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THE TUFTS DAILY
TUFTSDAILY.COM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010
VOLUME LIX, NUMBER 5
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
Sciortino introduces bill to support transgender rights BY
MICHAEL DEL MORO Daily Editorial Board
MIRIAM ROSS-HIRSCH/TUFTS DAILY
The library will start extended late-night study a week earlier than before.
Library experiments with extended hours BY
MARTHA SHANAHAN Daily Editorial Board
Extended late-night study hours in the Hirsch Reading Room at Tisch Library will begin a week earlier than was previously scheduled in response to students’ concerns. The doors of the reading room will
Women’s Studies faces staffing difficulties BY
CORINNE SEGAL
Daily Editorial Board
The loss of a critical staff member in the Women’s Studies Program has raised questions about the program’s future as remaining faculty struggle to fill the resulting manpower void. Women’s Studies Program Administrator Aileen Kounaves left Tufts in November to join Harvard University as a data administrator/ specialist. Due to the university’s current modified hiring freeze, a replacement has not been hired. This has created difficulties for the program, according to Director of Women’s Studies Modhumita Roy. “It does mean a net loss for women’s studies, there’s no question about it,” she said. “We had a designated person, and now we don’t.” Sarah Pinto, professor of anthropology and a board member for the program, agreed with Roy and added that this vacancy places a huge strain on already limited resources. “I think it affects all of us in that we all work together to run a really great program, and certain things are just beyond the time and capacity of those of us who are already deeply engaged in our work for women’s studies,” she said. Dean of Undergraduate Education
stay open until 6 a.m. beginning April 25, a week before the end of classes, according to library staff and Tufts Community Union ( TCU) senators on the Library Committee, a board made up of faculty and student representatives. In previous years, extended see LIBRARY, page 2
Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino (LA ’00) is working to add gender identity to the state constitution’s anti-discrimination statute in the hopes of strengthening legal protection for transgender rights. The bill, which Sciortino (D-Medford, Somerville) is co-sponsoring in the legislature, would include “gender identity and expression” in the statute. Its passage would make Massachusetts one of 14 states to explicitly protect transgender persons from discrimination. It would also amend the state’s hate crime laws accordingly to equate the punishment for gender-based crime to that for racially or ethnically motivated crimes. Sciortino, who originally filed the bill in January 2007, hopes it will make it out of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee in time for a vote this spring and is optimistic about its passage. The committee must pass the bill internally before it can be put to a full vote in the legislature, both of which must be accomplished by March in order for the bill to become law this term. “I expect that we have the votes to pass the bill,” Sciortino told the Daily. “Our cosponsors alone already constitute a majority of both the House and Senate.” According to Sciortino, the bill had 23 co-sponsors just two years ago. Since then,
COURTESY OFFICE OF REPRESENTATIVE CARL SCIORTINO JR.
State Rep. Carl Sciortino is seeking to strengthen legal protection for transgender individuals. the number has grown to 104. “It’s actually quite a remarkable process for a bill that was introduced only a couple of years ago on an issue that most people don’t have exposure to,” he said. see LGBT, page 2
Despite steady ticket sales, drop in Winter Bash attendance expected Tickets for Break the Ice, the re-branded Winter Bash, have enjoyed steady sales since they began selling at the start of last week, despite the new $10 ticket fee. By 1 p.m. on Sunday 1,545 tickets had been sold through the Web site, according to junior Sarah Habib, co-chair of Tufts Programming Board. The purchasing site indicated that slots for the buses leaving at 10 p.m. buses had been completely filled. Tickets for the upcoming Feb. 5 event, which has seen significant changes including a move to an off-campus location, were available for students to purchase online over the past week. Online sales ended Sunday and students can now buy tickets at the Mayer Campus Center Information Booth until the event. Habib feels that this ticket arrangement has enhanced students’ inclination to purchase tickets as it provides several payment methods and the option to avoid potential lines. She said that the Programming Board is “really optimistic about this week’s sales” at the campus center, based on interest generated by online sales. Organizers anticipate that attendance at Break the Ice will see a decline compared to last year’s Winter Bash, which was held at Gantcher Center and did not require a ticket or have a cover charge. Habib said that Programming Board is planning for 3,000 attendees, a drop from the 4,100 who attended the event last year. She feels that the decline in interest is not due to the $10 fee but rather the loss of convenience. “In past years, you could just show up, you didn’t have to plan accordingly,” Habib said. “Now you can’t just walk down the street and walk in the door anymore.” Former Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate President Duncan Pickard felt that the changes were entirely positive despite the institution of a ticket charge.
DAILY FILE PHOTO
Pickard, during his term as TCU Senate president, sought make Tufts more financially equitable for students by reducing extraneous costs that would not have been covered by financial aid. In line with this initiative, the TCU Senate last spring voted to eliminate ticketing costs for on-campus events sponsored by TCU-recognized groups. Safety concerns and the history of events like Winter Bash, however, justified the changes that have taken place, according to Pickard. “I always think that we should reduce costs to students for student programming across the board,” he said. “Given security concerns about past events like Fall Ball … though, the decision to move Winter Bash off campus was prudent.” He added that every effort was made to keep the cost of attending Break the Ice to a minimum.
“The Senate did all they could to reduce the costs of this event and worked really hard to make this a great event for students,” Pickard said. The university will actually be losing money on the event because of the Senate’s determination to make ticket prices as low as possible for the student body, according to Habib. “It’s a very expensive event, and sales are not nearly enough to pay for it,” she said. The ticket charge will at least significantly contribute to the costs of the function hall and food at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, as well as the security presence and shuttle transportation between Tufts and the event, Habib said. She added that the rest of the funding will be procured by the TCU Senate after an analysis of the university events budget. — by Jenny White
see WOMEN, page 2
Inside this issue
Today’s Sections
MTV’s “Jersey Shore” creates controversy in its home state.
Sundance Film Festival submission “The Company Men” came to a Boston theater.
see FEATURES, page 3
see ARTS, page 5
News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters
1 3 5 8
Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports
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