Today: Mostly Sunny THE TUFTS High 58 Low 46 Tufts’ Student Tomorrow: Newspaper Cloudy Since 1980 High 63 Low 44 VOLUME LIII, NUMBER 32 DAILY TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007 AOII and Theta Chi fundraise for women Speakers discuss BY JENNA NISSAN town-gown relations Daily Editorial Board and education trends Through shaved heads and shoe sales, Greek organizations Alpha Omicron Pi BY LILLY RIBER Daily Editorial Board (AOII) and Theta Chi have been finding cre- ative ways to fundraise for charity organiza- The Fifth Annual Presidential Symposium, tions over the past few weeks. entitled “Partnering for Education,” was held AOII raised close to $1,500 at a charity yesterday afternoon at the Granoff Family shoe sale at the Campus Center yesterday, Hillel Center. where they offered over 250 pairs of Jasmine Sponsored by the Office of the President, the Sola shoes of all styles and sizes at bar- Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service gain prices. With over 100 pairs of shoes still and the Office of Community Relations, the to sell, the sorority hopes to raise another symposium aimed to strengthen the bonds $1,000 dollars at the second day of the event between Tufts and its partner communities of from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. today. Chinatown, Grafton, Medford and Somerville. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go Students and community members to Dress for Success Boston, an organization attended the event, which featured a lunch, that provides business clothes and acces- panel discussion and a question and answer sories for women with low incomes in order session. to foster confidence for job interviews and in After some remarks from University the workplace. President Lawrence Bacow and an overview Sophomore Lisa Haubenstock, the phi- of the program by Director of the Lincoln lanthropy chair of AOII, said that she con- Filene Center for Community Partnerships tacted Dress for Success Boston after work- REBEKAH SOKOL/TUFTS DAILY (LFC) Shirley Mark, two panelists spoke Junior Meena Bolourchi looks at Jasmine Sola shoes sold for charity by members of Alpha ing with a branch of the organization in her about education and community service ini- Omicron Pi yesterday in the campus center. hometown. tiatives involving Tufts and the surrounding “A local Jasmine Sola [store] had recent- cost to them or to us,” Haubenstock said. pins at Carmichael Dining Hall and collect- communities. ly donated 250 shoes to Dress for Success Theta Chi also made creative use of the ing donations from students, friends and Alicia Kersten, a teacher at Somerville [Boston], but there wasn’t much they could campus center this Saturday when brothers family members. High School, spoke first. She spoke about the do with them because they weren’t inter- volunteered to shave their head for every “All the money we raise goes straight mutually beneficial relationships that can be view-style shoes,” she said. “They asked if we $100 raised to benefit women’s heart dis- towards women’s heart disease prevention, formed between the community and Tufts could help them out by selling the shoes and ease. research and care,” senior Anish Agarwal, students, noting the ways in which Tufts has donating the proceeds.” The event was part of the fraternity’s a member of the Theta Chi Philanthropy been and is involved with education in the The shoes are being sold for $20 a pair, ongoing efforts over the past three weeks Committee, said. community, as well as offering ideas and sug- $30 for two pairs and $10 for flip flops. to raise money for the American Heart Agarwal, who has headed the fraternity’s gestions for the future. “Every single dollar raised goes directly Association campaign “Go Red for Women.” to [Dress for Success], because there was no The fraternity has been selling Red Dress see CHARITY, page 2 see EDUCATION, page 2 Progress made toward fulfilling Young Queer Peers program expands BY LAURA HILL an adult listening to students ing LGBT community,” sopho- Medford campus master plan Daily Staff Writer because there’s less of a power- more and Queer Peer Jason Hill play involved,” he said. said. “I had always wanted a BY MARTIN SATTELL this and we’re working hard to An LGBT mentoring program Before this year, although support network, and my [high] Daily Staff Writer address it.” founded in 2004 has been under- counseling was available for all school never had anything like Bharucha, who is heading going expansion this year. students, the only programming this.” With the construction of the the effort to better utilize the Queer Peers, which is run that the group had done was Freshman Lucian Nagle has Granoff Music Center and the university’s existing teaching through the LGBT Center, offers aimed at helping freshmen adapt found the LGBT Center in par- current renovations to the Hotung spaces and assess the need for confidential, individual counsel- to college life. ticular to be a valuable resource. Café, the administration has new ones, announced his inten- ing for students. It began as a This year, there has been more “I didn’t know about the center gradually begun implementing tion to undertake this effort at a resource for students who sought social programming and events when I first came to school,” he the physical planning initiatives November 2006 meeting of the counseling and has only truly have been open to students of all said in an e-mail. “But the events specified in the “Tufts University board of trustees. entered the arena of social pro- years. and activities that they host there Master Plan for the Medford/ Along with an informal com- gramming this year. Most recently, the Queer Peers have made me more comfortable Somerville Campus.” mittee of administrators, includ- The goal, according to one of sponsored an ice skating trip in with myself.” Formulated by Boston-based ing Executive Administrative Tufts’ four Queer Peers, junior Ari Kendall in February. They are Even so, there is still room architecture firm William Rawn Dean of Arts and Sciences Leah Rosenbaum, has been to increase also planning a dance for next for improvement, according to Associates, Architects Inc., the McIntosh, Executive Associate the program’s presence on cam- month. Rosenbaum. “I think that there’s plan is a comprehensive guide Dean of Engineering Scott pus. Rosenbaum said that the four always work to be done,” he said. for campus growth and develop- Sahagian, Dean of Student “I think it’s ... about expanding Queer Peers are also trying to Specifically, Rosenbaum ment — the first in roughly two Services Paul Stanton and Vice our reach within the community reach out to other similar organi- would like to see minority groups decades. Tufts contracted the President for Operations John and because it is a relatively new zations, such as Ears for Peers, to on campus show greater unity. company for the job in 2004. Roberto, Bharucha is working to program, it’s going to be grow- increase cooperation. “There isn’t much cross-pollina- By detailing the university’s formulate a policy that focuses ing,” he said. “It’s now just start- He said that the effects of the tion. On a wider scale, there needs needs for space-related changes, on teaching space. ing to catch on where it hasn’t increased programming efforts to be more interaction between the plan ensures that alterations “We are in the middle of really necessarily caught on before.” remain to be seen. “I think it’s minority communities,” he said. made to the campus reflect Tufts’ thinking about the larger ques- According to LGBT Center sort of to be determined. I think Rosenbaum believes Queer goals to expand educational tions of space at Tufts,” McIntosh Director Dona Yarbrough, the it takes a while for things to kick Peers should play a role in that opportunities, better its relation- said. purpose of the group has always into gear in any community,” he process. “Part of our training is on ship with the surrounding com- She added that the committee been to provide a forum for said. how to deal with people with dual munity and improve popular has addressed the aims of the students to seek support and At Tufts, Queer Peers is one of identities, like how to be black areas of campus. master plan by considering Tufts’ advice. several programs aimed at dis- and gay, or Jewish and gay,” he While recent projects such needs for more research space, “We thought it would be good cussing LGBT issues. The univer- said. as the Hotung renovations and improving conditions in class- to have a small group of trained sity is among the less than five In the meantime, the group the removal of chain link fences rooms and supporting general students who could talk to other percent of American universities will continue on its current tra- on the campus’ perimeter have academia. students one-on-one about LGBT that provide a center for gay and jectory. Aside from the program- somewhat addressed the last two Bharucha agreed. “Some class- issues,” she said in an e-mail to lesbian students, according to ming that they sponsor, the stu- of these goals, Provost Jamshed rooms are well outfitted, and the Daily. Yarbrough. Last August, Tufts was dent counselors also meet once Bharucha said that work still some less so,” he said. “We’re This interaction between stu- named one of the 20 most gay- a week to discuss topics unique needs to be done in the first area. taking a comprehensive look at dents has been particularly help- friendly universities in the coun- to the LGBT community, as well “We need more space and classrooms so students and pro- ful, Rosenbaum said.