Where You Mostly Sunny Read It First 32/25 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXVIV, NUMBER 6 THURsday, JANUARY 29, 2015 TUFTSDAILY.COM #TuftsBlizzard TUDS keeps dining halls open in blizzard by Melissa Kain required to stay overnight, many Assistant News Editor employees choose to do so, and employees are encouraged to During the recent blizzard plan ahead for possible winter that prompted the university storms. Workers are provided to cancel classes and close with air mattresses and “Comfort buildings for two days, Tufts Kits” containing toiletries such as students discovered that both shampoo, soap and toothpaste. dining halls would stay open According to Chef Manager despite the closures of other Joann Pulsford, about university buildings. According 10 employees stayed at to Director of Dining and Dewick-MacPhie and six at Business Services, Patti Klos, Carmichael. Employees sleep many Dining Services employ- in the dining hall conference ees stayed overnight to ensure rooms on cots and air mat- that Carmichael Dining Center tresses and are able to use and Dewick-MacPhie Dining dining hall locker rooms to Center were able to continue to shower, she explained. serve students during storms. “It is their decision. We don’t Klos explained that din- force anybody to stay if they don’t ing employees are designat- want to … If they decide to stay, ed “Essential” to the Tufts com- we have a certain amount of emer- munity and are required to work gency supplies,” Pulsford said. during weather-related emer- EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY gencies. Although they are not see DINING, page 2 Sledders using kayak slide down the President’s Lawn on Jan. 27. Ordinance to rezone Sorority recruitment numbers fluctuate Somerville submitted amid increased diversity efforts by Eeman Malik Teele,” he said. by Emma Steiner ter, according to Sengstack. and transparent about what is Assistant News Editor Proakis added that Davis Daily Staff Writer Sengstack credits the going on,” Sengstack said. Square’s regulations have increased numbers of stu- Director of Programming The City of Somerville is remained constant. Sorority recruitment is dents participating in recruit- Neena Kapur added anoth- being rezoned for the first “In Davis, you can do a experiencing an upward trend, ment to the Panhellenic er perspective to the mat- time in 24 years, according four-story building, though with 310 potential new mem- Council’s recent efforts to make ter. According to her, the to George Proakis, the city’s Davis isn’t much different bers going through recruit- Greek life more accessible for a Panhellenic Council is aware director of planning. Proakis from what it was before,” ment this semester, accord- wider variety of people. that diversity issues are not will be leading the rezoning he added. “And then on ing to Panhellenic Director “We are focusing on issues being addressed, and plans project, which was submitted the eastern side of the city, of Recruitment Victoria like LGBTQ women in Greek to take significant action to to the city’s Board of Aldermen which is mainly an industrial Sengstack. But although life and how we can make that change that this semester. for approval on Jan. 20. area and where the Green recruitment is up, the total easier and having those neces- “There is an image that Proakis explained that there Line is going to have a stop number of new members is sary conversations. We are also sororities are white, wealthy is a significant need for in the future, there will be down, with about 48 new focusing on making recruitment and heterosexual, and we real- change because, although the significant transformation.” members per sorority, making more financially feasible. The ized this past semester that city’s goals and technology According to Proakis, the the average number of women attitude has changed to being have changed over the years, building types will reflect the in sororities now 161 per chap- much more open and honest see GREEK LIFE, page 2 many places haven’t changed current structure of build- since the 1920s. ings that are already stand- “Fundamentally, we are ing in each neighborhood. doing the rezoning to bring “All the building types are the city’s rules and regu- going to be based on the mea- lations surrounding land surements of existing build- development to match the ings, on … what we like about comprehensive plan, and to those buildings and about make sure we can achieve how they work or don’t work,” our city-wide goals,” Proakis he said. “Understanding what told the Daily. works to make something fit Proakis said that his the character of what sur- team hopes to implement a rounds it is important.” new set of rules concerning Additionally, Proakis men- development. He explained tioned that it is now easier that the development of the for artists and businesses to city would be able to include grow in certain places. He 17 different types of build- said that it is simpler for ings, with some building small businesses to start in types better suited to some neighborhoods where hous- environments over others. ing is more affordable. “The plan specifies differ- Proakis emphasized that ent zones in which you can although the ordinance has do different types of build- been submitted, the changes ings,” Proakis said. “For have not yet been made. example, in the residential “A proposal of what we district, you can do one of want to change has to get a couple of building types. approved from the Board of A house, triple-decker type Aldermen,” he explained. or a three-story building is “This ordinance has only EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY easier to build in a neigh- According to Panhellenic Director of Recruitment Victoria Sengtack, many regional colleges are engaging in borhood square like Ball or see ZONING, page 2 discussions about diversity and Greek life. Inside this issue Today’s sections Fletcher profes- Fox’s “Empire” is News 1 Op-Ed 11 sor uncovers lack of network TV’s lat- accountability in nation- est attempt to depict Features 3 Comics 12 al security systems. American family life. Weekender 5 Sports Back Editorial | Letters 10 see FEATURES, page 3 see WEEKENDER, page 5 2 THE TUFTS DAILY Thursday, January 29, 2015 Council seeks to make sororities more University endowment welcoming grows over FY 2013 GREEK LIFE work to create several committees to ensure continued from page 1 consistent discussion about these issues. For by Kathleen Schmidt will continue to grow and poten- that is not being formally addressed …We example, Director of Community Outreach News Editor tially support a larger portion really aim to talk about the issues of race, Scheherazade Khan will create a group for of the annual expenses that the sexuality and socioeconomic status in soror- queer women in sororities — “Something The Tufts endow- university has in providing the ities in order to make people more aware that should have existed a long time ago but ment has grown from $1.47 billion high-quality education to all of that these are huge issues for sororities that now exists, which is awesome and creates a at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2013 to our students,” she said. need to be addressed ASAP,” said Kapur. nice space for support,” Kapur said. $2.1 billion at the end of FY 2014, While fundraising is an In an effort to increase transparency, the Taylor Kennedy, chapter president of AOII, according to the university’s Annual important part of the endow- Panhellenic Council put on a presentation — the first sorority to test out a workshop Financial Report. This increase ment’s growth, there are other during recruitment this semester to make intended to call attention to potentially seems to be part of a larger trend. equally important factors, such sure that the financial aspect of sororities isolating ways that sorority women speak to Christine Sanni, executive as investment performance, was clearly explained to potential new mem- each other, according to Kapur — said that director of advancement com- Johnson said. bers, Sengstack said. According to Kapur, Students Acting for Gender Equality (SAGE) munications and services, According to Gabriel, there the large financial commitment of Greek held a workshop with AOII last semester to explained that the university’s are three factors that affect the life stands in the way of creating a space talk about avoiding certain language that endowment has seen rapid level of any endowment: returns more open to women of different back- may make some women uncomfortable. growth over the past three earned on money invested, gifts grounds. These financial commitments, and “We talked about creating an open and decades, in part due to large and the return on those gifts the way sororities address them, may have a inclusive space to make everyone feel com- fundraising campaigns. and the amount of money spent direct connection with this year’s fluctuating fortable and how to open recruitment to “In 1980, the endowment was from the endowment every year. recruitment statistics. people with different backgrounds and dif- $38 million, and since 1980 we’ve This year, the university will Specifically, Kapur indicated that the ferent sexual orientations. We need to make had five comprehensive cam- spend over $70 million from the straightforward presentation about costs sure the space that we are creating is condu- paigns,” she said. “The last big endowment, she noted. may have contributed to more women drop- cive to that,” Kennedy said. fundraising effort we had was The endowment is primarily ping out of recruitment this semester. Kennedy also said that sensitivity train- called Beyond Boundaries, and invested in co-mingled funds, “When the financial information is pre- ing was held for each of the sororities last that campaign ended in 2011, and in which the university joins sented, many girls unfortunately realize that it semester to address the use of respectful it raised $1.2 billion, so every cam- with other investors and col- is difficult to pay and that the payment plans language to make all women feel welcome.