Where You Read It First Wintry Mix 45/35 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 60 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009 TUFTSDAILY.COM Wallis resigns from Sternberg to step down Senate to study abroad Dean of arts and sciences leaving after five-year term BY MATT REPKA nation privately to the TCU BY MATT REPKA Daily in an e-mail. Sternberg’s Daily Editorial Board Senate following the body’s Daily Editorial Board five-year term as dean of arts final meeting of the semester and sciences ends on June 30. Junior Sam Wallis has on Sunday. On the occasion of his 60th In addition to continuing his resigned from his seat in “I finally decided that I did birthday, Dean of Arts and research, Sternberg plans to the Tufts Community Union not want to miss the opportu- Sciences Robert Sternberg yes- revise the newest edition of a (TCU) Senate, he announced nity of learning in a different terday announced that he plans cognitive psychology textbook publicly last night. part of the world,” Wallis said to step down from his position he authored and is starting a In a writ- in his statement. He will study at the end of June. new book project, in addition ten state- in Israel next semester. In an e-mail to the Tufts com- to his six books currently in the ment, Wallis Wallis told the Daily last munity announcing his deci- process of publication. explained that night that he stayed on this sion, Sternberg detailed his He also announced that he as far back as semester in order to continue plans to devote more time to and his wife, Karin, with whom last spring’s his work on various projects. his involvement in professional he has co-authored several psy- TCU elections, Tufts’ Election Commission associations and to his research chology works, are expecting a he had wrestled will conduct a special election in psychology, but remained child. with the pros- in January to fill his spot. noncommittal about plans to University President Lawrence pect of studying abroad dur- He said he is open to the continue teaching in the future. Bacow praised Sternberg’s ten- ing the spring 2010 semes- possibility of running for “I have greatly enjoyed being ure at the university. “Under his ter. He has decided to follow another Senate spot upon dean but it was time for me to watch we have made important that path, and therefore can- his return. “I haven’t thought move on in my life, whether strides in admissions, financial DAILY FILE PHOTO not serve on the Senate next about senior year,” Wallis to another administrative posi- aid, teaching and the curricu- Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert semester. tion or to full-time teaching and Sternberg plans to step down after Wallis declared his resig- see WALLIS, page 2 research,” Sternberg told the see STERNBERG, page 2 his five-year term ends this summer. Coakley wins With an eye toward Democratic Senate outreach, Hillel nomination Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley last night won the adds position Democratic nomination for the late Edward Kennedy’s vacant U.S. Senate BY CARA PALEY seat, beating three other contenders Daily Staff Writer in an election marked by paltry voter participation. Tufts Hillel has added to its ranks this On the Republican side, State year Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg as its senior Senator Scott Brown (LA ’81) ran Jewish educator, a new position that is part away with 89 percent of the vote, of a nationwide initiative to engage more beating his lone opponent, Jack Jewish students on college campuses. Robinson. The role of a senior Jewish educator is to As expected, turnout was gener- forge connections with students who are ally low across the state, with elec- interested in embracing their Jewish roots, tion officials reporting a 10 percent but who have not found a niche within the turnout in Boston and similar figures on-campus Hillel organization, according in the rest of the state. to Ruttenberg. Freshman Steve Goeman, a vol- “Tufts Hillel is one of the best Hillels in unteer for the Coakley campaign, the country,” Ruttenberg said. “But one and junior Michael Hawley, who mothership can’t be everything to every- served as president of the Tufts body. Some students haven’t found their Republicans last year, both said that the results were unsurprising — see HILLEL, page 2 though Goeman said that Coakley’s LAURA HILL/TUFTS DAILY The LGBT center is co-sponsoring a panel on religion and homosexuality tonight. margin was unexpectedly large. The attorney general captured 47 percent of the vote; her closest chal- At event, panel plans to examine various lenger, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, garnered just 28 percent. religious views on homosexuality “She won by a pretty substan- tial margin that I don’t think was BY EMMA GOLDSTEIN by a question and answer session. expected,” Goeman said. “I thought Daily Staff Writer The intention is for the panelists it would be a little closer.” to speak as religious experts rather The general consensus is that Local religious leaders from the than to present personal opinions on Brown will face an uphill challenge Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim the subject. “What the chaplains are in the Jan. 19 general election to fill and Buddhist traditions will discuss saying at the panel are not their own Kennedy’s seat, given Massachusetts’ the intersection between religion and opinions,” Field said. “They are acting largely Democratic leanings. homosexuality at a panel tonight. as experts.” “It’s a deeply blue state and it’s The panel, which will take place at Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the senior Kennedy’s seat, which means that 6 p.m. in the Interfaith Center, is the Jewish educator at Tufts Hillel and the Republicans are going to have a culminating event in a semester-long one of the panel’s speakers, did not really tough time,” Hawley said. series of film screenings and discus- think that panelists would have trou- Still, he believes that the sions on religion and sexuality that ble maintaining objectivity. “I am per- Republican has a credible stake in senior Elizabeth Field and LGBT Center fectly capable of separating what I the race. “Coakley comes across a Director Tom Bourdon organized. think and what I know is going on,” she bit as an everyday, ladder-climbing The first part of the panel will fea- said. politician, whereas Brown is quite a ture a discussion in which LGBT Center According to Alexander Watling, a bit more charismatic,” Hawley said. graduate intern Clayton Harmon, who sophomore intern at the LGBT Center, “I think he has a chance but he has will moderate the discussion, will pose the aim is to “foster an event where his work cut out for him.” SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY questions that probe the panelists on there could be a candid and very open Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is filling Tufts Hillel’s their respective religions’ position on — by Ellen Kan new senior Jewish educator position. homosexuality. This will be followed see LGBT, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections Butler University filed Ted Leo and the News 1 Op-Ed 9 a lawsuit against a stu- Pharmacists drove dent after he criticized their message home on Features 3 Comics 10 an administrator in a Saturday night with a Arts & Living 5Sports 11 blog post. singeing performance. Editorial | Letters 8 Classifieds 15 see FEATURES, page 3 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Sternberg will not pursue In Hillel’s new position, rabbi attempts to second five-year term as dean engage more Jewish students STERNBERG instituting a minor in leadership HILLEL opportunities for student students’ lives in the context of continued from page 1 studies, according to University continued from page 1 involvement, he believed many Jewish culture. lum while also strengthening Provost and Senior Vice scene. The idea is to have some- Jewish students have not found “We use a Jewish lens on the support for faculty scholarship,” President Jamshed Bharucha. one on campus who can facili- their place at the center. He thus stuff they’re already thinking Bacow said in an e-mail to the Bharucha sent his own e-mail tate the Jewish experience based brought the position to campus about and struggling with,” she Daily. “Tufts is a better place to the university shortly after on what they want to have.” as a means of engaging a larger said. because of his leadership.” Sternberg made his announce- Hillel’s international parent sector of the Jewish on-campus Hillel’s parent organization Sternberg is one of the most ment, thanking the dean for his organization created the senior population. has embarked on other efforts prominent names in the field contributions to Tufts in both Jewish educator position two The hope, he said, was for to connect with students who of psychology. He has gained his capacities as an administra- years ago as part of a nation- the center to become a resource have not found a haven in their renown for his research in the tor and as a faculty member. al Hillel movement to provide “not just to the students who are respective campus Hillel. In line areas of human intelligence and “The best part of being dean Jewish students with more indi- very actively involved, but also to with its creation of the Jewish thought and developed the tri- has been working and inter- vidual attention and resources, students who have Jewish ques- education position, the organi- archic theories of intelligence acting with the people — the according to Jeff Rubin, associ- tions and concerns and don’t zation also designed the Campus and love, which describe the students, faculty, and staff,” ate vice president of communi- necessarily, for any number of Entrepreneurs Initiative and underlying elements of these Sternberg said.