Today: Partly Cloudy THE TUFTS High 75 Low 63 Tufts’ Student Tomorrow: Newspaper Partly Cloudy Since 1980 High 77 Low 64 VOLUME LII, NUMBER 2 DAILY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 Dean system revamped BY JEREMY WHITE Changing the old system Daily Editorial Board required changes within the Undergraduate Dean’s office. After years of planning and Sheila Bayne, formerly the dean discussion, a new system of for juniors, now works full-time academic advising for Arts and as Director of Programs Abroad, Sciences undergraduates will while former sophomore class begin this semester. Dean Chris Nwabeke is now the Under the new system, every Director of Special Projects in class is divided alphabetically Dowling Hall. into four groups, and a dif- These vacancies will be ferent advising dean will be filled by Karen Garrett Gould, responsible for these students a former administrator from throughout their Tufts careers. Brandeis University, and The School of Engineering will Carol Baffi-Dugan, who until not be included in this system now served as Pre-Health and is under the sole charge of Advisor and Associate Dean of Kim Knox. Undergraduate Education. “It’s going to provide more Though she acknowledges continuity of care,” Dean of the benefits of the new system, Undergraduate Education Associate Dean Jeanne Dillon James Glaser said. “Someone ... will miss some aspects of the old will really know you in a way arrangement. She argues that the old system didn’t make pos- the earlier structure allowed sible.” deans to get to know the hurdles FORD ADAMS/TUFTS DAILY Previously, specific deans specific to each year that stu- Dr. Bernard Gordon and Mrs. Sophia Gordon are joined by Adele Bacow and residents of the new dorm. were permanently attached to dents experience at Tufts. each year, so students dealt with “You develop a huge, deep a new dean during each of their area of expertise,” Dillon said. Sophia Gordon Hall inaugurated last four years at Tufts. “You even get to know the Glaser said that this improved University better because you’re framework will strengthen stu- getting to know about the areas night in a well-attended ceremony dent bonds between with the students are having issues academic advising dean and with.” BY ROBERT SILVERBLATT Stern (E ‘72 ), the Chairman of the it to, but it will come,” he said. build fuller, longer advising rela- Dillon said that class deans Daily Editorial Board Tufts Board of Trustees, Another focus of the event was tionships. facilitated each class’s transi- “We all like to say we’re champi- the variety of uses for the new dorm. The new system will be par- tion and were well-versed in “Speaking about both Sophia ons of the students,” he said. “Here Robinson focused on its ability to ticularly effective in helping the most pertinent problems for and Sophia Gordon Hall, this you have a tangible example of keep seniors on campus. deans address recurring student each class. Formerly the dean is a wonderful day for us,” Tufts someone who makes sure we fol- “Seniors often times tend to problems and concerns that of seniors, Dillon said she regu- University President Larry Bacow low through.” gravitate to off-campus housing. span several years, he said. larly exchanges advice with Jean told an overflowing audience last Gordon said he decided to follow This changed this year,” he said. “This will especially help Herbert, the erstwhile freshman night in Sophia Gordon Hall. through with the project because of In addition, the highly modern students who have issues that dean. Last night marked the dedication his commitment to both Tufts and and very beautiful building boosts require someone in the admin- Mainly, Gould hopes that the of the new dorm for Tufts seniors, his wife Sophia. the students’ morale, he said. “Now, istration to be playing close new system will get more stu- named after the wife of Tufts trust- “Aside from my parents, there when you go to this campus, stu- attention,” Glaser said, citing dents consulting their advising ee Bernard Gordon (H ‘92). have been two major influences dents have a sense of pride they family and financial struggles deans. During the event, both Bernard in my life,” he said. “One has been didn’t have before,” he said. beyond the academic sphere. “I don’t want to be a person and Sophia were honored for their Tufts. The other has been Sophia.” According to Stern, however, the Administrators have mulled behind another file cabinet or a generosity in providing funds for According to President of the building will also be a classroom. over the workings of the new group of directors,” she said. “I construction, which was threat- Tufts Community Union (TCU) “It’s not only going to ease the system for nearly three years, want students to feel welcome ened by delays despite student Senate Mitch Robinson, the com- shortage of on-campus hous- Glaser said. The Task Force for here.” support as a result of post-Sept. 11 pletion of Sophia Gordon Hall ing,” he said. “The building’s been Undergraduate Experience, “Students will hopefully feel cutbacks. demonstrates the administration’s designed to promote social [and] which in 2003 issued a series of like they can come back here Because the project was com- dedication to initiatives that benefit intellectual interaction.” recommendations for improv- and see us and know us, and pleted in spite of this factor, Gordon students, and bodes well for future For that purpose, classes in a ing undergraduate life at Tufts, we in turn will know them,” she is the perfect example of an effec- projects. supplied the initial idea. said. tive trustee according to James “It may not come when you want see SOPHIA GORDON, page 2 NEWS ANALYSIS Think Tufts is getting better? Thank the Task Force for that B Y DAVID POMERANTZ suggestions from the Tufts community. in 2003, the use of Omidyar funds to sub- “We recognized that it wouldn’t work here,” Daily Editorial Board “As a new president, I wanted to under- sidize summer internships, the beginning said Dean of Undergraduate Education James stand the undergraduate experience, both its of the Snyder Lecture Series in 2004 and Glaser, whose office is responsible for imple- When within one week the modern new strengths and weaknesses,” Bacow explained. the construction of new gathering spaces menting the Task Force’s recommendations. Sophia Gordon dormitory is unveiled and an “I also wanted to begin generating ideas for a around campus. “We didn’t have the physical infrastructure, overhaul of the deans system is announced, capital campaign that I knew would be forth- Other recommendations in the Task Force’s and the expense would be too great.” Tufts students new and old probably know coming.” report, however, have remained mere words Still, Glaser thinks that the new changes that their school is undergoing serious In 2003, Bacow’s Task Force released on paper. The biggest failed initiative of the to the dean system are a way to address the changes. its report, which included 37 initiatives report was the transformation of Tufts into a goal of increasing the sense of community What they may not realize is that those for change under the headings “Climate,” college system in which the campus would that the four-college system was meant to two changes, along with many around “Community,” and “Coherence.” Of those be reorganized into four residential colleges. achieve. campus, all sprout from the same seed: the 37 initiatives, roughly 30 have experienced Students, grouped according to their areas “The deans change is a modest part of 2002-03 Task Force on the Undergraduate some significant action, a remarkably high of study, would live in one college for all four the effort to keep people connected,” Glaser Experience. success rate compared to past efforts at simi- years of their undergraduate career, as they said. “We may build off that with other four- The Task Force was a group of admin- lar reform , Dean of Student Affairs and Task do at Harvard and Yale. year teams, such as a career services team ... istrators, faculty and students formed by Force Co-Chair Bruce Reitman said . The proposed college system was a large The big grand idea didn’t fly. It was declared University President Lawrence Bacow shortly Aside from the reorganization of the component of the Task Force’s main goal: dead. But some modest steps have been after he assumed his position in 2001. dean system and the construction of Sophia promoting a greater sense of community at taken to encourage the ideas it was meant to Bacow charged the Task Force with Gordon Hall, other Task Force-recommend- Tufts. The recommendation stalled, however, address.” evaluating the current state of under- ed changes include the construction of the when it became apparent that the campus Another ambitious recommendation, now graduate life at Tufts and making recom- Tower Café in September of 2004, the imple- could not support four equally suitable resi- mendations for improvement taken from mentation of the Summer Scholars program dential colleges. see TASK FORCE, page 2 Inside this issue tuftsdaily.com Today’s Sections News | Features 1 GALLERY PREVIEW OPINION Arts | Living 5 Editorial | Letters 8 “Voulez-vous coucher with Students across the nation speak Viewpoints 9 Americans in Paris” at the MFA? out against the new Facebook.com National 11 see VIEWPOINTS, page 9 International 13 see ARTS, page 5 Comics 16 Classifieds 17 Sports Back 2 THE TUFTS DAILY NEWS | FEATURES Thursday, September 7, 2006 Grant supports Tufts’ interfaith cooperation An extreme makeover for Facebook.com BY JENNA NISSAN viduals including Hillel, the University Chaplain David Daily Editorial Board Muslim Student Association, the O’Leary, who is a member of the David-Ezra Shamash uploaded a “I feel like a stalker just by logging Arab Student Association, New consortium, said that Pathways mobile photo.