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THE TUFTS DAILY
TUFTSDAILY.COM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2009
VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 29
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
92+7-'6"#/"(':-2/#;'<&/#;'27,+2( !"#$%&'()*++&')+,-&"$"(' ./0"1($+23'"4-%#(/+# BY KATHERINE SAWYER AND MATT REPKA
Daily Editorial Board
A subcommittee of the Alcohol Task Force met yesterday to discuss potential improvements to student safety at Spring Fling, amid rumors that originated from a senior’s e-mail to hundreds of undergraduates in which he erroneously suggested the administration might cancel the annual event. At a regularly scheduled meeting, the task force’s events subcommittee discussed the role of alcohol at the annual celebration, and how to make Spring Fling safer for attendees, members of the group told the Daily. The administration chartered the task force this year in response to conduct at last year’s Spring Fling and other alcohol-related concerns. The task force is comprised of students, administrators and staff.
BY
KATHRYN OLSON
Contributing Writer
JENNA LIANG/TUFTS DAILY
An e-mail sent by a senior on Tuesday suggested that the university might cancel Spring Fling. Above, people attend last year’s event. “Right now, the committee is trying to balance reasonable policy with behavior change,” said Tufts Community Union President Brandon Rattiner, who sits on the task force and
A different kind of thrift store
KRISTEN COLLINS/TUFTS DAILY
Buffalo Exchange — the newest of Davis Square’s various thrift, consignment and vintage fashion stores — will pay customers up front for their used clothing. See Features, page 3, for the full article.
attended yesterday’s meeting. “We’re looking at pre-gaming and drinking at the event. Ultimately the committee is just see SPRING FLING, page 2
Nearly a decade of planning and construction have finally resulted in the completion of an ambitious, $68 million five-floor vertical expansion to the School of Dental Medicine, one of the most significant improvements to the school since its founding over 140 years ago. The addition enlarged the dental school building by 50 percent and will result in significantly more clinical space for doctors and students. Administrators, staff and faculty members plan to move into the new facility around Christmas and will be able to see patients by January, according to Professor Charles Rankin, director of the predoctoral endodontics program. Four of the dental school’s postdoctoral programs will gain an entire floor when the facility opens, doubling those programs’ space to
42,000 square feet, according to the school’s executive associate dean, Joseph Castellana. The renovations expanded a preclinical simulation laboratory, and administrative offices will move to the new floors to allow for additional class space. The expansion will also add new continuing-education facilities to the dental school, letting dentists receive ongoing training in order to maintain their licenses. Most of the improvements will serve post-graduate programs, including a new clinic for the endodontics program. The significant upgrades in technology and facilities will place the school “heads and shoulders” above its contemporaries across the country, inevitably drawing more students and improving the overall level of academia at the Bostonsee DENTAL, page 2
5%#*+&"'"4-&+(/+#('6/(27-$'5"68+26 BY
BEN GITTLESON
Daily Editorial Board
As students wandered around a campus without electricity on Friday, and visiting parents changed their weekend plans to deal with altered activities, flames were shooting out of manholes less than a mile from campus. Businesses closed, traffic was disrupted and thousands in Medford were left without power. Two manhole explosions on Friday shut down for two and a half hours an area known as Cavanaugh Square, located at the intersection of Main Street and Mystic Avenue near Medford Square and the Mystic Valley Parkway (Route 16) overpass. An underground fire in utility tunnels caused the explosions and knocked out power for about 7,000 National Grid customers in south Medford and Hillside, as well as much of Tufts’ Medford/Somerville
ALEXANDRA LACAYO/TUFTS DAILY
A utility worker labors yesterday near a manhole on Medford’s Main Street that exploded on Friday. campus. The flames caused a manhole to blow at 95 Main Street at around 10 a.m., according to Capt. Tom Brennan of the Medford Fire Department. As firefighters evacuated the area and shut down traffic on
Main Street, Mystic Avenue and Route 16, another manhole a block away exploded 40 feet into the air, he said. “It sounded like something had come in and crashed see MANHOLES, page 2
=#$"2#%$/+#%&'0/(/$+2('+#'$+72'+8'>,"2/)%#')+&&";"('0/(/$'?78$(@'(-"%A'B/$*'($76"#$( BY
CORINNE SEGAL
Contributing Writer
A group of twelve university administrators, faculty members and education officials from around the world visited Tufts yesterday to learn about American college life as part of a U.S. Department of Statesponsored program. The group represented a diverse range of nations, including Angola, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as the West Bank. Its stop in Boston marks the last leg of a three-week, cross-country tour of American universities. WorldBoston, a nonprofit organization that facilitates international professional exchange and cultural education, arranged the group’s local itinerary. The organization offers several-week-long tours designed to
ALEXANDRA LACAYO/TUFTS DAILY
Twelve teachers, administrators and education officials from abroad toured Tufts yesterday. expose young professionals to the American sector of their respective field of work. At Tufts, the group addressed the theme “Best Practices and Challenges in Enhancing the Student Experience.” It examined student resources, the quality of campus life
Inside this issue
and the role of student government. The visitors began their day with a tour of Ginn Library led by Ginn’s director of library services and information technology, Jeff Kosokoff. “It’s very different than how our libraries
back home are,” Hanan Bennoudi, a professor of English at Ibn Zohr University in Morocco, said after the tour. “It’s very modern, very well-equipped.” Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate President Brandon Rattiner spoke to the group about the role and operations of student government at Tufts. “The thing that they were certainly most surprised about was how independent we are financially,” said Rattiner, a senior. The student body’s ability to organize autonomously and the Senate’s financial independence impressed the visitors, Rattiner added. Daily Editor-in-Chief Giovanni Russonello, a senior, met with the group in the afternoon to discuss the role of student media at Tufts. Topics of discussion see VISITORS, page 2
Today’s Sections
The first Boston Book Festival will draw Beantown bibliophiles with panel discussions and events this Saturday.
After its first loss of the regular season, the field hockey team took out its frustrations on Gordon College, winning 9-0.
see WEEKENDER, page 5
see SPORTS, back page
News Features Arts & Living Editorial
1 3 5 10
Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports
11 12 14 Back