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HAVE A GREAT SPRing BREAK! WEATHER, p. 2 FRI: 67°F | 35°F MIT’s Breezy Oldest and Largest SAT: 44°F | 30°F Newspaper Sunny SUN: 45°F | 32°F Partly Cloudy Volume 131, Number 14 tech.mit.edu Friday, March 18, 2011 Japan in crisis, MIT reacts Students rally behind Japanese community By Maggie Lloyd shaking.” The driver became some were on cell phones.” CONTRIBUTING EDITOR somewhat concerned, but after Their dinner with MISTI the initial quake, Gercik decid- alumni and other program con- It was supposed to be a rou- ed they should stay in the cab. tacts that night was cancelled tine visit to Japan for MISTI staff As it turns out, this was a since the lack of public trans- to meet with host companies good call. The subways closed, portation made it difficult for and university contacts about emptying waves of people onto both attendees and restaurant upcoming summer internship the streets and creating massive staff to travel. programs. Michelle L. Kern, gridlock traffic. Aftershocks “There were 50 aftershocks program coordinator for MISTI continued during the rest of that night and I didn’t sleep Japan, and Patricia E. Gercik, their ride, but the two made it for the next two nights,” Gercik managing director of MISTI Ja- back to their hotel just as traffic said. pan, arrived in Tokyo on March came to a halt. The scene was much worse 10, and started with the usual The scene was relatively in northeast Japan. The ini- COURTESY OF DIGITALGLOBE meetings the next day — the calm, recalled Gercik. “People tial earthquake off the coast of The nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, were damaged by last Friday’s tsu- day of a 9.0 magnitude earth- streamed out of buildings and Honshu — Japan’s main island nami and earthquake. The outer containment buildings of Units 1 and 3 exploded quake that destroyed the north- subways. They stood at corners — created 30-foot waves in a due to a buildup of hydrogen gas after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsu- east coast. and in parks, looking at the sky disastrous tsunami. As many nami hit. Suppression tanks at Unit 2 were damaged in an additional hydrogen explo- That afternoon, the two got as if they expected the relief as 200,000 residents as far as 20 sion. The Japanese Association of MIT, the MIT Figure Skating Club, and other student in a cab bound for a subway sta- would come from above. The kilometers away from the Tokyo groups are raising money for victims of the disaster. Aftershocks from the earthquake tion, and at 2:46 p.m. JST, Kern mood was quiet; not too many continue to be felt in Japan. says the vehicle “just started people talked to each other, but Japan, Page 13 Class of 2015 admission Gamers invade Boston rate sinks to 9.6 percent Fact or fiction? CDSA campaign tries to By Jessica J. Pourian the Child’s Play charity and were On Monday, MIT celebrated pi day by granting ad- STAFF COLUMNIST generally warm to one another. mission to 1,715 high school seniors. Despite an increase PAX East 2011 is the biggest in class size to 1,120 — up by about 60 from the current highlight women’s issues The Penny Arcade Expo East expo Penny Arcade creators Mike freshman class size — the class of 2015’s admission rate By Deborah Chen came to Boston last weekend to a Krahulik and Jerry Holkins have was a staggeringly low 9.6 percent. With 17,909 applica- STAFF REPORTER warm welcome from over 69,000 ever produced. Developers from tions overall, the admissions office saw an 8 percent in- people. Fans of the Penny Arcade across the gaming industry at- crease in applications from last year, driving the admit Have you been wondering what “Fact or Fic- webcomic, tabletop games, and tended the expo, showcasing rate down from last year’s 9.7 percent. tion” means, or what Gossip Girl, Glee, and BU have digital games made it to the con- new games and demos for fans In an e-mail, Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill ’86 to do with women at MIT? Jessica L. Trudeau, Fact vention to celebrate three days of to enjoy. As for past PAXs, people said the applicant pool this year was “quite robust.” Ad- or Fiction committee head and program adminis- gaming goodness. A number of traveled from across the nation to missions saw a larger increase in applications from wom- trator at the MIT Community Development and exciting panels, concerts, game attend the show. I spent Friday, en and underrepresented minority students. Nearly half Substance Abuse Center (CDSA) describes Fact tournaments, and a stunning ex- Saturday, and Sunday at PAX East of admitted applicants — 49 percent — were women, or Fiction as a media campaign — created by the hibit hall all contributed to the observing and partaking in the while 8 percent were international citizens. The class of CDSA — to “challenge MIT undergraduate women fun of the show. An atmosphere biggest gaming conference this 2014, by comparison, is 45 percent women and 8.7 per- to think about female identity at the Institute.” of gaming community was prev- side of the Mississippi. cent international. “We wanted people to question the influences alent throughout the weekend; An exceptionally diverse class, the class of 2015 is 10 of female identity — stereotypes that exist on cam- gamers showed their support for PAX, Page 10 percent African American, 30 percent Asian American, pus and stereotypes from the media — and we 34 percent Caucasian, 15 percent Hispanic, 1 percent wanted to give women an opportunity to advocate Native American, plus 8 percent international. Including for and engage with other women,” Trudeau said. U.S. citizens who are living abroad, 13 percent of 2015 stu- As part of the campaign, Fact or Fiction mem- dents don’t live in the U.S.. The class of 2014 is 39 percent bers created posters asking viewers, “Fact or Fic- Caucasian, 26 percent Asian American, 13 percent His- tion?” — and suggesting they think about stereo- panic, 9 percent African American, and 1 percent Native types like East Campus versus West Campus girls, American. and MIT versus BU and Wellesley girls. The group The admitted students also represent 65 countries also set up a photo booth in the Student Center last and all 50 states. The biggest percentage of students — 21 week (March 7–10), where women could be photo- percent — hail from the West coast, while the Mid-Atlan- graphed holding cards that read “I [heart symbol] a tic region boasts a close second with 19 percent. Nine- ____ girl,” with the blank representing a descriptor teen percent of 2015’s class is from the Mid-Atlantic area, of a woman different from them. Postcards with re- 15 percent from the South, 13 percent from the Midwest sults selected from an alcohol-related violence sur- and Plain states, and 10 percent from the Southwest and vey from April 2010 were also distributed to female Mountain regions. Surprisingly, only 10 percent of admit- students through dorm mailboxes (see sidebar). ted students come from MIT’s own New England region. —Aparna Sud Fact or Fiction, Page 17 GREG STEINBRECHER—THE TECH Tabletop gamers filled an exhibition hall during last weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo. Games ranged from Katamari Damacy to Jenga. Percent of MIT Applicants Accepted, 2000–2011 = 1% IN SHORT Nominations for the Big Screw are open! Vote for the faculty or staff member who has screwed over the student body the most from April 4–8. Last chance to vote in UA and Class Council elections today, Lobby 10, 9–4! Edwin “Ned” Thomas steps down as chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to become dean of engineering at Rice University. 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2 011 Send news information and tips to [email protected]. (15.0%) (15.5%) (15.8%) (16.4%) (15.9%) (14.3%) (13.3%) (12.5%) (11.9%) (10.7%) (9.7%) (9.6%) NUCLEAR CRisis JUDcoMM is BROKen The inteRView SUPER MOUse to SECTIONS The IFC judiciary has serious, fundamen- in JAPAN? issUE the RescUE! World & Nation . .2 tal flaws. OPINION, p. 5 Blow-by-blow analysis Travie McCoy, Donald Follow the exploits of Opinion . .4 of the events at the Fiction, OR FAct? Glover, Nick Frost, and Si- the furry denizens of Arts . .7 Fukushima reactor — is mon Pegg all take time out the Unnatural Campus Life . .10 it a real danger? Campaign’s intentions may be good, but to enlighten Tech readers! Selection world. Fun Pages . .14 OPINION, p. 6 methods … not so much. OPINION, p. 4 ARTS, p. 7–8 FUN, p. 15 Sports . .20 2 The Tech Friday, March 18, 2011 UN Security Council backs D military action against Gadhafi US flights over nuclear plant UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to authorize military action, including airstrikes against Libyan tanks and heavy artillery and a no-fly zone, a risky gather crucial data foreign intervention aimed at averting a bloody rout of rebels by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. By David E. Sanger standard than the trace amounts series of efforts by the Japanese WORL After days of often acrimonious debate, played out against a and William J. Broad of radioactive particles in an at- military to get water into the four desperate clock, as Gadhafi’s troops advanced to within 100 miles THE NEW YORK TIMES mospheric plume now projected reactors there showed few signs of N of the rebel capital of Benghazi, Libya, the Security Council au- to cover a much broader area.

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