Themes
Tufts Hackathon Success
Posted by Amelia Cohen in App, Blogs, Students, Technology on February 27, 2013
This past weekend was the first annual Tufts Hackathon. Teams of students gathered to create various programs in only 24 hours.
From the Music Machinery Blog
Two participants, Barbara Duckworth and Jennie Lamere, joined up to create a program that would give its user movie suggestions based on its sound track. Basically, users could put in their favorite artists and the program would suggest a movie that had a soundtrack with similar sounding music. After working hard on their program all night long, Barbara and Jennie received the rookie award which was for the best project by a team with a majority freshman and no upperclassmen.
From the Music Machinery Blog
For more information about their work, visit Barbara’s blog post.
For more information on The Hackathon in general, visit their website.
Crisis Mapper – Patrick Meier
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Active Citizenship, International, Students, Technology, The Fletcher School, Video on February 25, 2013
Patrick Meier, a Ph.D. candidate at The Fletcher School, recently starred in a video inspired by the work of the Standby Volunteer Task Force (SBTF).
SBTF group includes 1000+ digital humanitarians in more than 80 countries around the world. They are responsible for some of the important live crisis mapping operations that support humanitarian and human rights organizations. Crisis mapping involves monitoring use of information communications in conflict and disaster areas in order to improve response. SBTF is committed to rapid learning and innovation as well as creative uses of technology due to their dedicated volunteers, Mapsters.
Check out this short video about Meier and SBTF that first aired on National Geographic Television Channel.
For more information visit Meier’s blog here.
Jumbo Noms
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Social Media, Student Experience, Students on February 22, 2013
Welcome to campus Jumbo Noms! Jumbo Noms is a snack delivery service for those who are bored with the same old vending machine food. The service was started by two seniors who felt frustrated by the lack of late night food options and long delivery times. Their menu has more than 30 items as well as a few special deals, which include pre-arranged snack packs.
You can follow Jumbo Noms on Twitter and friend them on Facebook for more information.
Tufts Does the Harlem Shake
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Student Experience, Students, Video on February 21, 2013
The first Harlem Shake video went viral in early February and since then countless groups – from students to companies to puppies – have remade their own versions of this internet meme. All over Tufts campuses various Tufts students have been contributing to this latest craze.
Check out these two Tufts Harlem Shake videos:
Welcome to Twitter, Dean of Student Affairs Office!
Posted by Veronica Richter in Faculty, Social Media, Staff, Student Experience on February 20, 2013
The Dean of Student Affairs is the office responsible for keeping students safe and supported. Those on the hill all know Dean Bruce Reitman, whether it’s through his friendly emails or personal chats.
The office’s website offers an array of resources for students as well as explanations of the many ways they can come to students’ aid. They recently took their communications efforts a step further by joining Twitter.Their feed contains relevant news for students: events and alerts, as well as the office’s commentary on day-to-day life on the hill.
Check them out and give them a follow – they’ll fill your newsfeed with lots of sassy, Jumbo fun!
Why Tufts Dental?
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Alumni, School of Dental Medicine, Student Experience, Students, Video on February 19, 2013
Meghann Dombroski, D10, has quite a few reasons why she chose Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. But she may say it best when she notes, “The feeling I got when I interviewed here, I instantly felt at home.”
Each year, about 180 students join Tufts Dental School from all over the country. Located in Boston, the school offers a wide variety of programs including endodontics, periodontology, general dentistry and public health and community service.
In the video below, Meghann talks in detail about why and how she chose Tufts:
For Me For Me Formidable
Posted by Amelia Cohen in International, Student Experience, Video on February 15, 2013
Tufts in Talloires is a summer program offered for Tufts students to spend six weeks in the beautiful French alps studying a variety of subjects including botany, literature, language and international relations.
The students live with French host families as part of a homestay experience. Living with a family is a great way to experience and appreciate everyday French life, culture, authentic cuisine and French customs.
Check out this a video of the Tufts in Talloires Priory Staff practicing “For Me For Me Formidable” to perform at the Host Family Talent Show and Reception:
House of Cards
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Alumni, International, The Fletcher School, Video on February 11, 2013
Looking for a new show to watch? Netflix’s new original series, House of Cards, is actually based on a book with the same name by Fletcher alum Michael Dobbs, F72, F77. Dobbs published House of Cards in 1989, as the first of a trilogy and in the early 90′s all three novels were turned into a BBC miniseries.
Dobbs attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and graduated with an M.A., M.A.L.D, and PhD in nuclear defense studies. A native of England, he returned there after graduation and became involved in government as a member of the Conservative Party. He later became a a full-time writer.
Check out the trailer for the American adapted House of Cards:
For more interesting Fletcher tidbits, visit here.
TuftsLife, New and Improved
Posted by Veronica Richter in Blogs, Student Experience, Students, Technology, Web on February 8, 2013
The TuftsLife Team recently released a statement on their blog excitingly announcing the secret makeover and the upcoming release of an all-new TuftsLife site.
The new site will be equipped with responsive design, a technology that automatically fits the size of the site to the size of whatever screen it’s being viewed on, allowing readers to enjoy TuftsLife on their laptops, phones, and tablets. The site will also include a new apps section to highlight Tufts apps like JoeyTracker and BookSwap as well as a more organized structure for viewers to “get the stuff you want at a glance and be able to dig deeper for more useful stuff.”
If you’re interested in being involved in the exciting re-launching of the beloved Tufts site, contact officers@tuftslife.com and check out the TuftsLife blog.
App Your Way to Healthy Eating
Posted by Amelia Cohen in Alumni, App, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Technology, Web on February 7, 2013
Photo: iTunes
Taylor Salinardi, N12, has launched Bon’App, an app for Android and iPhone and on a website, that provides simple but necessary nutrition guidance.
It is a health app, that unlike many of the existing apps, goes far beyond just bringing up a nutrition label. Bon’App gives extremely detailed information on every food possible but does so in straightforward and easily understandable language. Furthermore, it allows users to personalize the information they receive based on individual health goals, restrictions and preferences.
The app works by using a strong visual: a battery that depletes as an individual consumes less-healthy items and also changes color from green to yellow to red. For protein and fiber, the battery starts empty and fills up as the individual eats towards the recommended amount of these items.
For more information about Salinardi and her app, check out this Friedman School blog post.