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Welcome, Class of 2012! MIT’s The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Thunderstorms in the afternoon, highs in the 80s°F (28°C) Newspaper Tonight: Clear, lows near 60°F (16°C) Tomorrow: Sunny, highs in the lower 70s°F (22°C) http://tech.mit.edu/Monday Details, Page 2 Volume 128, Number 31 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Monday, August 25, 2008 First-Years Explore MBTA Sues Three Students to Stop Campus, Community Speech on Subway Vulnerabilities By Michael McGraw-Herdeg and Marissa Vogt During Orientation STAFF REPORTERS An MIT student project showing By Ryan Ko to make the most of their “four very how anyone with a magnetic card ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR short years” at MIT: “It had long writer can ride the Boston subway for Incoming first-year undergradu- since come to [Da Vinci’s] atten- free was not presented at this sum- ate and graduate students descended tion that people of accomplishment mer’s DEF CON hacker convention upon the MIT campus as orientation rarely sit back and let things happen because of an emergency court order. activities officially started on Sun- to them. They go out and happen to But details sufficient to repeat the day. things.” attack were published in open court About 550 families from the in- Carol Chester, parent of David documents by the Massachusetts Bay coming class of 1,049 freshmen are A. Chester ’12, said that she “liked Transit Authority in its request for a expected to attend this year’s under- how Hockfield tied all the [themes] restraining order. graduate Orientation, whose theme together with Da Vinci.” On Aug. 19, a federal judge dis- is “TechTube,” according to Eliza- The message was not lost on the solved the gag order against three MIT beth C. Young, assistant dean for the incoming class. Nicholas A. Pellegri- students. The students’ legal counsel, Office of Undergraduate Advising no ’12 called the speech “inspiring” the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Academic Programming. and said that he planned on pursu- called the decision a victory for free “From all of us to all of you, wel- ing a UROP as Hockfield had sug- speech and a sign that a federal state come!” President Susan Hockfield gested. does not prohibit talking about secu- DAVID M. TEMPLETON—THE TECH The inbound gates of the Kendall/MIT subway stop are seen on Sun- said at Convocation in Killian Court During Convocation, the Orien- rity vulnerabilities. day evening. yesterday, speaking for a stage as- tation coordinators presented Hock- The MBTA said in court that they sembly which included prominent field with the Convocation Book, would need five months to fix the Judge George O’Toole Jr. sided MIT administrators and housemas- which contains the names of the new security flaws and asked for a court with the students; he denied the re- Students’ ters of the undergraduate dormito- class. order to silence the students during quest for a five-month injunction and ries. A total of 19 Freshman Pre-Ori- that period. They argued that if they dissolved the existing order. Presentation Hockfield praised the merits of entation Programs were held this students discussed their research, Zackary M. Anderson ’09, Russell the incoming Class of 2012, and us- year, according to Young. New this they would violate the National Infor- J. Ryan ’09, and Alessandro Chiesa ing the 16th-century scientist, engi- year were Discover Urban Studies mation Infrastructure Protection Act, ’09 planned to present research on Shows How to neer, and artist Leonardo da Vinci, and Planning and Discovering Brain which prohibits knowingly causing Sunday, Aug. 10 that would have shared her vision of MIT culture and Cognitive Sciences. The number “the transmission of a program, infor- shown how the MBTA’s CharlieTicket Get Free T Fare through three points: multi-disciplin- of freshmen participating in FPOPs mation, code, or command” that in- could be reprogrammed to contain up ary thinking, respect for and fascina- increased from 468 for the Class of tentionally damages a computer used to $655.36 using an inexpensive mag- By Michael McGraw-Herdeg tion with the natural world, and the 2011 to 560 freshmen this year. in interstate commerce. netic stripe writer. The students would EXECUTIVE EDITOR hands-on engagement embodied in The schedule of events is similar The students — legally represent- also have discussed weaknesses in the Documents made public by an MIT’s motto “mens et manus,” which to last year’s, with a few more pro- ed by the EFF — argued that Pow- CharlieCard. MBTA lawsuit against MIT under- translates to “mind and hand.” grams for parents. One student event erPoint presentations and cards with The CharlieTicket vulnerabilities graduates show how anyone can get Encouraging the incoming stu- is a diversity lecture by Eddie Moore magnetic stripes do not represent the were discovered in the spring by a free T fare by copying an existing dents to meet and get to know the Jr., a professional speaker who will kind of “program, information, code, team of four Computer and Network CharlieTicket or by making their faculty, Hockfield closed with a or command” whose misuse the law Security (6.857) students working on own. quote from Da Vinci, entreating them Orientation, Page 12 was meant to prevent. a final project; the MBTA was not It is not clear what, if anything, a notified at the time. Three of the stu- restraining order issued by the Fed- dents are those named in the MBTA’s eral District Court of Massachusetts Dean for Graduate Education Steven suit. The fourth student, Samuel G. on behalf of the Massachusetts Bay McVeety G, did not participate in Transit Authority served to protect. the DEF CON preparation, Ander- That restraining order had the effect Lerman ’72 Shares Thoughts on MIT son said, and was not named in the of cancelling the students’ presenta- MBTA’s complaint. Anderson, Ryan, tion at the annual DEF CON hacker By Keone Hon memories of being an undergradu- eration that’s going to invent the fu- This is the first interview in a ate at MIT. ture. Being at MIT is the merger of Subway, Page 14 Vulnerabilities, Page 17 five-part series introducing incom- The Tech: You’ve been at MIT the two things that excited me when ing students to some of MIT’s facul- since you came here for your under- I was young: teaching and science. ty, staff, and student leaders. Today, grad. What about this place keeps TT: What’s a typical day like for Out in the Open: Some MIT The Tech interviews Steven R. Ler- you here? you? man ’72, Dean for Graduate Educa- Steven Lerman: I love the inter- SL: Lots of time in meetings. I tion, who offers advice for incoming play among technology, science and mostly deal with questions of two Scientists Sharing Results, students, discusses his work with education. For me the exciting part types. One type is from individual graduate students, and shares his of my work is educating a new gen- students. Some amount of my work is helping students resolve individu- Posting Unpublished Data al problems: problems with funding, By Carolyn Y. Johnson leaving unfinished work and ideas in problems with their research super- THE BOSTON GLOBE the open seems as reckless as leav- visors, et cetera. Barry J. Canton, a 28-year-old ing your debit card and password at a The other issues I deal with are biological engineer at the Massa- busy ATM machine. about setting new programs and chusetts Institute of Technology, has Canton is part of a peaceful insur- policies. For example, we’re about posted raw scientific data, his thesis gency in science that is beginning to to roll out a new dental plan for grad proposal, and original research ideas pry open an endeavor that still com- students. Another example from last on an online Web site for all to see. municates its cutting-edge discover- year is a new policy that gives grad- To young people primed for ies in much the same way it has since uate students a P/D/F grading option openness by the confessional exis- Ben Franklin was experimenting for courses outside their majors. tence they live online, that may not with lightning. Papers are published Policies such as graduate financial seem like a big deal. in research journals after being re- aid — how do we support more grad But in the world of science — viewed by specialists to ensure that students — are also important. where promotions, tenure, and for- the methods and conclusions are Aside from that, my wife and I tune rest on publishing papers in sound, a process that can take many are housemasters at one of the grad- prestigious journals, securing com- months. uate dormitories … The Warehouse petitive grants, and patenting discov- “We’re a generation who expects eries — it’s a brazen, potentially self- Lerman, Page 16 destructive move. To many scientists, Open Science, Page 8 NEWS ARTS World & Nation � � � � � � 2 Will Gardasil work? New Beck album is Opinion � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4 Page 12 something to hear Arts � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5 Colleges lobby for lower Page 5 ERIC D. SCHMIEdl—THE TECH Comics / Fun Pages � � � 6 MIT students fight the annual East vs. West Water War on drinking age Woody Allen movie flops Kresge Oval on Sunday afternoon. See page 11 for more photos Sports � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19 from Orientation and Residence Exploration. Page 15 Page 5 Page 2 THE TECH August 25, 2008 WORLD & NATIO N On TV, Timing Is Everything Georgian President Vows To At the Olympics By Bill Carter THE NEW YORK TIMES Rebuild Army, Unite Enclaves In mid-2005, Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, had se- cured the support of the International Olympic Committee for the criti- By C.J.