MlT's The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Sunny, 48°F (9°C) Tonight: Cloudy, 32°F (O°C) ewspaper Tomorrow: Rainy, 43°F (6°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 123, umber 6 Cambridge Mas achu 02139 Friday, February 21, 2003 Record Snowfall ClosesMIT, Pops Bubble Jurassic 5 By Beckett W. Stemer ASSOCIATE EWSEDITOR Selected etting the record for the greatest snowfall in Boston since 1893, the storm this President's Day weekend For Spring dropped 27.5 inches and caused MIT to close for the first time in six years. The James B. Carr Tennis Center collapsed, as it had the previous time Weekend MIT closed for snow, on April I, 1997. By Nathan Collins Although Gov. Mitt Romney did NEWS EDITOR not declare the storm a state emer- Connoisseurs of hip-hop, gency, MIT decided to close mainly rejoice. The band Jurassic 5 will because of the weather predictions headline this year's Spring Week- Monday night that the storm would end concert in April. continue into Tuesday afternoon, The 2003 Spring Weekend said Laura Avakian, MIT's vice Committee heard Monday that the president for human resources. Los Angeles-based hip hop group In the meantime, many students would include MIT as part of a col- seized the prospect of a four-day lege tour, said Shannon E. Turner weekend to celebrate in the snow '06, a committee co-chair. Monday night. The Spring Weekend Committee has not yet made a bid for an open- Snow bursts heated tennis bubble ing act, but Turner said that they One deflating consequence of the will likely do so by Wednesday. snowstorm here at MIT was the col- Turner said she hopes to hear back lapse of the Tennis Center - or BRIAN HEMOND-THE TECH from a promoter in the next several "bubble" - covering the heated ten- The deflated James B. Carr Tennis Center lies on the ground after tearing under the weight of the snow weeks. nis courts on the athletic fields. from Monday'S storm. The "Bubble" Is expected to be repaired shortly. "We want to go with a rock Norman H. Magnuson Jr. of the fabric to tear. come next week to patch the hole. it difficult" for faculty, staff and stu- group ... just to balance it out," facilities department said that the "In a perfect world, what is sup- dents to make it to campus safely. Turner said. bubble had collapsed because snow, posed to happen is that the snow Snow forecast was factor for MIT Another concern, she said, was that melted by the heated air on the should slide off of it," he said, but in Avakian, describing why MIT there were "some forecasts that [the Group to get 530,000 inside, had pooled on top of the fab~ this case there was simply "too decided to close, said that on Mon- snow] would last through the day:' Jurassic 5 will be paid $30,000 ric, making a "dimple" by pushing much snow." He said that the manu- day night it seemed "the sheer for performing, a large but typical inward and ultimately causing the facturer has been notified and should amount of snow was going to make Snow, Page 16 chunk of Spring Weekend's $80,000 budget, Turner said. She said she expects an additional Dormcon Authors Orientation Schedule Pro osal $15,000 in ticket sales. The group's selection was the By Keith J. Wlnsteln plishment, its drafters say, is in E. Benson '03 of the Dormitory a schedule for orientation by March. culmination of a process that began NEWS AND FEA TURES DIRECTOR demonstrating how to squeeze in ori- Council, who helped draft the pro- He did not return a request for com- last December. The committee, The Dormitory Council has pro- entation programs - such as a par- posal. ment. which Turner said represented a posed a schedule for Orientation ent orientation coincident with fresh- Benson emphasized that Dorm- broad range of musical tastes, met 2003, featuring the return of Killian man arrival, and a string of official con's interest is in demonstrating the n.TFP holds tool-in for dorm ru h once a week to consider various Kickoff and more than two days of orientation-week activities from wel- possibility of a schedule that satisfies The proposal is also supported by options. dormitory rush. come dinners to advanced placement both students and administrators, and a newly-reconstituted IL TFP, or "I The committee conducted a sur- The proposal was issued yester- exams - alongside blocks of time that Dormcon is willing to compro- Love This Place:' a student group vey in order to understand student day and has been endorsed by the set aside for dormitory rush. mise on the particular details of the last active in 1999 that describes preferences. "We worked from the Undergraduate Association's Com- The proposed schedule ''has got- proposal. itself as "concerned that recent survey a lot," Turner said. mittee on Housing and Orientation. ten positive reviews from both stu- Larry G. Benedict, the dean for administrative policies are endanger- "We had to do stuff quickly" in The schedule's principal accom- dents and administrators," said Ross student life, is expected to decide on ing the aspects of MIT that we con- order to compete with other schools sider special, unique, and desirable." holding similar events near Spring About 50 students from the group Weekend, Turner said. sat and studied at a Lobby 10 "tool- After considering tastes and in" yesterday "to ensure that some prices - some bands demand in Orientation, Page 18 Spring Weekend, Page 14 Pinker Mulls Hanrard Job After 22 Years in Course IX By Jenny Zhang makes MIT a special place," Sur ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR told The Boston Globe, saying Pres- Professor of Psychology Steven ident Vest has been involved in Pinker is mulling a departure from offering Pinker "whatever he felt MIT to Harvard University. would be needed" to keep Pinker at Pinker said he is expecting a for- MIT. mal offer from Harvard's psycholo- "It would be very disappointing" gy department, and plans to make a if he left, said Professor Nancy Kan- decision within a month of receiv- wisher of the Brain and Cognitive ing the offer. Science department. "I feel very welcome at MIT, Sur was out of the country and and would not leave lightly," Pinker could not be reached for comment. said. "It's a marvelous place for Professor Daniel Schacter, head of teaching and research. President the Harvard psychology department, Vest and [Professor Mriganka Sur, declined to discuss the matter. head of the Brain and Cognitive Sci- Pinker says he' still undecided JONATHAN WAN THE TECH ence department] have been Students protest In support of dormitory rush during Orientation with a "tool-ln" In Lobby 10 on Thurs- superb." Pinker said he is unsure of what day. The tool-ln protest, organized by ILTFP, lasted through the entire day as students sat In Lobby 10 "We certainly don't want him to doing problem sets and encouraging passers-by to sign their petition. go anywhere - he's part of what Pinker, Page 15 City oj God Comics OPOOO World & Nation 2 is a 'Pulp David Lepzelter discusses the Opinion 4 Fictimt importance of fighting for the Events Calendar 8 wannabe.' preservation of dorm rush. Arts 9 On the Town .12 Page 9 Page 6 Page 5 Sports 20 Page 2 T February 21, 2003 Justice Departmen Te o. Conviction umbers Inflated .S., Britain Soon to Present THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTO Council Disarmament Policy The GAO, the inve tigative ann of Congress, found that the num- ber of terrori m convictions reported in 2002 was inflated by 46 per- By aggIe Fartey the language. said in an interview with Radio cent because of inaccurate and unreliable information from U.S. nd Robin wrtght But after a 3D-minute phone con- France released Wednesday by the attorneys. At least 132 of 288 cases the GAO examined were misclas- LOS ANGELES TIMES versation between President Bush State Department. silled as terrorism-related, the agency told Congress. UNITED NATIO and British Prime Minister Tony Powell confirmed that the The numbers are an important tool for Justice and Congre in The United tates and Britain Blair on Wednesday, they agreed process will continue to unfold until assessing the performance of law enforcement in pursuing terrorism will present a resolution to the that a new resolution should compel chief weapons inspector Hans Blix cases. Security Council "in the next few the council to take action sooner makes another progress report at the 'We found that DOJ does not have sufficient management over- working day " authorizing force to rather than later. end of the month - and, he hinted, sight and internal controls in place ... to ensure the accuracy and relia- di ann Iraq along with a deadline The three basic elements of the possibly once again in mid-March. bility of its terrorism-related conviction statistic ," the GAO concluded. for the council to vote on it; U.S. proposed resolution are that Iraq is But the United States is reluctant to The Justice Department said it agreed with the GAO' fmdings and British officials said Wednes- in material breach; that it was make a decision on a further report and plans stronger oversight of terrorism conviction data sent to day. given one final chance and failed to from the inspectors, as the French Washington. British Ambassador Jeremy fully comply, which amounts to a have demanded, until it finds out The GAO examined the conviction numbers after the Philadelphia Greenstock said that the draft reso- further breach; and that it is time what the next report concludes, he Inquirer accused the DOJ of inflating them in its fiscal year 2000 per- lution also would set a cutoff date for members of the international said.