Where You Partly Cloudy Read It First 35/29 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 25 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011 TUFTSDAILY.COM Revived political group aims to MBTA grants one-quarter of bring policymakers to campus funds to extend Green Line BY BREN T YARNELL has emerged out of the Jonathan M. BY VICTORIA ME ss URI would benefit the project, Krause said. Daily Editorial Board Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Daily Staff Writer The board wishes to proceed cau- Service. tiously and fund the project incremen- Students looking to participate in The Institute for Public Citizenship The Massachusetts Bay tally after learning that budget cuts pro- and engage with domestic politics will (IPC), established last month by soph- Transportation Authority (MBTA) posed in the House of Representatives now have a new opportunity to do so, Board of Directors on Feb. 7 approved would eliminate the Federal Transit thanks to a new student group that see IPC, page 3 $21.9 million for the Green Line Administration’s New Starts program, Extension Project, an amount that which indirectly provides money for represents just under a quarter of the the Green Line extension. $95 million in funds that MBTA offi- “[If funding for New Starts is elimi- cials had requested to complete the nated,] MassDOT and the MBTA will project. work closely with the state’s congres- The project, which has been in the sional delegation to identify other works since the early 1990s, would potential sources for funding,” MBTA extend the Green Line seven stops Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. past its current Lechmere Station ter- These alternate sources may minus through the Union Square and include bonds from the state’s capital Medford Hillside neighborhoods. budget, a solution that would ulti- The approved funding will cover mately cost the state more money, approximately one year’s worth of ini- according to Krause. tial design and engineering for the The state initiated the Green Line extension, according to Ken Krause, Extension so that it may meet its legal a representative of the Medford obligation under the federal Clean Neighborhood Green Line Alliance. Air Act to offset the environmental The project is partially supported impact of the Big Dig, Boston’s 15-year by federal funding and partially from highway project, by December 2014. Commonwealth backing. “Around 1990, the Commonwealth Approval of the requested $95 mil- of Massachusetts had to agree to a lion would have financed the project number of public transit projects in for its projected remaining five years. order to get the environmental per- The extension is currently estimated to mits necessary to begin the Big Dig cost $1 billion. project,” Pesaturo said. “The Green DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY The board made the decision to stem Line extension is one of the projects A new Tisch College-sponsored group will encourage students to engage in policy issues and their funding at $21.9 million because of interact with politicians. uncertainty about federal funding that see MBTA, page 2 Tufts-sponsored documentary contest announces winners BY SARAH TRALIN S academic performance in inner-city Contributing Writer public schools. Faculty and graduate students in The Child and Family WebGuide, a the Child Development department Tufts-run online resource for informa- reviewed the WebGuide, which is tion on parenting and child develop- meant to be a trustworthy resource for ment, announced the winners of its parents, Castillo said. inaugural documentary contest Feb 15. In the future, submitted films from The 501c3: Capturing Change on the contest will be incorporated into Camera video contest, launched in the website. October, provided an opportunity for Fred Rothbaum, a professor of child filmmakers to showcase the work of development and co-founder of the nonprofits assisting children and fami- WebGuide, led a team of three students lies through documentary films. in executing the contest, which accept- The WebGuide, which sponsored ed submissions between October and the contest, is a joint product of the December. Eliot-Pearson Department of Child “The work of volunteers and non- Development and Tisch Library. profits is underappreciated,” Rothbaum JODI BOSIN/TUFTS DAILY Tufts provided the contest with fund- said. “The 501c3 contest is intended to Combined-degree students balance their Tufts course load with classes at the New ing and insight, as members of the uni- help correct that problem — to high- England Conservatory and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. versity community offered advice and light their wonderful work.” guidance to help direct its organizers Rothbaum was satisfied with the to success, according to Kris Carter, a outcome of the contest’s first year, NEC dual-degree program graduate student in the Department of crediting his team of students with its Urban and Environmental Policy and success. Planning and one of the coordinators “The most rewarding aspect of this for the contest. project for me, the supervisor, was comes with challenges Ben Tuller, a 2008 graduate of the working with the students,” Rothbaum BY SARAH ST RAND Tufts operates combined degree University of California, San Diego, said. “It was a treat for me to see them Daily Editorial Board programs with both the New England won first place for “A New Way Home.” envision our [public relations] cam- Conservatory (NEC) and the School of the The film documents the George Mark paign, the prizes, the website describ- Think your current course load is Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA). The Children’s House in California, which ing the project, the selection of judges tough? Try doubling it. NEC program, however, which began in cares for children and families that and every other aspect of the 501c3 Many Jumbos find themselves spread 1978, is unique in its application process have life-limiting illnesses. contest.” thin: between school, jobs, extracurric- and size. The second-place winner, “Chess Carter and co-coordinator Tiffany ular activities and having a social life, Students pursuing a combined degree Saved My Life,” was a documentary by Castillo, a senior, both hope the videos students pack their undergraduate years with SMFA apply to both schools sepa- New York City-based filmmaker Bao will be shared in communities and spur densely. But Tufts’ combined degree stu- rately, and those who are accepted to both Nguyen about the nonprofit Chess- awareness on the impact of nonprofits dents might know this better than anyone are accepted into the program. Associate in-the-Schools, an organization that else — in five years they earn not one but uses chess to boost self-esteem and see CONTEST, page 3 two full degrees. see COMBINED DEGREE, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections In a unique take on the News | Features 1 Classifieds 6 documentary, “Utopia Preppy attire sheds its in Four Movements” elitist ties in “The Ivy Comics 4 Sports Back combines film, live Look.” Arts | Living 5 narration and music. see ARTS, page 5 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUF T S DAILY NEWS | FeatURES Friday, March 4, 2011 THE TUFTS DAILY NEC combined-degree students describe double life ALEX A NDR A W. BOGUS COMBINED DEGREE intricacies of each campus. Yet given the Myers said — about seven Tufts credits. Editor-in-Chief continued from page 1 selectivity of the program, those accept- “It kind of sucks to go to two completely Editorial Dean of Undergraduate Education Jeanne ed are usually ready for challenges and different institutions that don’t talk to each Dillon, who also serves as an advisor to excited to be able to pursue two pas- other,” freshman Peter Atkinson said. “As Mick Brinkman Krever students in combined degree programs, sions at once, Dillon said. dual-degree students, we are expected to Saumya Vaishampayan said that applying for the NEC program “It’s a whole different world, a whole meet the needs of both institutions, which Managing Editors requires an extra step. different set of expectations,” she said. can be hard.” Martha Shanahan Executive News Editor Michael Del Moro News Editors The admissions committee reviews “Usually the people who get into this pro- Regardless, enrolling in the combined Nina Ford candidates accepted to both schools and gram are ready for this. They know they degree program is often a hard oppor- Ben Gittleson then selects a maximum of five students have to divide their time between practice tunity to pass up for the academically Amelie Hecht Ellen Kan who are invited to participate in the dual- and what Tufts requires.” and musically talented. Only a handful Daphne Kolios degree program, she said. According to Adding to the difficulty of scheduling of other schools, including Columbia, Kathryn Olson Matt Repka Dillon, about 140 prospective students classes, Tufts and NEC operate on com- Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt Corinne Segal applied to program for next fall. pletely divergent schedules. Combined- Universities, offer comparable programs. Jenny White Brent Yarnell Only 16 students are enrolled in the degree students also run into trouble, for By attending both a music conservatory Elizabeth McKay Assistant News Editors NEC program as a result, while the SMFA example, when Tufts declares a Thursday and an academic institution, students Laina Piera combined program has significantly more to be run on a Monday schedule while are spared having to choose music over Rachel Rampino Minyoung Song students, Dillon said. In contrast with the NEC does not. another subject area or vice versa. Derek Schlom Executive Features Editor SMFA program, which has experienced “My friends say one of my extracurricu- “I’ve basically been putting off as Jon Cheng Features Editors dropout rates of up to 50 percent in recent lar activities is arranging and re-arranging long as I can the decision between Sarah Korones Emilia Luna years, students who begin the NEC pro- my schedule,” Kate Schimmer, a fifth-year music and academics,” Myers said.