Where You Partly Cloudy Read It First 54/32 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXVIV, NUMBER 34 WEDNEsday, MARCH 11, 2015 TUFTSDAILY.COM Senate calls for gender- neutral accomodations by Arin Kerstein dered housing in general. Assistant News Editor According to Aaronson, the TCU Senate recently passed a The Lesbian Gay Bisexual resolution to commit to mak- and Transgender (LGBT) ing every new space at Tufts Center hosted a town hall more transgender and non- meeting in conjunction with conforming-friendly. She said representatives from the Tufts she worked on this resolu- Community Union (TCU) tion with Vallejo and sopho- Senate on March 5 to discuss more Zoe Jeka. student experiences with “Senate passed a resolution housing, bathrooms and other [three] weeks ago with the campus facilities and the specific demand of having the need for more gender-neutral Tufts administration commit options at Tufts. to having at least one gender- Eleven students and one fac- neutral bathroom in every new ulty member came together to construction project or major discuss their thoughts on cur- renovation that they under- rent policies regarding gender- take,” Aaronson explained. neutral facilities and to pro- “We’re asking Tufts to agree to pose changes to the system. that by the end of this year.” To open the meeting, TCU She explained that late last NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY Senate Diversity and Community semester, the TCU Senate DTZ staff protest job cuts outside 150 Boston Ave, the Tufts Facilities Services building, on March 10. Affairs Officer and Women’s passed a project approval for Center Representative Allison her to work under the Senate’s Aaronson, a sophomore, began name on a proposal to update by asking the community what existing buildings on campus Janitors, students protest the TCU Senate can do in order to have at least one gender- to further develop a safe envi- neutral bathroom. For some ronment for transgender and buildings, this might just proposed cuts to working hours gender non-conforming stu- involve changing signs on sin- dents at Tufts. gle-stall bathrooms, while for by Emma Steiner those buildings that are used workers, they expressed worries Students expressed an others this might mean creat- Assistant news Editor less frequently, she said. that their work load would be immediate need to create gen- ing more private spaces within This reorganization will result increased. der-neutral bathroom options multi-stall bathrooms. Dozens of janitors and students, in the cutting of 712 hours of “There are lots of workers that in public places such as “The two things for this year as well as two Service Employees work, or approximately 25-35 could lose their jobs with this Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall that we’re urging Tufts to do International Union (SEIU) rep- workers, she explained. This drastic change in scheduling,” and the Mayer Campus Center. is commit to that proposal for resentatives, gathered outside new plan will be enacted on the Joseph said. “They made no “Having to come home or existing buildings, as well as of Brown and Brew today and Medford, Boston and Grafton guarantees that people would to the [LGBT] Center just to the policy change for future marched down Boston Ave. to campuses, she said. be employed to the standard go to the bathroom is ridic- buildings,” she said. Tufts Facilities Services build- “This is all for increased effi- that they are now.” ulous,” junior Reneé Vallejo, According to Aaronson, there ing to protest proposed cuts of ciency,” Joseph said. “This isn’t DTZ plans to offer any TCU Senate LGBT Center rep- is a three-phase plan in order janitorial jobs. about maintaining jobs or pro- available jobs at other DTZ- resentative, said. to make these changes hap- Protestors marched in a tecting jobs or ensuring peo- contracted locations to those Students also expressed a pen in current administra- circle outside the building ples’ livelihoods; this is about who are affected by the cuts desire for single-stall options tive and academic buildings for an hour and a half while the university being efficient.” at Tufts, Joseph explained. in washing facilities and locks on campus, beginning with Tufts Labor Coalition (TLC) In order to initiate this new However, she emphasized for shower stalls in order to sign changes in single-stall members negotiated with system, DTZ will create new that these replacement jobs make students feel more com- bathrooms. The plan is being Vice President of Operations shifts and allow the janitors to are not guaranteed and are fortable. Multiple attendees priced out by Robert Reppucci Linda Snyder and DTZ pick their preferred responsibili- likely to be part-time, season- proposed having residence- in Facilities Services and will administrators. ties based on their seniority with- al jobs that would not provide hall bathrooms become eventually be passed on to Vice According to first-year Nicole in the union, Joseph explained. steady income. “gender-open,” but acknowl- President of Operations Linda Joseph, a member of TLC, the However, this also means that Two police officers stood out- edged the concern of a push- Snyder for approval. entire system of shifts and once all the positions are filled, side the Facilities Services build- back from other community Aaronson noted that a worker responsibilities will be several employees may be left ing and did not allow students members. meeting is scheduled for early reorganized. DTZ, the company without jobs, she said. to enter. Protesters continually TCU Senator Benya Kraus, April for administrators to with which Tufts contracts its Even workers who are able circled on the sidewalk outside a first-year, suggested imple- discuss a more thorough plan janitors, intends to increase effi- to retain work at Tufts will have to avoid being removed from the menting a large-scale survey of action. She also asked the ciency by reallocating staff such their responsibilities drastically area because the officers were to gauge the campus attitude that they would clean high-traf- altered, Joseph said. She added trying to avoid a large gathering toward this topic and gen- see GENDER-NEUTRAL, page 2 fic buildings more often than that in her interactions with that would block traffic. International experts discuss origins A panel of four international Action Society, Human Rights since killed over 10,000 people experts on Nigerian politics Project, Africana Club and and displaced approximately 3.3 and military discussed the Fletcher Students in Security, million Nigerians, Schmidt said. merits of current and proposed also discussed the origins and Last week, Boko Haram declared international responses to the tactics of Boko Haram in light of its allegiance to the Islamic State ongoingof Boko atrocities committed Haram, current conditions solutions in Nigeria and of to Iraq and conflict Syria (ISIS). by extremist group Boko Haram sub-Saharan Africa. Professor of Political Science and others in northeast Nigeria Stephanie Schmidt, a master’s Pearl Robinson, who has written and the surrounding region student at the Fletcher School about Nigeria and African politics as part of “Understanding and chair of the Humanitarian in her past scholarly work, mod- Boko Haram” in Cabot ASEAN Action Society, began the event erated the panel. Auditorium last night. by sharing a series of statistics Adotei Akwei, the direc- The panel, organized by The describing the impact of Boko tor of government relations for NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY On March 5, members from the LGBT community and TCU Senate Fletcher School of Law and Haram’s atrocities. Boko Haram discuss how Tufts’ facilities can be made gender-neutral. Diplomacy’s Humanitarian began in Nigeria in 2009 and has see BOKO HARAM, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s sections The Prefab Messiahs, a The baseball team will News 1 Op-Ed 9 local band with a niche open its season with a audience, released its 12-game road trip over Features 3 Comics 10 first album in over 30 spring break. Arts & Living 5 Sports Back years. Editorial | Op-Ed 8 see ARTS, page 5 see SPORTS, back 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Wednesday, March 11, 2015 NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo, the former Senator and State Commissioner of Health for Nigeria, speaks during the Understanding Boko Haram panel in ASEAN Auditorium on March 10. BOKO HARAM “The northeast has all the worst indica- the Nigerian people and the government. Obasanjo cited the confirmed story of continued from page 1 tors,” she said. “Nigerians have very little trust of their a girl whose father “donated” her to Boko Amnesty International, attended the panel Obasanjo added that the 2009 killing of government,” Obasanjo said. “The people Haram for use as a suicide bomber, though Panelistsvia Skype. He began by discuss discussing Amnesty difficulties Boko Haram founder in Mohammed finding Yusuf solutionsthemselves do not see to the governmentBoko asHaram the girl refused conflict to detonate her bomb. She International’s approach to the violence in brought national attention to what had theirs.” connected this story to broader problems of the region, noting that the Nigerian mili- been a small regional group, and that it The Nigerian military and police’s own gender-based violence and a lack of support tary has also caused its fair share of prob- is increasingly difficult for the Nigerian human rights abuses have also contrib- for women in the region. lems in the conflict. government to negotiate with Boko uted to these institutions’ struggle to pro- “The only thing that can help is educa- Akwei stressed that in the last two years Haram after Yusuf’s death since the group mote stability, according to multiple panel- tion, and this is the big thing that Boko since the Nigerian government issued a state now lacks a clear leader.