Where You Read It First Mostly Sunny 84/66 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LX, NUMBER 2 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 TUFTSDAILY.COM INTERVIEW | JOANNE BERGER-SWEENEY New arts and sciences dean hopes to synergize research, teaching, diversity BY MATT REPKA what are your expectations? Are you Daily Editorial Board looking forward to it? JBS: I’m absolutely looking forward to Former Wellesley College Associate it. I’m so excited to be here at Tufts, and Dean Joanne Berger-Sweeney is, starting what I’m most looking forward to is get- this fall, taking up the position of dean of ting to know the people here on campus. arts and sciences at Tufts, the university That’s something that I couldn’t possibly announced in July. know, regardless of how many institu- Berger-Sweeney — a Wellesley College tions I’ve been a part of before. Tufts, and faculty member since 1991 — takes over Tufts people, are going to be new and from Robert Sternberg , who announced interesting and exciting. And there are EMILY EISENBERG/TUFTS DAILY in December his intention not to seek lots of them. [Laughs]. Students waited in long lines last year to obtain tickets to Fall Ball. a second term once his five-year tenure MR: …What attracted you to make the ended on June 30. move from Wellesley to Tufts? Provost and Senior Vice President JBS: ...I think that I’ve discovered that life Jamshed Bharucha convened a search cycles happen about every six to seven OCL hopes to speed up Fall Ball committee, which selected Berger- years, at least for academicians … I had Sweeney as the final candidate. The new been in the associate dean position for dean is also an accomplished professor six years at Wellesley and it just felt that it ticket distribution process of neuroscience, specializing in the areas was time for something new and some- of learning and memory and neurologi- thing different … When I got a call [from BY CORINNE SEGAL ticket availability. cal disorders. a recruiting firm] about Tufts, I had to Daily Editorial Board In all, 2500 tickets are available for Fall Ball, Berger-Sweeney assumed her duties stop and think about it because I’d been OCL Director Joe Golia said. Tickets are avail- as dean at the end of August and the at Wellesley for 19 years, and one doesn’t Tickets for Friday’s Fall Ball event are avail- able from 12 noon to 2 p.m. today and tomor- Daily sat down with her in her office easily leave an institution I’d been asso- able beginning today, with slight changes to row, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday to discuss her new appointment. ciated with for that long. the ticket distribution process that organizers and on Friday from 10:30 a.m. until all tickets Probably some of the things that hope will make for a less frustrating experi- have been distributed. Matt Repka: What’s the transition been appealed to me about Tufts were the qual- ence for students. Potential attendees who are waiting to like this summer? ity of the education … and its incredible Long lines for tickets at the Mayer Campus collect tickets will receive slips of paper to Joanne Berger-Sweeney: …Two days reputation for providing really a high- Center information booth marked last year’s confirm that they are one of the first 600 stu- after it was announced publicly that I quality experience for undergraduates. event, the first Fall Ball to be ticketed and dents in line, 10 minutes before the box office would be taking this position, I had to In addition, it has graduate programs, have a cap on attendance. Concerns voiced opens for each distribution time slot. think almost immediately about filling and I thought expanding into that new by students have prompted the Office for “Students who don’t get that [slip of paper] new positions [due to resignations]. The area and being a part of a university that Campus Life (OCL) to make changes to the know that they most likely won’t get into that transition was about one day. [Laughs] previous system, in particular to keep stu- MR: As we go into the academic year, see DEAN, page 2 dents waiting in line more informed about see TICKETS, page 2 New student IDs boast more Tufts professor to lead features, added technology university in Armenia BY JENNY WHITE Daily Editorial Board BY DAPHNE KOLIOS know when he will return to Daily Editorial Board Tufts. This year’s freshmen will not be “[The position] is a bit open- the only ones holding brand new Professor of Mathematics ended — I’m taking an extend- identification cards this fall as all Bruce Boghosian, former ed leave of absence from Tufts, students have been required to pick chair of the Department of so it will be at least a few years,” up free replacement cards featuring Mathematics, will leave Tufts Boghosian said. multiple enhancements. this September to become In a nationwide search, The new IDs, which students the president of the American Boghosian beat out a sizeable have to collect by Friday, have University of Armenia (AUA). field of candidates for the posi- emergency phone numbers Boghosian’s ties to Armenia tion. “I would estimate there printed on the back of the card, and AUA are long-standing. He were no less than 30 candi- eliminate the outmoded secondary initially became acquainted dates, filtered down to around magnetic stripe and continue the with the university through col- 10 for interviews with the com- practice — first started last year — leagues who had worked there mittee,” Edward Avedisian, a of having separate student ID and and visited the school while in member of the subcommittee, JumboCash numbers. Armenia, Boghosian told the told the Daily. Perhaps most noticeably, the new Daily in an e-mail. Several years The selection committee IDs’ internal chip facilitates access ago, Boghosian was elected to itself was composed of repre- to dorms, eliminating the need for serve as a foreign member of the sentatives from the University the previously used fob technology. Armenian National Academy of of California system and mem- The improved IDs are largely Sciences. bers of the Armenian General the result of a Tufts Community In an e-mail to the Daily, Benevolent Union, an American MEREDITH KLEIN/TUFTS DAILY Union (TCU) Senate initiative to Students now use IDs in place of fobs to gain access to dorms. Boghosian praised AUA. “Each nonprofit. Both have a strong increase the accessibility of public time I’ve been [in Armenia], I’ve affiliation with the university. safety services. 2008 with a request to enhance the ID so that it was easily accessible visited the American University Carol Aslanian, a member “It’s just one small step, but it ID cards by adding emergency con- to students,” Galvez said. “We’ve of Armenia, and I met faculty of the AUA board of trustees, will create greater responsiveness tact numbers to them, according to been looking into it, but up until there, I met students, and I was said the traits the subcommit- in reaching emergency services,” Louis Galvez III, administrative ser- recently, we couldn’t find it in our impressed with the school and tee members looked for in can- Senator Edward Chao, a senior who vice coordinator for the Department budget to do that.” with the dedication of all of the didates included the ability to spearheaded the initiative, said. of Public & Environmental Safety. Aside from including emergen- faculty and administrators of adapt the university to reflect Chao first approached Tufts “The idea was to put safety the school,” Boghosian said. University Police Department in information on the back of the see CARDS, page 2 Boghosian said he does not see BOGHOSIAN, page 2 Editor’s Note: The Daily will publish every other day for the first two weeks of the fall semester. Inside this issue Today’s Sections Fewer students have Cable TV networks News 1 Op-Ed 9 been deported due to beat out broadcast their status as illegal stations in producing Features 3 Comics 10 immigrants. quality summer enter- Arts & Living 5Sports Back tainment. Editorial | Letters 8 see FEATURES, page 3 see ARTS, page 5 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Tuesday, September 7, 2010 Professor works to expand American University of Armenia’s off erings BOGHOSIAN of his tenure as president. continued from page 1 He emphasized the need for highly the dynamic social and economic cli- trained professionals in a variety of fields mate within Armenia. including medicine, law and business. “We looked to someone who was not Many AUA graduates work within tied to the past but could look for and use industries crucial to the country’s devel- information that would help him and his opment, such as government, techno- colleagues move the institution well into logical companies and banking, AUA the next decade with the types of pro- Vice President of Development and grams and services that the Republic of Government Relations Bruce Janigian Armenia needs,” Aslanian told the Daily. told the Daily. At Tufts, Boghosian brought numer- “The university has basically facili- ous changes to the mathematics depart- tated Armenia’s emergence as a global ment as chair, Professor of Mathematics partner in the world,” he added. Boris Hasselblatt said. Janigian said the impact of the uni- Hasselblatt praised Boghosian for his versity extends outside of the borders of work. “He really has exerted innovative Armenia, allowing students of neighbor- and forceful leadership and has taken ing countries to receive an American- MEREDITH KLEIN/TUFTS DAILY a more proactive role in seeing where accredited education without coming to Joanne Berger-Sweeney is the new dean of arts and sciences.