MIT’s The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Sunny, cloudy, 63°F (17°C) Tonight: Clear, cold, 35°F (2°C) Newspaper Tomorrow: Sunny, cold, 45°F (7°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 121, Number 60 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, November 16, 2001 Solow MIT Gets Traffic Light for Memorial Drive MIT Funds Project Discusses For Crosswalk Safety Economic After Student Injury By Brian Loux ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Situation MIT is funding a public works project that includes the installation By Sandra M. Chung a traffic light between MacGregor ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Dormitory and No. 6 Club, which Nobel Laureate and Institute will make Memorial Drive safer for Professor Emeritus Robert M. pedestrians. Solow discussed the current eco- The decision to build the light nomic state of the country and the came after MIT student Kathryn M. economic impact of the Sept. 11 Walters ’05 was injured by a speed- terrorist attacks. ing car while crossing Memorial According to Solow, who spoke Drive in early September. last night in Room 54-100, the cur- “MIT and the Metropolitan Dis- rent economic downturn began trict Commission (MDC) put well before the events of Sept. 11, together a traffic study right after which merely worsened the the pedestrian accident,” said Jay inevitable current recession. Solow LaChance, spokesman for the acknowledged the efforts of the MDC. “From this incident, the need Federal Reserve to soften the blow for pedestrian safety was identified with interest rate cuts, but he said and MIT offered to pay for the sig- E-WON YOON—THE TECH An MIT student crosses Memorial Drive on her way to Pierce boathouse. The Metropolitan District Com- the federal government’s efforts to nals to help accelerate the process.” mission is currently installing a new traffic light to make crossing the street safer for pedestrians. address the situation were unsatis- Less than a month after the acci- factory. dent, plans to increase safety were said Walters, who made a full ans face while crossing Memorial Light should be up by January Solow was in good humor for a drafted, and the contractor Webster recovery from her injuries. Drive. Four years ago on Halloween warm, attentive audience, where he Engineering was hired to develop “I’m glad to still be around,” she night, a car fatally struck Michele The project began in early Octo- once taught Intermediate Applied the project. added. “MIT was very cool about it, Micheletti ’00 while she was cross- ber, and is presently scheduled for Macroeconomics (14.05) and “I’m very happy it’s going in, and they even had a dean come to ing the street. However, her death completion by New Year’s Eve. Intermediate Macroeconomic The- because I still have to go to the my room to help me out.” did not appear to play a significant “We are trying to get the majori- ory (14.06). His lecture included boathouse [for crew practice] every Walters’ case is not an isolated role in the decision to install the traf- plenty of humorous analogies and day, and the cars just don’t stop,” incident of the danger that pedestri- fic light. Traffic Light, Page 10 references, and stayed within the grasp of non-economics majors. El-Sayed 1990s boom slowed in 2000 MIT Students Protest Bombings The last half of the 1990’s was a period of “remarkable sustained By E. Z. Berry the event’s organizers. Discusses growth for a country like the STAFF REPORTER Several props were erected as part of the protest, U.S.,” Solow said. From 1995 to MIT students and faculty protested the U.S. mili- including a banner reading “No War” that was 2000, productivity rose rapidly, tary bombings of Afghanistan on Thursday by stag- draped from the big dome in Killian Court. Islam, jobs were created at a high rate, ing a humanitarian demonstration in Killian Court Makeshift refugee tents resembling those being used the Gross Domestic Product grew and a sit-in on the Student Center steps. Similar in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 23 percent, and unemployment fell protests were coordinated at almost 100 other college (UNHCR) camps were scattered across Killian lawn Terrorism to 3.9 percent, its lowest since the campuses across the nation. to demonstrate the plight of homeless Afghani By Richa Maheshwari Gulf War. “The coordinated simultaneous sit-ins that took refugees whose homes were destroyed by U.S. STAFF REPORTER An investment boom fueled the place were aimed at drawing some moral outrage bombs. Shaker El-Sayed, secretary gen- 5-year period of economic growth. from American who have too long been complacent Roughly 40 students and faculty members were eral of the Muslim American Soci- Spending by businesses on plants to the fact that millions of people will die from our ety, recently came to MIT to discuss and equipment grew rapidly, most- government’s actions,” said Sanjay Basu ’02, one of Protest, Page 11 his beliefs about the allegations that ly because of the expansion of the Islamic values are consistent with computer and information indus- terrorist activities. tries. Spending peaked in the mid- El-Sayed’s talk, which took dle of 2000; by then, businesses place on Wednesday and was enti- had begun to feel they had over- tled “Terrorism: The Islamic Solu- invested and generated too much tion,” addressed the issue of extra production capacity. whether Islam encourages terrorism. The rapid growth of wealth and This speaker topic was chosen after assets triggered a consumer spend- the events of September 11, which ing spree in the 1990’s. “During caused the Muslim Students Associ- the 1990s, household saving prac- ation (MSA) to receive many tically disappeared,” said Solow. requests for a speaker to defend By the second half of 2000, con- their religion. sumer spending was the sole factor The lecture attempted to illus- in economic growth. trate how Islamic values are inco- Even with healthy consumer herent with terrorism. “Islam is a spending, the economy began a religion of moderation and it pro- noticeable slowdown long before hibits extremism in faith,” said El- September 11. By “the end of 2000, Sayed. the U.S. was edging into a reces- sion,” Solow said. “By the spring of Jihad akin to Revolutionary War 2001, the only thing worth talking He outlined the fundamentals of about was whether there would be a the Islamic faith, and said that the recession or a stagnation, or a peri- concept of jihad relates to striving. od of slow growth.” El-Sayed went on to compare jihad PATRICK HEREFORD—THE TECH to the Revolutionary War. Tragedy not cause of recession MIT students create a mock refugee camp on the steps of the Student Center and erect a tent “It is the same concept as when Even if the World Trade Center city on Killian Court to protest the United States-led bombing in Afghanistan. The protest, held at we fought Britain on this soil. War noon yesterday, was simultaneously conducted at several schools around the country. Solow, Page 13 Islam, Page 14 OPINION H.M.S. Comics World & Nation . 2 Tao Yue discusses the pitfalls of Pinafore Opinion . 4 pyramids and multi-level market- shows the Arts . 6 ing schemes. best of G&S. On the Town . .7 Events Calendar . .9 Page 5 Page 6 Page 8 Page 2 THE TECH November 16, 2001 WORLD & NATION Poll Shows Americans Senate Bill on Bioterrorism Pessimistic About Economy LOS ANGELES TIMES More Americans have grown pessimistic about the U.S. economy Funds Fight Against Threats in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but most express confi- dence in their own finances and the nation’s long-term economic By Helen Dewar weeks has sounded the alarm,” going to get it done one way or the health, according to a Los Angeles Times Poll. THE WASHINGTON POST Kennedy told a news conference at other,” he added. The poll found that 73 percent of Americans believe the nation is WASHINGTON which the bill was unveiled. “The The Senate bill was prompted by in a recession — a 22-point jump from mid-September. And those In the biggest push yet to clock is ticking on America’s pre- the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New who think the downturn will be deep and long nearly doubled over strengthen the nation’s defenses paredness for a future attack. We’ve York and Washington and by subse- the past month, to 17 percent. against bioterrorism, key senators had the clearest possible warning, quent anthrax exposures in several Even so, an overwhelming majority of Americans surveyed say Thursday introduced legislation and we can’t afford to ignore it. We eastern states. It provides the leg- their own finances are secure and that they expect to have at least the aimed at providing $3.2 billion this know that hundreds — even mil- islative framework for the new anti- same amount of money to spend next year. year to help prevent, detect and treat lions — of lives may be at stake, bioterrorism effort but includes no Public sentiment will have an enormous bearing on how quickly and terror-related health threats — more and we’re not ready yet,” money. strongly the economy recovers over the next year, given that consumer than double what President Bush Kennedy originally proposed a The funds would be provided in spending accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity. has requested. $10 billion bioterrorism package but separate legislation, which is tied up Likewise, 71 percent think the terrorist attacks will do no lasting The bill calls for stockpiling vac- scaled it back to win bipartisan sup- in disputes over spending levels and damage to the nation’s economy.