Where You Read It First Sunny 75/56 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 1 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 TUFTSDAILY.COM Greek affairs Green Line office again left extension costs without director to top $1 billion BY TESSA GELLERSON BY MATT REPKA Daily Editorial Board Daily Editorial Board Students within Tufts’ Greek com- The plan to bring the T’s Green Line to munity are working to keep fraterni- Tufts is feeling some growing pains. ty and sorority life running smoothly Completion of the Green Line extension following the abrupt departure of project is facing delays of up to six years Director of Fraternity and Sorority from its 2014 deadline, and its price tag Life Patrick Romero-Aldaz. continues to grow. Romero-Aldaz left Tufts on Aug. Officials this summer raised the project’s 27 to direct the Office of Fraternity estimated price tag to over $1 billion. The and Sorority Life at the University cost of the project’s first six stops, which of South Florida, leaving the Greek will culminate near Tufts at College Avenue, office primarily student-led and rose from $600 billion to $934 billion this without any plans on the horizon summer. A seventh stop was added to the of hiring a new director. Until a plan in February, and summer estimates ANNIE WERMIEL/TUFTS DAILY replacement is chosen, Dean of Student Orientation Leaders make a human pretzel during orientation training this week. put its price tag at $130 million. Student Affairs Bruce Reitman will Project Manager Kate Fichter said the act in Romero-Aldaz’s stead. increased figure came about as officials “I was offered an opportunity Steps to improve diversity awareness developed a more comprehensive pic- I couldn’t refuse to lead another ture of expenses. “The original [$600 Greek community with a position making little progress million] number, which has been out that is larger in scope and responsi- BY ALEXANDRA BOGUS of the Korean Students Association, there for five or six years, was gen- bility,” Romero-Aldaz told the Daily Daily Editorial Board administrators agree that orientation erated from a very preliminary plan- in an e-mail. is an ideal environment to raise diver- ning study,” Fichter, an official with Since he came to Tufts at the end Plans to improve diversity aware- sity issues. The office of University the Massachusetts Executive Office of of the 2007 academic year, Romero- ness this semester have met a slow President Lawrence Bacow released Transportation (EOT), told the Daily. Aldaz worked to align Tufts’ frater- start and may go unnoticed by mem- a statement in the days following the The EOT is responsible for finding nities and sororities with national bers of Tufts’ Class of 2013 during ori- incident that included plans to review funding for the extension, but the debt- Greek regulations. Most notably, he entation, but administrators pledge the diversity component of orienta- ridden Massachusetts Bay Transportation advocated a strict BYOB policy in that a number of initiatives are in the tion and “maximize its impact.” Authority (MBTA) will service the extra sta- line with national regulations that works and will eventually address stu- Most changes to diversity program- tions and fund their everyday operations forbid Greek houses from supplying dents’ calls for increased awareness. ming during orientation, however, once they are built. alcohol. He also eliminated alcohol With last April’s bias incident in remain behind the scenes or in the The project is slated to extend the Green from the Spring 2008 rush process. hindsight, in which a then-freshman planning stages. Line past the Lechmere station, the cur- shouted racial slurs and engaged in rent terminus of all northbound trains. The see GREEK, page 2 a physical altercation with members see DIVERSITY, page 2 change would add seven stops throughout Somerville and Medford. While the Green Line extension as far as College Avenue is still on schedule to LRAP program surges into second year meet its 2014 deadline, construction of the seventh stop at Mystic Valley Parkway/ 288 alumni in public service receive grants from debt-reduction program Route 16 was pushed back this summer. Completion is now expected between 2016 BY BEN GITTLESON “The alumni who received awards and 2020. The Boston Region Metropolitan Daily Editorial Board have been very positive about the Planning Organization, which is respon- impact of them of getting this support,” sible for allocating federal funding, has Nearly 300 alumni in the non-profit Hollister said. “identified funds” for the Route 16 stop in and public sectors received help in the The quantity of applications and level that four-year period, Fichter said. past year in paying off their student loans, of interest ahead of the Sept. 1 dead- thanks to a trailblazing university pro- line was on track with last year, accord- The costs of service gram encouraging many others to con- ing to Director of Public Relations Kim Some of the recent cost increase can sider applying for funding as the program Thurler. In the first year, over 100 people be attributed to revelations about enters its second year. were turned away, largely because “they Americans with Disabilities Act compli- The Loan Reduction Assistance didn’t fall into the realm of need or they ance issues. Originally, the seven new Program (LRAP) disbursed over $450,000 didn’t qualify,” LRAP Administrator Judi stations were to be outfitted with simple in grants to 288 alumni of the universi- Kennedy said. platforms, similar to the street-level con- ty’s undergraduate and graduate schools Josh Wolf (LA ’08), who plans to apply to working in public-service occupations, the program this year, said student-loan see GREEN LINE, page 2 which traditionally earn significant- debt has muddled his hopes of attending ly less than those in the private sec- graduate or law school. An LRAP grant, he tor. University officials have billed it as said, would make a big difference. the first university-wide loan-repayment “It’s really hard for me to say that I’m program in the nation. going to go to law school,” he said. “I’m “I was very pleased with the impact in going to go take out a bunch of loans for the first year,” said Tisch College Dean the second degree when I haven’t even Robert Hollister, who was significantly finished [paying off] the first one?” involved in designing LRAP. He said the LRAP’s creation and its continuation high volume of applications received — into a second year, in which over $500,000 over 400 — indicated the existence of a will again be put toward the program’s real need for the program. administration and awards, reflect Tufts’ Eligible Tufts graduates received need- commitment to active citizenship and its JOANIE TOBIN/TUFTS UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER based awards ranging from $500 to encouragement of students to give back EMILY EISENBERG/TUFTS DAILY Tisch College Dean Robert Hollister was an $5,000. Money is given out on a year-to- beyond graduation, according to alumni Plans for an extension of the Green Line architect of Tufts’ innovative Loan Reduction year basis, and last year’s recipients can through Somerville and Medford have been Assistance Program. reapply this year. see LRAP, page 2 delayed to as far as 2020. MATRICULATION GUIDE For those of you becoming Tufts students today, the Daily has your fix of introductions — to the lingo you’ll only hear on the Hill, the hot spots in Davis Square, Boston’s great big arts scene, Tufts’ athletic rivals and more. Check out our four-page pullout section, starting on page 9. Log onto tuftsdaily.com for a digital guide, complete with slideshows, audio content and interactive maps. Inside this issue Today’s Sections Turn to Arts for a look The Daily offers News 1 Editorial | Letters 14 at the Museum of Fine NESCAC newcomers Arts’ exciting new exhib- a welcome guide to Arts & Living 3 Op-Ed 15 its on art from abroad Tufts’ athletic confer- MATRICULATION GUIDE 9 Sports 17 and “seeing” music. ence. Comics 13 see ARTS, page 3 see SPORTS, page 18 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Students will have T extension’s completion date set back several years GREEN LINE doing it in a second phase, it would cost returned in time for this article. to wait for diversity continued from page 1 $50 million more” due to inflation and Patrick’s embattled position at the State crete pads at the Green Line stations on other added costs, Krause told the Daily. House and the impending election cycle initiatives Commonwealth Avenue. “It’s going to be disruptive to the neigh- have only served to further politicize the But consideration of the disabilities borhood to do one construction project, current debate over mass transit. DIVERSITY legislation forced the EOT to reassess its and then two years later have another one In recent weeks, Patrick and continued from page 1 plans. The extension’s tracks, which would begin,” Krause added. “It seems a lot more Grabauskas have feuded in the press “There’s definitely talk and a recog- run parallel to the existing commuter rail practical to do it all at once.” over the origin of the fare-hike proposal, nition that orientation is an impor- track for a majority of the line, are by and with each saying that the other was tant time to have this type of pro- large below street level, meaning eleva- MBTA woes responsible for the idea. gramming,” said Office for Campus tors and escalators would be necessary to The MBTA is currently confronting a After the first in a series of open- Life Director Joe Golia, an orientation achieve compliance with the law.