Volume 126, Number 41
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MIT’s The Weather Today: Sunny, 74°F (23°C) Oldest and Largest Tonight: Clear, 50°F (10°C) Tomorrow: Sunny, 70°F (21°C) Newspaper Details, Page 2 Volume 126, Number 41 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 Silbey, Magnanti, Schmalensee; 21 UA Candidates Join Race in Late Deadline Deans Say They Will Step Down Open Constituencies Remain After Extension By Manisha Padi and Hanhan Wang By Joanne Shih Winners of the elections will be an- STAFF REPORTER As of Monday night’s late peti- nounced Saturday. Three deans — Robert J. Silbey tion deadline, 21 additional candi- Although there are still open po- of the School of Science, Thomas L. dates have signed up to run in the sitions left, students can still vote for Magnanti of the School of Engineer- Undergraduate Association Senate write-in candidates. The system for ing, and Richard Schmalensee ’65 elections, though there are still open determining the number of write-ins of the Sloan School of Management seats in four constituencies: Interfra- is the same as last year’s, according — will be stepping down from their ternity Council, Living Group Coun- to UA Vice President Ruth Miller positions in the coming months to cil, Random Hall, and Simmons ’07 (also a Campus Life writer for return to research and teaching, as Hall. Three of these constituencies The Tech). For constituencies that announced by the MIT News Office — LGC, Random, and Simmons — already have enough official candi- on Friday. Magnanti and Silbey will do not have any candidates running. dates to fill all open seats, one more stay on as deans until their succes- The turnout for this year’s late than the number of open seats will sors are identified, while Schmalens- petition deadline was similar to last be allocated for write-ins; for those ee will stay on until the end of the year’s, when 21 candidates signed that do not, twice the number of open academic year. up after the regular deadline as well. seats will be available. According to Provost L. Rafael However, all of the constituencies The UA is making plans to change Reif, in a letter that the News Office had at least one candidate last year. the write-in system for spring semes- reported was sent to the MIT com- Voting commenced online yester- ter elections, Miller said. munity on Friday, had long “looked day at http://vote.mit.edu/ and will For constituencies that have no forward to pursuing academic inter- conclude Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Pa- candidates after the vote, the presi- ests they had put aside for some time per balloting will be held on Friday while shouldering the demanding re- from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lobby 10. UA Elections, Page 11 sponsibilities of school leadership … in favor of MIT’s and their schools’ best interests.” It is unclear if stu- ROSHAN BALIGA—THE TECH dents received the letter. Robert J. Silbey, seen in this file photo, will be stepping down from EC Residents Displaced “When my term was up last De- his position as dean of the school of science. Richard Schmalensee cember, I asked the Provost if I could ’65, dean of the Sloan School of Management, and Thomas L. Mag- step down,” Silbey said in an e-mail nanti, dean of the School of Engineering also announced their plans In Sunday Night Deluge yesterday. “He asked me to stay for a to step down and return to research and teaching. By Angeline Wang Two sections of the fourth and while during the transition” between In his letter, Reif noted that the which will soon release final recom- NEWS EDITOR fifth floors of the east parallel of President Charles M. Vest and Presi- McGovern Institute for Brain Re- mendations. Silbey also wrote in an MIT officials are still in the pro- East Campus were closed down on dent Susan Hockfield. “I agreed but search and the Eli and Edythe L. e-mail that over 80 faculty members cess of determining why two sprin- the night of Sept. 17, because MIT now the time has come to move on.” Broad Institute were established were hired during his time as dean. kler heads in the east parallel of East Facilities was worried about possible Silbey, who has been a part of the ad- during Silbey’s time as dean, and Silbey has “enhanced and Campus discharged on the evening electrical issues with the water. The ministration since he was appointed that Silbey has chaired the Presi- strengthened the core activities of of Sept. 17, flooding rooms on the displaced residents “bunked in with interim deam in Feb. 2000, hopes to dential Task Force on Student Life the School of Science while develop- fourth and fifth floors. someone else in EC. It was a great return to the chemistry department to and Learning, which gave its report ing key areas such as neuroscience, The sprinkler heads, located in a response from all the residents,” Col- resume his teaching. He has taught at in 1998, and Task Force on the Un- fifth floor kitchen, discharged “an in- lins said. MIT since 1966. dergraduate Educational Commons Deans, Page 15 credible amount of water” at around “We were offered temporary 7:45 p.m. that evening, Dennis Col- housing in Sidney-Pacific for the lins, associate director of operations night, but no students took that op- Chomsky Addresses Crisis in Middle East for the Department of Housing, said tion, instead choosing to crowd into in a phone interview yesterday. Ac- rooms on the open third of the hall, or Alive and Well, Professor Emeritus Speaks to Packed Audience in Kirsch Auditorium cording to Collins, the sprinklers sleep with friends elsewhere,” Aaron Priya Ramaswamy Middle East. In the two-hour presen- practice, Chomsky answered that would “never let go unless there was C. Bader G, EC graduate resident By the time I fought through last tation, Chomsky detailed the history this is not a new issue and that in the major heat. We’re still trying to fig- tutor for the fourth floor of the east Thursday’s crowd in front of Kirsch and present day conditions in Pales- 1960s “MIT Poli. Sci. was funded by ure out what happened.” parallel, said in an e-mail. “We were Auditorium, 32-123, the auditorium tine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. the CIA.” Chomsky added that the EC Associate Housemaster Sha- allowed to get stuff from the rooms, was already Among many strong critiques CIA later went across the street to ron N. Snaggs declined to comment, under the watchful eye of Facilities packed with made during the speech, Chomsky stating that the situation has not yet Feature p e o p l e , called Iraq “a hideous catastrophe” Chomsky, Page 13 been resolved. East Campus, Page 17 young and and alluded to the United States’ role old, waiting to hear Noam Chomsky’s in the Israel-Palestine conflict, say- lecture on the Middle East crisis. ing “we don’t see [the] destruction of Even after a last-minute reloca- [a] nation … because we are carry- tion from 54-100, many had to be ing it out; it is invisible.” Chomsky turned away well before the speech said that he defended his stance us- began. Others tried to sneak in, ing information that Western media claiming they had friends reserving fails to publicize. seats in the already overflowing lec- Chomsky starkly criticized West- ture hall. Of the people who fought ern media and the United States for for seats that evening — staff pro- its affairs in the Middle East. He fessors wanting to hear a colleague sympathized with countries like Pal- speak, passionate political science estine, a nation categorized as an en- majors yearning to absorb the guru’s emy by the US and Israel. words, strict conservatives wanting Speaking of American foreign to put the liberal on the spot — one policy, Chomsky said, “first we fix person had even arrived two hours the outcome, then we do the negotia- early for a front row seat to listen to tions.” Some audience members nod- a voice he hated. ded their heads, while others shook However, there were also those them in disappointment. Chomsky who came just to listen — they also turned some heads, stating that wanted to be in a room with MIT’s for Iran’s neighbors, the “US military most controversial man: Dr. Noam presence in Iraq is ranked a greater A. Chomsky, professor emeritus of threat than Iran’s nuclear weapons.” linguistics. Following his speech, Chomsky Invited by the MIT Arab Students fielded several questions concerning ERIC SCHMIEDL—THE TECH Organization and the MIT Muslim the MIT community. When asked of Expert juggler Michael Menes balances flying saucers on sticks during “Egadz!” in Kresge Audito- Students Organization, Chomsky CIA recruitment at MIT and what rium on Saturday. The event was sponsored by the MIT Student Juggling Club. spoke of Western media bias of the should be done about stopping that Comics MIT women’s NEWS volleyball wins MIT Researchers Design Truly World & Nation. 2 MIT Invitation- Green House Opinion . 4 al Tournament Page 15 Campus Life . 5 Sports . 20 Page 7 Page 20 Page 2 THE TECH September 26, 2006 WORLD & NATION EU Gives Qualified Judge Permits Federal Suit Endorsement on Expansion By Dan Bilefsky THE NEW YORK TIMES BRUSSELS, BELGIUM For Light Cigarette Smokers Romania and Bulgaria will receive qualified endorsement on Tues- day to join the European Union on Jan. 1, but the bloc will warn that By David Cay Johnston the case — called the “Schwab” case ately drove down the price of tobacco expansion must then halt until the organization makes needed struc- and Melanie Warner after lead plaintiff Barbara Schwab stocks.