The Weather Today: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Low MIT’s 28°F (-2°C) High 46°F (8°C) Tonight: Partly cloudy to mostly Oldest and Largest clear. Much colder. Low 17°F (-8°C) Newspaper Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. Cold. High 26°F (-3°C) Details, Page 2

Volume 128, Number 4 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, February 15, 2008 Bertucci’s Dismisses Two of MIT’s Offers To Accept TechCASH By Ryan Ko with each vendor [the contract] and Staff Reporter the fee used to cover the costs of our Bertucci’s has declined two of- TechCASH system,” he said. fers from MIT within the past two Bertucci’s declined both MIT’s months to accept TechCASH at its initial offer and a second, improved popular location in Central Square, offer, said Hoffman. Regarding the according to Undergraduate As- per-transaction fee in the second sociation Dining Committee Chair offer, Director of Campus Dining Christopher K. Hoffman ’08. Richard D. Berlin III said, “We went A campus-wide survey conduct- as low as we could ever go.” ed by the UA in the first week of Bertucci’s was unavailable for November 2007 initially suggested comment. Bertucci’s as one of two restaurants “The fee wasn’t as much a stum- to be approached by MIT regarding bling block with Bertucci’s as the TechCASH. According to Hoffman, nights of operation,” said McDon- Bertucci’s was the “overwhelming ald. Campus dining halls are least David He—The Tech On Feb. 7, Charlize Theron received Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 2008 “Woman of the Year” Award favorite” in the survey, with around accessible on Friday and Saturday at Harvard. She was accompanied in the parade by Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Vice President David 20 percent of students voting for it. nights, which are already Bertucci’s Andersson, President Evan Eachus, and other members dressed in drag. The runner-up was the Pour House busiest nights, according to McDon- Bar and Grill in Boston, a popular ald. The UA survey was to identify restaurant for students. dining options for students on nights Director of Enterprise Services when campus dining is unavailable, John M. McDonald initially ap- said Hoffman. Pour House is a very MIT Discusses Community Impact proached Bertucci’s over winter va- popular option for students on Satur- cation with a standard TechCASH day nights because of its half price offer — similar to those presented to burger promotion. At Cambridge Town Gown Meeting other off-campus vendors. Accord- On Feb. 3, Hoffman asked the ing to Hoffman, the offer involves UA Senate and UA Dining Commit- By Emily Prentice Richard L. Amster, Jr., the director tional 207,000 gross square feet for the purchasing of an additional card tee via e-mail to solicit letters from Staff Reporter of Facilities Planning and Construc- classrooms. The Sloan expansion is reader similar to a credit card reader, their respective constituencies ask- On Tuesday night, MIT met with tion. MIT’s major upcoming project expected to be finished in 2010. as well as the use of a phone line or ing Bertucci’s to accept TechCASH. the Cambridge Planning Board at is the Koch Institute for Integrative The report also included informa- internet connection. MIT would also Hoffman has since compiled several the annual Town Gown meeting to Cancer Research. Amster said that tion about the construction of New charge a per-use fee, according to report on its relationship with the MIT “plans to break ground next Ashdown (NW35), the new graduate McDonald. “We typically negotiate TechCASH, Page 13 Cambridge community, includ- month.” The site for the building is dormitory to be located at the corner ing the status of past and pending at the intersection of Main St. and of Pacific St. and Albany St. New building projects. Lesley University, Ames St., on part of the current lo- Ashdown, which will include 550 Harvard University, and Cambridge cation of the East parking lot. beds, will be completed in time for College also presented at the public New parking will be provided by the Fall 2008 semester. meeting, which evaluates the institu- the Sloan School expansion, where The current Ashdown House, tions’ impacts on the community. an underground parking lot will in- at 305 Memorial Dr., will be trans- The updates on the state of con- clude 425 parking spaces. The Sloan struction at MIT were provided by School will also receive an addi- Town Gown, Page 12 Student Center Subway Responds To Complaints With Cameras, Name Tags By Lulu Wang brought directly to the attention of 2007. According to UA President Staff Reporter the manager. The owner’s phone Martin F. Holmes ’08, the most com- The Subway located in the Stu- number and e-mail are posted on the mon criticisms were directed toward dent Center has recently made sev- counter to further encourage com- slow service and food that was not eral changes to service following munication between the Subway and prepared to satisfaction. complaints from MIT students. its customers. Hoffman said that both the owner Employees now wear name tags, Christopher K. Hoffman ’08, and manager of Subway were re- which allow customers to easily Chairman of the Undergraduate sponsive to complaints after being identify an individual in case of a Association Committee on Dining, approached by Hoffman and Hol- dispute or other follow-up. A com- recalled that the UA first drew at- mes and agreed to make a number ment box has also been added so tention to the complaints during the suggestions or complaints can be Senate retreat in mid-November of Subway, Page 14 Ex-Northern Illinois University Student Slays Five Students, Wounds 16 Others

By Monica Davey gun, the authorities and witnesses jured. Hospital officials said several and Susan Saulny said. of the students had been shot in the The New York Times The man shot again and again, head. DEKALB, Ill. witnesses said, perhaps 20 times. The gunman, whom the authori- With minutes left in a class in Students in the large lecture hall, ties did not immediately identify, ocean sciences at Northern Illinois stunned, dropped to the floor. also died of a self-inflicted gunshot Eric Schmiedl—The Tech University on Thursday afternoon, Five people, all of them students, wound, Peters said, noting that the Petek Saracoglu ’09 performs “The Woman Who Loved to Make a tall skinny man dressed in black were killed, John G. Peters, the presi- man’s body was found on the stage Vaginas Happy” at a rehearsal of “The Vagina Monologues.” stepped out from behind a curtain dent of Northern Illinois University, of the lecture hall. Police from the The Monologues will be performed this Friday and Saturday. on the stage of the lecture hall, said said at a news conference on Thurs- nothing, and opened fire with a shot- day evening. Sixteen others were in- Shooting, Page 17

Comics News Campus Life / Arts World & Nation  2 Researchers discover a solar Figuring out Fashion: A Valen- Opinion  4 system that resembles our own tine’s Day New Look Campus Life  5 Page 5 Arts  6 Page 10 ‘Blue State’ Movie Review Comics / Fun Pages           8 Page 8 Page 6 Sports  20 Page  The Tech February 15, 2008 World & Nation U.S. Agrees to Produce Data Top Officials Make Bleaker On Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions By David E. Sanger and Elaine Sciolino Assessment of U.S. Economy The New York Times The Bush administration has agreed to turn over to international By Edmund L. Andrews Stock prices, which normally up speed later in the year. But, he said, inspectors intelligence data it has collected that it says proves Iran The New York Times rally when the Fed hints it will lower “the downside risks to growth have worked on developing a nuclear weapon until a little more than four WASHINGTON borrowing costs, tumbled instead. increased,” noting that spiraling loss- years ago, according to American and foreign diplomats. With the credit markets once The Dow Jones industrial average es in home mortgages have dragged The decision reverses the United States’ longstanding refusal to again deteriorating, the nation’s two dropped 175 points, or 1.4 percent; down the credit markets and shaken share the data, citing the need to protect intelligence sources. top economic policymakers acknowl- broader stock indexes dropped by the broader economy. The administration acted as the International Atomic Energy Agen- edged Thursday that the outlook for similar amounts. While trying to be optimistic, cy is scheduled to issue a report as early as next week on Iran’s past the economy had worsened, as both Anxiety is escalating among in- Paulson said that the administration’s nuclear activities. Administration officials hope that the nuclear- in came under criticism for being over- stitutional lenders and major borrow- forecast “would be less, but I do be- spectors can now confront Iran with what the Americans believe is the taken by events and failing to act ers, as the panic over soaring default lieve we’ll keep growing.” strongest evidence that the Iranians had a nuclear program. boldly enough. rates on subprime mortgages that be- Many Wall Street economic fore- The Bush administration’s refusal to turn over the data has been a In testimony to Congress, Ben S. gan last summer continues to spread, casters, however, are already estimat- source of friction with Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed- freezing up credit for municipalities, ing that the risks of a recession are at the agency, who has argued that Iran must be given a fair chance to eral Reserve, signaled that the Fed hospitals, student loans and even in- least 50-50, and a growing number examine some of the case that Washington has developed. was ready to reduce interest rates yet vestment funds holding the most con- of analysts contend that an economic again, pointing out that problems in servative bonds. contraction may have already begun. housing and mortgage-related mar- On Capitol Hill, the economic Fed policymakers will release House Votes to Issue kets had spread more widely and policymakers found themselves in their newest forecasts next Wednes- proved more intractable than he pre- the line of fire. Sen. Robert Menen- day, and Bernanke said they would be Contempt Citations dicted three months ago. dez, D-N.J., accused both Bernanke more in line with those of private-sec- By Philip Shenon His sobering assessment was and Paulson of having “hit the snooze tor economists. The New York Times WASHINGTON echoed by Treasury Secretary Henry button.” The Fed has reduced its bench- The House voted Thursday to issue contempt citations against the White M. Paulson Jr., who appeared with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D- mark interest rate, called the federal House chief of staff and a former White House counsel for refusing to co- him. Both continued to avoid predict- Conn., chairman of the Banking funds rate, five times since Septem- operate in an investigation into the mass firings of federal prosecutors. ing a recession but said they were Committee, told reporters after the ber, including two cuts within eight The vote to hold Joshua B. Bolten, the chief of staff, and Harriet E. scaling back the more optimistic fore- hearing that “it just seems as if they days last month. The rate has fallen to Miers, the former counsel, in contempt of Congress followed bitter parti- casts they had issued in November. aren’t as concerned about the magni- 3 percent; as recently as late summer san wrangling on the House floor, including a Republican walkout from Ethan S. Harris, chief U.S. econo- tude of the problem.” of last year it had been 5.25 percent. the chamber, and moved House Democrats closer to a constitutional show- mist for Lehman Brothers, said that Testifying before the committee, Bernanke assured lawmakers that down with President Bush. both policymakers had “come clean” Bernanke said he still expected the the Fed would “provide adequate in- The 223-32 vote to issue the contempt citations, the first approved by about the economy’s problems but economy to grow at a “sluggish” pace surance” against a downturn in the Congress against the executive branch since the Reagan administration, that investors were not impressed. over the next few months and to pick form of cheaper money. is likely to move the dispute to a federal courtroom, with House lawyers calling on a judge to enforce subpoenas against Bolten and Miers. The Senate is weighing similar contempt charges against Karl Rove, Bush’s former political adviser. Black Leader Pulls His Support Bolten and Miers were subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee for information about their part in the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys last year for what appear to have been political reasons. From Clinton, Shifts to Obama By Jeff Zeleny ees International Union was on the primary on Tuesday and where she U.N. to Help Organize Iraqi and Patrick Healy brink of endorsing Obama. and Obama now have the first du- The New York Times His comments came as fresh eling negative television advertise- Elections Set for October MILWAUKEE, Wis. signs emerged that Clinton’s sup- ments of the campaign. By Alissa J. Rubin Rep. John Lewis, an elder states- port was beginning to erode from In the ads, Clinton taunted The New York Times BAGHDAD man from the civil rights era and some other African-American law- Obama for refusing to debate her Iraq’s parliament, faced with a stalemate in appointing election com- one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clin- makers who also serve as superdele- in Wisconsin. And she and former missions in the most populous provinces and accusations of overt po- ton’s most prominent black support- gates. Rep. David Scott of Georgia, President Bill Clinton prepared for liticization of the election process, announced Thursday that it would ers, said on Thursday night that he who was among the first to defect, a new fund-raising blitz to try to welcome the United Nations to play a large role in organizing the vote. planned to cast his vote as a super- said he would not go against the will counter Obama’s edge of several Under a law approved by the parliament on Wednesday, provincial delegate for Sen. Barack Obama in of voters in his district, who over- million dollars in campaign cash. elections must be held by Oct. 1. hopes of preventing a fight at the whelmingly supported Obama last Yet even as the Democratic rivals At a press conference, Staffan de Mistura, the special representative Democratic convention. week. looked ahead to the primaries in to the U.N. secretary-general, announced a tight schedule for helping set “In recent days, there is a sense The developments came on a Wisconsin, Ohio and Texas, Lewis up provincial election commissions and a plan to monitor their work. of movement and a sense of spirit,” day in which Clinton set out anew said he and other prominent African The responsibilities of provincial commissioners include selecting said Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who to prove that the fight for the Demo- American party leaders had been polling places, providing and collecting ballots and transferring them endorsed Clinton last fall. “Some- cratic nomination was far from over. moved by Obama’s recent victories to counting stations. thing is happening in America and Campaigning in Ohio, she pursued and his ability to transcend racial The problem is that many of the nation’s most powerful political par- people are prepared and ready to a new strategy of biting attack lines and geographic lines. ties have divided up most of the seats on the Independent High Election make that great leap.” against Obama, while adopting a Though Lewis had praise for Commission, which oversees national election policy. That means there Lewis, who carries great influ- newly populist tone as she courted Clinton and for her historic candi- are few, if any, independent brokers overseeing the election process, ac- ence among other members of Con- blue-collar voters. dacy, he said he would decide with- cording to Iraqi academics and lawmakers. gress, disclosed his decision in an Clinton also intensified her ef- in days whether to formally endorse interview as the Service Employ- forts in Wisconsin, which holds its Obama. Weather A Weather Machine Situation for Noon Eastern Standard Time, Friday, February 15, 2008

By Roberto Rondanelli 130°W 125°W 120°W 115°W 110°W 105°W 100°W 95°W 90°W 85°W 80°W 75°W 70°W 65°W 60°W Staff Meteorologist 40°N 1008 As computers and models become more sophisticated, weather forecasting 1004 is growing increasingly independent of humans. Even the text of this analysis could eventually be produced by a computer. What then is the contribution of humans in the process of weather forecasting? If the contribution is merely communicating the forecast, then meteorology as a physical science is only 35°N important in providing the tools to improve models. People are not usually in- terested in the physical consistency of their forecasts, rather, they are interest- ed in the forecasts themselves and their accuracy. Once a model is capable of producing a forecast, the communication of the forecast to the public proceeds 1032 independently from the physical principles on which the forecast was based. 30°N One can make a few points in favor of humans. A posteriori explanations of a weather event can usually be found, even when all model forecasts failed (yes, in this respect meteorology seems no different from economics). That means we retain at least the ability to explain mechanistically a weather event, even in the unfavorable case that no model gives the right answer. A stronger 25°N point in favor of humans is the fact that some humans consistently rank better than models in weather forecasting contests. For several years, these people have used models to help themselves achieve better accuracy, while obviously adding something else. Disentangling that ‘something else’ is what allows meteorologists to improve models and produce better forecasts. But only to make the whole process even more human-independent.

Extended Forecast Weather Systems Weather Fronts Precipitation Symbols Other Symbols Snow Rain Fog High Pressure Trough Today: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Low 28°F (-2°C) High 46°F (8°C). - - - Showers Thunderstorm

Tonight: Partly cloudy to mostly clear. Much colder. Low 17°F (-8°C). Q Q Q Q Warm Front Light Low Pressure Haze Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. Cold. High 26°F (-3°C). LLLLL Cold Front Moderate Compiled by MIT Sunday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Much warmer. Chance of rain. Hurricane Q Q Meteorology Staff L L Stationary Front Heavy Low 18°F (-8 C) High 41°F (5°C). and The Tech February 15, 2008 World & Nation The Tech Page 

Kenyans Split on Ethnic Lines Turmoil in Africa Alters Focus Of Bush’s 5-Nation Tour Even Though Violence Declining By Sheryl Gay Stolberg The New York Times WASHINGTON By Jeffrey Gettleman ethnically segregating itself. Ever On Thursday, officials here said On the eve of a planned trip to Africa, President Bush thrust him- The New York Times since a deeply flawed election in that Kenyan government and op- self into the role of peacemaker on Thursday, as his plans to promote OTHAYA, Kenya December kicked off a wave of eth- position leaders had agreed in prin- American efforts against poverty and disease gave way to a more Sarah Wangoi has spent her en- nic and political violence, hundreds ciple to join together in a coalition pressing imperative: addressing the violence and turmoil on the con- tire life — all 70 years of it — in of thousands of people have been government but that they remained tinent. the Rift Valley. But last month, she violently driven from their homes bitterly divided over the specifics, Bush injected his administration directly into the political crisis in was chased off her farm by a mob and many are now resettling in eth- especially how much power the op- Kenya, calling for a “full return to democracy” and announcing that that called her a foreigner. She nically homogenous zones. position would have. Two officials he would send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice there to “deliver a now sleeps on the cold floor of a Luos have gone back to Luo close to the negotiations said the message directly to Kenya’s leaders.” Rice will not have far to go; she stranger’s house, seeking refuge in land, Kikuyus to Kikuyu land, Kam- government had rejected the oppo- and the president will be right next door, in Tanzania. an area of Kenya where her ethnic bas to Kamba land and Kisiis to Ki- sition’s offer to split power between The six-day, five-country Africa tour would be one of a string of group, the Kikuyu, is strong. It is, sii land. Even some of the packed the president, who would remain foreign trips, to Eastern Europe, Israel, Japan and China, that will supposedly, her homeland. slums in the capital, Nairobi, have head of state and the military’s keep Bush busy overseas in the twilight of his administration, as his “I am safe now,” said Wangoi, split along ethnic lines. The blood- commander in chief, and a newly influence over domestic policy wanes and attention at home turns in- though the mob still chases her in letting across the country that has created prime minister position. creasingly to the campaign to elect his successor. her dreams. killed more than 1,000 people since Whatever deal is struck will have Bush is scheduled to leave for Africa Friday night. The trip will Across the country, William the election seems to have subsided to address the growing de facto seg- take him to Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia — all coun- Ojiambo sat in a field where the in the past week. But the trucks regation, since a resettlement of the tries that have benefited from American foreign aid. ground was too hard to plow. He, piled high with mattresses, furni- country may further entrench the Bush’s presence is intended to celebrate each country’s political too, sought refuge with his ethnic ture, blankets and children keep political and ethnic divisions that and economic progress, while sending a not-so-subtle reminder of the group, the Luo. He used to live in chugging across the countryside, have recently erupted. Shattered role the United States has played. an ethnically mixed town called an endless convoy of frightened trust is much harder to rebuild than But with Kenya racked by violence over a disputed election, unrest Nakuru but was recently evicted by people who, in their desperation, smashed huts, and many people say in Chad and a worsening crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, it had a gang from another ethnic group are redrawing the map of Kenya. they will never go back to where become increasingly clear that Bush could not take what analysts have that burned everything he owned. The United Nations and West- they once lived. dubbed “a victory lap” in Africa while steering clear of troubles on the “We came here with nothing, ern powers are pushing for a po- “How can we, when it was our continent — especially in Kenya, where more than 1,000 have died in like cabbages thrown in the back of litical compromise, and President friends who did this to us?” said the recent violence. a truck,” Ojiambo said. Bush said he would send Secretary Joseph Ndungu, a shopkeeper in Kenya used to be considered one of State Condoleezza Rice here the Rift Valley, who said that men of the most promising countries in to “deliver a message” to Kenya’s he used to play soccer with burned House Fails to Renew Surveillance Bill Africa. Now it is in the throes of leaders. down his shop. By Carl Hulse The New York Times WASHINGTON The House broke for a week’s recess Thursday without renewing terrorist surveillance authority demanded by President Bush, leading Faulty Satellite Will Be Target In him to warn of risky intelligence gaps while Democrats accused him of reckless fearmongering. The refusal of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule a vote Shoot-Down by the U.S. Military on a surveillance measure approved by the Senate on Tuesday touched off an intense partisan conflict over the national security questions that By Thom Shanker The ramifications of the opera- after the Columbia shuttle disaster have colored federal elections since 2002 and are likely to play a sig- The New York Times tion are diplomatic, as well as mili- in 2003. nificant role again in November. WASHINGTON tary and scientific, in part because The military and NASA have Trying to put pressure on Democrats, Bush offered to delay a trip to The military will try to shoot the United States criticized China calculated that the best opportunity Africa to resolve the dispute and warned that failure to extend the ex- down a crippled spy satellite in the last year when Beijing tested an to shoot down the satellite with an panded power under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which next two weeks, senior officials said anti-satellite system with an old interceptor missile is just before it expires Saturday, could hamper efforts to track terrorists. Thursday. The officials laid out a weather satellite as a target. re-enters the atmosphere and starts “Our intelligence professionals are working day and night to keep high-tech plan to intercept the sat- The three-ship convoy assigned to tumble and break apart on a ran- us safe, and they’re waiting to see whether Congress will give them the ellite over the Pacific just before it to the new task will stalk the satel- dom path, an opportunity that be- tools they need to succeed or tie their hands by failing to act,” Bush tumbles uncontrollably to earth car- lite’s orbital path across the north- gins in three to four days and con- said. rying toxic fuel. ern Pacific, tracking the satellite as tinues for eight days. At that point, But Pelosi and House Democrats said that it was Bush and con- President Bush ordered the ac- it circles the globe 16 times a day. the debris would be quickly dragged gressional Republicans who were at fault because they had resisted tion to prevent any possible contam- The sensors and weapons in the op- out of orbit. temporarily extending the bill to allow disagreements to be worked ination from the hazardous rocket eration, modified from anti-aircraft In many ways, the task resembles out. She said Democrats would not be bullied into approving a measure fuel on board, and not out of any defenses for use as a shield against shooting down an intercontinental they consider flawed. concern that parts of the spacecraft incoming missiles and installed on nuclear missile, although this target might survive and reveal its secrets, Navy cruisers, have been used just is larger, its path is better known the officials said. in carefully controlled tests. and, if a first shot misses, it will Near End of 8-Year Presidency, The challenging mission to de- This time, the target is not an continue to circle the earth for long molish the satellite on the fringes of incoming warhead or a dummy test enough to allow a second or even a Putin Speaks of Future space will rely on an unforeseen use target, but a doomed experimental third try. By C.J. Chivers of ship-based weapons developed to satellite the size of a school bus The weapon of choice, after mod- The New York Times MOSCOW defend against ballistic missile at- and weighing 5,000 pounds. It died ifications that are way, is the Stan- President Vladimir V. Putin, in the final weeks of an eight-year tacks. shortly after being launched in De- dard Missile 3 on by Aegis cruisers. administration that secured his place as the country’s most popular The effort will be a real-world cember 2006 and contains a half ton The missiles and supporting radar politician, said Thursday that he intended to wield substantial and test of the nation’s anti-ballistic of hydrazine, a fuel that officials were being modified and tested to long-running power in the Kremlin after leaving office next month and missile systems and its anti-satellite said could burn the lungs and even shoot down enemy warheads. So the becoming Russia’s prime minister. abilities, even though the Pentagon be deadly in extended doses. software is being reprogrammed to In a confident and forceful public performance in which hede- said it was not using the effort to The tank is believed to be sturdy home in on the radar and other sig- scribed many of Russia’s continuing policy choices, Putin spoke bit- test its most exotic weapons or send enough to survive re-entry, based on natures of a large satellite instead of ingly of his international critics and defied intensive criticism from a message to any adversaries. studies of the tank that fell to earth a ballistic missile, officials said. Washington by refusing to back down from threats to aim strategic missiles at the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. He said the Kremlin had been forced to assume a reinvigorated nu- Hezbollah Threatens New Attacks On clear defense by NATOs courting of Ukraine and by the United States’ development of a missile defense system for deployment in Europe. “We will have to retarget our missiles on the objects that we think threaten our national security,” he said. “I have to speak about this Israeli Targets After Leader’s Death directly and honestly, so that there would be no attempts to shift the By Robert F. Worth that killed hundreds of Americans in Such attacks are not seen as likely. responsibility for such developments on those who should not be and Nada Bakri Lebanon during the 1980s. Hezbollah’s patrons, Syria and Iran, blamed.” The New York Times Nasrallah’s speech — his most “are pursuing strategies of their own, BEIRUT, Lebanon belligerent in many months — coin- and Hezbollah is not really free to Accusing Israel of killing one of cided with another vast public gather- depart from those,” said Paul Salem, Large Union Backs Obama; his top commanders, Hassan Nasral- ing across town, in which Hezbollah’s director of the Carnegie Endowment lah, the leader of Hezbollah, threat- Western-allied political adversaries Middle East Center in Beirut. Another Likely to Follow ened Thursday to intensify his group’s commemorated the third anniver- Iran’s close ties with Hezbollah — By Steven Greenhouse conflict with Israel and to retaliate sary of former Prime Minister Rafiq and with Mugniyah — were under- The New York Times against Israeli targets anywhere in the Hariri’s killing in a huge car bomb- scored Thursday when Iran’s foreign Giving Sen. Barack Obama new momentum, one of the nation’s world. ing. minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, spoke largest labor unions, the United Food and Commercial Workers, en- Nasrallah, who has been in hiding Together, the two gatherings viv- at the funeral, reading a letter from dorsed him on Thursday. Another giant, the Service Employees Inter- since 2006 because of Israeli assas- idly illustrated the bitter political di- President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. national Union, was on the brink of backing him. sination threats, spoke to thousands visions that have crippled Lebanon’s “These are operations that will The endorsement of the service employees, which with 1.9 million of mourners via a televised image government over the past year and shorten their corrupt and filthy life,” members is seen as the nation’s most politically potent union, would be at an emotional funeral for the slain pulled it perilously close to open civil Mottaki said, quoting the letter, which considered a special boon. Members of the service employees’ board commander, Imad Mugniyah. He was conflict. was referring to the Israelis and the were casting votes by e-mail and fax on Thursday night, and two top killed in a car bombing on Tuesday In his speech, Nasrallah called the killing of Mugniyah. “Their smiles union leaders said an Obama endorsement was likely. night in Damascus, Syria. killing of Mugniyah a “big mistake” will not last long. The free people and The two unions did not make endorsements until now largely be- “You crossed the borders,” Nas- that would be avenged. “The blood of the Lebanese people have lost one cause they were so torn among Obama, John Edwards and Sen. Hill- rallah said. “Zionists, if you want an Imad Mugniyah will eliminate them,” hero but there are a million more Hajj ary Rodham Clinton. But with Edwards out and Obama winning eight open war, let it be an open war any- he said, referring to the Israelis. Rudwans ready to join the ranks of straight contests, many of the top leaders of the unions decided it was where.” If Hezbollah were to strike at Is- the resistance.” Mugniyah also went time to back him. Israel, which has denied involve- rael outside the borders of the two by the name Hajj Rudwan. “Both candidates are good on worker issues, but there is something ment in the killing, ordered its mili- countries, it would be a sharp depar- Outside the funeral hall, a cold, about Sen. Obama that has mobilized our leadership and mobilized tary and embassies around the world ture from the group’s current policy. steady rain fell as thousands of our membership,” said Joseph Hansen, president of the food and com- to heighten security. No one has The last time it did so was in the mid- mourners packed the streets, where mercial workers, which represents 1.1 million workers in the United claimed responsibility for killing 1990s, when Mugniyah was accused uniformed Hezbollah militants and States. “Forty percent of our members are less than 30 years old, and a Mugniyah, a famously elusive mili- of planning bombings of Israeli tar- the group’s youth brigade marched to lot of them like Obama.” tant suspected of planning bombings gets in Argentina. martial music. Page  The Tech February 15, 2008 Opinion

Chairman Benjamin P. Gleitzman ’09 Editor in Chief Nick Semenkovich ’09 Business Manager Austin Chu ’08 Managing Editor Jessica Witchley ’10 Executive Editor Michael McGraw-Herdeg ’08

News Staff Editor: Nick Bushak ’10; Associate Editor: JiHye Kim ’10; Staff: Waseem S. Daher G, Curt Fischer G, Ray C. He G, John A. Hawkinson ’98, Jiao Wang ’08, Daniela Cako ’09, Mei- Hsin Cheng ’09, Diana Jue ’09, Ji Qi ’09, Kirtana Raja ’09, Yiwei Zhang ’09, Yi Zhou ’09, Yuri Hanada ’10, Joyce Kwan ’10, Manisha Padi ’10, Joanne Y. Shih ’10, Arkajit Dey ’11, Jeff Guo ’11, Ryan Ko ’11, Natasha Plotkin ’11, Emily Prentice ’11, Elijah Jordan Turner ’11, Lulu Wang ’11; Meteorologists: Cegeon Chan G, Jon Moskaitis G, Michael J. Ring G, Roberto Rondanelli G, Scott Stransky G, Brian H. Tang G, John K. Williams G, Angela Zalucha G, Garrett P. Marino ’08, Mike Yee ’08.

Production Staff Editor: Steve Howland ’11; Staff: K. Nichole Treadway ’10, Yue Li ’11, Mark Yen ’11.

Opinion Staff Editor: Aditya Kohli ’09; Staff: Josh Levinger ’07, Ali S. Wyne ’08, Krishna Gupta ’09.

Sports Staff Editor: Shreyes Seshasai ’08; Staff: James Zorich ’08, Albert Ni ’09.

Arts Staff Editors: Sarah Dupuis ’10, Praveen Rathinavelu ’10; Staff: Bogdan Fedeles G, Andrew Lee ’07, Alice Macdonald ’08, Tyson C. McNulty ’08, Tina Ro ’10, Kevin Wang ’10.

Photography Staff Editors: Perry Hung ’08, David M. Templeton ’08, Ricardo Ramirez ’09, Andrea Robles ’10; Staff: Alex H. Chan G, David Da He G, Dmitry Kashlev G, Andrew T. Lukmann G, Ramya Sankar G, Martin Segado G, Scott Johnston ’03, Christina Kang ’08, Arthur Petron ’08, David Reshef ’08, Martha Angela Wilcox ’08, Ana Malagon ’09, Peter H. Rigano ’09, Eric D. Schmiedl ’09, Jerzy Szablowski ’09, Diana Ye ’09, Daniel P. Beauboeuf ’10, Mindy Eng ’10, Helen Hou ’10, Catherine Huang ’10, Bea Jarrett ’10, Monica Kahn ’10, Samuel E. Kronick ’10, Diane Rak ’10, Aaron Sampson ’10, Jongu Shin ’10, William Yee ’10, Kari Williams ’11, Sherry Yan ’11.

Campus Life Staff Editor: Charles Lin G; Staff: Bruce Wu G, Kailas Narendran ’01, Elizabeth Zakszewski ’06, James Scott Berdahl ’08, Michael T. Lin ’11; Cartoonists: Scott Burdick G, Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer G, Roberto Perez-Franco G, Emezie Okorafor ’03, Nancy Hua ’07, Jia Lou ’07, Ash Turza ’08, Danbee Kim ’09, Roxana G. Safipour ’09.

Business Staff Operations Manager: Michael Kuo ’10; Staff: Jeffrey Chang ’08, Cokie Hu ’08, Tai Ho Kang ’08, Neeharika Bhartiya ’10, Jennifer Chu ’10, Ritu Tandon ’10, Heymian Wong ’10.

Technology Staff Staff: Quentin Smith ’10.

Editors at Large Contributing Editors: Rosa Cao G, Brian Hemond G, Valery K. Brobbey ’08, Angeline Wang ’09, Caroline Huang ’10; Senior Editors: Satwiksai Seshasai G, Jillian A. Berry ’08, Omari Stephens ’08.

Advisory Board Paul E. Schindler, Jr. ’74, V. Michael Bove ’83, property of The Tech, and will not be returned. Letters, columns, and Barry S. Surman ’84, Robert E. Malchman Opinion Policy cartoons may also be posted on The Tech’s Web site and/or printed ’85, Deborah A. Levinson ’91, Jonathan E. D. Editorials are the official opinion ofThe Tech. They are written by or published in any other format or medium now known or later that Richmond PhD ’91, Karen Kaplan ’93, Saul the editorial board, which consists of Chairman Benjamin P. Gleitzman, becomes known. The Tech makes no commitment to publish all the Blumenthal ’98, Frank Dabek ’00, Daniel Ryan Editor in Chief Nick Semenkovich, Managing Editor Jessica Witchley, letters received. Bersak ’02, Eric J. Cholankeril ’02, Jordan Rubin ’02, Nathan Collins SM ’03, Keith J. Opinion Editor Aditya Kohli, and Contributing Editor Rosa Cao. Guest columns are opinion articles submitted by members of the Winstein ’03, Akshay R. Patil ’04, Tiffany Dissents are the opinions of signed members of the editorial MIT or local community and have the author’s name in italics. Col- Dohzen ’06, Beckett W. Sterner ’06, Marissa board choosing to publish their disagreement with the editorial. umns without italics are written by Tech staff. Vogt ’06, Zachary Ozer ’07, B. D. Colen. Letters to the editor, columns, and editorial cartoons are writ- ten by individuals and represent the opinion of the author, not neces- Production Staff for This Issue sarily that of the newspaper. Electronic submissions are encouraged To Reach Us Editors: Austin Chu ’08, Jessica Witchley ’10; and should be sent to [email protected]. Hard copy submis- The Tech’s telephone number is (617) 253-1541. E-mail is the eas- Staff:Shreyes Seshasai ’08. sions should be addressed to The Tech, P.O. Box 397029, Cambridge, iest way to reach any member of our staff. If you are unsure whom

The Tech (ISSN 0148-9607) is published on Tuesdays and Fridays during Mass. 02139-7029, or sent by interdepartmental mail to Room W20- to contact, send mail to [email protected], and it will be di- the academic year (except during MIT vacations), Wednesdays during Janu- 483. All submissions are due by 4:30 p.m. two days before the date rected to the appropriate person. You can reach the editor in chief by ary, and monthly during the summer by The Tech, Room W20-483, 84 Mas- sachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. 02139. Subscriptions are $45.00 per of publication. e-mailing [email protected]. Please send press releases, requests year (third class) and $105.00 (first class).P ostmaster: Please send all Letters, columns, and cartoons must bear the authors’ signatures, for coverage, and information about errors that call for correction to address changes to our mailing address: The Tech, P.O. Box 397029, Cam- addresses, and phone numbers. Unsigned letters will not be accepted. [email protected]. Letters to the editor should be sent to let- bridge, Mass. 02139-7029. Telephone: Editorial: (617) 253-1541. Busi- ness: (617) 258-8324. Facsimile: (617) 258-8226. Advertising, subscription, The Tech reserves the right to edit or condense letters; shorter let- [email protected]. The Tech can be found on the World Wide and typesetting rates available. Entire contents © 2008 The Tech. Printed on ters will be given higher priority. Once submitted, all letters become Web at http://www-tech.mit.edu. recycled paper by Charles River Publishing. Brought to you by Campus Life The Tech, February 15, 2008, Page 

Manisha Padi and Ying Yang It’s Valentine’s Day! People are in Figuring out Fashion Campus Style Watch love, chocolate boxes line the streets, and all you see is pink and red (not that we’re complaining). Yet, it isn’t all A Valentine’s Day fun and games. For many of us not so caught up in the rush, this is a dreaded time filled with forced reflection on both single-hood and the dreary rut of longtime couple-dom. So how can we here at Figur- New Look! ing out Fashion be of any help? Well, there’s really only one way to cure the V-day blues — a makeover! After or take the available shuttle. doing some exploring, we came up with an affordable Now that you got your physical appearance taken plan to reinvent your look and spirit this weekend. care of, you need to worry about your health and well- The first thing to tackle is the task of getting newer, ness. What’s the point of having new clothes if you don’t better, and cuter clothes. We found one thing we liked have the confidence and glowing features to pull them right away — sales! This is the best time for prices off? Look in coupon books for massages, salon treat- on winter clothes, and since it’s still freezing outside, ments, haircuts, and nail care. Go out to the spa and treat why not take advantage of it? Spring is closing in on yourself! Both guys and girls should definitely venture us too, so remember to stock up on discounted winter out to Sephora, where we got our makeup done by the short sleeves that went unsold during the season. Try the attendants and sprayed ourselves with perfume and co- Cambridgeside Galleria, the Prudential Center, Down- logne. Don’t forget to exercise too; There are free regu- town Crossing, and Newbury Street for some splurging. lar swimming and PE classes, as well as the rest of the And please don’t claim that shopping is a waste of time: Z-Center for you to use. it’s totally multitasking (shopping burns 160 calories per Once you have a new outfit and have taken care of hour for a 150 pound person and even more if you try yourself, it’s time to go out and have some fun. Check on clothes). Go ahead and choose whatever stores suit your coupon books for discounts at nice restaurants and your price range and personal style, but those looking to then head to Ryles for jazz and salsa (18 and 19+ depend- revitalize their wardrobe need to branch out. Hangers do ing on the night). Going to a museum, like the Boston no good for clothes, and sometimes a piece that looks Museum of Science or the Museum of Fine Arts (which Tess E. awful on the rack will look great when you try it on. are both free) is also something fun to do. A classic outing Wise ’10 is Since trying on clothes is free, go ahead and explore as can be to the movies, a concert, a sports game, or even wearing her many looks as you can. bowling. Let’s face it; if you’re like us, anything is more grandmother’s For accessories, girls should head to So Good jew- exciting than the usual Friday night of a movie and maybe jacket, a scarf elry. The selection is endless and prices are very rea- some Guitar Hero (if you’re lucky). You can always meet from a street ven- sonable. Cute purses and accessories such as clutches, a potential boyfriend/girlfriend while you are out having dor in Brussels ($5), belts, long necklaces, and earrings can be found at Aldo fun, but if you coop yourself up in your room, you’ll never boots from Riverwoods Accessories and Wet Seal. If you have some patience, have a chance to meet that special someone. ($70), a plaid dress try digging through accessory racks at Filene’s Base- We hope this gives you all the tools and inspiration from H&M ($15), jeans tec h ment and Marshalls because there are definitely many you need to get out there and make a change for the bet- from TJ Maxx ($30), and high-end brand bargains for both guys and girls. An- ter — it sure helped us! bracelets from Bass ($10). other place that sells everything cute for low prices is of Why we like it: The layering course Target, and access is surprisingly easy. Take the Suggestions or comments about fashion at and weather-friendly shoes adi — t h e red line to the Andrew T stop and walk over the bridge MIT? E-mail [email protected]. make this a practical outfit, while the bold prints and colors Ask A TA are eye-catching. M a n is h p Dear TAs, Trying, on the other hand, is more akin Quotes from the “She wants to spend money on me. I mean, it’s not I just don’t get it. We started this really to a distorted wave function with several Facebook Group: that she’s senile …” —Unknown cool advice column, but no one wants to maxima and minima. The amount of effort write in! Are we trying too hard to be cool? you put into being cool directly affects your “Who gives a $#!+ as long as they see my electron Would we be cooler if we weren’t trying so coolness, but unfortunately in ways you might Overheard diagram!” —Unknown hard? Is being cool some sort of paradox? not expect. Though the art of being cool is a Help! bit of a black box, I’ve managed to crudely To submit quotes, join the Facebook group! —[email protected] plot the coolness function. Let us now exam- At MIT Special thanks to group creator Kristin M. Rose ’10. ine the coolness space in all its glory. Dear Ask A TA, Several features immediately come to our You’re confused here and rightfully so. attention. The local minima at (A) shows that See, when people talk about being so cool it sometimes it’s better not to try at all if you’re seems effortless, they’re referring to an illu- not willing to get with the program. (B) dem- sion. It’s not about trying to be cool — it’s onstrates the appropriate level of trying for about trying to seem like you’re not trying. most people. At this level one should mind Did that make sense? No? Here, let me one’s appearance, know a funny anecdote, WMBR Top 5 Songs to Robot Dance to formulate coolness. and be able to mix a martini. (C) illustrates Coolness is essentially a function of two the perils of trying too hard. A person’s de- 1. Take It Like A Man, “Dragonette (Felix Cartal remix)” parameters: amount of trying (effort) and scent to (C) usually correlates with excessive badass-ness (innate coolness). A person’s use of hair product and collar flipping. For 2. Erole Attack, “Boys Noize” coolness, defined here in units of Rads, people of limited innate coolness, some- 3. Daft Punk, “Around The World” can be defined as a function of trying and times trying unbelievably hard results in an 4. À Cause des Garçons, “Yelle (Tepr Remix)” badass-ness. For every person, badass-ness unexpected boost in coolness at (D). Michael is a constant, usually defined from 1-10 Cera of Arrested Development and Juno 5. Justice, “D.A.N.C.E.” (you know, www.hotornot.com scale). It’s fame best exemplifies this phenomenon. something you can’t change, so accept it. For most people, the best cool results As a point of reference, Steve McQueen are achieved by aiming for the (B) maxima. The French kids are dominating the scene! (translation for undergrads: Zac Efron) is a There is an exception though: Should one’s DJ Name: DJ Xylo 10, Dean Martin (Hillary Duff) is an 8, and innate coolness reach the critical “Tom Show Style: live mixed bangin’ electro Tom Selleck with a moustache (Hannah Selleck with a moustache” inflection point Montana) is a solid 9. (E), then optimal coolness is achieved by not Time: Friday 9-10 p.m. trying at all. This is the pinnacle of ef- “An arsenal of sonic crack rocks are fully loaded in our pipes of fortless cool, and few people outside of the Rat Pack have ever reached aural destruction, so get those lighters ready. Yet do not be alarmed its summits. For those curious dear friends, for with our acoustic addiction you are never chasing about the range of coolness, the first high, you just keep flying higher!” note that one man and one man alone occupies the epitome of coolness: Steve You can tune in at 88.1 FM or listen online at wmbr.org. If you’re McQueen. At the brutal depths of uncool, there are interested in joining, contact us at [email protected]. so many people — in- cluding this TA, for even bothering to formulate a function for cool.

Happy Trying, —TA Charles Lin G

Seriously people. Write in with your questions to [email protected]. You don’t want grad students giving themselves advice for another week. Page  The Tech February 15, 2008 Arts Concert review The Chan Marshall Musical Revue Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Moonwalk By Sarah Dupuis STILL. Love, Sarah.” cetera, to keep her going. She was polite to the the band really did hush. She strutted around Arts Editor I’m seriously feeling nostalgic for Cat Pow- audience, kept her composure throughout the the stage, which she commanded without a hint Cat Power er shows I never went to. Like the one where tight set, and her husky voice sang beautifully of admitted shyness. She seemed to channel The Orpheum she mooned the audience. Or when she used to throughout uniform but appropriate covers the King of Pop; gloves on hand, she practically Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008 be too shy to finish sets, and then cussed out the ranging from Bob Dylan to James Brown. moonwalked across the stage on more than one audience? At the very least, I know she used to Before Marshall herself sauntered onto occasion. She knew all the moves. She swiv- arlier tonight, seated at The Orpheum, I play instruments. stage, Dirty Delta Blues was playing a sparsely eled her heels, hopped from the hips, and inter- couldn’t help but think of an old Tooth- But the Cat Power arranged slow desert pretively moved her arms in some pseudo-sign paste for Dinner comic. This particular of today is a totally dif- swagger; two piano language along with the lyrics. This dancing E installment of the Web series featured ferent animal (ha, ha) Where are the mood swings? chords, a simple bass went on for the entire show, and it was driving the author sitting at a desk writing a letter, than that of … well, line, guitar harmon- me crazy. Some of the crowd — at Marshall’s which read: “Dear Chan Marshall of Cat Pow- pre-The Greatest, her Why is she so smiley ics, and brushed drums instructions — stood up and lit their lighters. er, SHUT UP. Love, Drew.” seventh album. It’s a led into Billie Holiday What is this? Are people fully buying this? Well, I wasn’t even close to telling her to change you can spot and friendly? Who are you, cover “Don’t Explain.” Where are the mood swings? Why is she so be quiet. Her sound was spot on all evening, in her physical appear- Cat Power? Marshall entered snap- smiley and friendly? Who are you, Cat Power? and the spooky tumbleweed drag of her Dirty ance, which is now ping her fingers, hair And then, the thought: maybe this stage Delta Blues band reassembled even her most sleek and svelte as her neatly pulled back into personality, this sideways dancer, is really just melancholy originals so that they went straight namesake mammal, and a change you can hear a ponytail. She was all dressed up in a black as nervous as Cat Power-on-the-verge-of-a- along with the bluesy numbers off her new cov- in her repertoire, which has become increas- button up, a throw-over vest, black fingerless nervous-breakdown minus the Jack Daniel’s ers record, Jukebox. The music was great, no ingly blues and ballad driven. motorcycle gloves, white shoes and skin-tight and Xanax. Maybe her too cool exterior cov- problems there, other than slight disappoint- Objectively putting my own loud-guitar black jeans, which she pulled up continuously ers up for someone who still feels the heart- ment about choice of material (c’mon, just preferences aside, these changes are gener- throughout the night. It was the only sign of break she sings about and she’s channeling all play “He War”!). My complaint letter, unlike ally positive, because they mean Marshall is human imperfection in a far-too-flawless chan- the performance anxiety into physical motion. Drew’s, might read something like this: healthy, calm and in a place where she can teuse. Well, if I tell myself it’s organic, I guess I can “Dear Chan Marshall of Cat Power, STAND create and tour without relying on alcohol, et When she sang, “hush now, don’t explain,” deal. Dance on, Chan, dance on. movie review hhhh Movie review h Something New in Stupid Premise and Bad Romanian Film Writing Much More Than an Abortion Movie You Have Better Things To Do Than Visit ‘Blue State’ By Praveen Rathinavelu Mungiu demonstrates a rare aesthetic bril- By Alice Macdonald everyone says about president Bush. I don’t arts editor liance. Mungiu employs long, sustained shots staff writer need to sit through a romantic comedy to figure 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days that encompass as much detail as they possibly Blue State out that the war in Iraq was a mistake and that Written and Directed by Cristian Mungiu can, as well as a kind of camerawork that pops Written and Directed by Marshall Lewy Bush sucks at public speaking. The inclusion Starring Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu with vitality. “4 Months” can often be aestheti- Starring Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin of Lewy’s whiny political opinions does noth- Not Rated cally overwhelming and is able to create scenes DVD Released Feb. 12 ing for this film whatsoever. I guess it is just Now Playing in Limited Release that ingrain themselves into our memory necessary to fuel the pointless plot. through the unspoken emotion of the camera. arshall Lewy’s “Blue State” is a ro- Problem 3: Writing. hese days, even when its subject is abor- It is hard to forget Otilia stumbling through mantic comedy that misses the mark Watching “Blue State,” I wondered whether tion, it’s hard for a film to be genuinely the Romanian streets, engulfed in almost total completely. It is neither romantic nor this was a film student’s final project. The writ- affecting, or even feel new. But Cris- darkness and with no companion but the quiv- Mfunny and features a horrible prem- ing is juvenile and awkward. Chloe actually T tian Mungiu’s astonishing “4 Months, ering camera. Mungiu is often meticulous in ise. Here are some of the film’s major flaws: says, “It seems to me that you’re running away.” 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” insists on confronting the composition of his scenes: a shot of dinner Problem 1: Clichéd and contrived premise. All the characters are closer to caricatures than abortion with a kind of honesty and force that party is arranged like a painting and its depic- Breckin Meyer plays John, a democrat believable and interesting beings. The dialogue will leave even the most hardened viewer a tion of Otilia enveloped by other dinner guests blogger who decides to move to Canada after is simply void of the kind of subtlety required little dazed. And yet it would be too easy, and is witty, claustrophobic, and powerful. George W. Bush is re-elected in 2004. For no to make an interesting and affecting film. Plot unfair, to label 4 months as simply an “abortion The performances in “4 Months” are so apparent reason, he needs to find someone to twists are also introduced for no reason. For movie”; it would have been easy (and probably globally subtle and believable that it almost drive there with him. example, John has a even successful) for Mungiu to construct the goes without notice. Every character, no matter In the altered world he brother who is serving kind of gritty, mildly simplistic abortion movie how frustrating or unlikable — and the abor- inhabits, he puts up fly- Watching “Blue State,” I in Iraq … no wait, he most of us expect. But 4 months extends itself tion specialist is pretty monstrous — avoids ers, which people actu- is dead. If only anyone beyond any of these expectations and attempts caricature. If Mungiu’s goal is to create a broad ally respond to and he wondered whether this was a gave a damn. something much more ambitious: to represent portrait of Romanian life, it is these perfor- interviews candidates Problem 4: Acting a harrowing day in the life of a Romanian col- mances that make it work so fundamentally. for his road trip. It is film student’s final project. and poor chemistry. lege student in a way shatters the separation And, of course, Marinca and Vasiliu are fan- weird and stupid. Even I suppose “Blue between film and viewer, and provides us with tastic as the film’s core and its driving force. more improbable is that The writing is juvenile State” could have been life, in its truest sense. It succeeds and it feels Their friendship is often strained enough to a hot chick, Paquin’s and awkward. decent if the two main very, very new. make you cringe, but the actresses complement character Chloe, re- characters had been The film takes place in a single day; it trac- each other beautifully, and their interactions sponds to the ad and more complex and be- es the terrifying journey of Otilia (Anamaria are some of the best parts of the film. they instantly depart for the border. Hmmm … lievable. Unfortunately, the two leads give less Marinca) as she assists her roommate and During the closing scene of the film, a Ro- I wonder if they end up together? This is not a than inspired performances and lack a consid- friend, Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), in procuring an manian wedding reception takes place in the tough question for anyone who has ever seen erable amount of chemistry. When they finally abortion during Ceausescu’s communist Ro- background. The scene is modest: through the a movie before. If you haven’t seen a movie kiss, it is really icky. Think about your parents mania in the late 1980s, when such procedures window there is a shabby hotel reception hall before, don’t start with this one. The plot cli- — no, your grandparents — having sex. This is were illegal. From the beginning, the camera filled with unknown guests dancing as Roma- chés continue as the first stop on the road trip a little bit like the feeling induced by watching and Otilia feel inseparable, and Otilia becomes nian music quietly drones on. It’s a detail that is an unexpected visit to John’s parents. It is no Meyer and Paquin get it on. The problem could a sort of universal guide in the film. She leads has no real relation to the action in the fore- surprise that John (like every character ever) be that Paquin looks so much younger than the terrifyingly inept Gabita through the entire front of the scene, but it’s also one that, more has problems with his father. I suppose writer Meyer that it seems like an inappropriate pro- procedure and shoulders the burden of the or- than anything, is indicative of how much of Marshell Lewy giggled at the silliness of John fessor/student romance and Paquin isn’t even deal to a horrifying extent. In the same way, Mungiu’s heart and camera is devoted to the bringing a girl with blue hair and leather jacket getting an A out of sleeping with this creep. Otilia is our guide and our conscience as the practices and nuances of Romanian life. So home to his conservative mom and dad … but To cap it off, “Blue State” is visually conven- film ventures through the dark, unsettling- al much of the details that compose the film feel no one else will. tional and uninteresting. The narrative is accom- leys, seedy hotels, and vivid households of so natural and understated that, after leav- Problem 2: Problematic politics. panied by an aesthetic that is very flat and does Ceausescu’s Romania, full of paranoia and ing the theater, I wondered aloud to a friend Trying to make a movie about some event nothing to perk up the emotionally dead movie. uneasiness, but more prominently, life. By the whether every little detail in the film could be such as the 2004 election poses a problem Now that I have outlined everything I didn’t end of the film, with Otilia at our side, we have constructed, or whether many just … sort of because by the time the movie is made, a lot like about the film, I should say that it is not been presented with the limits of both cruelty … happened. Before he replied, I decided the of other things have happened and no one re- as though “Blue State” is the worst movie I and friendship, and have explored a society at answer hardly mattered; they exist in a film as ally cares anymore. Writer Lewy channels his have ever seen, or even the worst movie I have its truest pitch. real as anything I can compare it to. “4 Months, opinions through John, but the problem is that seen this year. But there are just so many better The most unexpected thing about the film 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” is a movie I find myself he doesn’t have anything interesting to say. He movies to see that I feel compelled to dissuade is that, despite a modest budget at his disposal, unable to question. touches on broad topics — the same thing that anyone from wasting their time with this crap. ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINATION BEST ANIMATED FEATURE STSTRAVEL.COM “LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!” Spring Break Sale! -Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE

PERSEPOLIS distributed sensor networks locate gunfire on the A FILM BY MARJANE SATRAPI AND VINCENT PARONNAUD battlefield and in communities nationwide. Outstanding software Read THE COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM Cancun, Acapulco & Jamaica available at bookstores everywhere from Pantheon Books engineering candidates from any major are encouraged to apply. up to $500 off per room! Bahamas, South Padre and Florida also available. LANDMARK’S WEST NEWTON Resume Drop Deadline: Feb 22, 2008 KENDALL SQ. 1296 WASHINGTON ST. ONE KENDALL SQ., CAMBRIDGE ROUTE 16 Information Session: Feb 25, 2008 Limited Time NOW PLAYING 617-499-1996 617-964-6060 STUDENT Interviews: Feb 25 & 26, 2008 TRAVEL Offer! www.ststravel.com AMPAS MEMBERS: YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD WILL ALLOW YOU AND A GUEST TO ANY PERFORMANCE. http://www.shotspotter.com/mit US Citizenship Required SERVICES VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.PERSEPOLISMOVIE.COM 1-800-648-4849 / www.ststravel.com

2x2 MIT FRI 2/15 February 15, 2008 Arts The Tech Page  Book Review The Error of Our Ways ‘Predictably Irrational’ Highlights Oddities of Human Decision Making By Rosa Cao in the rest of the world, when businesses spend Ariely assumes a straw man when he writes writing is consistently clear and approachable. Staff WRiter money to promote an image of themselves as “I have described experiments that I hoped Unfortunately, the general air of reason- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces friends, partners, helpers, but then lose those would be surprising and illuminating, because ableness and credibility is marred by decid- That Shape Our Decisions social gains when they fail to hold up the other they refuted the common assumption that we edly unsupported statements such as “In recent By Dan Ariely end of the social contract (reciprocity, health are all fundamentally rational.” Nowhere does years, we have seen business in general submit Published by HarperCollins care, flexibility). he define what he means by rationality. Is it the to a lower standard of honesty.” Is this really Available Feb. 19 Another section explores the idea of fool- same thing as maximization? Or consistency? true, or just an example of an old fogey griping www.predictablyirrational.com ish consistencies, insightfully presenting hab- In a broad sense, one might argue that many of about our degenerate age? There are worse ex- its as a kind of intrapersonal herd behavior, Ariely’s subjects were behaving rationally when amples of carelessness, if not outright chauvin- oes anyone believe that humans are where each person can be seen as a collection they chose what they wanted, even though they ism. He labels Iran, China, and Latin American rational? Or are we nothing more than of selves, each one at a different point in time, didn’t maximize what they might have under as “societ[ies] without trust.” Perhaps he meant victims of our impulses and emotions, looking back at the previous ones for cues on other circumstances — it was simply that their that there was less institutionalized abstract D careening randomly from one bad de- what to do. rationality was highly context-dependent. And trust of the kind that fosters efficient business cision to the next like a drunken rodents? In Given that many of the experiments took while context-dependent behavior may trip us transactions among strangers. Or perhaps he a loosely strung collection of simple experi- place at MIT, it’s also up from time to time, really did mean that there is less trust, period, ments, Sloan Professor Dan Ariely argues in fun to think that some it’s certainly a useful between people in those societies. “Predictably Irrational” that we behave in ways of us may have contrib- Perhaps the greatest and adaptive trait much In his eagerness to offer easy answers and that fall short of rational, but are highly sys- uted as guinea pigs (or of the time. neat summaries, Ariely leaves the deeper ques- tematic. at least walked by) as disappointment is that Elsewhere, the book tions unplumbed. Is there an over-arching the- In arena after arena, Ariely cites studies that the findings coalesced. is less enjoyable when ory that can explain why we think the way we show that our ability to optimize is far from op- For example, do peo- much of what is offered up it wanders into Feyn- do? Why these particular irrationalities and not timal, and that simply possessing intelligence, ple prefer a Hershey’s man-esque descriptions others? He doesn’t hesitate to throw out solu- good intentions, and moral standards are no Kiss, or a Lindt truffle in this new book is of the author’s own tions to our problems (war, unsafe sex, dubious match in the lurch for our irrational selves. But discounted by the price not exactly news. charm, cleverness, or business practices), but the shallow analyses all is not lost; with the enthusiasm of a true of a Kiss? Locations personal experiences. address such a small slice of the larger problem self-help writer, Ariely exhorts us to take ac- also star in the book, While the account of that they are not particularly convincing. For ex- count of our natural propensities and biases in from Walker to W20 to East Campus, which his travails as a burn victim is vivid and oc- ample, does he really believe that the problems order to make better decisions as individuals, is graced with the parenthetical “and believe casionally horrifying, it serves primarily to dis- (even the most pressing ones — affordability and build better structures as a society. me — it takes a serious misfit to be a misfit at tract from the rest of the book. Other anecdotes comes to mind) of such a complicated hydra There is an excellent chapter on social ver- MIT.” (See page 141 for the full description.) (How do I choose between MIT and Stanford? as the American health care system really be sus market mindsets and transactions, and the Perhaps the greatest disappointment is that An old fellow student recognized me in a bar “fixed” simply by having people schedule pre- different value sets that prevail. For example, it much of what is offered up in this new book and thought I was a waiter!) are neither inter- ventive medicine appointments? Ariely writes seems that people are willing to work for free is not exactly news. Versions of many of these esting nor informative. Sometimes the need to that “simplification is one mark of real genius.” (as a social transaction) and when paid (a fair experiments lead a fulfilling life in elemen- show off comes out directly, as in the chapter on It may be the only one this book exhibits. price), but hardly at all for something in be- tary psychology textbooks, while more spe- free! stuff where the extra punctuation makes In the end, I’m still not sure if the book is tween (an unfair price). Such findings seem es- cific findings have been covered in the popular his point (over and over again). Or in the foot- actually dumbed down, or if this is all Ariely pecially relevant in an environment like MIT’s press. And in the 30 years since Kahneman note where he reflects on “how much people has to say: “In a search for the root of this hu- where the boundaries between home and school, and Tversky’s Nobel-prize winning work on confide in me.” To be fair, not all the chortling man condition, we decided to set up a series professional and social relationships, work and human decision-making, do even economists left me cold — there’s a hilarious section on the of simple experiments.” So perhaps that’s all play are vitally blurred. Further, Ariely makes truly believe that humans behave optimally all possibility of using your slightly-less-attractive there is: worth a flip-through at the airport a convincing argument for how this plays out the time? friend as a decoy to lure more suitors. And the bookstore. concert review Languid Songs for Languid Lovers Weathered and Wistful Performers at the MFA By Balaji Mani like / to be called in safe.” Having another gui- cate voice, and then once again in the hiss of Horses,” where she sings “On white horses let Keren Ann and Dean & Britta tar player allowed the thirty-something chan- the house speakers. me ride away / to my world so far away.” Museum of Fine Arts teuse to perform songs laden with lead guitar A short intermission stood between Keren The highlight of the show, which excited Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008 parts such as the dirty and brash “It Ain’t No Ann and Dean & Britta’s sets. Dean Wareham most of the audience, was the performance of Crime,” and the old favorite “Sailor and Wid- and Britta Phillips, both members of the now- the Luna hit “Tiger Lily” during the second ast week’s double bill at the Museum ow.” The former included Keren Ann switching defunct rock band Luna, released their second half of the set. Sumrow switched to guitar just of Fine Arts brought to the stage two to bass, prompting her to admit that “it’s every LP, Back Numbers, last year. They opened with for this song. Wareham blankly delivered the seemingly different, yet equally bril- girl’s fantasy to play bass.” She showed further a white-wash of sonic mania, a song aptly titled song, conveying more emotion through his tre- L liant acts. I’d never witnessed such a prowess as a multi-instrumentalist by playing “Snowstorm.” Wareham and Phillips traded bly guitar solo. At one point his knees buckled divided audience before: young women and harmonica solos on “Lay Your Head Down” lead vocals throughout the set, only rarely sing- and he crouched to the ground, never straying French-Americans anticipated Keren Ann’s and the lazy, New York nostalgia track “Chel- ing together in sedated harmony. On the Luna from his epic solo. He even made efforts to silky alto and crisp guitar, while middle-aged sea Burns.” albums, Wareham sounds like a Lou Reed play with his effect pedals for the end of the men — some reeking of marijuana — patiently On the records, Keren Ann sounds distant, impersonator in a Sonic Youth cover band; classic song. Overall, Wareham’s vocals were awaited Dean & Britta’s washy wall-of-sound. sweet, and reassuring. As a female songwriter, he sang nonchalantly, with that ever-present low in the mix, and Phillips’ bass was a bit too Personally, I was more of a Keren Ann fan, but she defies stereotypes by writing about issues scratch at the back of his throat cuing certain high, but the music came across clearly. The nonetheless loved Dean & Britta’s set of laid- such as war (“Where No Endings End”), her notes one way or another, in and out of tune. last song, “Strange,” climaxed in swirling gui- back tunes. friendships (“Harder Ships of the World”), Yet it always fits with the taut, finger-picking tars and keyboards, showing that Wareham and During Keren Ann’s last visit to Boston, she and personal discovery (“Que N’ai Je?”). style of his guitar. Phillips had in fact moved on from Luna and brought along Jason Hart on keyboards and Av- Constantly changing her voice to fit different In this band, Wareham preserves that same were trying something new. ishai Cohen on trumpet. For her second North songs, she saved an airy, feminine sound for voice with a slight juvenile twist. His singing The group came back out for an encore, American tour supporting last May’s self-titled the self-revealing acoustic number “Not Going is more trained, and the songs are more about “Bonnie & Clyde,” a song performed in French, album, Keren Ann properly represented her Anywhere.” Her range seemed significantly big, open sounds, as opposed to Luna’s often save for the silly, childish chorus where Ware- repertoire by substituting Hart and Cohen for a improved since her last tour. Through mini- tight guitar work. What probably contributes ham and Phillips call out to the eponymous guitarist/bassist and drummer. Her eleven song mal stage banter she admitted that a cold had to this new sound is the fact that Wareham is criminal duo. Wareham left the stage looking set displayed not only her beautiful voice and helped her “reach the low notes.” Her French the only guitar player; in addition to Phillips on pleased and Phillips stayed back a bit with the clever songwriting talent, but her ability to cre- fans in the audience could only revel in Ann’s bass, the band is completed by Anthony LaMar- rest of the band to receive the audience’s second ate new and exciting arrangements for most of native tongue for one song, “Que N’ai Je,” el- ca on drums and Matt Sumrow on keyboards. standing ovation. Depending on whom you sat her songs. Most notable was “Notlita,” which egantly placed at the climax of the set. Sumrow primarily played a Rhodes piano, in next to, this was either a Keren Ann show, or a opened the show so quietly that one could hear By the last song, Ann’s voice seemed a little addition to a number of electronic instruments Dean & Britta show. Regardless of the sound, the slight hiss of the house speakers oscillating tired but she finished the set firmly and beauti- and synthesizers. LaMarca called no attention both acts proved to be accomplished musicians, in and out of Keren’s haunting lyrics: “I think fully. The guitar and drums faded out as Ann to himself, rarely smiling or looking at the au- performing in that romantically drudging per- I’m going to bury you / or myself.” Her guitar repeated the chorus to “Between the Flatland dience during songs, but he skillfully switched sona of the traveled and experienced songwriter. player added colorful flourishes, mimicking the and the Caspian Sea,” a gospel-like round of between a variety of brushes, sticks, and mal- Though Ann is a bit younger in terms of her in- strings on the studio recording. Most surpris- “oh Lord,” in descending melodic fashion. The lets to accommodate the moods of the changing troduction into the real music world, these acts ing though, was in the middle of the song when last “oh Lord” remained for a few seconds, as vocalists. Phillips took lead on the more dream- both sing songs that are at times darkly comical the full band kicked in, immediately changing the audience became enveloped in Ann’s deli- like songs, such as “Singer Sing” and “White or deeply personal, but always wistful. the dynamic of the space. Adding drums to a song that was once quiet and eerie took courage, but the band commanded attention as Ann continued to plead, “Somewhere I’d Solution to Crossword from page 9 SPERM DONORS Up to NEEDED $1100a month!

Healthy MEN in college or with a college degree wanted for our sperm donor program. Minimal time commitment Help people fulfill their dreams of starting a family. Receive free health and genetic screenings. APPLY ONLINE: www.SPERMBANK .com February 15, 2008

Page 

Pseudoscience by Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that each column, row, and 3 by 3 grid contains exactly one of each of the digits 1 through 9. Solution, tips, and computer program at http://www.sudoku.com; see also solution, page 14. Steal My Comic by Michael Ciuffo

The Tech congratulates Uno, the first beagle to win best in show at the Westminster Dog Show! February 15, 2008 The Tech Page 

Dilbert® by Scott Adams

ACROSS 39 Shaving foam 2 Mistreated 32 Son of Jacob 1 Rules of conduct 40 Refuse 3 Gets off a letter 33 PGA prop 5 Game similar to 41 Punta del __, 4 Wise lawgiver 35 Snaky turn keno Uruguay 5 Prolonged barks 36 Skillet material 10 Activist 42 Burstyn or Barkin 6 Time-line segment 37 One who showed 14 Spanish river 44 Handle clumsily 7 Capp and Capone up 15 City in Provence 47 Cubic meter 8 Gods’ beverage 38 Sitcom equine 16 __ Stanley Gardner 49 Massive ref. work 9 Workplace safety 39 Instructional 17 Judgment call? 50 Big Apple grp. sessions 20 John Jacob and restaurateur 10 Word with Bingle 43 Repair-shop car Mary 52 Homily topic or Alte 44 Writer Marcel 21 Highlands hat 53 Carte preceder 11 Form a labor 45 Actress Renee 22 5th or Lex. 55 Oater bar union 46 Cold time 23 Minuscule 56 Judgment call? 12 Raised 48 One of Dumbo’s

Solution, page 7 24 Black, but not blue 60 Turn-downs 13 Night flights wings 26 Philippine island 61 Deserve 18 Test out 50 U.S. defense grp. 28 GI’s garb 62 Oh, yeah 19 Elec. measure 51 Czech composer 29 “It Happened One 63 Old dagger 24 Delhi garb Haba Night” director 64 Spoiled kids 25 Letter 54 Arm or leg 31 Tiny arachnid 65 Tail of a lob? 27 Anabaptist sect 55 Places 32 Arcade pioneer 29 Core group 57 Opposite of WNW 34 Grabs DOWN 30 Man from 58 __-la-la 36 Judgment call? 1 Smoothly, in music Manchuria 59 Chart-topper Crossword Puzzle Crossword Page 10 The Tech February 15, 2008 Researchers Locate Distant Solar System That Resembles Ours By Dennis Overbye that our solar system may be more The New York Times typical of planetary systems across Astronomers said Wednesday that the universe than had been thought. they had found a miniature version In the newly discovered system, of our own solar system 5,000 light a planet about two-thirds of the years across the galaxy — the first mass of Jupiter and another about planetary system that really looks 90 percent of the mass of Saturn are like our own, with outer giant planets orbiting a reddish star at about half and room for smaller inner planets. the distances that Jupiter and Saturn “It looks like a scale model of our circle our own Sun. The star is about solar system,” said Dr. Scott Gaudi, half the mass of the Sun. an assistant professor of astronomy Neither of the two giant planets at Ohio State University. Gaudi led is a likely abode for life as we know an international team of 69 profes- it. But, Gaudi said, warm rocky plan- sional and amateur astronomers who ets — suitable for life — could exist announced the discovery in a news undetected in the inner parts of the conference with reporters. system. “This could be a true solar Helen Hou—The Tech Their results are being published system analogue,” he said. Mariachi Internacional del Tecnológico serenades President Susan Hockfield for Valentine’s Day. Friday in the journal Science. Dr. Sara Seager, a theorist at the The discovery, they said, means Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy who was not part of the team, said that “right now in exoplanets we are on an inexorable path to finding SOPHOMORE other Earths.” Seager praised the dis- covery as “a big step in finding out if EXPLORATORY SUBJECT our planetary system is alone.” Since 1995, around 250 planets OPTION outside the solar system, or exoplan- ets, have been discovered. But few of them are in systems that even faintly resemble our own. In many cases, gi- Sophomores, you can elect one subject each ant Jupiter-like planets are whizzing semester as Exploratory. This means that you can around in orbits smaller than that of Mercury. But are these typical of the change the subject to Listener status anytime universe? through Registration Day next semester. Almost all of those planets were discovered by the so-called wobble method, in which astronomers mea- Speak with your advisor now about this option. sure the gravitational tug of plan- ets on their parent star as they whir More information, a special form, and around it. This technique is most sensitive to massive planets close to deadlines available on WebSIS at: their stars. The new discovery was made by a different technique that favors http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/reg/special_ planets more distant from their star. situations.html#exploratory_option It is based on a trick of Einsteinian gravity called microlensing. If, in the ceaseless shifting of the stars, two of them should become almost perfect- ly aligned with Earth, the gravity of the nearer star can bend and magnify the light from the more distant one, A five-year experiment authorized by the Committee on the causing it to get much brighter for a Undergraduate Program. few days. If the alignment is perfect, any big planets attending the nearer star will get into the act, adding their own little bumps to the more distant starlight. That is exactly what started hap- pening on March 28, 2006, when a star 5,000 light years away in the constellation Scorpius began to pass in front of one 21,000 light years more distant, causing it to flash. That was picked up by the Optical Gravita- tional Lensing Experiment, or Ogle, a worldwide collaboration of observ- ers who keep watch for such events. Ogle in turn immediately issued a worldwide call for continuous ob- servations of what is now officially known as OGLE-2006-BLG-109. The next 10 days, as Andrew P. Gould, a professor of mathematical and physical sciences at Ohio State, said, were “extremely frenetic.” Among those who provided cru- cial data and appeared as lead au- thors of the paper in Science were a pair of amateur astronomers from Auckland, New Zealand, Jennie Mc- Cormick and Grant Christie, both members of a group called the Mi- crolensing Follow-Up Network, or MicroFUN. Somewhat to the experimenters’ surprise, by clever manipulation they were able to dig out of the data not just the masses of the interloper star and its two planets, but also rough approximations of their orbits, con- firming the similarity to our own sys- tem. David P. Bennett, an assistant professor of astrophysics at the Uni- versity of Notre Dame, said, “This event has taught us that we were able Got tips for stories? to learn more about these planets than we thought possible.” As a result, microlensing is Let us know: [email protected] poised to become a major new tool in the planet hunter’s arsenal, “a new flavor of the month,” Seager said. February 15, 2008 The Tech Page 11

BRIDGEWATER BWATER.COM

TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATE INTERNSHIPS

Resume Drop Deadline - 2/19

BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES, INC. IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION – EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER we need course 6 interns who will take

their passion for complex problem solving and apply it to designing and implementing a system for automatic execution of thousands of trade orders Page 12 The Tech February 15, 2008 MIT Announces Plans for Energy Efficient Buildings Town Gown, from Page  to the Leadership in Energy and En- is expected to “get LEED silver,” and sold some of their holdings in leased to Millenium Pharmaceuti- vironmental Design (LEED) Green according to Amster. One of the pe- Cambridge, such as the Hotel@MIT, cals) and 1 Broadway. Last year, 1 formed into a new undergraduate Building Rating System, adminis- culiar energy challenges faced by which is now called Le Méridien. Broadway was damaged in a severe dormitory. According to Amster, tered by the non-profit U.S. Green MIT involves the fact that laborato- MIT, like the other universities, fire caused by the explosion of an “we didn’t anticipate that it was go- Building Council. The LEED sys- ries “require five to ten times the air is focusing on improving street-level NSTAR transformer. It has taken ing to be a renovation.” The plans tem rates buildings on a standard- changes of normal office buildings,” retail stores. Some recent retail addi- an entire year for the permanent for that project are still in the first ized scale, based on “sustainable site he said. tions to the MIT community include power to be replaced in the building stages. “We’re going to go out and development, water savings, energy Amster stated that another chal- Citibank and the restaurants Sebas- and now the Investment Manage- procure a builder and architect,” said efficiency, materials and resources lenge for MIT is the competitive na- tian’s and Cosi. MIT and the City of ment Company is “thinking about Amster. Ashdown is expected to re- selection, and indoor environmental ture of research. “We have to be flex- Cambridge collaborated in 2007 on streetscape and façade” to improve open for students in two years. quality,” according to the USGBC ible and quick so that once we find the Central Square Theatre, a new the appearance of the building, said Each of the universities’ repre- Web site. a researcher and a need, we need to black-box theatre being built that Marsh. sentatives talked about their plans to The Brain and Cognitive Sci- move quickly to find a lab for them,” will house two professional theatre Although the MIT Investment decrease the impact on the environ- ences Building, which is three years he said. Amster said buildings with groups. MIT owned the land and was Management Company is decreas- ment by reducing energy use. The old, received the LEED silver rating, large floors instead of towers facili- the site developer for the project, ac- ing its holdings in Cambridge now, it universities referred several times according to Amster. New Ashdown tate interdisciplinary collaborative cording to a May 2007 MIT News will “continue to pursue Cambridge research. Office article. Marsh said that the investments over time,” said Marsh. Steven C. Marsh, the managing theatre project, combined with the MIT’s presentation to the Cam- director of real estate at the MIT increased retail presence, will “add bridge Board was well received by Investment Management Company, some vitality” to the community. both the members of the Board and presented on MIT’s real estate ven- According to Marsh, the Invest- the Cambridge residents who were tures in Cambridge. According to ment Management Company is present. The Board did not raise any Marsh, the Investment Company “busy preparing some of our prop- complaints to the MIT presenters, has “become a little more defen- erties for lease.” These include 640 but they did bring up complaints sive in the last year and a half,” Memorial Dr. (which is currently about Harvard and Lesley.

Martha Angela Wilco­x—The Tech Lauren M. Biscombe ’09 and Erich Mueller ’09 participate in the Valentine Partner Yoga event sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) on Wednesday. Join the Team that Manages

MIT Investment MIT’s $14 Billion in Assets Management Company

600% Find out how YOU can help MIT continue to outperform the median university endowment MIT 533% 500% Resume Submission Deadline: Feb. 19 400% First Round Interviews: Feb. 29 Median For more info, visit University 300% www.mitimco.org 253% Total Return

200%

100%

0% 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fiscal Year February 15, 2008 The Tech Page 13 Dining Has Offered Did You Want TechCASH Services A Starting Salary Of To Star, Papa John’s TechCASH, from Page  tion of the Beacon Street Subway as a success story. The Subway at dozen letters from students and will the intersection of Beacon St. and be delivering them within the next Massachusetts Ave. began to accept two weeks. TechCASH on Monday, Feb. 11. Ac- “I think it’s a long shot at best,” cording to Berlin, both the Beacon $100,000 / YEAR commented Berlin, who described St. Subway and the store inside Lob- the entire negotiation process as an dell Food Court are franchised to the “uphill battle.” “It’s probably not same owner, and adding TechCASH going to happen because a good re- to the Beacon St. Subway was part Are You a CSE Graduate And/Or lationship is something that comes of the original contract between the naturally,” he added. “We’ve made Subway owner and MIT. A LAMP Programmer That our arguments and talked to them “If Bertucci’s doesn’t want it, about it, but it’s much easier for us to then maybe one of its competitors Graduated Top Of Your Class? approve an outside vendor [who ap- does,” said Berlin. Negotiations are proaches us than] vice versa.” ongoing with Papa John’s in Somer- Berlin has also approached Star ville and look far more promising, Market on multiple occasions dating since Papa John’s approached MIT back to October 2003. Star Market as opposed to the other way around, Do You Want to Work and Bertucci’s may have similar rea- said Berlin. sons for refusing TechCASH, said Once negotiations are complete On Exciting New Projects Berlin. Berlin speculated that the and a contract is signed with any infrastructure of Bertucci’s and Star vendor, the rest of the process is very Like ON .Com ,Politics.com,Huge.com registers may “back up to a central fast, said Hoffman. server, which may not synchronize And Nerd.com? with TechCASH technology.” Berlin cited the recent addi- If So Then Call 888-292-1409 Or Visit Nerd.com This space donated by The Tech

It’s Election Season at the Coop, too! Now accepting applications from MIT undergraduate and graduate students to serve on the Board of Directors during the 2008-09 academic year!

There are few opportunities to work this closely with academ- ic and business professionals from Harvard and M.I.T. You’ll gain valuable knowledge and experience in practically all areas of business, including finance, auditing, real estate, com- munity relations, and charitable giving. • Gain priceless, practical business experience • Influence the way the Coop serves its students and members • Receive a stipend To be nominated as a candidate for the Coop Board of Directors, apply online at www.thecoop.com starting on February 7, 2008. For complete information, visit our website and click on Student Election. Email Allan Powell at [email protected] with any questions. Good luck on the campaign trail!

HTTP://www.thecoop.com Page 14 The Tech February 15, 2008 All Subway Employees Undergo Week-Long Sandwich Training Subway, from Page  [Subway] can go as fast as you [the appreciative it is of MIT’s business, customer] can go.” said Holmes. Rajeh agreed: “Sub- of changes. Rajeh explained that new em- way works with a lot of student or- It was suggested that a manager ployees undergo a week-long train- ganizations, and we’re always happy stay on site 24/7 to ensure that there ing period, during which they learn to help.” would be someone in charge at all how to perform every step of custom Already, the Subway at MIT has times. Hoffman said, “Students sandwich-making, from baking the a higher daily volume of customers complained that employees weren’t bread to presenting the final product. than any other in the greater Boston as friendly as the customers ex- They then specialize, which expe- area. However, their prices match pected them to be.” One particular dites the food-making process – but the standard rates for Subway res- complaint — sometimes employees all that doesn’t help if the customer taurants nationwide. Rajeh admitted would socialize instead of work- doesn’t know what they want. that establishing a Subway in a new ing and fail to realize the presence One particular change to address environment required a trial period, of a customer — was addressed by this issue has been the addition of during which the restaurant learned the installation of at least two video “the works,” referring to all the MIT’s preferences. He said, “In any cameras over winter break, accord- vegetables on the menu, according new neighborhood, we have a learn- ing to Holmes. Subway owner Ay- to Rajeh. By using the phrase “the ing curve.” men Rajeh assured that he would works minus onions,” for example, The other restaurants in Lobdell, “replace the current employees if the customer can both save time and such as Shinkansen and Sepal, have they continue to have problems,” avoid a chance of miscommunica- implemented an efficient system of said Holmes. tion. taking orders and preparing food — According to Richard D. Berlin Since the restaurant’s improve- something Subway hopes to achieve III, director of Campus Dining, the ments, neither Rajeh nor the UA has with the help of the student body, friction between Subway and its heard feedback. However, if further according to Rajeh. This includes customers is also partially due to problems are brought up, the UA the recent implementation of Tech- students’ lack of preparation at the will work to address them immedi- CASH at the Subway located at the counter. Due to Subway’s highly ately, said Holmes. intersection of Beacon St. and Mas- Eric Schmiedl—The Tech customized sandwiches, ordering The meeting with Subway also sachusetts Ave. MIT hackers put up ‘Y-combinator’ plaques, a lambda mobile, often takes longer than at other fast- addressed future campus-wide dis- No major changes are planned and sheets of paper with the ‘Last Will and Testament of Sir food restaurants, especially during counts and promotions, such as the for the restaurant in coming months, Arthur Peckington’ in Lobby 7 on Sunday morning. The hack the lunch and dinner hours. 50 percent off sandwich promotion but Hoffman and Rajeh continue to commemorated the end of the introductory computer science Berlin said, “People can help by during finals week in December. exchange communication to ensure class 6.001. knowing what they want.” Rajeh Subway’s involvement with the stu- that Subway smoothly integrates echoed this sentiment, saying, “We dent body helps demonstrate how into the MIT community.

Solution to Sudoku from page 6 5 3 2 4 8 1 6 9 7 4 6 1 2 9 7 3 5 8 8 7 9 3 5 6 2 4 1 2 9 7 6 4 5 8 1 3 3 4 8 1 2 9 7 6 5 1 5 6 8 7 3 4 2 9 7 2 4 9 1 8 5 3 6 9 8 3 5 6 2 1 7 4 6 1 5 7 3 4 9 8 2 the new W1 community

Are you interested in developing MIT’s next living group and its culture? IF SO …

Classes, 2009 to 2011 can apply for the W1 founders group by contacting: W1Founders [email protected]

What’s Going On?

MIT can be a bewildering place if you don’t know what’s going on.

Don’t be a confused panda! Instead, be a smart panda. A happy panda.

Tech reporters hunt down the news; photographers get exclusive shots; and production staff see the entire issue—even the parts that don’t make it to press—long before we print. Want in? Join The Tech!

[email protected] February 15, 2008 The Tech Page 15

DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEFNightline TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEFWe’re TUV hereTUV OPERto listen. OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER3-8800 DEF TUV TUV OPER OPER This space donated by The Tech This space donated by The Tech Page 16 The Tech February 15, 2008 February 15, 2008 The Tech Page 17 School Put Into Effect Security

Plan Designed for Such A Crisis order direct - NO middlemen! Shooting, from Page  been wounded, but not seriously. on everybody’s mind,” Berg said. In the moments after the shoot- “And they’re trying to do everything campus, which sits in a snow-filled, ing, university officials put into they’ve been talking about for the rural community 65 miles due west action a detailed security plan cre- last few months.” of Chicago, said three weapons were ated for just such an incident, Peters Police officers arrived at the found with the man’s body — two said. Many universities and colleges classroom within two minutes, Grady handguns, including a Glock, and around the country designed elabo- said, adding that even with elaborate the shotgun. He had ammunition left rate lock-down and notification plans plans, it might be impossible to en- over, the police here said. in the days and weeks after a student tirely prevent such violence. The gunman had been a graduate at Virginia Tech killed 32 people on Students here had heard of threats student at the university in 2007 but that Blacksburg campus, the worst at the school late last year, a fact that was no longer enrolled, Peters said. shooting rampage in modern Ameri- left some wondering whether there Desiree Smith, one of the pub- can history. might be some connection to what lic university’s more than 25,000 “This is a tragedy,” Peters said. had happened on Thursday. Last De- students, said she saw students fall “But from all indications we did ev- cember, university officials canceled down around her as the gunman erything we could when we found classes for a day during final exams opened fire. She tried to crawl away, out.” after someone scrawled threats in a she told a local television station, Shots rang out inside Cole Hall dormitory bathroom, including a ref- CLTV, thinking she was going to die, shortly after 3 p.m. (Central Stan- erence to the Virginia Tech massacre then wondered if she should play dard Time), Peters said. At 3:07 p.m., and a racial slur. The police here said dead before getting up to run out of the campus was ordered into a lock- on Thursday that they had no reason the classroom. down, he said. At 3:20 p.m., he said, to suspect a connection. Smith said the gunman was wear- the university posted an alert on its Chartered in 1895, Northern Illi- ing a black beanie cap or ski cap. She Web site, through its e-mail system, nois University has more than 25,000 said he aimed, right off, for one per- and through another campus alarm enrolled students, 91 percent of them son: the classroom instructor. system: “There has been a report of from inside the state of Illinois. Other students told of a chaotic a possible gunman on campus. Get to In Springfield, Gov. Rod R. scene in which panicked students a safe area and take precautions un- Blagojevich declared a state of emer- dropped to the floor, the blood of til given the all clear. Avoid the King gency after the shootings, offering victims spattering on those who es- Commons and all buildings in that state relief for expenses and the state caped injury. vicinity.” emergency management agency to “This thing started and ended By 4 p.m., Peters said, the police offer help. within a matter of seconds,” said had determined that there was only “The state of Illinois will provide Donald Grady, the chief of police at one gunman, now dead, and issued whatever assistance and support is the university. another message to students at 4:14 necessary to university staff and stu- The class in Cole Hall had been p.m.: “Campus police report that the dents, and to local officials,” Blago- an introductory offering, and most immediate danger has passed. The jevich said. of the 162 students registered for gunman is no longer a threat.” Here, officials and students said the course had likely been freshmen The authorities here canceled they had yet to even start to come to or sophomores, said Jonathan Berg, classes for the rest of the evening terms with all they had seen. chairman of the department of geol- and Friday. Counselors had been Outside the dormitories on ogy and environmental geo sciences. called in, they said, and counseling Thursday evening, it looked like the Berg, who was about two blocks was already being offered in every last day of school. Students streamed away from Cole Hall in his office residence hall by Thursday evening, out of dorms carrying backpacks and when the shooting began, ran over they said. luggage. A caravan of parents made and found injured students sitting on Leaders at the school said the its way onto campus to meet them, sidewalks outside waiting for ambu- events in Virginia a year ago had and many waited for their children in lances. Some had bandages on their shaken many, but also led to lots of idling cars. heads, he said. focus on security and the possibility “You don’t think it’s going to hap- Berg said an instructor and a of such an incident. pen at your university and you cer- teaching assistant were inside the “Since Virginia Tech, people tainly don’t think it’s going to happen classroom along with students; he have had time to think about how to in your department to people you said he believed the instructor had respond to these things, so it’s fresh know,” Berg said. This space donated by The Tech

RIAA Campus Safety

Health Care Financial Aid

Presidential Election Give a damn? Do something about it! Tell us what you think. [email protected] Page 18 The Tech February 15, 2008 “Smile!”

Pho•to•jour•nal•ism (n): 1. journalism in which written copy is subordinate to pictorial presentation of news stories 2. publishing photos in The Tech while enjoying high-end photographic equipment, exclusive developing facilities, free dinners, and good company

[email protected] February 15, 2008 Sports The Tech Page 19 Suns Acquire Shaq, Lakers Obtain Gasol To Stay Competitive NBA, from Page 20 playing well enough to finally earn his long-overdue first Most Valuable guard Devin Harris and Jerry Stack- Player award, and the Lakers bench is house. The Mavericks have all the arguably the best across the league. parts they need to make a title run There are several other quality right now, and I expect them to do teams in the West. New Orleans has well in the playoffs. been brilliant, led by this year’s best The Phoenix Suns pulled off a point guard Chris Paul (sorry Steve massive trade to bolster their title Nash). Paul and the Hornets should hopes last week. While NBA fans be a tough match for anyone in the have enjoyed the Suns’ entertain- playoffs (if they get there). The Utah ing play for the last few years, the Jazz also have a young stud at point franchise has not won the Western guard, Deron Williams. While they Conference title since 1993. Conse- have played brilliantly in spurts, they quently, the front-office decided to still lack a few essential pieces to go trade away one of its stars, Shawn all the way. Marion, in a package for superstar The Denver Nuggets aren’t top Shaquille O’Neal. It remains to be contenders, but they can still be a seen whether this trade will propel factor in the playoffs with Allen the Suns to a title, but one thing’s for Iverson and Carmelo Anthony lead- sure though — watching Steve Nash ing the way. Baron Davis has played and the Suns come playoff time will superbly for the Golden State War- be exciting. riors, but don’t expect a repeat of last The Los Angeles Lakers also year’s playoff run when they knocked made a big move before the trading off top-seeded Dallas. The Houston deadline. Their deal was more of Rockets continue to be a quality a steal though, getting the talented team but they just haven’t improved Spaniard Pau Gasol from the Mem- enough to be a serious contender. phis Grizzlies for next to nothing. It remains to be seen how the With Gasol, this team is now one of West will be won, but as a fan, it sure the best in the West. Kobe Bryant is does make for compelling viewing.

INNOVATING | MENTORING | BUILDING CAPACITY 77 Massachusetts Ave., 4-104 Cambridge, MA 02139 617-253-0742 http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc

No excuses, only opportunities

This space donated by The Tech Page 20 The Tech February 15, 2008 Sports Game of the Week: Youth Leads Men’s Ice Hockey Over Endicott By Jeff Lemieux Why this is Game of the Week: and Endicott’s Josh Provost turning DAPER STAFF away all shots to keep the score at 2- In a battle for supremacy in the The Engineers pulled through 1. Provost made 37 saves to keep the NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Asso- in a tough divisional match-up, Gulls within striking distance, but ciation Conference A East Division, with key contributions coming Yablonski shut the door to lower his MIT’s freshmen con- from young players. The win puts season goals against average to 1.43. tingent proved to be the team in great position heading The Engineers’ record improved the difference, as the into the playoffs. to 12-3-0 overall and 8-2-0 in the men’s ice hockey team last long however, as the Engineers division with the win, solidifying its slipped past Endicott scored two quick-fire goals to take place atop the standings. Endicott College 2-1 on Satur- the lead midway through the open- concluded its regular season schedule day night. Defenseman Nicholas D. ing period. Nicholas R. LaBounty with records of 10-10-1 and 5-4-0. Sisler ’11 assisted on the game-tying ’09 scored the equalizer, notching MIT finishes up conference play goal before fellow freshman Cory F. his team-leading 19th goal of the this Saturday at Westfield State Col- Phinney ’11 netted the winner, while season with Sisler providing the lone lege, followed by a tough match-up rookie goaltender Stephen L. Yablon- assist. Michael C. Kozlowski ’08 and at home against Division I opponent ski ’11 stopped 26 shots to earn the Dustin P. Kendrick ’10 then assisted Boston College. The game will pro- victory. Phinney on the game-winning goal vide good preparation for the Engi- The Gulls took the lead early just minutes later. neers going into the NECHA play- when Chris Garofalo scored his 13th The rest of the contest belonged offs, which begin the last week of goal of the season. Their lead did not to the goaltenders, with Yablonski February. Figure Skating Club Dances Into Sixth Place as Samost Earns Silver By Diana S. Cheng solo dance events to contribute to the jump sequence, double jumps, and a Team Member point total. layback spin. The MIT Figure Skating Club Captain Aubrey L. Samost ’10 Kristina K. Brown ’10 contribut- team tied for sixth place with Penn- led the team with three medals. In ed two points with her two fifth place Steve Howland—The Tech sylvania State University at the Bos- the Novice Dance event, her fox- finishes in Juvenile Dance and Pre- MIT’s top-ranked squash player Andrew Yoon ’10 returns a deep ton University Eastern trot earned her a silver medal as she juvenile Free Skate. Her free skate shot against Brown University’s Adam Greenberg on Tuesday Intercollegiate Figure finished second in a field of eleven to music from Disney’s Happy Feet evening. Yoon lost his match 3-1 as Brown went on to defeat Skating Competition, skaters. She placed third in Interme- included a circular step sequence, the Engineers 9-0. held on Feb. 9-10 at diate Dance, with her performance Lutz jump, and a camel-change-up- the Walter Brown Are- the “Hickory Hoedown,” and in right spin. na. MIT finished with the Novice Free Skate, skating to a Saja A. FakhralDeen ’09, Jingyi 13 points, with several skaters finish- George Gershwin medley. Her free “Cynthia” Tang ’09, and first time Spurs, Suns Striving for ing in the top five in free skate and skate featured a double salchow/Axel competitor Elizabeth R. Boroson ’09 skated the Canasta Tango to finish fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively in Preliminary Dance. Supremacy Amid Struggle Performing their free skate for the first time in competition, Kachi- na C. Gosselin ’10 and Tang finished Atop Western Conference sixth and seventh in the Preliminary Free Skate event, respectively. Their By Dennis L. Ramdass The are four elite teams in the programs included five jumping ele- The NBA’s Western Conference West: the San Antonio Spurs, Phoe- ments and two spins. is having one of its most competi- nix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Dartmouth University won the tive seasons in recent years. Don’t Angeles Lakers. While each of these competition with 103.5 points total, believe me? teams has stood out from the rest of followed by Cornell University (72 Just look at the conference, none of them has points), Boston University (68.5 Column the frequency been able to establish undisputed as- points), and the University of Dela- of lead changes in the standings or cendancy over the others. ware (66 points). Boston College the constant jostling for position in The San Antonio Spurs, last placed fifth with 16 points. various power rankings across the year’s champions, are a modern day The next Eastern section compe- press. The term “wild, wild west” basketball dynasty, having won three tition will take place at the Univer- has never been more applicable, but of the past five NBA titles. The Spurs sity of Delaware the first weekend in let’s try to make the picture a little haven’t exactly turned heads with March. clearer. their play thus far, prompting some NBA pundits to proclaim their de- cline. I disagree. San Antonio will take its game to Scoreboard another level over the second half of the season, as the team always seem Men’s Basketball to do. As long as the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 Ginobili are healthy, the Spurs will Babson College (8-13, 5-4 NEWMAC1) 75 remain the team to beat in the play- MIT (12-11, 3-7) 62 offs. The team is seeking to win back-to-back championships for the first time in franchise history. Women’s Basketball The division rival Dallas Maver- Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 icks should have something to say Jessica Witchley—The Tech Newbury College (2-19) 40 about the Spurs’ quest to repeat. Guard Kimberly E. Soo Hoo ’08 takes the ball down the court MIT (10-11) 75 Their meltdown in the playoffs last against Jill Walsh of Babson College on Senior Night last year, coupled with a drop-off in reg- Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 Wednesday, the final home game of her career. The Engineers ular season performance compared jumped out to a large lead early and held on in the final few Babson College (10-12, 5-5) 49 to last year, has made many skeptical minutes to win 52-49. MIT (11-11, 3-7) 52 about their title chances. Dallas fans, however, look at the positives from the first half of the season — Dirk Squash Nowitzki’s improved passing game, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008 Devin Harris’s all-around improve- Upcoming Home Events Brown University (5-9) 9 ment, and the productivity off the MIT (2-11) 0 bench. Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 The Dallas front-office should re- Northeastern University (4-6) 9 Wrestling vs. Western New England College, sist pulling the trigger on any trade U.S. Coast Guard Academy 6 p.m., duPont Athletic Center MIT (2-11) 0 for All-Star Jason Kidd that involves giving up their talented, young point Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 1New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Men’s Track and Field Coed Invitational NBA, Page 19 12 p.m., Johnson Athletic Center Women’s Track and Field Coed Invitational 12 p.m., Johnson Athletic Center Women’s Gymnastics vs. Rhode Island College, Boston University Playing sports is fun. Writing about sports is more fun. 1 p.m., duPont Gymnasium Squash vs. University of California, Berkeley 4:30 p.m., Zesiger Center [email protected]