-~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -7 7 - I " - I ; 1 1 l, CSR 'suggests making bio a core requirement By Joey Marquez nal vote on the requirement will point and asked members of the Professor of Physics and be taken at a faculty meeting UA for input on the role of biol- Chairman of the Committee on later this year. ogy in the MIT curriculum. the' Science Requirement (CSR) The idea of adding a biology Although the committee has Thomas J. Greytak '62 on Thurs- course to the Institute require- not developed a formal solution, day, presented' the Undergraduate ments first arose in April 1989, it established a three-part propos- Association Council with a pro- Greytak said. The discussion was al which is still open to debate, posal to implement a biology re- prompted by recent developments Greytak said. quirement in the~ MIT.curriculum in. biology and related fields. The first part of the proposal beginni~ng with the Class of 1997. Greytak said the faculty bad stipulates that biology be added William M. Siebert '46, Ford debated the issue and decided to the undergraduate curriculum Professor of Engineering in the that a required biology class as a core subject. This one- Department of Electrical Engi- would be beneficial. The CSR, semester course would be very neering -and Computer Science, which was formed in 1989 to broad. Greytak said this idea has prepared an alternative pro- study the requirement, has been was proposed by the biology posal, which Greytak also pre- monitored by the Committee on department. sented to the UAC. Undergraduate Program. Greytak described the course At the 'April 17 faculty meet- CSR: eliminate one Sci-D as being related to a modern mo- ing, students as well as faculty lecular biology class and not will discuss the current proposals At Thursday's meeting, Grey- necessarily engineering-based. for a biology requirement. A fi- tak presented the CSR's view- (Please turn to page 2) :;. m m a I, m m :..0 Now MV panS Washingoo Ce By Alice N. Gilchrist nating from Massachusetts.' Su- will concentrate on "reaching out I MIT will open an office' in duiko also said that the office to policy makers in the legislative Washington, DC, President will "focuson good communica- and executive branches of the Charles M. Vest announced last tion" and that its existence will government and in the national Wednesday. According to Ronald hopefully lead to a "partnership organizations asking how MIT photo courtesy NASA P. Suduiko, assistant to the presi- between the federal government can help with their work." Su- The SPace-Shuttle Atlant/s blatedoff-from the Kenne- dent for government and commu- and MIT" which may involve a duiko said that the office will dy Space Center Friday morning. One goal of the five- nity relations, the office will help completely open exchange of in- specifically deal in the branches day mission is to deploy the second, of NASA's four government officials and organi- formation, Suduiko said. of astronomy, engineering and "great observatories," the Gamma Ray Observatory. zations by "contributing to Vice President of the Associ- materials science. Crewmembers Jerry L., Ross' and Jerome Apt III the understanding of technical ation of American Universities Other US colleges and universi- PhD '76 spent- about. six hourS -outside the ship yester- issues." John C. Crowley will be the di- ties also have stationed offices day, testing equipment and techniques that would be Suduiko, explained that the of- rector of the office. Crowley spe- in Washington, Suduiko said, in- used to assermble-a,- Space station. Kenneth D.- Camer- fice will be available to "all those cializes in scientific research and el1uding Princeton University, the · on ,_'78 -is"'a1so,a member of,thec.A PadNAA who have a, need,i especially con- advanced education. MIT is one University of Michigan, and nu- _gressmen and'0rganizations~ 0figit- of the A~AU_,s 56 members. merous California schools. ,~~~~~~~~~~~~'- The- o-fficie will begin, full-time Vest said that Crowley's "im- - operations in August, according pressive experience in the nation's ororitie-s10 angeru to Suduiko. Until then, Crowley capital will serve MIT and the I By,,Sharon Price, rush rooms. At this point, fresh-' the -new rush policies were ex- will spend one day each week country well.' Over, the past, several weeksi men can freely tour the rush plained in detail. working With MIT. The rest of Crowley said that "the oppor- the MIT Panhellenic Conference rooms, as in previous years. In addition to these changes, his time will be devoted to his tunity to serve President Vest and has been~working to incorporate The idea of a general convoca- Panhellenic Conference President AAU vice presidency. the MIT community in Washing- several Cthanges into the 1991 fall tion is not new. "That's the way Cynthia S. Starr '92 noted that In the ensuing months, MIT ton is an honor indeed." Sororitrush. it's done at most schools,' said Panhel has discussed rush sched- will work out many of the details Crowley has been involved in The ultimate goal of these, Yvonne G. Lin '93, KAT'srush uling with members of the Wom- concerning the office. According the AAU since 1972, when he be- changes is to ensure fairness both chair. The convocation is intend- en's Conference, which includes to Suduiko, one of the top priori- came the assistant executive sec- to the women participating in ed to "open up all [the rushees'] all independent living groups that ties is deciding where the office retary. In 1977 Crowley became rush, called rushees, and the so- options," she said. rush women, to assure that ma- will be located. director of federal relations for roritie's., -'They definitely address A similar idea was implement- jor sorority and'ILG events will Vest said he decided an office science research, and in 1986 he all-'the problems we have had in -ed at MIT when Alpha Chi Ome- not conflict. "We've worked a lot was necessary after a "series of became vice president of the or- the, past," said Alpha Phi' Pres- ga first rushed with Alpha Phi. with the Women's Conference so discussions with faculty that be- ganization. Crowley said that al- ident christina H. Kwon-'92. But according to AXO Rush that rushees don't have to limit gan in June 1990." He said he though he will be leaving his post "They're going to be really effec- Chair Rebecca A. Wittry '93, the their choices [by being forced to first addressed the issue of "en- at the AAU, he will not be lear-. tive in rush." idea did not work well at the time choose between sorority and ILG hanced federal relations" at the ing his colleagues. He said that in Beginning this -year, each so- because there were only two so- events in the early stages of October meeting of the faculty. many ways he is "only changing rority~rmus't'ch6ose six nominees rorities and all members of both rush],"Starr said. Vest explained that Crowley chairs at the table." for rush counsefors, known as sororities- attended. This time, Rho Chis, who 'will be inter- only the rushees and the Rho viewed-by a Panhellenic commit- Chis will attend., tee. This committee will. then The goal of the convocation is .Stratton Reading Room reopens choose three Rho Chis from each to "get people, to rush Panthel," group. Kappa Alpha Theta, par;- Wittry said. "We want to show_ By Andrea Lambertl Project Athena on the fifth floor, the entire fifth ticipating in fall rush for the first people that you have friends in The 24-hour Reading Room in the Julius A. floor was a library and reading room. It earned time, will be represented by its Panhel, not just your sorority." Stratton '23 Student Center has reopened, a the name "Stratton Penthouse" because many rush chair. Sigma Kappa lresident Ajanta change that brings increased activity to the fifth students slept there regularly, he said. Rho Chis, -who are not affiliat- Guha `92 said that the convoca- floor of the Student Center, according to Ted If people sleeping in the Reading Room be- ed with a sorority during rush, tion will "lessen the 'problems E. Johnson, program director for the Campus comes a problem, the Campus Activities Com- counsel rushees and,,provide un- about sororities competing for Activities Complex.' plex may consider measures such as closing the biased answers to their questions. girls in the freshman ~picnic and The reading room had been closed since 1988, Reading Room at night, Johnson said. In previous years, each sorority get more girls interested, in rush." when the renovations of tlhe basement and first The fifth floor has been slowly partitioned to selected three members to deaffi- However, some people have ex- three floors of the Student Center forced several create office space over the past few years. The hiate during rush and beco'me pressed concerns that the convo- offices to move to the fifth floor. renovation of the Student Center's lower floors, Rho Chis. The change inproce- cation will detract from the spon- Johnson said news of the reopening, which oc- a project separate from the fifth floor renova- dure was made in response to taneity of rush and the freshman curred March 18, has filtered throughout the tions, forc'ed the Residence and Campus Activi- concerns that Rho Chis-were be- picnic. MIT campus, in part due to advertisements in ties Office, the Campus Activities Complex Of- ing chosen because they were Attendance at the convocation the Student Center and Infinite Corridor that fice, and the Dining Services and MIT Catering considered "weak" rushers rather will not be mandatory.