STATE OF THE UNION

摘要

In january , the board of trustees at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art voted to begin charging tuition for undergraduate students with the next freshman class. The decision to quit offering a free education for all, a founding principle for the New York school over the past century and a half, promises to utterly transform the institution. There were lots of arguments over what should have been done to prevent this moment. Perhaps 41 Cooper Square, the $166 million academic building designed by Los Angeles-based Morphosis, should have been done differently, more cheaply, or even not at all. Maybe the board should have decided against hiring a president whose annual salary amounts to the tuition of more than 60 students-although the financial problems certainly preceded his arrival. Attempting to look forward, a working group of faculty, alumni, staff, and trustees offered alternative ways to address the school's budget problems.