Where You Read It First Mostly Sunny 45/36 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LX, NUMBER 49 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2010 TUFTSDAILY.COM Independent website to provide off -campus housing information BY AMELIE HECHT and in other apartments around information they need and do so Daily Editorial Board Boston, and each time the apart- in an altruistic way to help ten- ment search has been a painful, ants and landlords.” As the rush to find the most difficult process,” Wolchonok told The website, Wolchonok said, desirable off-campus housing the Daily. “I thought it would be gives apartment seekers the inside heats up, upperclassmen now great for everything to be publicly information that is often unavail- have a new resource to aid them available online, so people can do able to them. in their search. their own research.” “In an ideal world, you would get Dan Wolchonok (LA ’05) in Wolchonok compared RentMaps. to talk to the people that currently September launched a website com to Yelp.com, a website that live in the apartment you are consid- that aims to offer Tufts students a provides user-based reviews of ering, but the problem is that often more reliable source of informa- local businesses, and Carfax.com, you don’t have access to the current tion about potential apartments which provides reviews and histo- tenants or you don’t have time to and landlords. ries of used cars. RentMaps.com is track them down and talk to them,” TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY RentMaps.com allows users to designed to give tenants as much Wolchonok said. “The website gives A new study shows that having a sister could lead to greater happiness. post reviews of off-campus hous- information as possible about their the user the ability to research on Above, senior Soshian Sarrafpour with his sister Syena Sarrafpour, a junior. es and apartments. Students rate future homes. their own for apartments.” apartments between one and five Wolchonok said that there is Apartments are rated based stars in several categories and can currently a shortage of websites on several criteria, including the Sisters beneicial to contribute written comments for offering housing ratings. presence of rodents, noise level further description. “No one has really focused on in the neighborhood, reliability of Wolchonok said his experiences apartment reviews, or if they have, hot water, water pressure, laundry emotional health as a student inspired him to create it is not their primary focus,” he options, landlords’ responsive- the website. said. “I think there is a big oppor- BY WILLIAM C. WINTER AND believe the mechanism through “I have lived off campus at Tufts tunity to connect people to all the see LANDLORDS, page 3 WILLIAM K. WINTER which this occurs is expressive- Daily Staff Writers ness. In other words, girls gener- ate a more open and expressive The bonds of sisterhood environment in which issues are Major: Undecided, Cheap Sox laugh and love for a cause may provide more than just discussed.” relationship advice and friend- Freshman Elizabeth ship for the involved parties. Moynihan, who has an older According to a recent study by sister and two younger broth- Tony Cassidy, psychology lec- ers, was not surprised by the turer at the University of Ulster study’s results. in Northern Ireland, sisters “My sister and I can talk about improve the emotional wellbe- anything,” she said. ing of their siblings. The study, Moynihan feels that having which involved roughly 600 a sister with different interests young adults, found individuals than her own has helped define with sisters to be significantly her own identity. more optimistic and happy than “It’s helped me find out who I those without sisters. am by our differences,” she said. “We decided to investigate But those without sisters this area because of an inciden- aren’t necessarily out of luck, tal finding in a previous study according to Cassidy. which suggested that following “Having female friends, par- family breakup, girls who had ticularly in the early years, is sisters showed higher levels of likely to have a similar effect,” MEREDITH KLEIN/TUFTS DAILY achievement motivation than he said. Sophomore David Schwartz, center, and senior Harrison Stamell, right, of Cheap Sox last night pretended to be a baby those who had brothers,” Cassidy and mother at the annual Laughs of Love comedy festival, which benefited the nonprofit Seeds of Peace and was told the Daily in an e-mail. “We see SISTERS, page 2 hosted by Cheap Sox and Major: Undecided in Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall. The festival continues tonight. Student loan debt hits record-breaking Admissions ofice ramps levels, remains below national average BY VICTORIA MESSURI cial needs are fully met, she said. up international outreach Daily Staff Writer “Federal loans, funded by the federal government, typically carry better rates BY ANGELINA ROTMAN 38 foreign countries for the class of 2013 Tufts’ most recent graduating class has and much better repayment provisions,” Daily Staff Writer — and the admissions office will continue reported higher levels of student debt Reilly said. to send college representatives to locales but remains below the national average, Repayment of a federal student loan starts SAT scores, grades, extracurricular activi- that produce relatively few Tufts applicants, according to Patricia Reilly, the director of six to eight months after graduation, accord- ties, teacher recommendations … and one’s particularly abroad, according to Ardizzoni. financial aid and co-manager of Student ing to Reilly. Federal loans offer a program, hometown? Increasingly, admissions offi- “Certainly in our case, we have always Financial Services. Income-Based Repayment, in which students cers are emphasizing geographic diversity traveled nationally and internationally, The Class of 2010 had an average stu- can pay a percentage of their income every in their recruiting, hoping to create a geo- although we have expanded internation- dent loan debt of $15,000, a record-break- month, Reilly added. graphic kaleidoscope in the student body, ally,” she said. “This is the second year ing amount, Reilly said. This remains sig- Reilly said that non-federal loans have according to Director of Admissions Susan we’ve had someone traveling in Africa, nificantly lower than national averages, fewer controls on interest rates. Private loans, Garrity Ardizzoni. and we’ve expanded our reach in Asia and she said, crediting financial aid programs she added, should not be a “first resort.” “Part of our responsibility as the Latin America.” with keeping debt figures in check. In addition to having less student loan debt Admissions Office is to create a community Senior Kofi Aninakwa, who is from Nationally, the average student loan than average, recent Tufts graduates also have that is really reflective of the outside world,” Ghana, believes that both the university debt was $24,000 for college students who a lower loan default rate. Ardizzoni said. and the international students who learn graduated in 2009, a 6 percent increase The cohort default rate for Tufts is 0.8 Recently, the Office of Undergraduate about Tufts from its representatives abroad from the national average in 2008, accord- percent, which means only 0.8 percent of Admissions has amplified its efforts to benefit from Tufts’ initiative to expand its ing to a report released last month by the students are having trouble paying back widen the applicant pool, both internation- representation geographically. Project on Student Debt. their student loans, according to Reilly. The ally and nationally, seeking out students “The rich academic programs and the Approximately half of Tufts undergrad- national cohort default rate is about 5 per- from underrepresented states, Ardizzoni welcoming student population make uates have student loans, according to cent, she said. said. The geographic distribution of the studying here exceptional,” he said. “And Reilly. Tufts ensures that students receive “That says our students are borrowing rea- Tufts Class of 2014 has benefited from this the school benefits, too. The international the best possible loans for their circum- endeavor and represents 45 states and 39 stances, helping to make sure their finan- see DEBT, page 3 foreign countries — up from 42 states and see ADMISSIONS, page 3 Inside this issue Today’s Sections With the interdisciplin- Cee Lo Green makes a News | Features 1 Classifieds 7 ary studies major, stu- name for himself with dents can stray off the unique voice and big Comics 4 Sports Back beaten path and pursue personality. Arts | Living 5 their own interests. see page 2 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS | FEATURES Friday, November 19, 2010 THE TUFTS DAILY Interdisciplinary studies major off ers students BENJAMIN D. GITTLESON Editor-in-Chief opportunity to mold their own academic path EDITORIAL Managing Editors BY VICKY RATHSMILL Ellen Kan Contributing Writer Carter Rogers Sophomore Demi Marks plans on major- Matt Repka Executive News Editor ing in children’s entertainment — and she Alexandra Bogus News Editors will be the first to do so at Tufts. Marks is Michael Del Moro Nina Ford one of a small number of students on cam- Amelie Hecht pus who have decided to design their own Corinne Segal interdisciplinary studies major through the Martha Shanahan Brent Yarnell Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS). Jenny White When she arrived at Tufts as a fresh- Daphne Kolios Assistant News Editors man, Marks already knew that she wanted Kathryn Olson to minor in Communications and Media Romy Oltuski Executive Features Editor Studies (CMS). CMS Program Director Julie Sarah Korones Features Editors Alison Lisnow Dobrow suggested that Marks consider the Emilia Luna interdisciplinary studies major as an option. Alexa Sasanow Marks is still waiting for approval from Derek Schlom Jon Cheng Assistant Features Editors the CIS Faculty Committee, which makes Maya Kohli its decision in the spring of an applicant’s Amelia Quinn sophomore year.