Here’s a little weekend roundup, gang:

*The Star Tribune reports today, via a leaked source, that the root of the August 1, 2007, bridge collapse was the original size of the gusset plates, not heat, corrosion and shifting of piers. Basically, this means the bridge was doomed to fail from the beginning because its half-inch gussets (as opposed to a proper one inch size) were not strong enough to handle the stress of renovations over the years. The full report will be presented to members of the National Transportation Safety Board in three weeks.

*Mr. Microsoft himself, Bill Gates, gave $100,000 to the University last week, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The donation to associate professor Dan Kaufman to study new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection was among $10 million donated to 104 researchers worldwide. The overarching aim of Gates’ philanthropy is to find unique ways to cure some of the world’s worst diseases.

*Lastly, the Star Tribune is rolling out a four-part series on the collapse of the Tom Petters empire. Here’s part one from yesterday. As you Daily readers may know, Petters was a big-time donor across the state and country, including one donation to the University and one other pledged donation that has stalled, Megan Hanson reported Friday.

Stay warm, folks. That’s some disgusting weather I’m seeing outside the Daily’s window.