Where You Read It First Mostly Cloudy 64/55 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 3 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 TUFTSDAILY.COM ARTS FEATURE Tufts receives $40 million gift BY BEN GITTLESON Daily Editorial Board Inventor Bernard Gordon (H ’92) has committed $40 million to the School of Engineering in order to bolster engineer- ing leadership programs for undergradu- ates, the university announced yester- day. Gordon, a Tufts trustee emeritus who had previously donated $35 million to Tufts to support the Gordon Institute, the construction of Sophia Gordon Hall and other causes, has long been a proponent JESS BIDGOOD/TUFTS DAILY of leadership training for engineers. Fairey’s new designs for the Tufts campus replaced the original, much discussed mural from The money will go largely toward rede- January. signing a minor centered on engineering leadership, hiring more engineering pro- fessors and increasing the amount of Shepard Fairey strikes again project-based learning opportunities for undergraduates studying engineering. BY JESSICA BIDGOOD They were looking for a place on cam- “Dr. Gordon’s gift is another signifi- Senior Staff Writer pus where street artist Shepard Fairey, cant investment in Tufts by one of our ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY made famous for his iconic Barack Obama most loyal and generous supporters,” Trustee emeritus and inventor Bernard This piece is the first in a two-part series “Hope” image, could paste a mural. They University President Lawrence Bacow Gordon donated $40 million to Tufts’ examining the history behind Shepard found a brick wall by a couple of dump- told the Daily in an e-mail. “We are School of Engineering. Fairey’s work on the Tufts campus. sters outside of the campus center. Fairey enormously grateful for his latest vote One frigid day in January, Institute for pasted a mural on the wall that would of confidence in Tufts, especially during help provide leadership and practical Global Leadership director Sherman soon be destroyed. these challenging economic times.” training for a wider swath of engineering Teichman and Dwijo Goswami, one of the Six months later, Fairey was in town for Gordon’s donation will provide students. students in his EPIIC class, put on their par- resources for the expansion of preexist- “I think that this is going to help us kas and went searching for a big, flat space. see FAIREY, page 7 ing programs at the Gordon Institute, a achieve a really unique program in leadership-development center within To view a slideshow featuring photographs of both Fairey’s murals, the current and the School of Engineering. It will also see GORDON, page 2 the original, visit tuftsdaily.com. Swine Flu prompts worries about Fall Ball Packard Hall construction BY MATT REPKA around the block. Daily Editorial Board Higham and Reitman encour- completed aged students who had fallen ill to Tufts officials “seriously consid- avoid attending not only Fall Ball BY NATE BREG ered” pulling the plug on Fall Ball but also all other school-spon- Daily Staff Writer for fear that cramped attendees sored social events this semester. might spread the swine flu virus, “This is a situation we’ve never The Department of Political the university’s medical director encountered before, this type of Science now has a new home, as and dean of student affairs said pandemic flu,” Higham told the completed renovations to Packard yesterday in an e-mail to stu- Daily. She noted that there is the Hall early this summer have dents. potential for an “explosive out- allowed faculty and staff, previ- Dean Bruce Reitman and break” of the virus on campus. ously located in Eaton Hall, to Medical Director Margaret She said that the decision not move into the building on time. Higham urged students to stay to cancel Fall Ball had not been Construction began just over away from the Friday dance if easy. “It’s a hard call,” she said. a year ago in June 2008, and the they feel ill, and to take precau- But Tufts Community Union total renovation cost was $7.1 mil- tions if they come to the dance. (TCU) President Brandon Rattiner lion. The annual event typically is said he was “not concerned at all” Administrators within the densely packed and highly pop- about the potential for an out- School of Arts and Sciences origi- ulated. This year seems poised break. He added that the Senate, nally planned to occupy Packard to keep up the precedent, as the which runs Fall Ball, was not con- when Tufts’ Board of Trustees line of students waiting to retrieve ANDREW MORGENTHALER/TUFTS DAILY approved $6.9 million in 2008 for Fall Ball tickets yesterday snaked see SWINE FLU, page 2 The cannon has already been infected with a variation of the swine flu virus. the overhaul of the building. After construction began, however, a reevaluation of the Eaton Hall space prompted them to redirect the building to the political sci- Jumbo Drop recycling program canceled this year ence department, and the trustees authorized an additional $200,000 BY SAUMYA VAISHAMPAYAN charge of the program, said that inefficien- hope, Quirk said, is that a bigger organization to better suit the department’s Daily Editorial Board cies have prevented the operation from giving will be able to turn a profit from the donated needs. money to charity in the past five years. items. The office space allotted in Students will have to look elsewhere for Jumbo Drop — which began as a student- Quirk said that she regretted the cancella- Eaton was “substandard” for second-hand mirrors and microwaves. Jumbo run initiative six years ago — receives $5,000 tion of the sale but emphasized that the sale’s political science members, Vice Drop, the annual sale that redistributes used from the Facilities department every year, but main objective — waste reduction — may be President of Operations John student items, will not be held this year due to the funding is not enough to pay student better facilitated through other means. Roberto said. “It was a department cost issues. employees, store items over the summer and “As a facilities and Tufts Recycles! operation, whose needs were well known.” Items for Jumbo Drop are collected in May operate the sale in the fall. our main goal is to keep items out of the trash. Political Science Professor and resold in September in an effort to reduce Items collected by Jumbo Drop employees Absent the many hours of organizing usually Jeffrey Berry agreed that it was the waste created by move-outs. Funds raised last year will be donated to a charity rather dedicated to running the sale, I was able to time for the department to move. are donated to charity, but facility department than resold to Tufts students, and workers will recycling coordinator Dawn Quirk, who is in continue to collect goods in the future. The see JUMBO DROP, page 2 see PACKARD, page 2 Inside this issue Today’s Sections The Daily talks tunes Newly renovated News 1 Op-Ed 11 with bearded ZZ Top Cousens Gymnasium before the band’s is on track to host Tufts’ Features 3 Comics 12 performance at the first volleyball match Arts & Living 5Sports 13 Somerville Theare. of the season. Editorial | Letters 10 see ARTS, page 5 see SPORTS, page 13 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS Thursday, September 10, 2009 Gordon donates $40 million; grant will go toward engineering leadership programs GORDON Peabody, Mass. and co-founded two years,” he said. “This gift is neering management minor Gordon’s gift began months ago. continued from page 1 and currently chairs NeuroLogica going to allow us to carry out aims to breathe new life into a Administrators learned of the educating engineers,” Dean of Corporation in Danvers, Mass. some of our plans, certainly more program that has only attracted inventor’s commitment over the Engineering Linda Abriola said. Gordon lived at Tufts in 1944 quickly than we would have been a handful of students in recent summer but waited until the “I’m looking to not only ben- while participating in a Navy able to do.” years. The minor stands to gain start of the semester to make an efit the students who would be officers training program during Over the next academic year, a new component that will announcement. part of some kind of engineering World War II. More recently, he planning and advisory commit- give students real-life consult- Beyond Boundaries has seen leadership minor, but also ben- sat on the university’s Board of tees aim to put these concepts into ing experience, according to a number of high-profile dona- efit all of our students.” Trustees for a decade (he left in action, according to Hannemann. Hannemann, and will change tions over the past few years, The gift will bolster the School 2006) and he currently serves on “Our directions are going to its name to “engineering leader- and Gordon’s donation ranks of Engineering’s expanding the School of Engineering’s Board emphasize engineering practice ship.” among the five largest, according efforts to prepare undergraduates of Overseers and as an honorary and engineering leadership,” he In addition to that minor, to Sanni. In April, Tufts received for leadership positions in tech- co-chair of Tufts’ ongoing capital said. the Gordon Institute offers a $136 million — the largest gift in nology by teaching them prac- campaign. Project-based learning that minor in entrepreneurial lead- the university’s history — from a tical skills, a mission that falls At Tufts, the push for the more will expose undergraduates to ership to undergraduates in the charitable trust set up by engi- in line with Gordon’s extensive practical training backed by real-life engineering problems Schools of Arts and Sciences and neer and businessman Frank philanthropic giving to engineer- Gordon has primarily occurred will be a centerpiece of these Engineering.