What Really Matters

April 1, 2007

With the first days of spring lighting up the Hill, the Observer understands that Tufts students are too busy frolicking on the President’s Lawn to read long-winded editorials. With this in mind, the Editorial Board has decided to make its opinions on the issues short and on point. Here is the Observer’s take on the campus issues that really matter.

Spring Fling

The lineup for the annual Spring Fling concert will be announced on April 6th. The Observer hopes that the concert board will give Busta Rhymes one last chance to perform in front of his fans at Tufts. Inclement weather cancelled his performances in 2003 and 2005; here’s betting that 2007 will be different. To sweeten the deal, the university should make his contract guaranteed. That would surely give Mr. Rhymes the incentive to make it his best performance yet!

Hotung Bar

In the coming weeks the Hotung Bar will open, allowing Tufts students to enjoy a cold beer in the company of friends. The Observer does not understand the rationale behind such a move. There are already plenty of places on campus for Tufts students to drink with the university’s vibrant Greek scene. An on campus bar would only further draw students away from their studies and solidify Tufts’ reputation as a party school. A college campus is meant to be a place of serious, academic study—not some brothel where only primal urges are catered. President Bacow should be ashamed.

Commencement Speaker: Michael Bloomberg

The Observer believes that commencement speakers should be relevant to the lives of Tufts students. The choice of Michael Bloomberg to address the Class of 2007 during commencement is disappointing. Although he is mayor of the largest city in the United States, Mr. Bloomberg lacks the generational voice to truly capture the minds of our graduating class. The only acceptable choice for this years commencement address is former Tufts student Jennifer Bunney, the current star of MTV’s The Hills. The Observer is certain that Ms. Bunney’s on-again, off-again relationship with LC would offer needed insight to Tufts’ students pursuing a future in conflict resolution. Hopefully the administration will learn from its mistakes next May.

March Madness (Or the Lack Thereof)

The lack of madness on campus this March illustrates the need for Tufts athletics to make the leap for Division I. Georgetown University, a premier academic institution, has been able to maintain its rigorous academic standards while fielding a Final-Four bound basketball team; who says Tufts cannot do the same? The university should allocate less money for frivilous programs like the Tisch College or Leonard Carmichael Society and more toward the football and basketball teams. Our relatively small endowment would surely get a boost from proud alumni celebrating a Tufts BCS national football championship and steps should be taken today to ensure success tomorrow. Our university deserves nothing less.

Parental Control

Administrators at Tufts deserve high praise for their implementation of a website devoted to the parents of Tufts students. Most importantly, parents will now have access (with student permission, of course) to grades and other important information pertaining to their son or daughter. The Observer believes that parents should take a more active approach in the lives of their kin at Tufts—helicopter parents are parents that care. “A” grades would be the norm and tomfoolery on campus would cease if parents closely-monitored all parts of their children’s experiences at Tufts. The parental website is a great first step towards this much-needed intervention.

Bon Voyage Michael Snyder

If all goes according to plan, the Observer’s own Michael Snyder will be studying abroad in the fall. Ever since joining the staff in 2005, Mr. Snyder’s insight into the struggles of the common student at Tufts made him one of our most popular columnists. The Observer calls on the Tufts community to pay respects to the writer who has been unafraid to challenge the status quo on the Hill. The debates at Tufts will surely be duller without him next semester.