Spring Fling uneventful, but Medford finds it too loud
After being cancelled last year, the return of Spring Fling on May 1 was relatively peaceful.
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said the event was "probably the calmest, most well-behaved event that we've ever had." There were no arrests at the event, and there were only two students treated by medical services for alcohol poisoning. One of these students was not from the University.
These numbers are down significantly from previous Spring Flings.
Although the event was low on crime, there were numerous complaints from Medford residents about the noise from the concert. According to the Medford Transcript, the police received constant calls during the afternoon.
Reitman said a high wind caused the sound to blow toward Medford Square. The concert volume was turned down 20 percent, but residents were still unhappy.
The Transcript reports that the school will force bands to sign a contract to limit foul language in the future. The University has issued an apology to the city over the incident.
Plans for residential college system scrapped
The proposal to create a residential college system on campus - central to the recommendations of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience - has been abandoned because it is "unfeasible," according to Dean of Students Bruce Reitman.
"With housing still in short supply it's not something you can lock people into," he said.
A residential college system would have given incoming students a specific house or college to be afilliated with for his undergraduate career.
The residential college system was the primary proposal of the Task Force, who said it would bring a sense of community to the campus. Many Ivy League schools already have a college system in place.
The task force's report called for a college system but offered few details, instead proposed that it "be given serious consideration by the various constituencies of the Tufts community and developed further."
One change that will happen is a new division of class deans. Deans are currently permanently assigned to a class, such as Freshmen Dean Jean Herbert. Under the new system, each dean will take one-quarter of an entering class, and will keep the same group of students for four years.
Reitman said the system will be implemented in time for the Class of 2009, which will arrive in Fall 2005.
- by Jon Schubin
