Volume 50 – Number 1 Wednesday – September 14, 2005 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Students arrive from areas hit by Katrina Sasha Brown of the Public Service Center (PSC), who January’s Independent Activities Period, Students are also raising money inde- News Office has been coordinating much of the effort. spring break and the summer. Donors pendently, said Susnowitz. Students col- The PSC began collecting funds on may specify the fund to which they want lected donations during a campus movie Sept. 6, just one week after the Category to donate. night over Labor Day weekend. And on Fifteen undergraduate students from 4 hurricane devastated parts of the Gulf In addition to cash, checks and Tech- Saturday, Sept. 17, students are organiz- the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast arrived Coast and destroyed the city of New Cash, students are collecting non-perish- ing a fund-raising dinner at 6 p.m. in La on campus this week as MIT continued its Orleans. able food and clothing in good condition Sala de Puerto Rico in the Stratton Stu- efforts to help out in the wake of the dev- In the first day of fund-raising, the PSC that will be sent to the Gulf Coast. Junior dent Center. A minimum $15 donation is astating storm. Eleven additional applica- collected $2,000 from many small dona- Louis Fouche ([email protected]) is coor- requested to attend the dinner, which will tions from graduate students are currently tions, and one check for $1,000, at its dinating the effort. feature “region appropriate” dishes. Reser- under review. Lobby 10 collection booth, staffed by vol- Money from Chancellor Phillip Clay’s vations may be made in Lobby 10. Since Hurricane Katrina struck, the unteer students, staff and faculty. office has been designated to support There will also be a Hurricane Katrina MIT community has worked to collect The cash donations will go to three relief efforts by students and other mem- Benefit Concert in Lobdell at 9 p.m. on both immediate relief — money, food and different organizations — the Red Cross, bers of the MIT community. “We want to Sept. 24. The PSC has been hard at work clothing — as well as make long-range local Gulf Coast organizations and a PSC support community efforts to respond to to coordinate the various efforts. The relief plans that might include sending fellowship fund. The fellowships aim to the awful events that we see in the after- offers of support have been overwhelm- MIT students to the Gulf Coast in 2006. send students with relevant skills in urban math of Katrina,” said Clay. “MIT supports See HURRICANE “It is neat how widespread a community planning, architecture or civil engineer- community efforts to help those who are effort it is,” said Sally Susnowitz, director ing to the affected areas next year during affected.” Page 4 Architecture’s new head sees Goodbye MIT ‘treasure’ big top, Sarah H. Wright News Office hello MIT Yung Ho Chang, one of China’s most New freshman really accomplished contemporary architects and the founding head of the Graduate knows how to juggle Center of Architecture at Peking Univer- sity, has been appointed head of MIT’s This is the first in a series of profiles Department of Architecture. of members of the freshman class. Chang, 49, replaces Stanford Ander- son, professor of history and architecture, who served as head of the Department of Sasha Brown Architecture from 1991 through 2004. News Office For Chang, whose appointment was effective on July 1, coming to MIT is like opening a “treasure of knowledge and Running off to join the circus is not ideas, and I’m dying to learn what’s inside just a dream for MIT freshman Nate there. MIT has offered an excellent oppor- Stein Sharpe. tunity to reflect, learn and debate new pos- Stein Sharpe toured eight weeks sibilities and directions in architecture,” this summer with Circus Smirkus, a he said. Vermont-based youth circus. The per- Chang was also a founding partner, former from Canton, Mass., can juggle with his wife Lijia Lu, of Atelier Feichang everything from traditional balls and Jianzhu (FCJZ) in Beijing in 1993. Trans- clubs to knives and lit torches. lated as “unusual architecture,” FCJZ was He mastered five items years ago, the Chinese capital’s first independent but is newly enamored of the diabolo, architectural firm, with completed projects a Chinese folk toy that consists of a including private residences, large- and wooden spool tossed on a string tied to small-scale museums, government build- two sticks. ings and installations at the Venice Bien- “It takes a lot of practice,” said Stein nale and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Sharpe, who works on his skills for up In an interview, Chang credited an to three hours each day. It took him eclectic group of artists, writers and archi- one week of practice just to get three tects with inspiring his innovative approach balls in the air when he first started six to built space. “I am strongly influenced by years ago. Getting five balls up took the art of Marcel Duchamp, the films of twice as long. Alfred Hitchcock, and the novels of Flann “If you put in the time, you will get O’Brien and Alain Robbe-Grillet,” he said. better,” said Stein Sharpe, who has Split House, completed in 2002, is applied that same discipline to his stud- Chang’s best-known work and an embodi- ies, earning straight As each year at ment of his vision of balancing contempo- Canton High School. rary and traditional elements in what he His interest in the circus was hopes will develop as a new Chinese archi- sparked at a young age. “His dad is tecture. a big circus fan, so he started going A luxurious private residence, one of PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY to the circus every year when we was See CIRCUS See CHANG Freshman Nate Stein Sharpe hones his balancing act this summer with Circus Smirkus. He’s standing on the shoulders of Mason Ames, another performer. Page 5 Page 4 NEWS PEOPLE RESEARCH THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION FOND FAREWELL PEOPLE POWER Schooling is vital to the future of American business, MIT pays homage to Institute Professor Philip Scholars around the Institute bring the U.S. Cisco President John Chambers tells an MIT crowd. Morrison at a ceremony in the chapel. Constitution alive in their classrooms. Page 2 Page 3 Page 3 MEMORIAL PLANNED FOG IS CLEARING GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE Services are scheduled for an MIT junior who Researchers develop a nanocoating that could Freshman orientation features a video on diversity disappeared this summer while hiking and is presumed eliminate foggy windows and lenses. produced by students. dead. Page 4 Page 5 Page 3 PAGE 2 September 14, 2005 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Literature professor Merritt dies NEWS YOU CAN USE Sarah H. Wright combined humanities with engineering tive style in directing Charm School activi- MISTI plans events News Office ties as “full of high and low comedy and a and science. He was fond of saying he MIT International Science and flair for irony.” believed in “dual literacy”—knowledge of Technology Initiatives (MISTI) kicks Merritt retired as dean of under- both humanities and science—for all stu- off a weeklong series of events with a graduate affairs in 1996. At the time, he Travis R. Merritt, a professor emeritus dents. full day of exotic cuisine and cultural declared, he would spend more time with of literature whose enthusiastic service Known for his particular interest in fun in Lobby 10 on Tuesday, Sept. his family, travel to the Greek Islands and over four decades at MIT included taking the education and wellbeing of first-year 20. MISTI Week will also feature a create leaded stained glass. leadership roles as dean for undergradu- students at MIT, Merritt helped run the panel discussion on “The Future of Within the year, he had become direc- ate academic affairs and director of the freshman advisory program and the annu- the Car/The Car of the Future” (Sept. tor of the Experimental Study Group, Experimental Study Group, died on Sept. al Independent Activities Period (IAP) and 22), a three-day soccer tournament bringing his commitment and delight in 2, from a heart attack fol- coordinated residence and ori- on the Barry AstroTurf, a barbecue MIT to yet another generation of students. lowing a lengthy illness. He entation week. He started the and various movie screenings. Orien- Merritt received the B.A. degree in was 71. Freshman Advisor Seminar tation sessions will offer information English literature from Williams College “Travis Merritt was a series and also played a key to those interested in participating in 1955 and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in deeply committed profes- role in establishing the Con- in MISTI, which matches under- English literature from the University of sor of literature who ran the course program for freshmen graduate and graduate students with Chicago in 1956 and 1965, respectively. Humanities Office for many in 1971. professional internships in eight dif- Merritt’s wife Maureen M. (Connolly) years where his devotion “Travis was a really won- ferent countries. Check out the full died in 1988. He is survived by four daugh- to Course XXI majors was derful and unique person. We MISTI Week schedule online at web. ters, Grace E. Merritt of West Hartford, legion. He was a superb spent a lot of enjoyable time mit.edu/misti/ or in the display in Conn., Lisa C. Merritt of Lexington, Amy undergraduate mentor,” together, and he did many the Infinite Corridor.