Volume 132, Number 7 Tuesday, February 28, 2012 Anderson’S Cause of Death Still Unknown Medical Examiner Says Tests Are Pending; No Clear Time Frame Given
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Established 1881 WEATHER, p. 2 MIT’s Oldest and TUE: 43°F | 30°F Largest Newspaper Breezy WED: 39°F | 31°F Mostly cloudy tech.mit.edu THU: 36°F | 28°F Snow and rain Established 1881 Volume 132, Number 7 Tuesday, February 28, 2012 Anderson’s cause of death still unknown Medical examiner says tests are pending; no clear time frame given By Jessica J. Pourian for burialEstablished last week, and his funeral 1881 EDITOR IN CHIEF took place this past Saturday in his home state of Minnesota at the No conclusion has been reached Grace Lutheran Church in Belview, as to the cause of death of Brian G. MN . Anderson ’13, the MIT junior who Cambridge and MIT police have was found dead in his Next House deemed that there was no foul play dormitory room last Monday. involved in Anderson’s death. The A death certificate was issued for Boston Globe reported on Saturday Anderson on Feb. 22 in Cambridge that the death did not appear sus- with the cause of death listed as picious, according to Cara O’Brien, “pending.” Terrel Harris, a spokes- a spokeswoman for the Middlesex person for the Mass. Chief Medical District Attorney’s office. In his let- Examiner’s office, said that a num- ter to students on Feb. 20, Chancel- ber of tests need to be run before the lor Eric Grimson PhD ’80 urged stu- cause of death can be determined. dents to “refrain from speculation” CHRISTOPHER A. MAYNOR—THE TECH Harris provided no concrete time and said that “there is no strong in- The Chorallaries performed their nth Annual Concert in Bad Taste last Saturday evening. Bawdy frame, but suggested The Tech check dication Establishedthat Brian’s death was the 1881 jokes abounded and toilet paper was thrown around in massive quantities by both the performers and back in two weeks. the audience in a packed 26-100 until late into the night. Anderson’s body was approved Anderson, Page 11 IN SHORT are today in Kresge Auditorium. MITx targeted in Newsletter The ceremony will take place 3–5 Presidential search update: James p.m. A. Champy ’63 has been asked to Latest Faculty Newsletter theme is online initiative chair the search committee to select The April housing lottery opens a new MIT president. Corporation March 1. Forms are available at By Anne Cai and cation at MIT will change as MITx Instead, wrote Flowers, MIT Chairman John S. Reed ’61 said the http://housing.mit.edu. Ethan A. Solomon grows. should be putting its resources to- committee hopes to start meeting on EDITORS However, Emeritus Professor wards developing better “training March 5. Champy chaired the com- The NIH filed its brief yesterday of Mechanical Engineering Wood- tools” — the type of chalk-and-talk mittee that chose Hockfield. in opposition to James Sherley’s at- The January/Februaryπ Faculty ie C. Flowers PhD ’73 took a criti- knowledge traditionally conveyed tempt to once again stop government Newsletter (FNL) marks the sec- cal stance,Established saying the direction through1881 hour-long lectures and The All-American Rejects are com- funding of human embryonic stem ond issue in a row in which MIT’s and motivation of MITx should textbook readings. He cited E.O. ing! The band will be playing April 27 cell research; arguments are much faculty launched a coordinated be different. Provost L. Rafael Reif, Wilson’s digital biology textbook in Johnson Athletic Center for MIT’s the same. The court date is April 23 response to a major Institute de- who is leading the MITx initia- Life on Earth as a good example of Spring Weekend. Tickets are $15 for before the U.S. Court of Appeals for velopment. Last issue, it was MIT tive, stood by his program and was next-generation training tools. MIT students and will go on pre-sale the District of Columbia. 2030. Now, the faculty have turned careful to underscore the distinc- MITx, he added, should not March 26. their collective eye towards MITx tion that “MITx is not MIT.” make a mistake like the Open- Send news information and tips to — the online learning initiative set “MIT is in a powerful posi- CourseWare (OCW) initiative — The 2012 MIT Excellence Awards [email protected]. to open to the public next week. tion to influence industry, gov- which Flowers described as “a Faculty reactions to MITx, as ernments, and other academic large database developing digital expressed in the FNL, are mixed. institutions to work together to rot and becoming increasingly The Newsletter’s editorial board develop systems that enhance irrelevant,” long-since eclipsed and Faculty Chair Samuel M. Al- education,” wrote Flowers, who in page-views by the free Khan len PhD ’75 took a largely mid- suggested that an unspoken goal Academy. dle-of-the road approach in their of MITx may be to beat for-profit Allen, while noting that MITx columns. They expressed opti- online schools at their own game. has big potential to change an MIT mism over the promise of MITx “Our hubris is getting in the way. education, said that not enough but called for increased attention How many of us would be enthusi- time has been spent considering to the platform’s implementation astic about joining a project titled and asked how on-campus edu- Stanfordx?” FNL, Page 12 Front doors to the Institute old, cold, and controlled Many a day has passed Building itself (which contains ergy. The delay in the closing when pedestrians walking up Lobby 7), parts can often take of the automatic doors often the steps to Lobby 7 have en- time to find. In the first instance means that warm air leaks countered an “Out of Order” of long-term repair, Connolly outside and Lobby 7 is quickly sign at one of the three en- said it took two weeks to get cooled by the incoming cold air. trance doors. The doors, some a new motor, while the other The manual doors, on the other of the most-used on campus, time, it took three weeks to get hand, close right after a person have been under repair six a new step pad. “Parts are not passes through, so “for reasons times this academic year, ac- readily available,” said Con- of comfort and energy saving cording to Manager of Repair nolly in an email, adding that we will shut down the automat- and Maintenance Kevin Con- additional step pads were also ic doors,” said Connolly. As part nolly. In two of the instances, purchased to avoid future de- of the energy-saving measures, the doors were under repair lays in repairs. over the past few years, the In- for two and three weeks, while Repairs were not the only stitute has also encouraged stu- the other four instances were reason for the closure of the dents to use the many revolving same-day repairs. doors, however. During the doors across campus, which let BRUNO B. F. faVIERo—THE TECH As the doors are about as wintertime, the doors are out less air than manual doors. Yin-Jen “Angela” Wang ’13 dances in Motown, a show put on by old as the 73-year-old Rogers sometimes closed to save en- —Bruno B. F. Faviero MIT Mocha Moves Dance Squad and featuring MIT Fixation. UA neeDS LonG stUDent SUPPort serVices we are IMProVinG the IMPortance SECTIONS World & Nation . .2 How much does it actually help? terM Vision OUR twitter FeeD! OF A soLID core Opinion . .4 OPINION, p. 6 Or they are doomed to Follow us for highlights How building core Campus Life . .7 fail once again. Mit stUDent in JEOPARDY! from each issue! strength improves your Fun Pages . .14 OPINION, p. 6 @thetech health. Sports . .16 An interview with Marie C. McGraw ’12. CAMPUS LIFE, p. 7 CAMPUS LIFE, p. 8 2 The Tech Tuesday, February 28, 2012 Iran’s prime minister increases D power after political crisis As fighting rages, Syria votes BAGHDAD — When Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki round- ed up hundreds of former Baathists, accused the vice president of running a hit squad and threatened to use the apparatus of on a new Constitution state to target other top Sunni leaders, some rivals and critics said that al-Maliki’s authoritarian streak had finally antago- By Neil MacFarquhar of freedom and democracy. Some of ic countries,” she said. WORL nized enough of Iraq’s political class to jeopardize his hold on THE NEW YORK TIMES them suggested that voters should Opposition organizations broad- power. take part in the election to show cast videos that seemed to show N Instead, al-Maliki appears to have emerged from a poten- BEIRUT — As fighting churned their “steadfastness” in the face of demonstrations throughout the tially destabilizing political crisis with even more power over on in major cities on Sunday, Syria the nearly year-old insurrection, country against the vote. Videos the Iraqi state and more popularity among his Shiite constitu- held a referendum on a new consti- which the government of President posted on YouTube showed tire ents, many people here said. tution, an offer of reform that critics Bashar Assad calls a foreign plot to burnings, a poster saying “We step “People trust him more and more after this,” said Rahman have dismissed as too little too late destabilize the country. on the new constitution,” and peo- Tal Jukon, a retired businessman in Hilla, a town in the Shiite- and Western leaders called a farce. In the southern Damascus dis- ple chanting “Down with Bashar dominated south where expressions of support for al-Maliki, The continued attacks by govern- trict of Ma’adamiah, where there al-Assad.” ATIO once tepid, are now more common and enthusiastic.