THE TUFTS DAILY
Rain 43/37
TUFTSDAILY.COM
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
VOLUME LXV, NUMBER 24
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
Energy conference to kick off by
Hunter Ryan
Contributing Writer
changes over time and detailed how parents’ interactions with their children mold brain patterns that develop during young stages of life. She focused on this process for zero to 3-year-olds.
Six panels and numerous other events comprising the eighth annual Tufts Energy Conference will convene this weekend to address issues related to this year’s theme of “Powering Global Energy Security” and the ‘four A’s’ on that theme: “availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability.” Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson (A ’70, F ’71), is scheduled to headline the conference with his keynote address Saturday, flagged by other highprofile speakers like former United States Secretary of Energy Joseph Stanislaw and Susan Tierney, a managing principal of the consulting firm Analysis Group. Other speakers include members of the U.S. Military and individuals from several energy initiatives around the world, according to conference chair Geoffrey Finger, a second-year master’s student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Finger added that he hopes that the event will appeal to more undergraduates this year. “We gather all the Tufts resources together to put this conference together in the hopes of educating the Tufts community as an educational resource and to understand some pressing issues,” Finger said. Conference co-director of marketing Katie Ferrari, a second-year master’s student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said she hopes the conference will foster discus-
see GENDER, page 2
see ENERGY, page 2
Gabriela Ros / The Tufts Daily
Anne Fausto-Sterling, a professor at Brown University, last night in the Ballou Hall Coolidge Room spoke to the Tufts community about her research concerning the biology of sexual identity.
Fausto-Sterling explores controversial gender identity ideas by Stephanie
Haven
Daily Editorial Board
Brown University Professor of Biology and Gender Studies Anne Fausto-Sterling challenged the norms of children’s gender identity in a talk
$50K for professor’s TB research by Justin
McCallum
Daily Editorial Board
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology Bree Aldridge last week received a $50,000 research fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her research on tuberculosis. “I was definitely surprised and very excited,” Aldridge told the Daily in an email. The focus of Aldridge’s research is tuberculosis, a disease she said currently infects a third of the world’s population and kills 1.5 to two million people every year. “We still lack an effective vaccine and rapid treatment and diagnostics for TB,” Aldridge said. “My goal is to use a comprehensive understanding of how mycobacteria survive drug treatment to design rapid and effective drug treatment.” The Sloan fellowship grant lets Aldridge choose how she uses her $50,000 award, according to Nathan Williams, a Sloan Foundation spokesperson. Williams added that the grant can go towards paying a teaching assistant, conference travsee ALDRIDGE, page 2
at Ballou Hall last night, outlining her research on the changing nature of gender in the development process as part of a Women’s Studies Program and Department of Biology event. Fausto-Sterling emphasized that an individual’s concept of gender identity
BlackOut wins top prize at annual Williams step competition by Jenna
Buckle
Daily Editorial Board
All-male step team BlackOut took home first place at Williams College’s annual Steady Steppin’ Forward Step Competition this Saturday. The victory follows the team’s secondplace finish at last year’s show, according to BlackOut co-captain Drew NuñezBibby. The team has garnered a total of five wins in the past eight years performing at Williams. “I’m definitely pleased with the group’s overall performance,” BlackOut co-captain Groom Dinkneh said. “We gave them the best we could possibly offer, and the crowd really enjoyed it.” The competition pitted BlackOut against teams from four other northeastern schools, including Siena College, the University at Albany-SUNY, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and State University of New York at New Paltz. A panel of judges affiliated with Williams graded the performances, Nuñez-Bibby, a senior, said. “This is the only show that we definitely do every year, and it’s almost become a staple of the BlackOut experience,” he said. “It’s big in that it’s almost traditional.” BlackOut put on a 10-minute show consisting of about six short skits that drew from both old and new material, Nuñez-Bibby said.
Inside this issue
Courtesy Jeneeta Howe
BlackOut earned the first place award at the annual Steady Steppin’ Forward Step Competition, hosted by Williams College, this past weekend. “Rarely is perfection reached, so coming up with new stuff is always very time consuming, but revamping old stuff is always fun and a little bit more manageable,” he said. The team even performed skits based
on the “Harlem Shake” craze and a commercial from the Super Bowl, Dinkneh, a senior, added. “We try to incorporate everyday things see BLACKOUT, page 2
Today’s sections
Kanye West’s stop in Paris was engaging and exciting depite an abrupt ending.
Macaroons and tiramisu make Mike’s Pastry a sweet stop in the North End.
see ARTS, page 5
see ARTS, page 5
News Features Arts & Living Editorial
1 3 5 8
Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports
9 12 13 Back