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Volume 126, Number 59 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, December 8, 2006 MIT Pilots VoIP, Internet-Based Phone Service With 500 Users By Benjamin P. Gleitzman communications applications, accord- used as long as the user maintains a NEWS EDITOR ing to Mark Silis, manager of Network connection to the wireless network, Information Services and Tech- and Infrastructure Services at IS&T. allowing telephone access to loca- nology is currently in the midst of The MIT VoIP system uses Aster- tions that cell towers may not be able a pilot program to route telephone isk, an open source television switch, to provide. Since all calls are routed conversations over the Internet with- to connect VoIP phones with other via the Internet to MIT’s telephone out the use of traditional phone lines. VoIP phones on the MIT network, system, a VoIP call placed from The pilot, now available to select as well as with telephones on the anywhere in the world to the Boston departments and groups at MIT, em- worldwide telephone system, also area is not subject to long distance ploys Voice over Internet Protocol to called the public switched telephone charges. send and receive voice conversations network. “Disadvantages [of the VoIP ser- over any IP-based network. Calls made between VoIP phones vice] are mainly focused around the More than 500 users are partici- can be routed completely over the fact that it’s a young technology and pating in the VoIP pilot at MIT, ac- network, but calls placed to land lines traditional voice services have had cording to Theresa M. Regan, vice will still travel over the PSTN and be over a century “to ‘work the kinks president of IS&T. The MIT network subject to long distance charges. out,’” Silis said. currently has on the order of 20,000 The VoIP phone itself can be Due to current network con- traditional phone lines, includ- a softphone, software for PCs or figuration, users cannot walk across ing desk phones, fax phones, dorm handheld devices capable of send- campus using a wireless VoIP phone phones, circuits, and elevator emer- ing and receiving calls, or a physical without losing their call, but IS&T gency phones. telephone device that connects to the plans to migrate MIT’s wireless net- The transition from traditional network via an Ethernet jack or wire- work onto a virtual local area net- WILLIAM B. YEE—THE TECH telephone line to Internet-based rout- less access point. work which will solve the problem. Derek H. Chu ’07 goes “Back2TheBeats” to the music of Fort ing offers the advantage of mobility, “This network topology will be Advantages, disadvantages of VoIP Minor and Ratatat at Gyrohazard, Dance Troupe’s Fall show. reduced infrastructure costs, and in- Gyrohazard opened last night on Thursday, Dec. 7 in Little Phones, tegration with next generation unified Wireless VoIP phones can be Page 12 Kresge Auditorium. The show features 19 different dances and will show through Sunday, Dec. 10. Refer to page 15 for ad- UA-GSC Sudan Resolution Passes ditional photographs. By Marie Y. Thibault those who support targeted divest- The number of abstentions was not EDITOR IN CHIEF ment and believe that it will send counted. The Graduate Student Council a strong message with an economic Targeted divestment involves Prof. Comatose After General Council passed its share of incentive to the Sudanese govern- divestment from those companies a Undergraduate Association-GSC ment and those who feel that di- that are the worst offenders, mean- joint resolution on Wednesday sup- vestment does nothing to help Su- ing they fund the Sudanese govern- Hanoi Bike Accident porting MIT’s targeted divestment danese civilians and that there is ment or fund military arms, though THE BOSTON GLOBE told the Associated Press. The uni- from certain companies involved no evidence that divestment will be there are different models of target- Seymour Papert, a professor versity is hosting the conference. with the Sudanese government. effective. ed divestment that can be followed. emeritus at MIT who is one of the A native of South Africa, Papert Even with this sign of support, The UA-GSC joint resolution’s The resolution asked that “MIT pioneers of artificial intelligence and worked with renowned researcher which comes in addition to the author, Kayvan Zainabadi G, said take actions to encourage corporate an authority on how computers can Jean Piaget and helped develop the UA’s recent passing of the same that approval of the resolution responsibility in Sudan, including help children learn, was seriously in- Artificial Intelligence Laboratory resolution, the student body is not shows that “basically the entire stu- targeted divestment from offending jured after being struck by a motor- at MIT with Marvin Minsky. Their entirely unanimous on the topic of dent body of MIT is in favor of tar- companies doing business with the bike in Hanoi, where he was attend- book, “Perceptrons,” is considered divestment from certain companies geted divestment.” The result of the genocidal government of Sudan im- ing a conference. one of the seminal works on the top- involved with the Sudanese govern- vote was 26-2-7 (yes-no-abstain- mediately (no later than December The accident on Tuesday left Pa- ic. Papert also helped create Logo, a ment. The MIT Corporation’s Ad- ing) with only GSC representatives 31, 2006).” pert, 78, in a coma. He underwent programming language used to teach visory Committee on Shareholder being allowed to vote. The vote at Discussion on the topic was ex- brain surgery at French Hospital, computer science. Responsibility is currently consid- the UA Senate meeting was similar tended from 10 minutes to about hospital officials said. Since retiring, Papert, who lives ering whether MIT should divest or to that at the GSC General Council 25 minutes, GSC President Eric He was struck while crossing a in Maine, has been adviser to the not. meeting, with a majority of “yeas” street near his hotel, Hoang Xuan MIT Media Lab’s international One Opinions are divided between in the voice count and no “nays.” Sudan, Page 14 Lan of Hanoi Technology University, Laptop Per Child project. Harvard Narrows Down List In Short ¶ At a special faculty meeting Nov. Of Presidential Candidates 29, a motion was passed to delay By Marcella Bombardieri reported yesterday in the student votes on the proposed changes to and Maria Sacchetti newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, in the General Institute Requirements THE BOSTON GLOBE an article about the Sunday overseers that were presented in the report Harvard has whittled down hun- meeting. The source confirmed those from the Task Force on the Under- dreds of nominees for its next presi- 11 names to the Globe yesterday, as graduate Educational Commons dent to a small list, including internal well as two others. released earlier this year. No votes candidates and presidents of some of Harvard spokesmen declined to will occur until at least Feb. 2007. the nation’s top universities, according confirm the information yesterday. to a source familiar with the process. The search began shortly after ¶ The review of the MLK program The source would not give a spe- Summers announced his resignation is available at https://web.mit.edu/ cific number, but said the university is in February, ending a tumultuous provost/mitdocs/MLK_Report_ considering a smaller group than the five-year tenure. May2006.pdf. The report discusses 30 names that the presidential search The presidential search commit- the Martin Luther King Visiting Professor and Scholar Program committee presented to Harvard’s tee, which includes the Corpora- and emphasizes the importance of Board of Overseers on Sunday. tion, the university’s main governing developing an Institute-wide strat- Harvard is focusing on an elite board, as well as some members of egy for the recruitment of minority group of academics, many of them the Board of Overseers, is conducting faculty at MIT. with deep ties to Harvard. the search. It will keep narrowing the The university’s last president, list of contenders with the intention ¶ The PE lottery for IAP opened Lawrence H. Summers ’75, who had of picking a president by early next CHRISTINA S. KANG—THE TECH this week and will close Wednesday, been a Harvard professor, was atypi- year. Phil Good from Berklee College of Music sings at the Holiday Cof- Dec. 13. IAP PE classes begin Jan. 8 cal because of his political experience The Board of Overseers then must feehouse in the Student Center on Thursday, Dec. 7. Good’s sing- and end Jan. 29. Students can enter ing was followed by performances from Giles Li and Vudoo Soul. in Washington as Clinton’s former give the final stamp of approval. the lottery at http://web.mit.edu/ath- The event was sponsored by the Asian American Association. treasury secretary. letics/www/physed/index.html. Eleven of the 30 names were first Harvard, Page 12 ¶ Buffets are now offered at Pritch- ett Hall Dining on Tuesday nights SPORTS NEWS World & Nation...... 2 and at McCormick Hall Dining on Thursday nights. Preferred dining Does the Bowl Championship FoxTrot to end daily publication Opinion ...... 4 is accepted at both locations. Mac- Series system for determining the this month...... Page 10 Campus Life ...... 5 Gregor’s pilot dining program offer- college football champs work? Arts ...... 6 ing Tuesday buffets ended this week. Massachusetts to list death rates Comics...... 8 Page 16 per heart doctor ...... Page 13 Send news information and tips to Sports ...... 16 [email protected]. Page 2 THE TECH December 8, 2006 WORLD & NATION Senate Confi rms New Chief of FDA Voting, Vote Counting Will See By Stephanie Saul THE NEW YORK TIMES The Senate confi rmed Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach as commis- sioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, with some Changes For 2008 Elections lawmakers expressing hope that his leadership would bring stability to an agency hobbled by turnover and criticized for poor oversight of the By Ian Urbina arrive at polling stations. this year, and last week federal tech- nation’s drug supply. and Christopher Drew “In the next two years, I think we’ll nology experts concluded for the Dr. von Eschenbach, 65, a surgeon who has been treated for mela- THE NEW YORK TIMES see the kinds of sweeping changes fi rst time that paperless touch-screen noma and prostate cancer, became acting FDA commissioner in Sep- By the 2008 presidential election, that people expected to see right af- machines could not be secured from tember 2005 following the abrupt resignation of Dr. Lester Crawford. voters around the country are likely ter the 2000 election,” said Doug possible tampering. Previously, he had served as chief academic offi cer at the M.D. Ander- to see sweeping changes in how they Chapin, director of electionline.org, After having stalled for over two son Cancer Center in Houston and had led the National Cancer Insti- cast their ballots and how those bal- a nonpartisan election group. “The years, federal legislation requiring a tute. lots are counted, including an end to difference now is that we have moved shift to paper trails and other safe- In the past 10 years no commissioner has served more than two the use of most electronic voting ma- from politics down to policies.” guards, proposed by Rep. Rush Holt, years. A report released in September by the Institute of Medicine, part chines without a paper trail, federal Motivated in part by voting prob- D-N.J., has a better chance of passage of the National Academy of Sciences, deplored a “lack of stable lead- voting offi cials and legislators say. lems during the midterm elections next session, several members of ership” at the agency. The report said that turnover at the helm would New federal guidelines, along last month, the changes are the result Congress and election offi cials say. compromise efforts to improve the effectiveness of the agency, which with legislation given a strong chance of a growing skepticism among local They say that fi xing the voting the report criticized as hobbled by internal squabbles, poor manage- to pass in Congress next year, will and state election offi cials, federal system is viewed as a core issue by ment and outdated rules. probably combine to make paper- legislators, and the scientifi c com- the new Democratic leaders, and the less voting machines obsolete, the munity about the reliability and se- bill already has the bipartisan support offi cials say. States and counties curity of the paperless touch-screen of more than a majority of the current Top Asian Economist Sees a that bought the machines will have machines used by about 30 percent House. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Ca- to modify them to hook them up to of American voters. lif., who will be the new chairwoman Further Dollar Decline printers, at federal expense, while Many of these machines were of the Senate Rules and Administra- By Keith Bradsher others are planning to scrap the ma- bought in a rush to overhaul the vot- tion Committee, said she plans to in- THE NEW YORK TIMES HONG KONG chines and buy new ones. ing system after the disputed presi- troduce a similar bill in January. A senior Asian Development Bank offi cial said on Thursday that In addition, the various forms of dential election in 2000 and the issue But it is also clear that the chang- the dollar was likely to decline further, and he called for East Asian vote-counting software used around of hanging chads. But concerns have es will not come without a struggle. countries to make sure that their currencies rose in unison and did not the country — most of which are been growing that in a close election State and local election offi cials are gyrate. protectively encoded by their manu- the paperless machines give election still reeling from the last major over- The remarks by the offi cial, Masahiro Kawai, represented the fi rst facturers for reasons of trade secrecy workers no legitimate method to con- haul of the country’s voting system, time that the bank — or for that matter, any important monetary insti- — will for the fi rst time be inspected duct a recount or to check for mal- initiated by the Help America Vote tution in Asia — had urged collective action by East Asian nations to by federal authorities, and the code functions or fraud. Act in 2002, and some say that the manage the current slide of the dollar. National monetary authorities could be made public. There will also Several counties around the coun- $150 million in federal aid proposed in the region together hold more than $3 trillion in foreign reserves, be greater federal oversight on how try are already considering scrapping by Holt would not be enough to pay most of it in dollars, and their huge purchases of dollars this year have new machines are tested before they their voting systems after problems for the changes. played a crucial role in limiting the American currency’s decline until now. “We believe that some U.S. dollar depreciation would be necessary, and collective joint appreciation of the East Asian countries could be Worker Wages Rise Faster Than needed” to manage the decline, Kawai said. “It’s very important for the East Asian currencies to appreciate collectively against the U.S. dollar.” Infl ation, Job Market Improves By Jeremy W. Peters was falling by 1.5 percent. gains are the start of another boom. Labor Hopes New Congress Will and David Leonhardt In recent years, many Americans Instead, economists say, it is pos- THE NEW YORK TIMES grew anxious about the future and sible the improvement may turn out Support Right to Unionize After four years of barely keep- economists questioned whether the to be little more than a temporary By Steven Greenhouse ing pace with prices or falling be- recovery from the 2001 recession spike. THE NEW YORK TIMES low them, wages for most American would ever produce genuine gains For now, though, with the num- Claiming a major role in the Democrats’ victory last month, labor workers have begun rising signifi - for ordinary workers. ber of unemployed Americans who leaders are pressing congressional Democrats to enact a measure to cantly faster than infl ation. The fall in unemployment to are actively seeking work at a fi ve- make it easier for workers to unionize. With energy prices now sharply 4.4 percent and the recent surge in year low, help-wanted signs are pro- Labor leaders see the measure as pivotal to stop a slide in union mem- lower than a few months ago and wages, however, raise the prospect liferating again and many business- bership that has lasted decades. But many businesses and Republicans the improving job market forcing that the job market could be on the es are having a harder time fi nding oppose the bill, which would allow employees at a workplace to unionize employers to offer higher raises, the brink of another strong run, much employees. as soon as a majority sign cards expressing support to join a union. buying power of American work- like the one that lifted incomes in That means even workers like The AFL-CIO plans to fl ex its muscles for the bill by holding a rally ers is now rising at the fastest rate the late 1990s. Mercedes Herrera, an immigrant Friday on Capitol Hill that it expects to include the incoming Democratic since the economic boom of the late “The labor market is pretty tight from Mexico who cleans bathrooms chairmen of the Senate and House labor committees, Sen. Edward M. 1990s. right now, so it’s not a huge surprise at San Felipe Plaza, a high-rise offi ce Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California. The average hourly wage for that we’ve started to see big wage building in Houston, are enjoying Even before the Democrats won control of Congress, the bill, the workers below management level gains,” said Nariman Behravesh, more leverage with their employers. Employee Free Choice Act, had 216 co-sponsors in the House, including — everyone from school bus drivers chief economist for the research Last month, Herrera’s union, the 14 Republicans, just two short of a majority. to stockbrokers — rose 2.8 percent fi rm Global Insight. “I think the big Service Employees International With the Democrats capturing both houses, labor and its allies voice between October 2005 and October surprise is that it took so long.” Union, settled a month-long strike confi dence that the bill will pass in the House, but they fear a formi- of this year, after being adjusted for Still, there are a number of and secured raises of more than $2 dable battle in the Senate, where some foresee a Republican fi libuster. infl ation, according to the Bureau of economic forces at work that raise an hour over the next two years for Labor Statistics. Only a year ago, it doubts about whether the recent some 5,300 janitors in Houston. WEATHER

A Milder Weekend Situation for Noon Eastern Standard Time, Friday, December 8, 2006 By Michael J. Ring �

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

We will enjoy a respite from the chilly weather of the past few days as a �

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strong high pressure system moves across the continent this weekend. �

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The cold temperatures in the eastern half of the country over the past few �

� days have been a result of this anticyclone. With a clockwise circulation, and � a center situated to our west, the high pressure system has brought northerly 35°N winds and cold temperatures to the East and Midwest. Subfreezing tempera- tures extended all the way to the Gulf Coast last night, while temperatures dipped to the single digits Fahrenheit around the Great Lakes. In contrast, the southerly winds to its west have warmed the plains and mountain states; Denver will reach 60°F (16°C) today. 30°N As the center of the high pressure passes through, our winds will swing from northerly to southerly and warmer temperatures will follow. We won’t get as quite as warm as Denver did today, but will make a run at 50°F (10°C)

by early next week. 1038 25°N

Extended Forecast

Weather Systems Weather Fronts Precipitation Symbols Other Symbols Today: Flurries in the morning; then clearing. High 34°F (1°C). Snow Rain Fog High Pressure Trough Tonight: Clear and cold. Low 25°F (-4°C). - - - Showers Thunderstorm

Saturday: Partly cloudy and milder. High 42°F (6°C). � � � � Warm Front Light Low Pressure Haze Saturday night: Partly cloudy. Low 32°F (0°C). ����� Cold Front Moderate Compiled by MIT Sunday: Sunny and warmer. High 48°F (9°C). Hurricane � � Meteorology Staff � � Stationary Front Heavy Monday: Sunny and continued mild. High 50°F (10°C). and The Tech December 8, 2006 WORLD & NATION THE TECH Page 3 Report Argues Bush Iraq Policy Heads of Iraq Group Seek Support of Congress THE NEW YORK TIMES Not Working, Must Shift Course The co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group called on Congress on By Sheryl Gay Stolberg eral question of whether he is ready of troops, to show patience, warning Thursday to endorse the group’s bipartisan call for a sharp change in THE NEW YORK TIMES to embrace the spirit of the report that a fast pullout would lead to “a course in the Iraq war, as they worked to step up pressure on President WASHINGTON — not to mention the drubbing his significant power vacuum, greater Bush to move quickly to adopt the recommendations the panel released In 142 stark pages, the Iraq Study party took in the midterm elections human suffering, regional destabi- on Wednesday. Group report makes an impassioned a month ago — and produce a new lization and a threat to the global “If the Congress could come together behind supporting, let’s say, plea for bipartisan consensus on the approach of his own that amounts to economy” — in effect, pushing Iraq utopianly, all of the recommendations in this report, that would do a most divisive foreign policy issue of more than a repackaging of his cur- into total anarchy. lot toward moving things downtown,” said former Secretary of State this generation. Without President rent worldview. But the real target of the Iraq James A. Baker III. Bush, that cannot happen. “In a sense,” said Dennis Ross, a Study Group is Bush. The president The group’s co-chairman, former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, a Demo- The commissioners gave a nod to Middle East envoy who worked for has already sought to play down the crat from Indiana, also urged members of the Senate Armed Service Bush, adopting his language in ac- both President Bill Clinton and the role the report will have in shaping Committee to begin to exercise “very vigorous oversight of the war cepting the goal of an Iraq that can first President George Bush, “what his thinking. The administration effort. ” “govern itself, sustain itself and de- you have here offers the Democrats has several reviews of its own un- “I think Congress has been extremely timid in its exercise of its fend itself.” But the administration’s a ready handle to show, ‘We’re pre- der way, and Tony Snow, the White constitutional responsibilities on the question of war-making and con- talk of Iraq as a beacon of democracy pared to be bipartisan on the issue of House press secretary, began saying ducting war,” Hamilton said. in the Middle East is absent, as is any Iraq, because we’ll embrace the bi- as early as October that the White The committee’s chairman, Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said he talk of victory. partisan Iraq Study Group — are you House was “not going to outsource expected his panel to take up the study group’s proposals, but not until Instead, the report confronts the prepared to be bipartisan as well?’ the business of handling the war in it had heard the results of reviews being conducted for Bush by the president with a powerful argument The study group, for instance, Iraq.” Pentagon and the National Security Council. that his policy in Iraq is not working calls for direct engagement with Iran So while Bush called the report and that he must move toward disen- and Syria; so far, Bush has refused. “an opportunity to come together gagement. For Bush to embrace the While Bush has steadfastly resisted a and work together” after receiving it Anti-Abortion Bill Stalls; study group’s blueprint would mean timetable for withdrawal, the report on Wednesday, it was no surprise on accepting its implicit criticism of his says all combat brigades “not neces- Capitol Hill that many Democrats Session Nears End democracy agenda, reversing course sary for force protection could be out were quicker to embrace it than By Carl Hulse in Iraq and throughout the Middle of Iraq” — note the careful use of the Republicans. Members of the presi- THE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON East and meeting Democrats more conditional — by the first quarter of dent’s party seemed to be adopting a The House on Wednesday rejected an anti-abortion measure of- than halfway. 2008. kind of wait-and-see posture, prais- fered by Republicans as congressional leaders struggled to bring the Assuming he is not ready to go The report in effect calls on ing the report for its seriousness 109th Congress to a close. that far, despite some recent signals Democrats, at least those who have and depth as they searched for clues On a 250-162 vote, backers of the measure fell short of the two- of flexibility, he faces the more gen- been pushing for a rapid withdrawal about what Bush would do. thirds majority necessary to pass the bill, which would require medical personnel to inform women that a fetus could experience pain and to offer anesthesia for the fetus. The supermajority vote was required un- der special rules used to consider the bill. Supreme Court Takes on Two Cases Democrats accused Republicans, who will no longer be in the ma- jority next year, of trying to score political points. The measure had no chance of becoming law in the last few days of this session. “We are wasting time today on a bill that is laden with rhetoric That Could Clarify Antitrust Law but very little science,” said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif. But Republi- By Linda Greenhouse titled to antitrust immunity because illegal under the Sherman Act. The cans said the measure was intended to allow women to make informed THE NEW YORK TIMES much of the conduct they were said case asks the justices to re-evalu- choices when considering abortions. They disputed scientific research WASHINGTON to have engaged in was explicitly ate the precedent in light of mod- suggesting that a fetus did not experience pain. “This legislation is The Supreme Court added two permitted by the Securities and Ex- ern economic theory, and instead to very, very badly needed,” said Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., an obstetri- important antitrust cases to its change Commission. But the 2nd make these arrangements subject to cian. calendar for the current term on U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rein- case-by-case analysis under what is Proponents of the measure said they do not expect the new Demo- Thursday. Both cases, granted at stated the suit last year, ruling that known as the rule of reason. cratic majority, whose leadership strongly supports abortion rights, to the request of defendants in private Congress had granted no such im- In other areas of antitrust law, bring up such measures, and that they will press the leadership to allow antitrust suits, are likely to lead to munity. the court has steadily backed away a second vote under regular rules. But Republican officials said they clarification of areas of antitrust law The issue for the Supreme Court from the categorical view of anti- had no plans to revisit the issue. that have become increasingly un- in this case, Credit Suisse First Bos- trust liability and is highly likely to settled. ton Ltd. v. Billing, No. 05-1157, is use this case as a vehicle for doing One of the cases has been closely how to treat the inherently collab- to same thing for resale price main- Ebola Threatens Gorillas With watched on Wall Street. It is a class- orative activity of an underwriting tenance. action lawsuit against more than a syndicate, activity that — while it Leegin, a privately owned com- Extinction, Say Researchers dozen leading investment banks would appear to violate the Sherman pany, manufactures the Brighton By Denise Grady and institutional investors that par- Antitrust Act — is permitted by the line of women’s leather goods and THE NEW YORK TIMES ticipated in syndicates to underwrite regulatory agency that oversees it. does business only with retailers, The Ebola virus has killed from 3,500 to 5,500 gorillas in one the initial public offerings of hun- While the eventual outcome of mostly small specialty stores, who region of the Congo Republic since 2002, and its continued spread, dreds of technology companies dur- that case is uncertain, there is little agree to abide by the suggested re- along with hunting, could wipe out the species, researchers reported ing the 1990s. uncertainty about the second anti- tail prices for the products. In 2002, Thursday. The lawsuit, brought by pur- trust case the court accepted. The after learning that Kay’s Kloset, a “A lot of animals are dying,” said Dr. Peter D. Walsh, an ecologist chasers of the stocks, charges that question in that case, Leegin Cre- store in Lewisville, Texas, was dis- at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Primatology in Leipzig, the sharing of information among ative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS counting Brighton products, Leegin Germany, and an author of a report published in the journal Science. the underwriters and the way in Inc., No. 06-480, is how antitrust suspended shipments. “There’s a massive decline.” which they allocated stock to their law should treat the minimum prices The store brought an antitrust Several Ebola vaccines have been developed that work in animals customers amounted to an antitrust that manufacturers require retailers suit and won more than $1 million in the lab, including monkeys, and Walsh is eager to test them on goril- conspiracy. to charge for their products. in damages, which are tripled under las in the wild, by injecting the animals with darts or putting an oral The U.S. District Court in New In a 1911 case known as the Dr. antitrust law. The 5th U.S. Circuit vaccine in food. By tracking the spread of the virus and vaccinating York dismissed the lawsuit in 2003, Miles precedent, this practice of “re- Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, animals in its path, it might be possible to stop outbreaks, he said. finding that the defendants were en- sale price maintenance” is always upheld the judgment. Other researchers say that although vaccination might be feasible, it is not known whether the vaccine could be made into a heat-stable version or an oral form. In addition, there would be miles of red tape to cut through, involving various conservation groups, donors and gov- Investigation of Gov’t Program Reveals ernments. Dr. Stuart Nichol, chief of molecular biology in the special patho- gens branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Several Withstanding US Oil Royalties said: “It’s really going to be a nightmare to try to press forward with By Edmund L. Andrews able to being short-changed. ment says it has “reviewed” about 72 some kind of vaccine approach. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel good THE NEW YORK TIMES Interior officials defended the percent of all revenues from federal to sit back and do nothing. But in reality it’s going to be exceedingly WASHINGTON program on Wednesday, but an- leases, it actually examined only 9 difficult to do anything.” An eight-month investigation nounced that they would develop “an percent of all properties and 20 per- by the Interior Department’s chief action plan” to address the inspector- cent of all companies. watchdog has found pervasive prob- general’s recommendations. — The department’s “compliance Two Fatal Blazes Renew Focus on lems in the government’s program The report comes as lawmakers review” system, a computerized form for ensuring that companies pay the in both parties have been attacking of fact-checking that has increasing- Fraternities’ Lack of Sprinklers royalties they owe on billions of dol- the Interior Department for failing ly replaced audits, essentially relies By Libby Sander lars of oil and gas pumped on federal to correct blunders that department on the word of the oil companies be- THE NEW YORK TIMES CHICAGO land and in coastal waters. officials now concede could cost the ing monitored. Officials conducting With fatal fraternity house fires in Nebraska and Missouri last In a scathing report to Congress, government as much as $10 billion such reviews do not ask companies month fresh on their minds, fire officials in a handful of college com- the Interior Department’s inspector- over the next five years. for their actual records. munities have intensified their push for city ordinances requiring fra- general says the agency’s data are of- It also reinforces complaints — Government data are incom- ternity and sorority houses to install sprinkler systems. ten inaccurate, that its officials rely by critics, from auditors within the plete and often inaccurate, making “It comes down to the law of averages,” said Rex Mundt, fire chief too heavily on statements by oil com- agency to lawmakers in both parties, it almost impossible for enforce- of Urbana, Ill., home of the University of Illinois’ main campus, where panies rather than actual records and who have said that enforcement has ment officials to develop strategies municipal officials are considering a mandatory sprinkler ordinance that only about 9 percent of all oil become superficial, prone to errors for selecting companies for special similar to one adopted in 2004 in adjacent Champaign. “Sooner or and gas leases are being reviewed. and overly deferential to oil compa- scrutiny. later, if we don’t get something done, we’ll be caught with something The report undermines claims by nies. The report said the agency’s fol- terrible.” top Interior officials that the depart- These are among the inspector- low-up efforts were often sketchy, Though off-campus housing in general poses special fire-safety ment is aggressively pursuing un- general’s findings: because officials who identified un- challenges, fraternity houses, notorious among fire officials for rau- derpayments and outright cheating — Since 2000, the number of derpayments by companies did not cous parties and erratic housekeeping, are most worrisome, officials by companies that drill on property audits has declined by 22 percent have a procedure for verifying that say. owned by the American public. and the number of auditors has been the agency actually billed the com- From 1973 to 2003, 49 fatal fires in dormitories and fraternity and And though investigators did not reduced by 15 percent, even though panies or collected the money. sorority houses killed a total of 77 students, according to the National attempt to estimate the amount of soaring energy prices have doubled It also said the agency’s statistics Fire Protection Association. Of those fires, more than half occurred in money that the government might be the total amount of money at stake, about recovering money were in- fraternity houses, accounting for 44 fatalities, while only one was in a losing, they cited a host of weakness- to about $10 billion a year. complete, inaccurate and sometimes sorority house. es that make the government vulner- — Though the Interior Depart- misleading. Page 4 THE TECH December 8, 2006 OPINION

A brief in the Tuesday, Nov. 28 issue, “UA Senate Supports Targeted Divestment From Su- dan,” reported that the Undergraduate Association Senate unanimously passed a resolution sup- Chairman porting MIT’s targeted divestment from Sudan. According to UA Senate Speaker Steven M. Zachary Ozer ’07 Corrections Kelch ’08, the vote was taken by voice and those voicing “yea” were an obvious majority. No “nays” were heard. The decision cannot be termed unanimous because abstentions were not Editor in Chief counted. Marie Y. Thibault ’08 Business Manager Jeffrey Chang ’08 Letters To The Editor Managing Editor trickle down to the Sudanese people from invest- danese regime that has killed, by UN estimates, Michael McGraw-Herdeg ’08 In Support of ments in such companies may well be illusory: 400,000 of its own population and raped and Executive Editor According to the annual report of Transparency tortured countless others? Or do we stand idly Rosa Cao G Divestment International, Sudan ranks as 156 of the 163 most while such actions continue unabated with im- Mustafa Dafalla’s Dec. 1 letter attempts to corrupt governments in the world, with business punity? It is our strong belief that MIT should NEWS STAFF explore the possible negative impacts of divest- profits predominantly benefiting government cir- divest itself of even symbolic acquiescence in Editors: Benjamin P. Gleitzman ’09, Angeline ment in relation to MIT’s potential divestment cles and the insulated privileged few. Therefore, this moral outrage. Wang ’09; Associate Editor: Kirtana Raja from Sudan. Dafalla, however, chooses to fo- money from these companies does not reach the Further, let us not forget that a moral stance ’09; Staff: Curt Fischer G, John A. Hawkinson cus his arguments on “economic sanctions” as average Sudanese citizen but is rather funneled to need not only be symbolic: Rosa Parks’ decision ’98, Waseem S. Daher ’07, Ray C. He ’07, opposed to the actual issue of divestment per large military expenditures that help perpetuate not to give up her seat on a Montgomery public Tongyan Lin ’07, Hanhan Wang ’07, Valery K. se. Since divestment and economic sanctions the genocide in Darfur. In addition, the targeted bus on December 1, 1955 was not based on a Brobbey ’08, Michael Snella ’08, Jiao Wang ’08, are not equivalent, his ensuing arguments are model excludes all socially beneficial economic sense of pragmatism but was a personal choice Daniela Cako ’09, Mei-Hsin Cheng ’09, Gabriel unfortunately made irrelevant. sectors such as agricultural (which employs 80 to take a stand against injustice. That heroic Fouasnon ’09, Hannah Hsieh ’09, Diana Jue ’09, Targeted divestment is different from eco- percent of the population), pharmaceutical, and choice and personal sacrifice in turn inspired the Laura Nicholson ’09, Ji Qi ’09, Yinuo Qian ’09, nomic sanctions in two important ways. First, as any enterprises of humanitarian nature. There- Montgomery bus boycotts, a targeted divestment Yi Zhou ’09, Swetha Kambhampati ’10, JiHye Kim ’10, Joyce Kwan ’10, Apoorva Murarka its name implies, it is not a blanket measure as fore, comparing this targeted divestment model campaign against the city-run bus companies ’10, Manisha Padi ’10, Joanne Y. Shih ’10; are economic sanctions. It can be specifically tar- to the Iraq sanctions is like comparing apples to that helped levy enough pressure to lead to the Meteorologists: Cegeon Chan G, Robert Korty geted to minimize the negative impact on the ci- oranges. eventual repeal of the unjust segregation laws. G, Jon Moskaitis G, Michael J. Ring G, Roberto vilian population and maximize pressure on the Secondly, divestment, unlike sanctions, is We note, finally, that while the opponents of Rondanelli G, Scott Stransky G, Brian H. Tang government, thus serving as a tool for positive not a governmental policy imposed on another divestment are eager to highlight the potential G, Tim Whitcomb G, Angela Zalucha G. change. For example, based on the Sudan Di- government, but rather is a decision taken at negative outcomes of a Sudanese divestment vestment Task Force targeted model, of the some the individual level. It basically boils down to a campaign, we simply point to the definite out- PRODUCTION STAFF 400 international companies doing business with personal or institutional choice: do we or do we come of inaction: the killing of what the World Editors: Tiffany Dohzen G, Austin Chu ’08; Sudan, only about 28 of the “worst-offender” not support a company whose business helps Health Organization estimates as 10,000 civil- Associate Editors: Rong Hu ’08, Jessica companies are selected for actual divestment, a prop up a corrupt, genocidal government? And ians a month in Darfur. We sincerely hope that Witchley ’10; Staff: Sie Hendrata Dharmawan G, Emily Ko ’08. mere seven percent of the total number. These 28 let us not lose sight of this basic fact — the we at MIT will not hesitate to act until the time companies qualify for worst offender status be- divestment argument is not about inflation, when there are no Darfurians left to help. OPINION STAFF cause they provide negligible benefits to the ci- GDP numbers or of the macroeconomic policy The divestment petition can be found and Editor: Aditya Kohli ’09; Staff: Hector H. vilian sector, their business directly supports the in Sudan, it is about the government of Sudan signed online at http://www.petitiononline. Hernandez G, Barun Singh G, Josh Levinger government’s ability to wage genocide, and they perpetrating a deliberate and systematic mur- com/divest. ’07, Justin Wong ’07, Ali S. Wyne ’08, Krishna have flagrantly ignored inquiries into their irre- dering of its civilians in Darfur. Therefore, we Kayvan Zainabadi G Gupta ’09. sponsible behavior (for a complete list of these stand at the crossroads of a fundamental ques- Steven E. Ostrow, Lecturer in History

SPORTS STAFF companies please email info@sudandivestment. tion: do we take a stand against genocide by di- Franklin M. Fisher, Professor Emeritus in org). In any case, the potential benefits that might vesting from companies that help support a Su- Economics Editor: Travis Johnson ’08; Staff: Chris Bettinger G, Ryan Lanphere ’06, Albert Ni ’09, Caroline J. Huang ’10.

ARTS STAFF Editors: Jillian Berry ’08, Nivair H. Gabriel ’08; Staff: Bogdan Fedeles G, Kapil Amarnath ’07, Tony Hwang ’07, Andrew Lee ’07, Nikhil S. Nadkarni ’07, Alice MacDonald ’08, Mirat Shah ’08, Sarah Dupuis ’10.

PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF Editors: Christina Kang ’08, Omari Stephens ’08, Ricardo Ramirez ’09; Associate Editor: Yun Wu ’06; Staff: Melanie Miller G, Stanley Hu ’00, Scott Johnston ’03, Gheorghe Chistol ’07, Fred Gay ’07, Dmitry Kashlev ’07, Stephanie Dudzic ’08, Scot Frank ’08, Tiffany Iaconis ’08, Nicole Koulisis ’08, Mary-Irene Lang ’08, David Reshef ’08, David M. Templeton ’08, Kenneth Yan ’08, Connie Yee ’08, Sally E. Peach ’09, Eric D. Schmiedl ’09, Jerzy Szablowski ’09, Yalu Wu ’09, Mindy Eng ’10, Catherine Huang ’10, Bea Jarrett ’10, Samuel E. Kronick ’10, Diane Rak ’10, Aaron Sampson ’10, Jongu Shin ’10, William Yee ’10.

CAMPUS LIFE STAFF Editor: Bill Andrews ’05; Staff: Bruce Wu G, Kailas Narendran ’01, Elizabeth Zakszewski ’06, Victor Cabral ’07, Ruth Miller ’07, Matt Zedler ’07; Cartoonists: Scott Burdick G, John David Payne G, Emezie Okorafor ’03, Jia Lou ’07, Andrew Spann ’07, Ash Turza ’08.

BUSINESS STAFF Advertising Managers: Cokie Hu ’08, Tai Ho Kang ’08; Staff: Julia Ye ’09, Neeharika Bhartiya ’10, Jennifer Chu ’10, Heymian Wong ’10.

TECHNOLOGY STAFF Director: Shreyes Seshasai ’08.

EDITORS AT LARGE Contributing Editor: Brian Hemond G; Senior Editor: Keith J. Winstein G.

ADVISORY BOARD Paul E. Schindler, Jr. ’74, V. Michael Bove ’83, Barry Surman ’84, Robert E. Malchman ’85, Deborah A. Levinson ’91, Jonathan Richmond ters will be given higher priority. Once submitted, all letters become PhD ’91, Saul Blumenthal ’98, Frank Dabek Opinion Policy property of The Tech, and will not be returned. The Tech makes no ’00, Ryan Ochylski ’01, Satwiksai Seshasai ’01, Editorials are the official opinion of The Tech. They are written by commitment to publish all the letters received. Rima Arnaout ’02, Daniel Ryan Bersak ’02, Eric J. Cholankeril ’02, Jordan Rubin ’02, Nathan the editorial board, which consists of Chairman Zachary Ozer, Editor Guest columns are opinion articles submitted by members of the Collins SM ’03, Akshay R. Patil ’04, Jyoti in Chief Marie Y. Thibault, Managing Editor Michael McGraw-Her- MIT or local community and have the author’s name in italics. Col- Tibrewala ’04, B. D. Colen. deg, Executive Editor Rosa Cao, and Opinion Editor Aditya Kohli. umns without italics are written by Tech staff. Dissents are the opinions of signed members of the editorial PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE board choosing to publish their disagreement with the editorial. Editors: Tiffany Dohzen G, Austin Chu ’08, Letters to the editor, columns, and editorial cartoons are written To Reach Us Michael McGraw-Herdeg ’08; Associate by individuals and represent the opinion of the author, not necessarily that The Tech’s telephone number is (617) 253-1541. E-mail is the eas- Editors: Jessica Witchley ’10. of the newspaper. Electronic submissions are encouraged and should be iest way to reach any member of our staff. If you are unsure whom

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Letters, columns, and cartoons must bear the authors’ signatures, to [email protected]. Letters to the editor should be sent to Box 397029, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-7029. TELEPHONE: Editorial: (617) 253-1541. Business: (617) 258-8324. Facsimile: (617) 258-8226. addresses, and phone numbers. Unsigned letters will not be accepted. [email protected]. The Tech can be found on the World Wide Advertising, subscription, and typesetting rates available. Entire contents The Tech reserves the right to edit or condense letters; shorter let- Web at http://the-tech.mit.edu. © 2006 The Tech. Printed on recycled paper by Charles River Publishing. December 8, 2006 THE TECH Page 5 CAMPUS LIFE Imminent Collapse Hail to the Queen Learning About Ignorance The English and Global Awareness By Bill Andrews around. (Disclaimer: I’m not really one to talk, By Matt Zedler While coverage is not perhaps as complete as it CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR since my spasms don’t look nearly as good.) It CAMPUS LIFE COLUMNIST could be, it is much better than one could find Wow, I’m surprised you have time to read this, was just another in the long list of things that There is a global perception that the major- in any newspaper. The ease of availability of considering how hosed you are. I mean, it’s the have taken me down a peg. My first ever B+, a ity of Americans are overweight, self-absorbed, global information through the BBC is one rea- end of term, everything’s due soon, and I dunno whole bunch of girls (before I met my fiancee, and woefully uninformed of what happens in son I think the English are more globally aware about you, but I certainly don’t have the time to of course), waiting tables, and now krumping, the rest of the world. While I would strongly than other cultures. do anything but tool and tool and maybe sleep. have each served to remind me not only that I deny the universality of this statement, I believe The English also seem to be more inquisi- It’s too bad, though, since there are so many bet- was capable of making mistakes, but that I con- that the reporting (or lack thereof) done by me- tive about what is happening in the rest of the ter things I could be do- stantly do so. Just what I dia in the US does confirm with the uninformed world as a nation. I believe the size of their ing with my time. needed to boost my mo- and self-absorbed image. With the exception of small island and the imperialistic past plays a Learning to krump, Whether it’s juggling seven things rale for all the projects a few stations (C-SPAN, NPR, PBS), the media small role in that penchant. When the national for example. That’s due these days. is privately owned, meaning that its content is and local news gets rather dull, the English can right, my few dance-sav- at once, or hearing someone But, all was not lost. often biased. Liberal friends complain about always turn to the BBC and find out about the vy readers who already You see, there are many the right-wing coverage of FOX news, and my latest crisis in the Sudan or the newest econom- know and love krump- (non-Japanese) speak Japanese, or times in life when I see conservative father calls CNN the “Communist ic growth indicator from China. ing — I went there. For someone display skillz News Network.” Having had colonies throughout the world the rest of us, krump is a playing the piano, I always wish I so mad, I can’t help but In addition, all media tends to focus on lo- in nearly every continent, the English maintain new style of aggressive could join them. be jealous. Whether it’s cal and national issues rather than international strong ties with several far-flung nations. Indeed, dancing, which appar- juggling seven things at news because people tend to be more interested many English families have members living in ently gets its name from once, or hearing some- in (and therefore more likely to watch) stories the former colonies of Australia, New Zealand, Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. one (non-Japanese) speak Japanese, or playing which have a stronger connection to their lives. South Africa, or the US. While Americans may That settles that, eh? It was featured in the docu- the piano, I always wish I could join them. The As a result, you are much more likely to see a have family members living abroad, the likeli- mentary Rize, which I (and, probably you) never problem, of course, is that I don’t want to learn feature on why Americans are overweight or hood of having the majority of the family resid- saw, though I did mean to. If you’re still unsure these skillz. I’d rather just wake up one day hav- the East Coast summer heat wave than one on ing in the same country is much higher, making of what it is, just YouTube “krump” and see what ing them, perhaps via a magic genie or a deal the ethnic conflict in the international news less pops up. You’ll be amazed and flabbergasted, just with God (“I’ll trade You one church for knowing Sri Lanka or even an relevant. as I was when, a week ago, I was introduced to Latin, deal?”). important issue like Engineering does not Of course, my percep- krumping. And, that fateful day, with the Editor in Chief the election recount tion may have been slightly I was just minding my own business, trying standing nearby and some dudes on the screen in Mexico. typically require strong global skewed by observing from so hard to finish my editing for this newspaper, flippin’ out, I realized that krumping was not one Living in the UK understanding, even though a vantage point where when the Editor in Chief walked over and said, of these skillz. I wasn’t jealous at all! Quite the for almost a year people tended to have a “Hey, have you guys ever heard of krumping?” opposite, actually, I was happy I didn’t know how gave me a chance to several areas which absorb great interest in what was Two hours later, I was no further in my work, but to look like that (while sober). Man, talk about a experience Ameri- happening internationally. knew much more about the world and my igno- waste of time (well, odds are you were wasting can media from an engineers can instill global With a large international rance of it. time anyway, given Facebook’s popularity these outsider’s position. awareness. student population, several Alas, here was yet another example of some- days). In addition, study- courses offered in more thing about which I knew nothing. Isn’t it a little The key, it turns out, is prioritization. Of ing abroad gave me humanistic and political disheartening that, no matter who you are or course we can’t know esoteric stuff like krump- more of a reason to topics, and a tendency to where you live or how much you know, there still ing, or the scientific name of the sea louse, but so take advantage of the British Broadcasting Cor- attract the middle to upper classes, the Univer- exists a multitude of things about which you don’t what? Who cares if you don’t know such things, poration (BBC) as well as the privately-owned sity of Cambridge perhaps was not represen- even know you don’t know (to paraphrase depart- or even that they might exist? It’s hard enough English press. The broadsheets (newspapers) tative of the UK. Even so, it should be com- ing Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s almost poetic learning everything we need just to get by @mit. are as likely to be skewed in the UK as our pri- parable to the student body of MIT, and I feel gibberish)? Maybe you’re one of those optimist, edu, let alone trying to figure out everything. As vately owned papers in the US, with the articles that international awareness is less pronounced glass-is-half-full types (in which case I wonder long as you don’t get cocky, and make sure you in the left-wing Guardian being regarded as here because of the nature of the majority of which school you got into), and you see the mi- know everything you’re supposed to know (un- heresy to the right-wing readers of the Daily the courses. Engineering does not typically re- raculous breadth of life and the world’s state as like Rumsfeld this time), you’ll be fine. Mail. It seemed that English students were as quire strong global understanding, even though something great, a wonderful equalizer which And the best part is we already know this. likely to read a paper on a regular basis as their several areas which absorb engineers can instill everyone has in common and can relate to. But When we’re performing academic triage these American counterparts, but the difference came global awareness. no, you’d be wrong, because it sucks to find out days, putting off the paper due Monday to work when one considered usage of the BBC, primar- In the end, the resources are there to become you’re even dumber than you thought you were. on the lab report due today, we’re already prac- ily the Internet site. more aware of events happening in the rest of For me, krumping, and the totally unrelated ticing for a life as real adults, getting ready to not The publicly-owned BBC covers UK local the world. While these resources may not have (though similar looking) style “clowning,” was know all sorts of things. Kinda makes me feel and national affairs, but the international world been accessible in past decades, the prevalence more than just laughing at people spazzing like dancing, if I weren’t so busy. service is what has made it famous. Perhaps of the Internet has brought them to almost every more useful during the age of imperialism (back corner of the globe. We have a choice to tune when the UK dominated nearly one-third of the in or turn off, and it appeared to me that the planet), the international section of the BBC English at Cambridge had more visibly made College Student covers events from every corner of the planet. the choice to stay tuned. Price Index By Batya Fellman (gallons for items like milk, and pounds for How often do we open up our fridges, check items like apples) and a comparison was drawn our cabinets, or search through our freezers, only amongst the overall price level as well as the to realize that our habit of putting off grocery various sets of items. shopping for another week has left the kitchen Regarding the overall price levels, completely devoid of anything remotely passable LaVerde’s, as many students might suspect, as food? The debate then becomes “can I put off had the highest CSPI with an index of 4.43. It my lab for a couple hours while I run out to the was followed by Whole Foods at 4.17, and Star store, or should I head to LaVerde’s and buy at 3.72. Trader Joe’s proved to be the cheap- more cereal and milk? Is that lab really worth the est at 3.44. Even more interesting were the extra few dollars I would spend at LaVerde’s, or comparisons among specific items. Although do I really have to run to Star?” LaVerde’s had the highest CSPI, Whole Foods With so many grocery stores within a short was consistently the most expensive for pro- distance of campus, sometimes it can be over- duce and meat items, while LaVerde’s, Trader whelming to decide Joe’s, and Star were where to go to buy that more comparably next loaf of bread. Do When it came to crucial college priced. However, we want the convenience when it came to cru- of LaVerde’s, the all- staples, LaVerdes charged 27 cial college staples, purpose Star, the whole- percent more than the average of LaVerde’s charged someness of Whole 27 percent more than Foods, or that weird the other three stores for orange the average of the store that all the Califor- other three stores for nians talk about but you juice. orange juice and an have never really been to enormous 69 percent — Trader Joe’s? more for the boxed Ideally, we would like to base our decision macaroni and cheese. on relative store prices rather than a spur of the The CSPI serves as a good basis for the gen- moment decision. Inspired by the economics- eral price levels at each of these stores. Even friendly Consumer Price Index (CPI), the UA with this data, the average college student may Dining Committee collected prices of a select- disregard the incredibly high prices at times for ed basket of goods from all four stores creating the convenient location of LaVerde’s, pay a pre- the CSPI (Cheap Student Price Index). It is the mium to get higher quality meat and produce intent of this survey to answer the question ev- at Whole Foods, or maybe realize you have to ery college student asks him or herself: where go to Star because you cannot find Twinkies at do I get the cheapest food? Trader Joe’s. There are always exceptions to the Ranging from ground beef to flour to maca- rule, but this weekend, I will be happily shop- roni and cheese, a selection of twenty goods ping at Trader Joe’s because they have the low- was chosen and prices of the items were col- est CSPI. lected. If a comparable good was not available Fellman is the chair of the UA Dining Com- at any one of the four locations, it was removed mittee. C. Carter Jernigan ’07, Ruth Miller ’07, from the set of twenty items. All the prices and Ying Yang ’10 also contributed research for were then normalized to the appropriate unit this piece. Page 6 THE TECH December 8, 2006 ARTS CONCERT REVIEW MIT Wind Ensemble Explores ‘The Art of Fugue’ Despite Slow Start, MITWE Picks up Wind By Tanya Goldhaber gan at the end added a nice touch. This piece much more. the few times when some of the drummers MIT Wind Ensemble stood out as one in which MITWE was very The one primary flaw in the first half of were not entirely together, the percussionists MIT Wind Ensemble Winter Concert: together as an ensemble, and brought a lot of the program was that MITWE seemed to of MITWE did a fantastic job preparing this The Art of Fugues emotion and depth to Wood’s work. have trouble staying together. Granted, keep- obviously difficult piece and bringing it to Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 There were also some good solos in the ing a large wind ensemble together is very life. Kresge Auditorium latter half of the program. One who shined tricky and the repertoire was by no means MITWE seemed to hit its groove, so to was oboist MartaLynne D. Milan ’10. Her easy. The Bach Contrapuncti, especially, speak, during the second half of the concert. n Friday night, Kresge Auditorium solos were amazingly clean and had an out- would be vicious to prepare for any large I have always been a huge fan of the Dvorak rang with the sound of the Kresge standing, smooth, resonant tone. The entire ensemble. Bach’s “Art of Fugue” was origi- “Slavonic Dances,” and now I am also a huge Organ, which was played for the first horn section also played very well in general, nally written for harpsichord, and this par- fan of the transcription of “Slavonic Dance Otime since the 1990s, as part of the but stood out more in the last two pieces as ticular transcription was done by MITWE’s No. 1” for wind ensemble by Kenneth Amis. finale to the MIT Wind Ensemble’s winter being one of the most together, in-tune, and assistant conductor, Kennith Amis. The tran- I had previously never heard any of the Sla- concert: The Art of Fugues. The concert, cleanest sections. scription itself was spectacular and made for vonic Dances done by a wind ensemble. Af- true to its name, consisted of several ar- The concert began with the “Susato some very enjoyable interplay between the ter hearing it performed well by MITWE, I ranged Contrapuncti from Johann Sebastian Suite,” by Tylman Susato. The six-section instruments. Nonetheless, the instruments am looking forward to my next experience. I Bach’s “Art of Fugue,” as well as six other suite was not originally scored for any par- were not always completely together. hope that Kennith Amis will soon transcribe pieces that integrated the fugue structure. ticular instruments, but was subsequently “Old Wine in New Bottles” is a series of another one for MITWE to perform. The repertoire for the concert was very well arranged by John Iveson for wind ensemble four folk songs, elaborated by Gordon Jacob. I have heard very few performances of selected, and many of the arrangements were in 1975 based on vague instructions left by MITWE performed three of the songs, and I Hindemith pieces that I have liked, but MIT- spectacular. Susato upon completion of the piece. MIT- found the performance to be very well done. WE’s was one of them. Their performance The highlight of the concert, by far, was WE stumbled a bit with this particular work, The “Toccata for Percussion Instruments” of the Hindemith “Symphony in B flat” was the last work, “Mannin Veen,” by Haydn perhaps because they were just warming up. by Carlos Chavez was a very interesting not only clean, in tune, and together, but also Wood. The piece itself is a tone poem based The piece is also much more exposed than piece, although the fugue was often hard to lively and soulful. The problems of ensemble on Manx Folk-Tune, and made for an enjoy- a typical piece for large wind ensemble be- weed out, as the structure of the piece, un- and intonation present in the first half nearly able piece to start with. MITWE did a partic- cause it is arranged for fewer instruments, so derstandably, was based almost entirely on disappeared, making for a spectacular finale ularly good job performing it, while the or- any errors on the part of one player stand out non-melodic rhythms. That said, aside from to the concert. INTERVIEW Goo Goo Dolls ‘Let Love In’ Takac Talks About Album, Touring, and Life By Jillian A. Berry half, the Goo Goo Dolls were able to show off and at the same time make sure our ARTS EDITOR 16 songs, including two encores, and they made band grows up along the way. Let Love In every second count. TT: Now you mentioned that you The Goo Goo Dolls A few weeks ago I talked with Robby Takac, had an idea that this might not have the bass player and a vocalist for the Goo Goo worked out. If you hadn’t been as arlier this year, the Goo Goo Dolls re- Dolls. successful as you’ve been, what do leased Let Love In, their tenth record, and you think you would have done? their first studio album since 2002’s Gut- The Tech: How long have the Goo Goo Dolls RT: I’ve always been in music Eterflower. Although they’ve moved away been together? forever. I do radio, Johnny and I own from their punk rock roots, their songs remain Robby Takac: 20 years and a few months. a recording studio together. So it just as powerful as singles like the title track, Crazy. would have been something like that, “Let Love In,” addressing the problems of the TT: How old were you when you got togeth- unless I went mad and joined some world. er? … cult. Then everything would have Last Friday night, the Goo Goo Dolls per- RK: I was 21 when we started playing. I’m changed. I could have become a Sci- formed at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. Over not 21 anymore. I wish I were. entologist or something. Who knows, It, a lackluster rock band from California, opened TT: This album has certainly moved away maybe I’d be running the world right the show, but the Goo Goo Dolls then came out from your rock roots. Do you think you’ve mel- now if I was a Scientologist. with a bang, performing “Stay With You” off lowed with age? TT: Where does the majority of their new album. Lead singer Johnny Rzeznik RT: I just think if Johnny and I were to go out your inspiration come from for your was almost unrecognizable with a Bono-inspired now as the people that we’ve grown up to be and songs? look featuring sunglasses and slicked back hair. go out and try to be the band we were in 1986, RT: I think I can speak for John Throughout the night, the band made the audi- I think we’d feel really silly. For me, I think the as well … I think it’s really just a ence feel included as they let us sing some of the most exciting part about being in a band like this collection of observations since the verses, and Rzeznik even answered an audience is it can literally grow up with us. You know I was last time that we had to sit down and member’s cell phone. Although the show was full in college and John was in college, when we met, think about what sort of approach of energy, Rzeznik was somewhat detached since I think our whole expectation of being in a rock we’re gonna take. It’s hard some he had been to the dentist earlier that day and was band was to have enough beer to get to the next times because sometimes you’re on pain medication. Nevertheless, the music was day, hopefully feel groggy in class, get out of writing from you’re own perspec- still amazing, and they sounded quite different school, get a real job and move on with our lives tive, and sometimes you’re not, and from their albums (in a good way). “Sympathy,” by twenty-something. I guess that anyone who no one really knows when you’re normally an emotionally packed, yet mellow wants to be in a band or wants to play music for writing from your perspective or not. song, was performed in a fast paced style more a living that’s what they want to do. But I think in But no matter what you say, people BRIAN D. HEMOND—THE TECH reminiscent of their rock songs. Likewise, they the back of their minds, most people understand are immediately going to assume the Guitarist and singer Johnny Rzeznik begins the second played “Better Days,” a sensitive Christmas song it’s like winning the lottery. I mean it’s not about easiest thing, and that’s you’re sing- song of the show, the 1998 hit “Slide.” The Goo Goo from the new album, with a faster tempo and talent so much most of the time; certainly not the ing about yourself, and whatever Dolls played last Friday, Nov. 30, to a full house at the edgier sound compared to the studio version. most talented people become the most success- you’re singing about is a girl … I Orpheum Theatre in downtown Boston as part of a Though they only played for an hour and a ful, but we’ve been able to grow up as people, think that the record goes a little bit tour for their latest album, “Let Love In.” deeper than what the average person how he felt about this girl — ok, this one was probably thinks. Probably for the first time we about a girl. Very interesting, happened the other got to express that very outwardly … The video way on this one. This song he had written from [for “Let Love In”] deals with poverty, the video his heart about this little situation he had had, all deals with politics, social issues, military action, of a sudden was thrust on to this huge level. with the dawn of the nuclear age, with fear, with TT: One of the songs on the record is a cover the dawn of the nuclear family; the concept of of Supertramp’s “Give a Little Bit.” Were you love is much larger than a boy and girl holding surprised by the success of it after singing it on hands at the park. the “Live in Buffalo, July 4, 2004” DVD? TT: You mentioned “Better Days” is about RT: That’s why we covered it. The DVD Hurricane Katrina, is that true? we made it was pouring rain about half way RT: Well actually, no this is interesting. We through. got asked to write a Christmas song for a record TT: I think the rain actually made it better. that NBC and Target were putting out for their RT: I do too … I think we thought even in the stores. We looked on the list and everyone was rain, a song that we literally learned two days be- doing “Here Comes Santa Claus” and just all the fore, if you go into the extras on the disc, there’s standard issue “let’s make a rock song out of a a portion where they show us trying to learn the Christmas song” bogocity that happens around song the day before. We didn’t know it at all. We Christmas every year … At the very last min- just kind of went out and faked our way through ute, Johnny and I were talking, and I said, “you it. After we listened to it, we were like, “oh my should really try to write a song man cause this God, that almost sounds like one of our songs.” is full of standard issue guys playing Christmas It just sounded so good, we decided to go in and songs as a rock band.” The next day Johnny try to do it for real. So we went in with all the showed up with that song for a Christmas song, same folks that were at the show and we went in and we went in the studio and it was recorded and recorded it. The original idea was for it to be within two days. Probably within the next two or a bonus track on the disc. But we decided some- three days, somehow, someone at CNN heard it, where along the way that it fit into the whole and they were in the midst of getting their Rita theme of the record. So it just ended up in the

BRIAN D. HEMOND—THE TECH and Katrina Hurricane Relief Effort together and body of the record. Bassist and singer Robby Takac pounds out the chords to a song. The Goo Goo Dolls they used the song as the musical backdrop to TT: You’re on tour right now? played last Friday, Nov. 30, to a full house at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Boston the whole campaign. So it was very weird, all of as part of a tour for their latest album, “Let Love In.” a sudden this song that Johnny had written about Goo Goo Dolls, Page 7 December 8, 2006 ARTS THE TECH Page 7 Robby Takac on Life, Winging it, and LA CD REVIEW Goo Goo Dolls, from Page 6 we grew up. John just joined me in the studio in the beginning of the process. (No) and we’re setting up to do our next record there TT: Whenever you hear one of your songs on RT: Yes, we’ve been on tour since May. …. LA is a really cool place. John really, re- the radio, do you turn it up or turn it off? TT: What is your favorite part of touring, and ally, really, really, really, RT: Depends who’s what is your least favorite part of touring? really hates it right now. around [laughs]. I’m Change in RT: My favorite part of touring is the shows But for me, I have a pretty When we’re in LA we’re constantly just kidding. There’s and my least favorite part of touring is when easy, not easy, pretty cool nothing more embar- we’re not playing shows. No, that was actually situation there. John’s not worried about the outcome, and rassing than being very true for most of my life, but now … I’ve married now, he’s got a caught listening to the House of been to a host of places many, many times, but girlfriend, but he’s not you can’t be worried about the your own band; but at I’ve never seen anything in most of them. I’ve married so his life is dif- outcome when you’re just in the the same time I think really taken an interest in getting out and seeing ferent from mine. I think when a record first what’s around in a lot of places I’ve been, so I’ve professionally the best beginning of the process. comes out you’re real- Damo been seeing a lot lately. thing for us to do as far as ly curious to hear what TT: Do you still live in Buffalo when you’re making this next record is it sounds like once it New Damien Rice Heats not touring? to get out of LA because what we found with goes through the airwaves and ends up on that RT: My wife and I live in Los Angeles … this last record was when we’re in LA we’re con- little clock radio at your hotel room. But I would Up to Lukewarm John lives there too. For the past five years I’ve stantly worried about the outcome, and you can’t have to say once I hear it one time, I can’t get to By Sarah Dupuis had a recording studio in Buffalo, that’s where be worried about the outcome when you’re just the radio fast enough. ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Damien Rice CD REVIEW 9 Produced by Damien Rice 14th Floor Records Swan Lake Releases Pleasant But rejudice and precedent work togeth- er as a cunning tag team. These two nouns have tricked millions of unsus- Ppecting consumers into spending their Muddled Debut hard-earned bucks on mediocre (at best) se- quels, second novels, and sophomore albums. Collaboration of Acclaimed Indie Songwriters Lacks the Right Chemistry The newest push? Damien Rice’s second full- By Andrew Lee ers hole up in various remote Canadian cottages That’s not to say Beast Moans isn’t somewhat length album, 9. The latest victim? None other STAFF WRITER to record each other’s tuneful musings. The good of a glorious mess. There are times during the than myself. Swan Lake news is that Swan Lake’s efforts provide plenty album when it’s clear someone took the reins for So here’s the precedent. Rice, an Irish Beast Moans of study material for eager indie cross-breeders. that particular song. “All Fires” is one of Spen- songster best known for his role in orchestrat- Jagjaguwar Records The distinct influence of each individual’s bands cer Krug’s best slices of acoustic defeatism, and ing the soundtrack to Mike Nichol’s 2004 film working in tandem can be regularly detected. the rest of the band masterfully pulls away just “Closer,” has been writing and performing his wan Lake’s member list reads like a “Widow’s Walk” is Wolf Parade meets De- enough to give him space to echo while still en- original music since his days in the rock band Canadiophile’s indie dream-team with stroyer, “A Venue Called Rubella” is Destroyer riching the despair with pained guitar tremolos. Juniper. His first full length album, O (2003), members including Daniel Bejar of De- meets Frog Eyes, while “Bluebird” completes Bejar typically waxes verbose, then ironically with songs well known for their frequent ap- Sstroyer, Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes, and the circle by combining influences from Frog commands for “the freedom to be alone with the pearances in television and film sound tracks, Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, to give it certifi- Eyes and Sunset Rubdown (Spencer Krug’s, uh, freedom” above a charging acoustic strum and an was the sort of feel-good folk album that glo- able super-group status. Frog Eyes, which had third band). arpeggiating keyboard in “The Freedom.” One riously united soccer moms and indie kids on previously taken up duty as Bejar’s backing So while the various stylistic dualities make wishes that Swan Lake could have more consis- the new music front. Featuring soft acoustic band on a Destroyer EP, also counts Krug as their requisite appearances, it’s in a clumsier tently found that type of authoritative voice. guitars, gorgeous cello lines, mellow drums, a former member, so it doesn’t take a stretch way than it should have been. All three take fre- One wonders whether the bandmates’ mutual and relaxed harmonies between Rice and fel- of the imagination to foresee a collaboration quent vocalist duty and often share it, creating a admiration and respect tricked each of them into low vocalist and bandmate Lisa Hannigan, O between all three frontmen. Such a friendly, confusing clash of melody that could almost be thinking that they didn’t need to bring their best served as a successful vessel for Rice to carry established rapport can be a welcome ingredi- mistaken for a studio mash-up of two different ideas to the drawing board because someone else his often sexually-toned songs into the main- ent to any musical partnership. But in the case songs. The reality was probably not far akin from would. The collective experience of Swan Lake’s stream, while also demonstrating his poten- of Swan Lake’s Beast Moans, the collabora- that. Tracks such as “A Venue Called Rubella” members then becomes a double-edged sword tial for releasing some darker-toned material. tion appears to have fostered an atmosphere of and “Shooting Rockets” are guilty of overpopu- that provides them with enough sensibility to His follow-up, an EP entitled B-Sides (2004), moderate complacency among Bejar, Mercer, lated arrangements, which wouldn’t be such a avoid recording outright duds but deprives them showed off a sampling of songs outlining in- and Krug, thus diminishing the impact of what bad thing if the mix were more refined. The band, of the edge needed to push the material to its po- fidelity, heartache and generally unhealthy could have otherwise been an excellent record. however, took the unfortunate step of self-pro- tential. Without something to prove, Swan Lake’s living, all underscored with Rice’s familiar Beast Moans is a classic case of too many ducing the record, and it appears they weren’t up debut record reaches vainly for a reason to exist acoustic strum and Hannigan’s smooth harmo- auteurs spoiling the oeuvre: three esoteric rock- to the task of sifting through the mess of it all. beyond being just an agreeable experiment. nies. “All right,” I thought, “Damo (as Rice is affectionately known among fans) is taking a MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ step in the right direction!” Upon simple ob- servation of his last two releases, I expected improvements upon Rice’s old formula in his Bobby: Boring But Beneficial newest album. Simply put, I expected 9 to kick some folk ass. Star-filled Movie More Educational Than Entertaining Maybe my own prejudice got in the way. Rice is an excellent showman, which could By Bill Andrews a feeling. Despite one of the most star-studded someone as charismatic, as just, as perfect for the perhaps be the dominant factor that pushed me CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR casts I’ve ever seen (at least 20 big names, and presidency as Bobby Kennedy. to purchase 9. I saw him on tour with Fiona “Bobby” probably more that I didn’t recognize), the central But the one fatal flaw in Bobby is, simply, Apple last year, and his live performance was Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez character of Bobby Kennedy is actually played that it’s boring. While the payoff at the end is captivating. Stunning. High energy, high emo- Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Martin Sheen, by himself, in the form of old video clips and certainly grand and the stories are generally in- tion. Rice put on one of the best live shows William H. Macy, and Demi Moore recordings. By giving Bobby this almost mythic teresting, I was never really taken with any of I’ve ever seen, and the new material he played Rated R status (“he’s so special no one could portray him the stories, and found myself frequently looking seemed like a further exploration of all my fa- Now playing accurately,”) the audience is being whisked away at my watch. Had the stories been more compel- vorite parts of O. into the mindset central to the movie: Bobby ling (perhaps going more in-depth with fewer Was I blinded by love? It’s possible. Af- hen the seasons change and the Kennedy was the last hope for a great America. characters), or the actors less famous (for the ter months of defending Rice’s new material weather starts to get colder, the big As Dwayne, an African-American campaign first hour, my mom and I found ourselves play- against those who called it boring, I finally movies also change and become worker says, “Now that Dr. King is gone, no one ing “who’s that?” in every scene) I would have purchased 9 and gave it a thorough listening. W “seriouser,” and more Oscar-worthy. [is] left but Bobby — no one.” Sure, most of the been able to really lose myself in the movie, Scratch the a; I gave it a good dozen listen- The summer blockbusters are mostly out of the- movie is about these other people and their lives, making the final moments of the film that much ings, and what I found was an inoffensive al- aters, and the biggest ads go to dramatic motion but the pervading feeling almost every one of more moving and emotional. As it is, the end- bum that was thoroughly tolerable yet quite pictures, hyped as life-changing experiences. I them has in common is hope for Bobby’s presi- ing is clearly the best part of the whole movie, clearly stagnant. Rice’s passively aggressive went to see “Bobby” knowing all this, and so I dency, and then despair when they find out he’s as all the stories finally tie into one another and vocals certainly take a less traditional turn was able to enjoy myself. For, despite it not be- been killed. we hear a steady stream of Bobby’s speeches; in the opening track of 9, a confessional tune ing the greatest or most entertaining movie ever, By trying to evoke for the audience what was the irony of hearing him speak at length about which also prominently features Hannigan’s I was able to see it for what it is; less an expres- (presumably) the wide-spread hopeful sentiment justice and non-violence, while his blood is solo voice. The rest of the album then wavers sion of art, or even a money-making opportunity, of the era, writer-director Emilio Estevez is pre- spattered on the ground and those nearby, was uncertainly between radio-friendly pop folk and more of a political statement. senting a stark contrast to the current political impossible to miss, and it made his words that tunes and harsh, melancholic rock songs that The story is ostensibly about 22 people who climate, and he pretty much succeeds. Even I, much more bittersweet. end with Rice caterwauling in either agony or had little in common except witnessing the assas- someone who wasn’t born until 15 years after Even with all the flaws, it was still worth- orgasm. sination of Bobby Kennedy in the Ambassador Bobby’s death, could feel the sense of joy and while to see “Bobby.” For someone like myself, So is 9 a good album? To put it obtusely, it’s Hotel in California. We follow, among others, hope, and later the loss and despair that I was who’s only ever seen the sixties on a screen, be- not a bad one. Has Rice evolved? He’s taken a the stories of married couples dealing with their supposed to. An era I had no first-hand experi- ing able to get a taste of the feelings and emo- step, but it seems to be more of a crab-walk age- or alcohol-related problems, of kids dealing ence with was made clearer to me, and I felt I tions of those days is a nice experience, and I than a forward leap or a regression. 9 stands, with Vietnam and issues of valor and cowardice, could begin to understand what it was like back imagine actually remembering those feelings is but it stands on those two legs I described ear- and of immigrants dealing with racism and out- then, which was surely among Estevez’s goals. pretty nice too. It’s a little sad that Estevez didn’t lier: prejudice and precedent. I look forward to lets for their anger. On the outside, “Bobby” is My mom, who saw “Bobby” with me and who make a more interesting movie, but then again, the next time Rice creates something that can one of those movies not about a single story, but lived through the events herself, assured me that it’s a sad movie. The last hope of a generation stand wholly on its own. about groups of people and their connections, this feeling was much stronger through her ac- was brutally killed on what should have been a Those interested in catching Rice’s live like “Crash” and “Magnolia.” tual nostalgia, as opposed to an imagined one day of triumph, and everyone, whether you were performance will have their opportunity next What makes “Bobby” different is that it’s re- from me. We both left the theater disillusioned part of a loveless marriage or an angry immi- Monday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Orpheum ally about an era, or, even more intangibly, about with the political process and wishing there was grant, felt the country’s loss on that day. Theatre. Want to meet the stars? How about free CDs? Write for our arts section! [email protected] December 8, 2006

Page 8

Trio by Emezie Okorafor December 8, 2006 The Tech Page 9

Dilbert® by Scott Adams

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that each column, row, and 3 by Crossword Puzzle 3 grid contains exactly one of Solution, page 12 each of the digits 1 through 9. Solution on page 12.

Solution, tips, and computer program at http://www.sudoku.com Page 10 THE TECH December 8, 2006 NEWSPRING 2007 COURSES FoxTrot to End Daily First year students, now is the time to register for spring semester classes! Are you looking to fulfill your CI, HASS or HASS-D requirement? Production of Comic Or do you just want to spice up your spring 07’ semester? By Eric Harrison A Houston native whose Bloom HOUSTON CHRONICLE County became only the second HOUSTON comic strip — after Trudeau’s Then you should register for one of these exciting new hands on, team based FoxTrot, the popular comic strip Doonesbury — to win a Pulitzer that runs in more than 1,000 newspa- Prize, Breathed ended the strip in classes: pers, will end daily production Dec. 1989, at the height of its popularity. 30, as its creator joins the growing Opus, his current strip, appears only 2.00AJ (16.00AJ). Fundamentals of Engineering: Exploring Sea, Space and list of cartoonists to grow weary of on Sundays. the daily grind. FoxTrot, The Boondocks, The Earth.(CI) Bill Amend, who created FoxTrot Far Side, Doonesbury, and Calvin in 1988, will continue to write and and Hobbes were all distributed by draw the Sunday strip. Universal, which since taking on 2.00B Solving Real Problems. (CI) “After spending close to half of Doonesbury in 1970 has attracted my life writing and drawing Fox- the most envelope-pushing cartoon Trot cartoons, I think it’s time I got features. 4.001J (11.04J) CityScope Destination 2007: New Orleans. (CI)(HASS-E) out of the house and tried some new Cartoonists are retiring their things,” he said in a statement. “I love strips now because they can, because 5.92 Energy, Environment and Society. (CI) cartooning, and I absolutely want to they own them. And because main- continue doing the strip, just not at taining the quality of strips such as the current all-consuming pace.” FoxTrot, Doonesbury, and Calvin HST.410J (6.07J) Projects in Microscale Engineering for the Life Aaron McGruder, Bill Watterson, and Hobbes isn’t easy. These aren’t Berkeley Breathed, Garry Trudeau gag-a-day strips. Sciences(CI) and Gary Larson also have all ei- In addition to the daily dose of ther taken sabbaticals or ended their humor, there’s character develop- strips altogether, citing the grueling ment, narrative arcs and, in the case 21L.017. The Art of the Probable. (HASS-D)(CI-H) pace and challenge of maintaining of Doonesbury and Boondocks, the originality and quality as factors in struggle of staying topical. 21M.616 Learning from the Past: Performance, Drama, Science their burnout. Watterson ended his wildly popu- McGruder, who created Boon- lar Calvin and Hobbes in 1995, he (HASS-D)(CI-H) docks, ended his strip in March for has said, in part to avoid the inevita- what was supposed to be a six-month ble drift into “halfhearted repetition” hiatus. He had already handed draw- — the fate of many long-running 21L.016 Learning from the Past: Drama, Science, Performance ing duties to a substitute artist while comic strips. (HASS-D)(CI-H) devoting time to developing an Larson retired The Far Side animated TV series for the Cartoon the same year. Earlier, he had tak- Network. The strip has now offi cially en a 14-month leave to travel and For full class descriptions visit: been canceled. study jazz guitar. He had drawn In earlier generations, the lives more than 4,000 cartoons since the http://mit.edu/firstyear/2010/explore/spring.html of comic strips seemed endless. Af- cartoon went into syndication in ter the original artists died or retired, 1979. Since “retiring,” Larson has Enrollment is limited with preference given to first year students successors continued the strips. That made animated fi lms and published was because the characters and titles books. were owned by syndicates, the com- Lee Salem, president of Univer- Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming panies that distribute comic strips sal Press Syndicate, dangled the pos- and other features to newspapers. sibility of FoxTrot popping up later 7-103 and 7-104 The syndicates had the right to fi re in another form, such as animation. 617-253-6771 creators and replace them at will. “In addition to Sunday newspapers, That began to change — at least we may see FoxTrot entertaining us for the most popular and powerful in other kinds of media platforms,” cartoonists — in the late 1980s. he said in a statement posted on the Breathed started the trend. company’s Web site. “I had to quietly, secretly, threat- A spokeswoman for the syndi- en the comic pages’ fi rst walkout in cate wouldn’t confi rm that plans are 1989” to gain ownership of Bloom in the works for a FoxTrot movie or County’s copyright from Washington TV series, saying only that it’s “too Post Writers Group, Breathed said in early” to discuss it. a 2001 interview with The Onion’s Amend, she said, is “not doing A.V. Club. “It had never been done interviews” and Salem didn’t care to before.” elaborate on the statement.

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This space donated by The Tech December 8, 2006 THE TECH Page 11 Page 12 THE TECH December 8, 2006

! Service May Reduce Phone Cost in Future Phones, from Page 1 short run,” but the VoIP system of- fers clear long-term cost advantages, Thanks Students gradual, building-by-building,” said especially in new buildings on the Regan. MIT campus. for a Great Semester Call quality is also a concern, as Buildings will not require both 2Cent phone conversations are very sensi- network and telephone wire to be tive to lag and latency. run throughout the building, and “Voice in and of itself is not high some telephone boxes and expen- bandwidth,” said IS&T Director of sive circuits will also not be need- Telephony Allison F. Dolan, but VoIP ed. phones are subject to jitter, packet “In three to five years, you won’t loss, and delay, which can cause be able to buy a telephone switch as Copy Day phone conversations to sound dis- we know it today,” Dolan said. torted, speed up, or drop completely. Students will eventually be able Additionally, with increased mo- to use VoIP phones in their dormi- bility comes uncertainty as to the tories, and IS&T along with Hous- caller’s current location. E911, the ing have partnered and are currently emergency 911 calling system, al- sponsoring a pilot in the Warehouse Is Coming ! lows the police and fire department residence (NW30), according to to pinpoint a caller’s location in the Regan. Before the service will be event of an emergency, but may not offered to the entire student popula- be reliable with a call placed from a tion, long distance billing issues will wireless VoIP phone. have to be addressed. “Currently our VoIP system al- 2 Cents lows subscribers to enter the primary Other colleges piloting VoIP location where their VoIP service Dartmouth College became the Tuesday will be used and we then automati- “poster child for 100 percent transi- b cally pass this information to the tion” to VoIP when the college made MIT Police,” Silis said. “While there the switch to Ethernet-routed phone is not currently a solution for roam- conversations in 2003, following a ing VoIP users outside of the MIT full upgrade of their network infra- network, there are methods available structure. At that time, Dartmouth December 12 today for locating wireless users on offered free softphones to incom- the MIT campus.” ing freshmen. According to Dolan, many of the best colleges and big Reduced cost in long run universities are in a pilot mode of Officially announced in March, VoIP, including University of Penn- VoIP services at MIT have been an sylvania and University of Colo- ongoing project since at least nine rado. months prior, according to Dolan. IS&T plans to have more detailed “For two years, we’ve been staying plans for the VoIP system by spring aware of the trends,” Dolan said. of 2007, Dolan said. According to Dolan, there was More information about VoIP “no compelling cost reason for go- service at MIT can be found at http:// ing in [the VoIP] direction in the web.mit.edu/ist/topics/voip/. CopyTech Presidential Candidate List Includes Officials From Top-Tier Schools Harvard, from Page 1 Institute of Medicine. Also on the list is Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former On the list of 30 candidates pre- Harvard professor who is the dean of sented to the overseers were three Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School NEWSPRING 2007 COURSES Harvard leaders who worked for of Public and International Affairs. Summers: provost Steven E. Hyman, Fineberg, Bollinger, and Gut- a neuroscientist; Elena Kagan, the mann were among the top candidates Do you enjoy the feeling that you get from volunteering and helping others? dean of Harvard Law School; and in Harvard’s last search . Drew Gilpin Faust, a history profes- The university’s top governing sor and dean of the Radcliffe Institute board expects to name a final candi- Then register for one of these new service-learning seminars: for Advanced Study. date early next year. The list also included top-tier Search committee chairman academic officials in the United James R. Houghton said in a letter to SP.713 Promoting the Arts Through Design States and Britain: University of about 250,000 alumni, students, fac- Pennsylvania president Amy Gut- ulty, and staff last spring that Harvard mann; Brown University president would be seeking someone with high SP.776 Design for Demining Ruth J. Simmons; Princeton Univer- intellectual distinction, proven lead- sity president Shirley M. Tilghman; ership qualities, and “a capacity to Tufts University president Lawrence guide a complex institution through SP.778 Toy Product Development S. Bacow; Stanford provost John W. a time of significant change.” Etchemendy; Alison F. Richard, the Harvard is poised to significantly vice chancellor of the University of expand its campus, boost stem cell SP.784 Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (WDDC) Cambridge in England; and Lee C. research, and revamp the undergrad- Bollinger, president of Columbia uate curriculum. University. Interim president Derek Bok, who Full class descriptions can be found at: Two former Harvard administra- was the president of Harvard from tors were also part of the group: Kim 1971 to 1991, is in charge until a new http://mit.edu/firstyear/2010/explore/spring.html B. Clark, the former dean of Har- president is found. vard’s business school, who surprised Bok took over in July after Sum- many by leaving to become president mers ended his term, which was First year students are encouraged to register. of Brigham Young University-Idaho marked by his controversial remarks in 2005; and Harvey V. Fineberg, a about women’s aptitude for science former Harvard provost who is now and math careers and by battles with president of the Washington-based the faculty of arts and sciences . Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming 7-103 and 7-104 Solution to Crossword Solution to Sudoku from page 9 from page 9 617-253-6771 December 8, 2006 THE TECH Page 13 Heart Surgery Death Rates Will Be Listed By Liz Kowalczyk The surgeon-specific data will be THE BOSTON GLOBE similar to hospital heart surgery mor- Massachusetts health officials have tality data Mass-Dac already makes decided to publicize the patient death public. Mac-Dac’s Web site will show rates for individual heart surgeons, the the percentage of patients who died first time the state will release infor- soon after their bypass operations and mation on the quality of care provided whether the death rate is higher or by individual doctors — not just by lower than the state average, Dreyer hospitals and physicians’ groups. said. Beginning Dec. 18, it will be pos- Heart surgeons’ mortality rates sible to go to a Web site and look up will be computed for 2002, 2003, and the mortality rates for 55 surgeons 2004 together, officials said, because who perform cardiac bypass opera- it takes three years for most surgeons tions. to accumulate enough cases to make About 4,000 patients had bypass their results statistically meaningful. surgery at 14 Massachusetts hospitals State officials said they believe sur- in 2004, according to the state’s most geons will not avoid high-risk cases, recent figures. It is one of the most because they are adjusting the data to common operations. weigh each surgeon’s mix of patients The decision will make Massachu- and the severity of their illness. setts the fourth state to release such Several people who have seen the data on heart surgeons, officials said, data said several surgeons are identi- and follows more than a year of dis- fied as “outliers” — those who have cussions with the state’s cardiac sur- higher-than-expected mortality rates. geons. But Dreyer said none of the “outliers’ Many heart surgeons initially op- currently practice surgery in Massa- posed publicizing their patient results chusetts. but now accept the state’s decision, Hospitals often become aware of said department chiefs. The surgeons problems through their internal reviews believe it is inevitable that insurers before they receive the state data. The and government agencies soon will data will be almost two years old by release a wide range of performance the time they are posted, and Dreyer measures in the hopes that it will cre- said the Public Health Department is THANK YOU M.I.T. ate market forces to improve care. working with Mass-Dac to reduce the In New York, where mortality data time lag in reporting by at least six for individual cardiac surgeons have months. But he said there always will been released since 1991, state offi- be a lag because of the extensive work cials credit the program with lowering it takes to collect and analyze infor- death rates, but surgeons in Massachu- mation from patients’ charts, a delay setts are worried that public reporting some doctors point out makes the data could hurt care by discouraging doc- less useful to the public. tors from taking high-risk patients The state and Mass-Dac have re- who are more likely to die. leased the heart-bypass mortality rates Studies, however, have not reached at individual hospitals for three years, a clear conclusion on whether such and a similar lag exists for those re- risk avoidance has occurred in New ports. The state’s data collection pro- York, and Massachusetts health of- gram has not found huge variations ficials said they were unconvinced among hospitals, with the exception that public reporting is detrimental to of UMass Memorial Medical Center patients. in Worcester, which temporarily sus- ®

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Something on your mind? Write a letter to The Tech! [email protected] Page 14 THE TECH December 8, 2006

  Divestment Opinions   Vary Among Students   ACSR Plans to Meet Again Before Holidays    Sudan, from Page 1 sion we [MIT] make.” One such initiative that Dafalla  G. Weese said. Weese said he felt has in mind is a company that he    the results show that a “significant is trying to establish with a friend. number of students are interested in He hopes to make treadle (foot-op-    the Institute doing something about erated) irrigation pumps available   this situation.” to farmers. The pumps would be Mustafa G. Dafalla ’09, who op- manufactured from local materi-     poses the resolution, felt that more als. He will be traveling to Sudan     time was needed for discussion. He in January in hopes of starting this said that though he understood the company. necessity of time constraints, his ar- Zainabadi said that Dafalla’s gument was broken off after only a proposed initiatives for improving couple of minutes while Zainabadi Sudan’s infrastructure are “almost was given enough time to finish laughable.” He likened such proj- presenting his views. ects to building railroads during Weese agreed that this exposed World War II in order to stop the what is “perhaps a weakness” of Holocaust. the meeting schedule, adding that “They [the Sudanese govern- the “proposer of a resolution has ment] are doing something hor- a certain advantage … because the rific,” Zainabadi said. “Divestment presenter gets to talk longer than a is not the end … I’m not saying it’s random audience member.” Dafalla the cure all.” in this case, was a “random by- Zainabadi added that the Suda- stander,” he said. nese government has not felt any sort of punitive measurements. Petitions circulated Both Dafalla and Zainabadi have Some urge more analysis authored petitions, with Dafalla op- Still, not everyone agrees that posing divestment and Zainabadi punitive measures will have the urging divestment. desired effect of stopping genocide Zainabadi, whose petition was in Darfur. UA Senator Ali S. Wyne signed by 483 people as of last ’08, who does not agree with the night, delivered two copies of his GSC-UA joint resolution, said that petition to Kirk D. Kolenbrander, the history of success of punitive vice president for Institute affairs economic measures is mixed. In and secretary of the MIT Corpora- addition, he said, at the UA Senate tion, on Friday, Dec. 1, intending meeting, “everybody conceded to for one copy to be given to Presi- having very little knowledge of the dent Susan Hockfield. He also de- situation and of economic punitive livered a copy to Ann F. McNamara, measures.” an administrative officer in the Of- The “temptation is to do some- fice of the President. thing … even if we’re not acquaint- Dafalla said that he plans to turn ed with the facts,” Wyne said. “We in his petition, which had garnered should not vote with our hearts … support from 94 signatories as of we must vote with our minds.” last night. Dafalla echoed this sentiment, Dafalla said that he felt the stu- saying that “the default shouldn’t dent decisions to support targeted be to divest.” He finds fault with divestment from MIT were made targeted divestment because he “without a lot of analytical discus- feels that it “essentially doesn’t say sion.” This, he said, should be taken anything.” MIT should have noth- into account when the ACSR con- ing to do with those companies that siders student opinion. are contributing to the atrocities in Dafalla opposes divestment and Sudan, he said. But this same state- emphasized that the divestment ment can be applied to any country, campaign doesn’t have a construc- he said. tive focus. He added that there “My own judgment, so far, is needs to be an “emphasis on posi- that divestment from corporations tive initiatives that MIT can do that that are directly or indirectly con- aren’t hindered by whatever deci- tributing to the crimes of the Suda- nese government is appropriate,” Professor of Linguistics Noam A. Chomsky wrote in an e-mail. He The Sloan Subject Bidding (SloanBid) System added that “we should be thinking of ways to help the suffering people Bidding Dates for Spring, 2007 Courses of Sudan, and there are specialist in the area who care about those peo- ple and have sensible ideas about https://sloanbid.mit.edu how to proceed.” First time logging in? Use your MIT ID as both your log in and password. Follow instructions on the site to ACSR to meet soon change your password or retrieve lost passwords. Michael Baenen, staff to the ACSR, said that one more meet- ing of the committee is scheduled Institute-wide bidding for Sloan subjects: before the winter holiday break. Weese, who is a member of the Opens 9:00 a.m., Friday, December 22 ACSR, said that he will tell the committee members about the UA- Closes 5:00 p.m., Monday, January 1 GSC joint resolution, because they have asked for student input. Still, Dafalla said that after con- Waitlist Round for closed Sloan subjects: sidering the momentum behind the Opens 9:00 a.m., Thursday, January 4 subject of divestment, “I don’t know if [my view] is necessarily going to Closes 5:00 p.m., Thursday, January 11 make a difference.” Kolenbrander said that both sides of the argument will be considered, Section Swap Round for sectioned Sloan subjects: saying that “reasonable people can have different perspectives.” Opens 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 16 Closes 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 23 Available for sale at affordable price

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Dance Troupe’s fall show, Gyrohazard, opened last night in Little Kresge Au- ditorium. The show, featuring 19 dances, will run until Sunday, Dec. 10. Counterclockwise from above: Evgeny Anatolyevich Logvinov G performs the finest funkstyle in “The Fownk” to music by LL Cool J, Slick Dogg, and Mr. Short Khop. Alexandra M. Beyer ’10 and Michael P. Hurley ’10 make hearts beat faster as they dance “Al ritmo de la lujuria” (translation: to the rhythm of lust) to the music of Wisin y Yandel and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Rachel N. Peterson ’09 showers the audience with love in “Statinnather” to the music of Fergie, Ne-Yo, and T.I. Lacey J. Kitch ’08 expresses nonsense in “Strangers” to “People are Strange” by The Doors. Viviana M. Serra ’07 gets “Ridonkulous” to the music of Fort Minor, Bus- ta Rhymes, Black Eyed Peas, MIA, Rihanna, Benzino, Ne-Yo, and Bubba Sparxx. Photography by William B. Yee Page 16 THE TECH December 8, 2006 SPORTS UPCOMING HOME EVENTS Michigan is a Better Team, But Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006 Swimming vs. Smith and Wheaton 1:00 p.m., Zesiger Center Florida Right Choice For BCS By Travis Johnson already had a No. 1 versus No. 2, and ings without worrying about what SPORTS EDITOR Ohio State won by a field goal. friends, family, and bosses might The people who vote in college Keeping in mind the goal of find- think. football polls have an impossible ing an undisputed champion, the Ohio State coach Jim Tressel job. BCS game shouldn’t be a rematch. abstained because, “we felt it was It’s not even clear what they’re Michigan will never be the undis- somewhat of a conflict of interest,” s u p p o s e d puted No. 1, since it has already lost but it’s clear he didn’t want to have to to do. Rank to Ohio State, the would-be No. 2. A answer the question: “Did you vote Column the teams No. 1 that has lost to No. 2 is a defi- for team X because you think they’d from best nitely not a clear winner. be easier to beat?” I wouldn’t either. to worst in a neutral site game? Rank Just think about a Michigan-Ohio It should be a rule that only the teams by the quality of their sea- State National Championship game. conference champs play in the title son? Rank the teams by the size of If Michigan won, it would be “cham- game. This year’s voting made it their mascot? pion” but the legitimacy of the title clear that this is an unwritten rule, Even knowing what they’re sup- would certainly be disputed. If Ohio but making it official allows voters posed to do, how can you compare State won, it would be a clear cham- to make Michigan the No. 2 ranking teams from different conferences pion, but we’d never really know if it deserves, while still setting up a that have rarely played common op- the SEC was such a good conference national title game that determines ponents, never mind each other? that Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, and the best team. This year, the voters chose to Tennesee could all beat OSU. I know my last suggestion invites rank them as follows: 1) Ohio State, As it stands, either Ohio State the unpopular No. 1 versus No. 3 na- 2) The-Team-I-Want-to-See-Play- will complete its undefeated run or tional championship game, but if No. Ohio-State, and 3) Michigan. Florida will win and prove just how 2 lost to No. 1 in the conference, they Writers, coaches, and the state of difficult the SEC was. But in both shouldn’t be national champs and Michigan are outraged at the system, cases we will have an undisputed therefore shouldn’t play for that des- and have started the annual calls for champion, exactly what the BCS was ignation. The only exception would a play-off system. But play-offs will designed to provide. be if the two teams haven’t played, never happen, and I think the current There are some changes that which can happen in goofy confer- Bowl Championship Series system is would really help and are more plau- ences like the Big Ten. about as good as it can be. sible than the playoff system we all And while I’m dreaming, the The reason the BCS was created dream of. The final poll votes were polls should tell voters exactly what was to pit No. 1 versus No. 2 in a made public this year, and they criteria they should use: “Please list season-ending game that determined shouldn’t be next year. There’s a the top 25 Division I-A in order of an undisputed national champion. reason ballots are usually secret; we how successful they’d be in a real But this year was a special case: we want voters to express their true feel- post-season system.”

DAVID M. TEMPLETON—THE TECH Forward Erich W. Bracht ’10 eyes up a teammate as Amherst College senior Dan O’Shea plays defense during the second period of the Engineer’s blowout 47-79 loss on Thursday in

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