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T he T ufts D aily THE
INDEPENDENT
STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
OF
TUFTS
UNIVERSITY
E S T. 1 9 8 0 Medford/Somerville Mass.
Thursday, September 28, 2023
VOLUME LXXXVI, ISSUE 4
UNIVERSITY
RA union ratifies first contract with university Matthew Sage
Deputy News Editor
Originally published Sept. 27. The United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants voted to sign a union contract in agreement with Tufts University on Sept. 25. The contract signing ends a sevenmonth-long effort that incluwded an organized strike to earn benefits and union representation for the university’s 141 RAs. On Sunday and Monday, 99 RAs, represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153, cast their ballots. 95 RAs voted in favor, while four voted against signing the contract. Under their inaugural contract, RAs will receive 80 meal swipes and a $1,425 stipend per semester worked. RAs are also no longer considered at-will employees,
AARON GRUEN / THE TUFTS DAILY
Resident assistants picket in front of the Joyce Cummings Center on Aug. 29. meaning they now require just cause to be fired by the university. “We’re pleased to have reached agreement on a three-
year contract with the RAs,” Patrick Collins, executive director of public relations at Tufts University, said. “Our
LOCAL
provision of free housing, an annual stipend of $2,850, and 160 free meals a year, as well as other meaningful measures,
is generous and fair. With the union’s ratification of the contract complete, we’re looking forward to working productively with the union as we move ahead implementing the new contract terms.” Senior David Whittingham, an RA for two consecutive years, has worked on the union’s bargaining committee since their first negotiation meeting with the university in February 2023. He voted to accept the contract. “I think we did what we needed to do and we were successful,” Whittingham said. “You never get everything you ask for, but I think that in the end … we won.” According to Whittingham, 70% of Tufts RAs are on financial aid and 70% have to work one or more additional jobs during the academic year. see UNION, page 3
UNIVERSITY
Harvard prof. Serhii Plokhii traces historical path to Ukraine War
Tufts stresses COVID-19 policies amid rise in cases
Arvind Pillai
Estelle Anderson
Serhii Plokhii, the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs’kyi professor of Ukrainian history and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, spoke at the Fletcher School about his new book, “The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History” on Sept. 19. Plokhii discussed the chronology of the war and his process writing the book. “It’s quite clear already … that this is the largest industrial military conflict in Europe since World War II,” Plokhii said. “It’s also the largest in terms of the armies involved, the destruction that is happening as a result of the war, the number of refugees, the number suffering — there is nothing in Europe since 1945 to compare it to but to World War II.” Plokhii explained that he initially had doubts about whether to write a book about history as it was unfolding. “When I was approached by my publisher on [whether or not] I would want to write a book on the war, and that was very early on, it was March, and I said ‘Definitely not’ … for two reasons,” Plokhii
Originally published Sept. 26.
Deputy News Editor
Assistant News Editor
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Serhii Plokhii is pictured in 2015. said. “The first one was just emotional. You can’t comprehend what is going on. The only way I could describe what was going on is criminality. … Another reason why I said ‘no’ was that, as a historian, we are trained to deal with the issues of change and continuity.”
Plokhii originally saw the work of a historian as incompatible with reviewing contemporary events, because in his line of work, “wisdom comes from the fact that we already know the results of the game.”
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see UKRAINE, page 3
This September saw an increase in local COVID-19 cases, according to Tufts medical personnel. Students are highly encouraged to visit the on-campus vaccination clinics that will be offered this fall, in addition to following the university’s COVID19 guidelines. “Cases of COVID-19 are increasing across the US and Massachusetts and our local communities are no exception,” Dr. Michael Jordan, university infection control health director, wrote in an email to the Daily. According to Jordan, while Tufts is no longer reporting the number of COVID-19 cases across its campuses, they are monitoring cases that are self-reported by students, faculty and staff. The United States experienced a slight increase in COVID-19 cases this past summer, which health experts say could signal a potential fall and winter wave. Massachusetts was no exception: in August, the rate of people testing pos-
itive for COVID-19 in the state was 9%, the highest it had been in six months. However, experts emphasize that this uptick remains far below previous resurgences of COVID19, with numbers unlikely to reach the highs of past fall and winter seasons. “The predominant strain E.G.5 … is fairly contagious. It doesn’t seem to be very potent though and since most people are either vaccinated and/or have had COVID, the cases seem to be mostly mild with cold-like symptoms,” Amy Lischko, professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, wrote in an email to the Daily. While there are concerns about the spread of new variants of COVID-19, Lischko added that, based on her knowledge, “the new strains do not seem to be as dangerous … [they are] likely only a problem for people who are immunocompromised.” An email sent to the school community on Sept. 19 announced that Tufts will offer flu and COVID19 vaccination clinics at each one of its Massachusetts campuses, see COVID, page 2
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