THE TUFTS DAILY Est
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Where You Partly Cloudy Read It First 58/44 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 34 THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 TUFTSDAILY.COM In fundraising effort, BUILD keeps midterm studiers awake Somerville schools, Tufts respond to bullying laws BY CORINNE SE G AL needed for them to be effective. Daily Editorial Board Massachusetts schools were required to submit their plans to Continued anti-bullying efforts combat bullying under the new on the part of Somerville public law to the state this December for schools and the Tufts commu- approval, according to Somerville nity are coinciding with hearings Public Schools’ Director of led by Massachusetts Attorney Student Services Richard Melillo. General Martha Coakley to review Approximately 98 percent of the state’s new anti-bullying law. school districts met the state cri- Massachusetts Gov. Deval teria, he said. Patrick (D) last May signed “Everyone’s bullying plan is into effect the bill titled “An Act probably a little different, prob- Relative to Bullying in Schools,” ably a little tweaked to their which requires Massachusetts community, but it has to fall in primary and secondary schools line with the state mandates,” to develop bullying prevention Melillo said. plans and offer curricula on bul- The new legislation, he said, lying. was spurred by several incidents The two hearings last month in which young Massachusetts contributed to the aims of a students, most famously 11-year- JUSTIN MCCALLUM/TUFTS DAILY commission chaired by Coakley old Carl Walker-Hoover of Student members of Building Understanding through International Learning and Development (BUILD) last that is charged with reviewing Springfield in 2009 and 15-year- night delivered coffee to late-night studier sophomore Weilin Mun. All this week, the group is distributing cof- the existing laws and deciding fee and tea ordered via Facebook as a fundraiser to support its trips to Guatemala and India this summer. whether additional legislation is see CYBER BULLYING, page 2 Somerville laborers, residents protest nonunion worksite BY BRENT YARNELL a portion of the project to a nonunion Daily Editorial Board contractor, because that stipulation is not legally binding. Somerville union workers and residents “‘Encouraged’ means ‘encouraged,’” he engaged in a contracting dispute with a said. “It is, by definition, nonbinding.” private realty company have over the past Somerville Board of Aldermen President few weeks picketed and rallied at the con- Rebekah Gewirtz told the Daily that the struction site of a proposed housing com- aldermen nevertheless expect KSS to plex about a mile east of Davis Square, respect the 2007 agreement. claiming that the company has violated “The members of the board feel really promises to the city of Somerville that they strongly that when there’s this kind of lan- would hire local union workers. guage in the covenant, it should be hon- The dispute started late last year, when ored,” she said. “There’s a certain level of KSS Realty Partners awarded the contract frustration that an acceptable outcome to develop the first condominiums on the hasn’t been met.” site, the former location of a MaxPak paper KSS Realty will on Friday meet with factory, to a nonunion contractor. the Boston Building Trades union, one of Somerville resident and union orga- the unions involved in the dispute, KSS nizer Rand Wilson said that in doing so, Director of Acquisitions Ted Tobin told KSS violated an agreement it signed with the Daily. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone in Wilson said the campaign against KSS COURTESY THE OFFICE OF SEN. JOHN KERRY 2007 that said the city would “encour- would continue until Tobin signs a proj- Participants of Somerville-headquartered YouthBuild pose with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), age” the Boston-based developer to hire ect labor agreement guaranteeing that the who has long supported the national program. union workers. company would hire union workers and City of Somerville Spokesperson establish universal-standards labor hiring Michael Meehan said KSS is in full com- Somerville-based YouthBuild pliance with the covenant, despite selling see MAXPAK, page 2 gets $1.1-million grant UEP thesis student doubles as second- BY GABRIELLE HERNANDEZ The grant, along with funding from Daily Staff Writer democracy-promotion organization youngest Mass. state representative Open Society Foundations, will help YouthBuild USA, a national nonprofit YouthBuild expand its efforts through BY MARIE SCHOW along with parts of Sutton and Uxbridge. headquartered in Somerville, was last its education initiative, which attempts Contributing Writer Justin Hollander, Fattman’s advisor month the recipient of a $1.1 million to funnel participants toward college and an assistant professor at UEP, praised grant that will allow it to double the completion, YouthBuild Vice President State Rep. Ryan Fattman (R-Worcester), his ability to balance his work in both the number of young people benefiting from for Asset Development Charles Clark who is also a Tufts graduate student in the academic and political realms. its Postsecondary Education Initiative. told the Daily. Urban Environmental Policy and Planning “He has a real strength working in YouthBuild helps low-income youth The money will increase the num- (UEP) program, is at age 24 serving as teams,” Hollander said. “Ryan was a who have dropped out of the education ber of YouthBuild participants to over the second-youngest representative in the strong student and a gifted leader.” system to pass their General Education 1,000 participants nationwide from its Massachusetts House of Representatives. Fattman lists promoting lower taxes Development (GED) exams and devel- current 500 and boost the number of Fattman in January was sworn in to for the disabled and working mothers op marketable job skills through con- local branches of the initiative. the House as a Republican representative among his goals in the House, he said. struction of low-income housing. Peter Levine, research director for the 18th Worcester District after in “You can really make a difference if you The national philanthropy fund New of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of November beating four-term Democratic choose to get involved,” Fattman said. Profit selected YouthBuild to receive the Citizenship and Public Service, said incumbent Jennifer Callahan. He now Fattman added that he is aiming to money through the Social Innovation YouthBuild’s efforts at promoting post- represents residents of the Bellingham, Fund of the federal Corporation for Millville and Blackstone communities, see FATTMAN, page 2 National and Community Service. see YOUTHBUILD, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections Take advantage of Using household trash, News 1 Editorial | Letters 8 Boston’s roots and cel- B.E.A.T.s ironically ebrate St. Patrick’s Day keeps Tufts’ music Features 3 Op-Ed 9 with a hearty dose of scene fresh. Comics 4 Classifieds 10 Irish spirit. Weekender 5Sports Back see FEATURES, page 3 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUF T S DAILY NEWS Thursday, March 17, 2011 UEP grad student, a state representative, cites ‘broad, open perspective’ on the Hill FATTMAN “I really admire Ryan Fattman’s courage continued from page 1 and leadership,” he said, adding that Tufts’ rework Massachusetts’ policy toward ille- commitment to innovative thinking and gal immigrants to cease the provision of public service was a key element in both of benefits “for people who should not be in their careers. this country.” As the ranking Republican “That sort of Tufts problem-solving has on the Public Service Committee, he is served me well, and I think it will serve charged with addressing public employees’ Ryan well,” Winslow said. salaries and retirement, as well as collective Fattman began his career in politics bargaining among state employees. as a member of the Town of Sutton “We need to equal the playing field,” Board of Selectmen in 2006, at the urg- he said of legislation he signed earlier ing of members of the Sutton commu- this month that would limit unions’ col- nity, he said. lective-bargaining measures. Fattman In the election he won one of the is also currently working to rewrite the two open seats with 70 percent of the pension plan for House representatives, vote, becoming the youngest selectman he said. in Sutton history. Fattman, who will complete his thesis “It was something I never expected to this summer, served as the Residential happen,” Fattman, who is currently serv- Director of Lewis Hall in 2009. He was liv- ing his third term on the Board, said. ing on campus when, in January of that After his second re-election to the Board year, President Barack Obama took office. of Selectmen, a former member of the “It was a very politically charged cam- Board advised Fattman to run for the pus when I was there,” he said, adding office at the state level, he said. The race that he was surprised to find how unique against Callahan became prickly at times, his conservative political leanings were he remembered. while he was still on campus and working Fattman in June during the campaign DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY on his degree. wrote an op-ed criticizing his opponent for Cyber bullying, a problem increasing with the growth of anonymous websites, has recently “Tufts is a pretty liberal school. I consid- her lobbyist funding as well as her salary as come under scrutiny by a university task force composed of students and faculty. ered myself moderate, and I got to Tufts, a representative. and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I’m a right- “That’s where the race started getting a wing nut-job,’” Fattman said. little testy,” Fattman said. Callahan orga- Local schools align with bullying laws; Following his service in the House, he nized a rally in a nearby town where par- has tentative plans to branch out to other ticipants, including Fattman’s third-grade Tufts considers cyber bullying measures fields beyond government, adding that his teacher, held protest signs, one of which Tufts education has served him well.