Where You Rain Read It First 71/58 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXII, NUMBER 28 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011 TUFTSDAILY.COM University to update registry to reduce noise violations BY MINYOUNG SONG while other information, including stu- Daily Editorial Board dents’ addresses, is kept confidential, Reitman noted. In response to recent nuisance ordi- The university will use the updated nances passed in the cities of Medford information to identify the areas that have and Somerville, Tufts is working to acquire the highest number of off-campus student updated contact information for students residents, he said. living off-campus in order to increase its “It will be useful for the university to ability to monitor the high-density areas in know where people are living,” Reitman which students live. said. “In that sense, there is the coopera- The City of Medford in August passed a tion between the cities and the university nuisance ordinance that allows the city to in being able to tell what parts of the city fine landlords for the disruptive behaviors are in fact student-rental areas, so the city of their tenants. The City of Somerville can plan better and the university can work passed a similar ordinance at its Board of together [with them].” Aldermen meeting on Oct. 13. Students have run into public distur- The Registrar’s Office will issue reminders bance problems with neighbors each to encourage students to revise their out- semester, according to Tufts’ Director of of-date information listed on Webcenter. Community Relations Barbara Rubel. Webcenter serves as the primary means “For years and years, there have been through which the university obtains stu- instances where groups of students living dents’ contact information, according to in the neighborhoods around the campus Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman. have caused disruption to the neighbor- Some of the information that stu- hood,” Rubel said. dents submit on Webcenter — including During Medford town meetings, resi- students’ names, email addresses and phone numbers — is displayed publicly, see NOISE, page 2 VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY The Tufts Community Union Senate voted last week to forgive the debt of five student groups in full and another in part, but decided not to forgive its own debt. Local community group pushes for hiring ordinance group debts, not its own BY STEPHANIE STRAU ss subject to the new ordinance, guaranteeing Contributing Writer jobs to Somerville residents. She added that BY GABRIELLE HERNANDEZ can explain the over-expenditure at the Somerville residents are paying the taxes to SenateDaily Editorial forgives Board fivebeginning student of the academic year, accord- Somerville Community Corporation support these city projects and therefore ing to TCU Senate Treasurer sophomore (SCC) is currently endeavoring to pass the should profit from their investments. The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Christie Maciejewski, who makes all final Local Hiring Ordinance, a law that would The ordinance was modeled after simi- Senate opted earlier this month not to decisions regarding budget penalties for require projects receiving more than lar pre-existing ordinances according to forgive a penalty fine that it accrued for student groups. $50,000 in city funds to fill 30 percent of the Harwitt. overspending on its budget last year. The body traditionally forgives penal- generated jobs with Somerville residents. In collaboration with city officials, the The Senate discussed seven student ties when the Senate itself can be held SCC worked to develop the ordinance SCC introduced the ordinance to the groups that overspent their budgets responsible for over-expenditures of stu- and staff have been working closely with Somerville Board of Aldermen in June, last semester, including the Senate dent groups, according to TCU President Somerville’s Board of Aldermen gain according to Harwitt. itself. The Senate decided to forgive all Tomas Garcia, a senior. approval for it, according to SCC commu- The entire board unanimously sup- groups in full or in part, except for the Maciejewski put seven groups’ nity organizer Cecily Harwitt. ported it, she noted, and the Legislative Senate, which will have to pay its own financial penalties up for discussion by SCC is a local group that works with low- Matters Committee is currently reviewing penalty. the Senate, including the Vietnamese and middle-income residents to achieve the ordinance. When student groups overspend their Students Club (VSC), Tufts Film Series, economic sustainability in order to pre- Alderman at Large and Vice Chairperson allotted budgets, the Senate may issue American Society of Civil Engineers serve the diversity in Somerville. of the Legislative Matters Committee Bill financial penalties based on the amount (ASCE), Sarabande, Tufts Mock Trial, A project that receives more than $50,000 by which groups overspent. in city subsidies, Harwitt said, would be see HIRING, page 2 A group may appeal this penalty if it see SENATE, page 2 SPEAC promotes dialogue through identity project BY CORINNE SEGAL Audrey Wilson, a junior. Daily Editorial Board Fulbeck photographed people of half- Pacific Islander descent, also called Hapa, Campus peer education group Students and asked participants to describe their Promoting Equality Awareness and identities. He then compiled the photos and Compassion (SPEAC) is continuing its work responses online. this semester on an effort designed to high- SPEAC, formerly known as BEAT Bias light diversity on campus called the Tufts and rebranded in 2010 to reflect the group’s Identity Project. proactive new approach, aims to start The project includes Tufts students’ conversations about incidents of bias and responses to the questions “Who are you?” intolerance on campus through education and “How do other people perceive you?” and events. Such incidents can be reported accompanied by their pictures, according online on WebCenter. to Associate Dean of Students and SPEAC “What we want to do, as a group, is create Coordinator Marisel Perez. a safe space on campus to have these kinds of MCT The Tufts Identity Project is modeled conversations about intolerance,” Perez said. A newly proposed ordinance in Somerville would guarantee jobs to local residents on after The Hapa Project, a work by artist city-funded construction projects. Kip Fulbeck, according to SPEAC member see SPEAC, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s sections News 1 Op-Ed 9 A look at some of Tufts’ Bondir offers a unique, most fashionable pro- ever-changing menu. Features 3 Comics 10 fessors. Arts & Living 5Sports 11 Editorial | Letters 8 Classifieds 12 see FEATURES, page 3 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUF T S DAILY NEWS Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Tufts responds to new noise ordinances in host communities NOISE continued from page 1 dents have vowed to relocate if occurrences of public nuisance continue, Chairwoman of Medford City Council’s Subcommittee on Public Safety Breanna Lungo- Koehn told the Daily. Lungo-Koehn identified rowdy parties, public urination, crowded apartments, trash build-up and absentee landlords as some of the most common problems in areas with high student populations. “Sometimes students do not take into account that average, working people do not start their weekends on Thursday nights,” Rubel explained. She noted, however, that only a minority of the student body causes problems. “It is a very small percentage of students who attract police atten- tion,” Rubel said. Lungo-Koehn said she hopes that the university will work to “keep track of where their students are living and patrol those areas more often to give the city more relief.” She is hopeful that the new ordinance will serve to improve relations between Tufts and its host communities. Rubel is optimistic that the new efforts to build up the off-campus registry will improve town-gown relations. “From the university perspec- tive, we want students living off campus to live safely and act as we know they can,” Rubel said. “We are willing to work with the cities and DILYS ONG/TUFTS DAILY neighbors to achieve that goal.” The university is stepping up its efforts to acquire the addresses of off-campus students in order to decrease the number of noise complaints from neighbors. Senate debate to forgive VCS debt contentious ordinance by December SENATE of going over budget, Garcia HIRING ordinance defines a disadvan- Somerville residents, he said. continued from page 1 explained. SCCcontinued fromhopes page 1 for finaltaged worker review as having an income of new Residents hiring are paying to live in Midnight Café and the Senate Senators have historically White Jr. told the Daily that the below a certain level or facing Somerville, McLaughlin said, and itself. voted to forgive their own pen- committee is responsible for an employment barrier, such as many of them need jobs during The Senate forgave ASCE, alties as a body, he added. reviewing the legality of the ordi- being homeless. these tough economic times. Sarabande, Mock Trial and Debate surrounding VSC’s nance, which is still in its draft White noted that the local courts Harwitt added that the city Midnight Café in full. Only two penalty was especially conten- state and is in the process of have been very strict in terms of has been investing heavily and it groups, VSC and Film Series, drew tious. being amended. passing such ordinances. Non- would be beneficial to the econo- enough debate for Maciejewski The group overspent its bud- Once the committee approves residents who work in Somerville my if unemployed residents could to table the decision on those get by over $600. A VSC stu- the ordinance, a public hearing oppose the ordinance on the basis receive work. groups for a later date. dent representative explained will be held to allow residents to of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Local groups like SCC, will con- Maciejewski later made the to senators that the group over- express their opinions on the ordi- Constitution, which forbids the tinue to push and gain support for final decision to forgive Film spent because it loaned money nance, he said.