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COMMENCEMENT ’08 TV journalist Meredith Vieira, J75, not only delivers the commencement address but receives an honorary doctorate. Other such degrees go to former Tufts executive VP Steven S. Manos, poet Mary Oliver, youth arts organizer Susan Rodgerson, Tufts medical school immunologist Robert S. Schwartz, and health educator and researcher Donald E. Wilson, M62. full story

SCHOOL LOAN HELP The new Tufts Loan Repayment Assistance Program helps graduates working in public service careers repay their education debt. full story

NUTRITION IN UAE The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy is establishing a master’s degree program in Ras al Khaimah, one of the seven United Arab Emirates. “There are unique changes and challenges in the health and lifestyle of the citizens of the Middle Eastern countries,” says Eileen Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School. full story

MORE DOCS FOR MAINE A new partnership between Tufts School of Medicine and Maine’s largest hospital will address the state’s shortage of primary-care physicians. Students on the “Maine track”—which starts in August 2009—will be jointly recruited by the medical school and the Maine Medical Center, in Portland. Twenty of the thirty-six seats will be reserved for Maine residents or those with ties to the state. full story

ENGINEERING IN INDIA Tufts will offer a two-year Master of Science in Engineering Management degree in India that will let professionals continue working. The program will combine online classes, residential programs at Tufts, and visits to India by Tufts faculty. full story

NO EASY EXIT The next U.S. president will have difficulty pulling out of Iraq, Lee Hamilton, the longtime congressman from Indiana and member of the Iraq Study Group, noted at a Tufts conference on the Middle East. “I can guarantee you when they step into the Oval Office, they are going to face an array of foreign policy problems as difficult and challenging as any American president has faced in my lifetime,” he said. full story

HOSPITAL NAME CHANGE Tufts–New England Medical Center has changed its name to Tufts Medical Center, reflecting the hospital’s close relationship with Tufts University. The medical center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. full story

ENEMY OF MY ENEMY In politics, it’s easier to unite against a common foe than toward a common good, the Tufts political scientist Ioannis Evrigenis says in his new book, Fear of Enemies and Collective Action. full story

STOICAL THERAPY Tufts psychiatrist Ronald Pies contends that the Stoics of ancient Greece had it right: by understanding our thinking we can modulate our emotions. That idea is the basis of modern cognitive behavioral therapy, he says. full story

BERRY GOOD A survey of recent research literature by Tufts nutritionists found that cranberries have properties that could be important in helping alleviate cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in America. “There is a compelling body of experimental evidence suggesting a benefit,” says Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidant Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and coauthor of the study that appeared in Nutrition Reviews. full story

MORE NEWS Keep up with all the latest Tufts news and events at news.tufts.edu.