’t the president of Georgetown The Georgetown program said. help alumni remain connected want to dictate to alumni speak about the program at a boasts 60 student ambassa- to the school, according to Chris the programs and messag- conference and presented the dors, who conduct interviews see AMBASSADORS, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections The Coen Brother’s new- For some Jumbos, alco- est, “Burn After Reading,” hol is an integral part of News 1 Op-Ed 9 succeeds thanks to an college life. But for oth- Features 3 Comics 11 all-star cast. ers, it is less appealing. Arts | Living 5Classifieds 12 Editorial | Letters 8 Sports Back see ARTS, page 5 see FEATURES, page 3 2 THE TUF T S DAILY NEWS Tuesday, September 16, 2008 China is leader in solar energy industry SOLAR travel 1.4 million miles, provided that the continued from page 1 land is covered with solar panels and not end of 2009, should be able to reach speeds corn stalks. of up to 155 miles per hour. This should After leaving Switzerland, Palmer trav- bolster its chances in a planned around- eled through Europe, Asia and the United the-world race. States, hosting personalities ranging from Palmer said the car underscores the Jay Leno to U.N. Secretary General Ban increasing viability of innovative, clean Ki-moon in his solar-powered car. energies that can help to reverse the effects During his travels, Palmer observed that of climate change. Germany was the most advanced country “We have the solutions,” he said. “We in terms of voltaic solar panels that are used can stop [the problem] if we want.” for direct electrical energy, while Turkey Sarah Hammond Creighton, the program was the leader in solar thermal panels that director at Tufts’ Office of Sustainability, said are used for heating. in her introduction to Palmer’s remarks that Still, Palmer said that China is at the the vehicle provides a concrete example of forefront of the nascent solar energy indus- energy innovation at work. try, noting a proliferation of new buildings “The efforts of the solar taxi are a phe- there with solar thermal heating on top. nomenal way to get people engaged in “This is the world leader … for new ener- things,” Creighton said. gies,” he said. She pointed to Tufts’ efforts to address China is also the only country to mass climate change with programs such as produce the silicon batteries needed for research on electric cars, an electric lawn- solar cars, an undertaking which is essential mower, and LED lighting systems. She to bring the price of the batteries down. noted that 100 percent of Tufts’ energy Japan barred the solar taxi from entering comes from natural gas and hydropower, the country because of an unresolved dis- resources that she said cut carbon emis- pute originating in World War II that con- sions in half. cerns Swiss-licensed cars, but Palmer said Had Palmer paid for the car himself, it that Japanese car companies are already would have cost him upwards of $60,000 capable of harvesting the benefits of solar dollars, but if mass-produced, the price to power.