Where You Read It First Snow 37/21 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LIX, NUMBER 10 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010 TUFTSDAILY.COM Administration faces tough choices about financial aid budget Meeting enrolled students’ needs remains top priority BY HARRISON JACOBS Daily Editorial Board In the wake of one of the most devastating economic downturns of the last several decades, Tufts administrators and admissions personnel have begun to prepare themselves for what could be one of the largest groups of students requiring financial aid in recent JODI BOSIN/TUFTS DAILY MBTA crime rates are at their lowest since 1980. memory. Though the university budget for the 2010-2011 academic year MBTA crime rates at has yet to be set, the state of the economy of the last year has left those closest to the issue of under- graduate financial aid speculat- record low ing about the size of the financial BY KATHERINE SAWYER reported at the MBTA in 2009, aid budget and how much of an Daily Editorial Board down from 1,052 in 2008. There increase would be doable. were no reported murders and Regardless of how the admis- JODI BOSIN/TUFTS DAILY Crime rates on Massachusetts the number of aggravated sions process plays out, howev- As the admissions process continues, discussions about the financial aid Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) assaults decreased from 103 to er, administrators stressed that budget are underway. property have fallen to their 88 over the last year. retaining existing students would lowest level since 1980, the Given the number of individ- take precedence over increasing for the School of Arts and Sciences That policy came into play the MBTA Transit Police reported uals riding the MBTA transport aid for the incoming class. Leah McIntosh agreed that the last fiscal year, the first affected by at the end of January. lines daily, these crime rates “It makes no sense to say, ‘Oops, university prioritized meeting the the recession, when an additional MBTA officials said that in are low and should assuage sorry, we can’t afford you any- financial needs of enrolled stu- 100 upperclassmen were awarded 2009 crime rates dropped 21 commuters’ safety concerns, more,’” Dean of Admissions Lee dents. aid for the 2009-2010 academic percent, including a sharp according to Joseph O’Connor, Coffin said. “That’s the essential “It is Tufts’ policy to meet dem- year. decline in the number of deputy chief of the MBTA part of this whole story — what onstrated need of admitted stu- “We knew [last year] that the aggravated assaults, larcenies Transit Police. do we do to protect our current dents, even if that need changes current group was going to have and murders. enrollment.” after the student has matriculat- Only 827 serious crimes were see MBTA, page 2 Executive Administrative Dean ed,” she said. see ADMISSIONS, page 2 At think tank launch, Swett stresses student activism Mass. Governor says stimulus BY KATHRYN OLSON funds created or saved 14,000 jobs Daily Staff Writer BY MARTHA SHANAHAN Daily. National student-run think Daily Editorial Board Shapanka added that the stimu- tank the Roosevelt Institute last lus money will continue to be spent night officially launched its new Massachusetts Governor Deval in the coming year. Tufts chapter at an event featur- Patrick announced Jan. 30 that “Part of the 2010 budget is ing Lecturer of Political Science nearly 14,000 jobs were either passed,” he said. “The 2011 bud- Katrina Swett. created or saved in the last three get proposed by the governor also Aimed at shaping a progres- months of 2009, thanks to funds includes plans to continue spend- sive national and foreign policy, from the American Recovery and ing.” the Roosevelt Institute encour- Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Alethea Pieters (LA ’02), Public ages students to engage in policy The figure represents the distri- Affairs and Communication man- research and writing and delivers bution of 4,722 full-time positions ager at Massachusetts Recovery their proposals to policy makers among a number of workers. and Reinvestment Office, said that and advocacy groups. Matt Shapanka (LA ’09), a research the majority of job creation will Sophomore Julie Kalt, adminis- analyst at the Massachusetts likely occur in the coming year trative director of the Tufts chap- Recovery and Reinvestment Office, since the bill is a 27-month pro- ter, said that the organization will noted that this figure includes both gram. “give students the opportunity to new jobs created and jobs saved She added that most jobs solve real world problems and get with ARRA funding. It also includes retained by the state were in the their policy proposals published” existing jobs that last year’s stimu- field of education, although all in Tufts publications as well as in lus bill funded. employment sectors have seen the Roosevelt Institute publica- He explained that jobs created growth. tion, 10 Ideas. According to Kalt, refer to jobs that did not exist before Shapanka also listed public safe- this would allow students to be they were funded by the stimulus ty and construction of public works part of activism that produces and jobs saved refers to preexisting projects as other major categories concrete results. jobs that are now being funded by where jobs have been created or “We want to make activism JODI BOSIN/TUFTS DAILY stimulus money. retained by stimulus funds. and academic interests more tan- Last night marked the official launch of the Roosevelt Institute at Tufts. The Recovery and Reinvestment The recovery office’s Web site gible for Tufts students and give Office estimates that the stimulus corroborates this, reporting that them a legitimate outlet for their by Tufts professors and progres- people to take their half-formed bill awarded Massachusetts state job recovery efforts related to edu- ideas,” she said. “A lot of students sive community leaders, including ideas, giving them the opportunity agencies $4.3 billion, $3.1 billion cation have collected the most just do activism and that’s amaz- Massachusetts State Sen. Patricia to refine those ideas into meaning- of which has been committed to money from state agencies, fol- ing, but we want students to see Jehlen (D-Somerville). ful policy and perhaps developing direct benefits and job creation lowed by jobs in energy and the the other side. When you marry Swett, who is also running for them into concrete action.” and $2.4 billion of which has been environment, housing, labor, pub- direct action and policy writing, New Hampshire’s second district Praising the Roosevelt Institute’s spent. lic safety and transportation. you can make meaningful and congressional seat, was one of the marriage of grassroots activism According to Shapanka, the state Even with the jobs created by sustainable change.” speakers at the launch event. She and policy writing, she stressed government allocates the stimulus stimulus spending, however, the According to Kalt, the Tufts noted the importance and diffi- the importance of “knowing those money to various agencies. Massachusetts Department of chapter will equip participants to culty of translating ideas into real- on whose behalf you lead.” “Two thirds of the money goes Labor’s job report showed that the create progressive policy papers by ity, and commended the Roosevelt to the state government and it’s hosting writing workshops taught Institute for encouraging “young see LAUNCH, page 2 distributed from there,” he told the see JOBS, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections Hockey team gears up News 1 Editorial | Letters 10 Famed Beacon Hill for final two weeks of couple hosts “The season and hopeful Features 3 Op-Ed 11 Literati Scene.” playoff spot after 8-5 Weekender 5Classifieds 14 victory over Wesleyan. Comics 9 Sports Back see WEEKENDER, page 5 see SPORTS, back 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Thursday, February 11, 2010 Committee recommends increasing Tufts’ financial aid budget ADMISSIONS Financial Aid Committee is comprised of continued from page 1 faculty, students and administrators. It offers unprecedented levels of need,” Coffin said. admissions-related recommendations on Undergraduate admissions statistics for the “I had said, ‘this is going to be really, really what it thinks is the best course of action to Class of 2014 ugly.’” university administrators. To meet this need, the trustees approved The issue of the relationship between aid Overall applicant pool for the Class of last year, marking the fourth consecutive a 12 percent increase in the financial aid levels and socioeconomic diversity is not 2014 is 15,436, the third largest pool year of record applications to the engi- budget — the only increase in the overall lost on committee chair George McNinch, in Tufts history and a three percent neering school. budget for this academic year — a number associate professor of mathematics. increase from last year. they hoped would be enough to not only “The academic profile of the incoming Engineering applications have, in the provide aid to all upperclassmen requiring class has gone up and the socioeconomic This is the sixth year in a row in which last five years, increased by 31 per- it, but also for the incoming freshman class. diversity has improved,” he said. “We’ve had the number of undergraduate appli- cent. According to Coffin, however, this hope some gains in those areas. We don’t want to cants has been above 15,000. did not pan out. “Every penny of that increase lose that.” The number of African American appli- was absorbed by sophomores, juniors and According to Weldai, McNinch and other The Early Decision (ED) pool increased cants rose by 14 percent, setting a new seniors,” he said. committee members recently drafted and by six percent. record.