Today: Mostly Cloudy THE TUFTS High 44 Low 39 Tufts’ Student Tomorrow: Newspaper AM Showers Since 1980 High 50 Low 25 VOLUME LII, NUMBER 58 DAILY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2006 Community debates racist remarks Somerville lobbies for BY ROB SILVERBLATT Daily Editorial Board cash to end gang violence Feelings of anger and solidar- BY JENNA NISSAN 12 cities including Somerville ity, calls for retribution, pushes Daily Editorial Board and Medford, had to demon- for reconciliation, and allega- strate that there is youth and tions of mischaracterization Somerville is one of many gang violence within their com- have all been floating around the communities in the Boston area munities and had to formulate campus and surrounding neigh- lobbying for increased funding a comprehensive plan to work borhood over the past two days. for anti-gang violence programs with law enforcement, human Following the Dec. 4 publi- through the Senator Charles service professionals and gov- cation of a Viewpoint by Isha Shannon Community Safety ernment officials in order to Plynton describing an encounter Initiative, a gang and youth vio- receive funding, according to with racism at the Diva Lounge in lence prevention grant program the fact sheet. MAPC requested Davis Square, various reactions administered by the Executive $2.6 million and was granted $1 to her experience have emerged. Office of Public Safety. million. Many Tufts students have Statewide public safety advo- “The MAPC allocates that called for some kind of action cates are lobbying to extend the funding to regional programs in response, although the exact $11 million grant to $20 to $30 and to individual city police methods have varied, whereas million for the coming fiscal departments,” said, Meaghan the Lounge has denied responsi- year, according to a fact sheet Silverberg, press secretary for bility for the event and called for provided by Somerville Mayor Mayor Curtatone. reconciliation. Joseph Curtatone’s office. The MAPC’s Metro In the Viewpoint, Plynton Somerville belongs to one of Mayors Coalition hosted the described a Nov. 18 encounter 15 coalitions and 34 municipal- Community Safety Summit at with an intoxicated woman who ities currently benefiting from the end of November, and more harassed her and a group of the grant. Mayor Curtatone than 150 people attended to friends. applied for the grant in April promote increased funding for The woman referred to 2006 through the Metro Mayors youth violence prevention and Plynton, who is black, and Coalition, a coalition of may- law enforcement strategies. some of her six friends, two of ors and city managers spon- According to the Somerville whom are also black, as “n—s,” The Facebook.com group called “A Call to Action: Racism at Diva Lounge” sored by the Metropolitan Area Journal, State Senate President was formed in response to an alleged bias incident at Diva Lounge and, as Planning Council (MAPC). see DIVA, page 2 of press time, had over 350 members. The MAPC, which consists of see GRANT, page 2 T prices to increase Visiting Chinatown students start the college hunt early Taking the T home for winter break will BY ERIN BALDASSARI cost Jumbos the traditional $1.25. When Contributing Writer returning, however, students will have pay as much as $2 for a ride. Nearly 50 freshmen from Chinatown’s only According to the Massachusetts Bay Transit public high school, the Josiah Quincy Upper Authority (MBTA) Web site, fares will increase School, were hosted by members of the Peace starting Jan. 1, 2007. and Justice Studies class Active Citizenship in The exact price per ride will depend on the an Urban Community at Tufts’ campus on method of payment. Friday. CharlieCards, currently being distributed The objective of the visit was to expose the to passengers by MBTA personnel at T sta- students to college early in their academic tions, are plastic cards which “passengers can careers. put money on ... by inserting tokens, cash or “I learned you don’t have to be afraid of credit cards in new vending machines,” the going to college,” Terrance Hines, a freshman Web site said. at John Quincy Upper School, said. “Don’t With a CharlieCard, a ride on the T will worry about money and try to get to your goal cost $1.70, and a bus ride will be $1.25. ... you have to care.” Passengers paying with cash or a paper Visiting students, led by group leaders, CharlieTicket will be charged $2 for the T and searched with a scavenger hunt to get familiar $1.50 for the bus. with the campus, made buttons at the Crafts “Commuter rail fares would go up as well. House, listened in on a Q&A session about For example, a one-way fare from Andover to college life, enjoyed a performance by BEATS, North Station would rise from $5 to $6.25,” and finished with a performance of their own according to an article in the Boston Globe. impromptu rap songs. The lower CharlieCard fares are to encour- Professor Jean Wu, who teaches the class, age their use and speed up the travel pro- said that seeing a college first-hand is impor- cess. tant because many may be the first in their “To get through fare gates, riders will just family to attend college with many parents as tap their CharlieCard against a digital reader. first-generation immigrants. Charlie-Tickets have to be inserted, which “No one will be there with you,” she said. takes longer, as does giving cash to bus driv- “It’s your name, your number, your grade. You ers,” the Globe article said. got to care.” According to officials, the price increase Many of the high school students expressed has multiple reasons. “T officials say the concern that they may not be able to get into COURTESY ERIN BALDASSARI changes are designed to generate more a school with such rigorous academic stan- Members of the freshmen class of the Josiah Quincy Upper School of Chinatown came to money while getting rid of unfair quirks that dards as Tufts. Tufts last week in a program designed to start the college search process early. have accumulated over the years,” the article “Do ‘D’s matter?” asked Jackie Lin of admis- said. sions requirements. She was met with advice When the fare hike was initially proposed from group leaders to stay focused. Josiah Quincy Upper School in an effort to seminar. in April 2006, the estimated increase was The class, which will next semester be called better understand the complex social issues The class culminates in a final presenta- 25 percent. This would have put T prices at Civic Engagement in Boston Chinatown: Race, surrounding environmental racism, gentri- tion with recommendations by students to $1.55 per ride and bus prices at $1.15. Culture, Power and Politics, is a dual-semester fication, public health and public education the organizations on how they can further Without a CharlieCard, T fares will be course which seeks to involve Tufts students and to form a closer relationship between the improve their community activity. in line with prices in New York City and in communities around the Tufts campus. Tufts and Chinatown communities. There will be no formal follow-up event Philadelphia, where both subway and bus Students work with local organizations Wu said that there are no prerequisites for to last Friday’s program, but the Tufts stu- rides are $2, according to the MBTA’s press including the Chinese Progressive Association, the course, and freshman through seniors are dents currently working at John Quincy Upper release. Asian Community Development, the Boston enrolled. Students work every week in non- School will continue to work there and meet — Sarah Butrymowicz Chinatown Neighborhood Center and the profit organizations and meet for a weekly with the same students throughout the year. Inside this issue tuftsdaily.com Today’s Sections EQUESTRIAN CAMPUS COOKING News 1 Viewpoints 9 Tufts’ best riders take to Do you know the muffin Features 3 Comics 12 the course, asking horses (wo)man? We do, and she’s Arts | Living 5Classifieds 13 to jump like they’ve never sharing the secret to the Editorial | Letters 8 Sports Back jumped before. classic baked good. see SPORTS, back page see FEATURES, page 3 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Wednesday, December 6, 2006 CONGRESS IS QUITTING FOR THE YEAR, LEAVING ITS MAIN JOB TCU Senate considering taking action on incident UNDONE DIVA action and some for increased discus- should be encouraged to focus more on Congress planned to adjourn this week continued from page 1 sion. the general problem. after the lightest workload in at least 60 years, peppering them with insults. Shortly after the Viewpoint was pub- To that end, he hopes to foster dialogue leaving nine of 11 appropriations bills for the Plynton wrote that she reported this to lished, sophomore Vincient Booker through the newly formed group A Call current fiscal year unfinished. This Republican- the management, but that the manager formed a Facebook.com group called “A to Action (ACT) and already has tentative led Congress leaves the bills for the incoming and owner were largely unresponsive and Call to Action: Racism at Diva Lounge”. plans for a meeting and rally on Friday. Democratic-led Congress, which takes office in unsympathetic. In the group, which at press time According to Tufts Community Union January. The bills are needed to finance about She wrote that they refused to evict the had over 350 members, Booker initially (TCU) President Mitch Robinson, the TCU $460 billion worth of government projects woman, the foster sister of Diva Lounge called for a sit-in at the Diva Lounge, but Senate is also aware of the incident and — everything that’s not defense-related or on Supervisor Randi Baxter, from the estab- changed his position after a discussion said that the group will discuss it at their automatic pilot, such as Social Security.