Where You Sunny Read It First 54/34 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 48 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009 TUFTSDAILY.COM Mail goes Proposal to prohibit carrying alcohol into undelivered in Spring Fling moves forward, sources say BY MATT REPKA downhill dorms Daily Editorial Board BY BEN GITTLESON Members of the Alcohol Task Force are Daily Editorial Board moving closer to recommending a policy to prohibit students from carrying alcohol onto Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor … deliv- the President’s Lawn during next semester’s ery people? Spring Fling, according to members of the Mail recently went undelivered in Lewis task force. Hall for about two weeks because a student Task force discussions have occurred delivery person failed to sort mail upon its behind closed doors, a practice the group arrival in the downhill dormitory, leaving doz- agreed upon by consensus in an effort to ens of students waiting for letters. encourage honest conversation and prevent Around the same time — during the false rumors about the task force’s plans from last week of October and the first week of spreading, according to Director of Health November — another Mail Services student Education Ian Wong, chair of the task force. employee delivered the mail sporadically in The task force, comprised of students, South Hall, causing letters, bills, financial administrators and staff, is comprehen- statements and other correspondence to sively examining current alcohol policy. show up late. One of the group’s three subcommittees In Lewis Hall, two students said that at focuses on how to manage major on-cam- one point they saw a pile of mail on a pus events like Spring Fling. The task force shelf by the dormitory’s student mailboxes. aims to offer recommendations to a poli- Financial statements and letters were left cy-setting steering committee on alcohol out in the open. policy by winter break. Mail Services became aware of the unde- The task force plans on publicizing infor- KRISTEN COLLINS/TUFTS DAILY Spring Fling may be one step closer to dry next April as the Alcohol Task Force considers livered post in Lewis Hall after its non-student mation as soon as it has a draft proposal, prohibiting students from bringing alcohol into the event. employees, who deliver the mail to a locked which could be as soon as today, according area in the dormitory six days a week for to Wong. Following its release, the propos- event grounds. But last year’s celebration under consideration, some said that this the student delivery people to then sort into al will be made public for student input, was marked by an unusually large num- approach is gaining momentum. One individual mailboxes, noticed that mail was Wong said. ber of students seeking medical attention member said the proposal “has seemed piling up in that locked area, according to Ron “We’ll go back and we’ll try to seek an for alcohol-related issues, causing a mass- almost inevitable from the very beginning” Drauschke, the supervisor of Mail Services. open conversation with the complete stu- casualty incident when the number of stu- of the task force’s deliberations. Reports from students living in the dorm also dent body,” he said. dents needing medical attention exceeded Several other members who were tipped Mail Services off to the problem. Several task force members told the Daily the capacity of health personnel on hand. contacted declined to comment on the “A couple of residents voiced concerns,” that the body was considering a propos- In an attempt to prevent dangerous levels record regarding the matter, citing confi- Drauschke said. al to ban alcohol from being carried into of alcohol consumption among students, dentiality concerns. Drauschke estimated the problem lasted the grounds of Spring Fling. The members task force members have suggested creat- Since the group’s formation earlier in the between a week and two weeks in Lewis. requested anonymity because they were not ing a pub section for of-age students on the semester, the discussions and meetings of Residents put the length of time closer authorized to speak on the record about task President’s Lawn, in a setup similar to that of the body have been closed to the public. to two weeks. Mail delivery in Lewis Hall force discussions. the annual Winter Bash dance, according to Minutes are kept private and members are resumed on Nov. 6. In past years, official policy has per- task force members. discouraged from speaking publicly about mitted of-age students to bring a limited While a number of the members told see MAIL, page 2 quantity of alcoholic beverages onto the the Daily that various proposals remain see TASK FORCE, page 2 INTERVIEW | LEE GELERNT Gelernt calls immigrant Tufts alums pursue environmental rights a ‘tricky issue’ projects through Fellowship BY ADAM MANDELL BY MICK B. KREVER are protected by almost all of Daily Staff Writer Daily Staff Writer the major provisions of the Constitution and the reason is As employment options con- Lee Gelernt (A ’84) is the dep- that the Constitution uses the tinue to shrink for recent col- uty director of the American word “persons.” It says “equal lege graduates, two Tufts alums Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) protection of the law for all per- are among nine recent gradu- Immigrants’ sons,” due process for all per- ates this year taking advan- Rights Project. sons, and what the Supreme tage of the Compton Mentor He will speak Court has said is that the use Fellowship program. tonight at 7 of the word persons rather than The fellowship offers a yearlong, p.m. on his citizens means that those protec- paid research opportunity that role as a pub- tions apply to non-citizens. On offers youths fresh out of college lic defender the other hand, what the courts the chance to pursue a project that in his talk on have said for hundreds of years focuses on environmental sus- Guantanamo, is though the Constitution may tainability, conflict resolution and immigration technically apply to non-citizens, other human security issues. COURTESY LEE GELERNT and civil lib- it may not apply in the exact The Compton Foundation erties. The Daily sat down with same way. So they have dimin- selected Nadia Eghbal and Mara Gelernt to discuss his job defend- ished constitutional rights. What Gittleman, both of whom gradu- ing immigrants. we do at the ACLU is fight to ated in May, as two of its nine fel- DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY ensure that [immigrants] have lows this year. Tufts’ Office of Sustainability helped two recent graduates through the Mick B. Krever: How does the basic constitutional protections. “It is a great opportunity application process for the Compton Mentor Fellowship program. ACLU — and maybe even more It may be that in certain cases for students to pursue their broadly, how does U.S. law in gen- they don’t have every right that a academic interests in the real mon field of interest and func- able food system in an urban area. eral — view immigrants’ rights? citizen has, but we try to ensure world after college,” said Tina tions as both a guide and sound- As part of her position at CENYC, People who aren’t American citi- that the basic protections of our Woolston, project coordinator board for the fellow. Gittleman researches and maps zens, how are they treated by the system apply to non-citizens. As for Tufts Office of Sustainability. Gittleman is spending her fel- out local community gardens and Constitution, by U.S. law? you can imagine, it’s very, very Selected applicants receive a lowship in New York working is helping to start a farmer’s market controversial. Particularly in $36,000 stipend, which covers the closely with the Council on the in the city. Lee Gelernt: Right, that’s a very times of economic downturn or cost of their endeavor, starting Environment of New York City Gittleman was thankful for the good question and there’s no national security crises, immi- and finishing in mid-June. Each (CENYC), a non-profit that spear- opportunity that the fellowship simple answer. Immigrants are fellow also receives a primary heads “green” projects in the city. a particularly tricky issue. They see GELERNT, page 2 mentor, who often shares a com- Her focus is on launching a sustain- see FELLOWSHIP, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections Bibio’s latest release After a trip to the NCAA News 1 Op-Ed 11 fails to innovate. Most Tournament last year, of the album’s songs are the women’s basketball Features 3 Comics 12 remixes and the new team is set to begin its Arts & Living 5Classifieds 13 additions stagnate. 2009-10 season. Editorial | Letters 10 Sports Back see ARTS, page 5 see SPORTS, back page 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Students wait nearly two weeks for mail in Lewis, South Halls MAIL Mail Services terminated and has since continued from page 1 replaced the Lewis Hall delivery person, who Rachel Friedman, a sophomore who lives was also responsible for mail delays in Bush in Lewis Hall, said she regularly opened her and Haskell Halls, Drauschke said. mailbox looking for a check her father had “There was a problem, and it’s been cor- sent her in October. Her father had sent a rected,” said Support Services Manager Sheila check at the same time to her sister at Cornell Chisholm, who added that the Lewis Hall University and her sister had already received delivery person had not provided a good rea- it by November.