Faculty Approves EECS Restriction Plan I ,.· CUAFA Willinot Invoke Piian This Year
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Continuouls i ~ ~ ~ EB ~ ~ sei MITd~ News Service Cambridge Since 1881 Massachusetts Volume 104, Number 46 -- Friday, October 19, 1984 Faculty approves EECS restriction plan I ,.· CUAFA willinot invoke piIan this year IC By Thomas T. Huang run, " warned Joseph J. Romm Restrictions would be 'destruc- F The MIT faculty approved G, a student member of the CEP. tive to MIT's image,? said Robert Wednesday the Committee on Solutions include "admitting few- -W. Mann '50, professor of me- Educational Policy's (CEP) plan er students who want to major in chanical engineering. Such a seri- to restrict some admitted stu- EECS, and making other depart- ous vote was '"now significantly dents from the Department of ments more attractive .. It depressurized" - the faculty Electrical Engineering and Com- would be a tragic mistake if you knew the CUAFA would most puter Science (EECS). approved the proposal and likely not implement the plan, i · The faculty meeting vote came thought it [alone] would solve the due to an "opinion leak." S more than a year after the Insti- problem." CUAFA Chairman Kenneth R. tute initially addressed the over- Some faculty members also Manninng responded: "It was a i enrollment of Course VI. voiced concern about the propos- press release, not an opinion President Paul E. Gray '54 es- al before the vote. Gerald J. leak. CUAFA wanted to share timated the show of hands as a Sussman '68, professor of com- with the faculty what its present two-to-one decision, one that em- puter science, said, "When I was thinking is, so that you can use it powers the Committee on Under- an undergraduate, I liked to in your Judgment . If we don't graduate Admissions and Finan-e know I could do whatever I approve the plan, we'll be in a se- cial Aid (CUAFA) to implement wanted. All the [current] options rious situation." The enrollment the restriction. However, the look bad. Does the restriction of problem has not gone away, he CUAFA stated Monday it would said. .i, next year's admissions really help most likely not do so for next the problem of Course VI? . The CUAFA will look at the year's entering class. I'm worried that if we crank survey of intended freshman ma- down on the knob, enrollment jors in the spring of 1985, he Statistics from the Registrar's said. The committee would not Tech photo by Henry Wu Office show that sophomore en- might increase." ·,, implement restrictions for the :i rollment in EECS has dropped to Some felt restrictions should President Paul E. Gray '54 speaks about the overcrowding Class of 1990 if the survey indi- problem in Course VI 356 this year, close to a CEP occur after the freshman year. ·i during Wednesday's faculty meeting. cated a decrease in EECS majors. threshold of enrollment. But the One professor said, "We would CUAFA could decide to enact the tell the students in advance that However, if the data pointed to a r.· potential high enrollment, the sc plan next spring if enrollment there could be limits ... No Decision best given CUAFA would wait .for the Regis- ,'i levels in EECS do not continue good can come from telling one trar's Office's third-day count of -i to decrease. quarter [of admitted students] I ; majors. "·' Arthur C. Smith, chairman of that they're different." E no =win w&t u aat Mann asked why the faculty the faculty, said, "'I thought a "Is it better to make the stu- should vote on a contingency By Mathews Cherian dents before they come to MIT good deal dent unhappy before or after r about what to say plan this year, given the recent The MIT. faculty, confronted or after their freshman year. Last when this magic hour finally arri- they come to MIT?" Gray asked. EECS enrollment drop. with a no-win situation, finally year, the faculty rejected the ved," but he chose not to encap- After freshman year, the student Gray replied, "We've spent just acted on the Course VI over- "freshman year" plan. sulate the situation in a "one-lin- "will have invested $20,000 in over a year dealing with this is- enrollment problem after a year Gray asked: Do we "attempt toI er." two terms." of debate and indecision. Most of modulate the system before peo- sue. When might CUAFA next Instead, he focused on the is- Associate Dean for Student look [at -enrollment levels]? Not the faculty opposed restricting ple show up at MIT or after theye enrollment, but the gravity of the get here?" sue at hand: "The actions we are Affairs Holliday C. Heine '67 next September or October. The problem forced mneinbers, to'ap- 'The faculty' tried-to select the proposing -.-.-.. are-ot" Mith:-.MITt--said,-- "We seem unable to face time is next April or May. prove the Committee on Educa- most painless and equitable "mo-y tradition. But the alternative is the motion. I reinforce the idea "Acting on it now will provide tional Policy's contingency plan. dulation." The ensuing debate that students" in EECS will fail that students be restricted prior the mechanism. The May faculty I The faculty did gain a period mirrored the faculty's indecision to obtain a quality education. to getting here - otherwise there meeting would be a little too late of grace when the Committee on over the two plans. They realized Yet the proposal "does nothing will be intense pressure durng in the year to deal with [restric- Undergraduate Admissions and both would have damaging ef- to solve the problem in the long- freshman year." tions]," he said. Financial fects. Aid decided not to im- I plement the plan this year. Many faculty members are dis- But for how long? President pleased with the plan to restrict Saltzer to lead the technical work Paul E. Gray '54 predicted the students prior to entering MIT. devil's alternative: if the faculty One professor said the restriction on Project Athena's second phase would amount to telling "one *does not restrict a few students : IBy Kevin D. Hurst man. The project's Phase I is beyond Athena - it will extend now, it is possible that "no stu- quarter of the students that they Jerome H. Saltzer '61, profes- nearly finished - the first round to research facilities and link into *dents will have the choice of a are different" and perhaps inferi- sor of computer science, has been of equipment is mostly in place, a supercomputing system. Athe- or to the students who were not top-quality electrical engineering t appointed technical director for with 700 students using Athena na is exclusively for educational restricted. education" in the future. Project Athena, according to in various courses, he said. purposes, not research. Anything -~~ The department cannot afford Others thought a randoml Athena Director Steven R. Ler- Saltzer will take care of techni- outside educational uses is pro- -:to expand.for both monetary and method of selection would be justt man '72. cal aspects of Phase II such as hibited. practical reasons. "Every increase as bad. "The idea of determining "Saltzer will be reponsible for networking and operating sys- "Given the objectives, which in electrical engineering will re- someone's life with the flip of aL the technical design of the sys- tems. He was one of the original are very, very ambitious, Athena flect directly in a decrease in~oth- coin" does not sit well with many tem," Lerman said, "something I architects of MULTICS, and has is doing as well as might be ex- er departments," said Arthur C. of the faculty, according to was never intended to do in the been instrumental in developing pected," Lerman said. "Athena is Smith. Smith, chairman of the faculty. first place,' Lerman will remain local area networks, hardware, definitely moving, but with great- Discussion focused on the But the choice of restricting director, overseeing the opera- and software in the LCS environ- er difficulty than originally students at the end of their first :.method of restriction, not on t tion's management issues and ment. thought." .. whether the restrictions should be year at MIT is no better. Many of faculty grants. Phase II "will consist of a "The campus is not particular- imposed. The faculty had to the faculty agreed this systemI Saltzer has stopped lecturing large number of work stations, ly well-suited for this type of pro- choose between restricting stu- (Please turn to page 6) all a part of a campus-wide 14 p -- - ----- --------------------- for Computer Systems and Engi- ject," Lerman said, referring to neering (6.033) because of his network," Saltzer explained. "It old buildings and difficult wiring. new position and will no longer will serve like a utility." Phase 11, "Renovations are more expensive act as faculty advisor for twenty the main part of the project, calls than planned." undergraduate students. for the installation of 2600 termi- Athena has also encountered Assistant Professor David K. nals in a giant network. difficulty "hiring technical staff, Gifford '76, who originally was MIT and the Codex Corpora- competing with private industry to give half of the lectures, is tion are developing the network for individuals," he said. now the full-time instructor of plan. The network actually goes 6.033. Saltzer said Dean of Engineer- ing Gerald L. Wilson '61 asked him to take the position. Wilson is responsible for the Laboratory of Computer Science (L'S) and And furtherrmore, Walker Beef Liver Fiesta is the pits. is also chairman of the Athena Find out what students said at the first Dean's Office executive committee.