APA Holds Vigil to Protest Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Tufts/NEC
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THETUFTS DAILY IWhere You Read It First Friday, November 5,1999 Volume XXXIX, Number 40 I APA holds vigil to protest hate crimes against Asian Americans by ERIKAGULLYSANTlAGO “The purpose of the candles In most ofthe cases that were read, Daily Staff Writer you are holding is to remember the assailants were either given Despite the cold November Asian Americans who have been minimal sentences or not pros- weather Wednesday night, over victims ofhate crimes overlooked ecuted at all. 40 students gathered at the cam- by the media and the govern- “This is the first time we’vehad pus center patio to participate in a ment,” she said. “We need to get avigillikethisand it’sreallyawe- vigil sponsored by the Asian Pa- people’s attention about what has some to see people coming out to cific Americans (APA). The pur- happened to all victims of hate support it,” Poon said. Lee ex- pose of the vigil, coordinated by crimes, those reported and unre- pressed similar sentiments. seniors Serena Poon and Romana ported.” “The Asian-American commu- Lee, and junior Eric Lam, was to After the candles were lit, the nityneedstoknowthatthese crimi- commemorate Asian-American group silently made their way to nal acts shouldn’t be accepted as Photo by Amy Scallon victims ofhate crimes. Goddard Chapel, where several a normal part of life in America. The Gantcher Center can house up to 6,000 people for large After an introductory address students read accounts of hate We, as a community, need to take events. on the patio, candles were handed crimes that have occurred over the further steps to assure safety and out to all students in attendance, -pastten years. Each story involved liberty to all US residents,” she a ritual that Poon explained to the a person or people of different said. New Gantcher Center demonstrators. backgrounds, ages, and genders. A hate crime is defined as any act of intimidation, to open on Mondav vandalism, assault 4, or murder directed byKEWNBLANKFELD by the Chase Gym, which was against an indi- Daily Staff Writer completed two years ago. vidual on the basis The Gantcher Family Sports The long-awaited third step is of his race, creed, and Convocation Center, located the $9 million, 70,000-square-foot gender, or sexual ori- between the Hamilton Pool and Gantcher complex, which houses a entation. Asof 1998, the Eliot Pearson Child Center near 200-meter track and four competi- there were over 500 Cousens Gym, is scheduled to tion tennis courts. Tufts’ teams will hate groups operat- open for student use beginning use the track and tennis courts for ing in the United Nov. 8. A dedication ceremony indoor competition during the win- States. In July of andanevening black-tieeventwill ter season. The center also accom- 1999,theUS Senate take place today in honor of the modatesup to6,OOO people for large passed the Hate cente r . events. Crimes Prevention “The center is part of a master According to Gehling, the Act which, if ap- plan for expansion and renovation Gantcher Center is supposedto pro- proved by the of the indoor facilities which be- vide an indoor space for sports that House of Represen- gan back in 1989,” said Athletic formerly had to practice outdoors. tatives, would ex- Director William Gehling. “[The Gantcher Center] is sup- pand federal juris- The new Gantcher Center is posed to work as a full netting diction over hate one step in the ongoing expansion system-different groups will be crimes by allowing of Tufts’ training centers. The first Photo by Daniel ROdfigUeS the federal able to use it at the same time,” Asian Americans gathered on the campus center patio to speak out against merit to prosecute significant change to the indoor Gehling said. facilities was the addition of the The Gantcher Center will not hate crimes. perpetrators. Lunder Fitness Center, followed only expand opportunities for sports teams to practice, but also will expand intramural opportuni- Tufts/NEC program’s future is secure ties and be used by the community byMAlTHEWKANE Associate Dean Jeanne Dillon, spending on your art,” she said. NECpartnership. Forthe firsttime at large. Although construction for the new center is mostly on Senior Staff Writer the NEC liaison at Tufts and the “The NEC decided they did like ever, one of those students, Sarah The future of the New England advisor for undeclared double-de- the idea of an affiliation with a Fuller, will be living on the NEC schedule, the roadwork is slightly Conservatory (NEC) seems to be in gree students, concurred with liberal arts institution. They felt, campus, instead of at Tufts. Fuller behind due to ashortage of funds. good hands, as the school accepted Klein and disputed the rumors. and we agree, it brings a certain isTufts’firstharpmajorandher71- The current plan for the center seven membersthisyear, two more “Absolutely not, not for a sec- richness to their own institution.” pound harp is too heavy to trans- hasbeendownpdedhmtheorigi- than usual, bringing the total num- ond,” she said. concerning a pos- Only about five students are ac- portto andfiom Tufts several times nal plan, which includedan addition tothe front leftofthe fieldhousethat ber of students Isible end to the cepted into the program each a week. Fuller and the other new involved in the -Tufts/NEC year. These students must apply freshmen bring the total number of would have held conferencerooms, joint double-de- double-degree and be accepted to both institu- NECstudentstoaround35, which, lockers, and Athletic Department gree Tufts pro- program. “I don’t tions. “Some years back,” Dillon according to Klein is “middle ofthe offices. AccordingtoGehling, how- ever, these changes could easily be gram to 3 5. know where these said, “a decision was made to road as far as enrollment through The contin- rumors come cap the enrollment at around five the years.” made in the future. ued popularity from .” students who matriculate every The program takes five years to “[The center] is built in such a of the program Started in 1977 year.” complete, and the students must way we can add segments to it - seems to dispel under the direc- This year there were seven we could raise more money if we wanted to. At this point we’re re- rumors of the tion ofthen-Tufts reshmen accepted into the Tufts/ see NEC, page 2 program’s de- President Jean assessing our plans,” he said. mise that have Mayer, the Tufts/ circulated NEC double-de- Medical professional lectures on Cuban through both gree program has health care system campuses over offered serious Cuba’s Director of Medical Cooperation for the Ministry of Public Health spoke at Tufts about the the past several music students Cuban health care system as part of a four-lecture series given at Boston schools. years. ‘‘I have the rare opportu- Dr. Alfredo Portero Urquizo spoke Tuesday to a crowd of mostly Community Health students on heard rumors in nity to reap the “Cuba’s outstandinghealth care system, praised by the UN the past that the benefits of a program may Photo by Daniel Rodrigues broad liberal arts and the World Health Organization,” explained Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir of the Romance Languages department. come toaclose,” Cindy Chang education and Kaiser-Lenoir organized and translated the lecture. said Klein, dean of students at train at a professional music con- Jim “Health care in a country depends on the political will,” the NEC. “[But serious] sugges- servatory. Portero Urquizo said. “It is not only that health is a right of tions that the program might come Dillon explained the unique- the Cuban citizen, but that health is an obligation of the to a close I have never heard. ness of the Tufts/NEC program. Cuban state.” think there have been times “There are not many ofthese [pro- “I Portero Urquizo outlined the Cuban health care system’s when there were fewer students in grams] that are comparableto what structure and also highliglited promising statistics of life the progr?m and people were wor- we have here. Most of the time expectancy and childmortality. riid at that point that the program when you are dealing with a con- Before taking questionsfrom the audience, Portero Urquizo was winding down,” Klein said. servatory like the NEC, they However, theNEC remains firmly haven’t attached themselves to spoke proudly of Cuba’s achievements in life expectancy, which rival life expectancy in the US despite Cuba’s much supportive of the program. “The ,any institution,” she said. smaller health care budget, which is only one-twentieth of double-degree program has been “[Many conservatories] feel an Awerica’s expenditure. a tremendously successful pro- intrusion of anything other than Photo by Jacob Silberberg gram forusand we’redefinitely in their art is not good because [they Dr. Alfredo Portero Urquizo -Jacob Silberberg support of it.” are] sacrificing time you could be 2 THETUFTS DAILY November 5,1999 The Daily Weekend Weather Forecast Today Saturday Sunday Nursing aides decry low pay, understaffing Partly Cloudy, 65 Partly Cloudy, 60 Partly Cloudy, 48 at Senate hearing Andrew Freedman, the Daily’s esteemed Washington Correspondent, fled D.C. for the weekend without delivering his usual foolproof weather report. Rumor WASHINGTON-A congressional hearing heated upthis week has it that Freedman has returned home for his brother’s bar mitzvah, exemplify- when 73-year-old Beth Ferris, quaveringwith rage, asked those in the lacked Senate chamber to stand up if they shared her anger about ing where his true priorities lie. Apparently, a little Hava Nagilah and ow pay and understaffing at nursing homes. About half the audi- Manischewitz were more important than providing his critical service to the Tufts :nce rose and clapped.