Volume 128, Number 3
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The Weather Today: Sunny after a cold start, then MIT’s increasing clouds in the afternoon, 31°F (-1°C) Oldest and Largest Tonight: Light snow changing to rain by dawn, 27°F (-3°C) Newspaper Tomorrow: Rain, heavy at times, 40°F (4°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 128, Number 3 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Green Hall Residents Will Leave Reading Room Chairs In Fall and Thetas Will Move In Still Missing; Criminal By Michael McGraw-Herdeg graduate Association president both available to undergraduates. When EXecUtiVE EDitor said they were dismayed to see a W1 opens, it will add hundreds of Charges May Be Filed Green Hall, the women’s gradu- housing decision apparently made undergraduate beds; but W1 is cur- ate dormitory, will become under- without consulting students. The rently scheduled to undergo exten- By Arkajit Dey e-mail to IFC presidents that tipsters graduate housing and will exclu- lack of student input is reminiscent sive renovations starting this fall and staFF reporter had located stolen at chairs “one or sively house members of the Kappa of MIT’s early 2006 announcement to reopen in fall 2010. Five of the 46 chairs stolen from more MIT fraternities.” She said that Alpha Theta sorority in fall 2008, that Ashdown Hall would become The Senior Segue program, the Student Center Reading Room her office “can ensure amnesty for residents were told in January. Cur- an undergraduate dormitory, W1, which placed undergraduate se- have been returned, and two more those involved if the return of those rent Green Hall residents were asked and of the early 2007 decision that niors in graduate student housing, have disappeared, during an “amnes- chairs is coordinated … by February in January to leave by June 30, and W1 will not contain kitchens when will end in the fall. As a result, 103 ty” period declared by the Campus 5th, 2008.” they will have the option to move to it is renovated into an undergraduate spaces in graduate dormitories that Activities Complex. The CAC has Martinez’s message threatened any other graduate dormitory. dormitory. had been reserved for undergradu- bought replacements and plans to that chair thieves might face legal or The announcement came as a Although MIT has, starting 2006, ates will no longer be available. implement a security system to keep disciplinary action if caught: “After surprise to residents, who had not planned to increase the undergradu- Additionally, Theta members will more chairs from disappearing. this date MIT will proceed with an been consulted before the decision ate class size by about 100 per year, no longer reside in 22 spaces in Sid- CAC director Phillip J. Walsh said investigation of all tips on the where- was made. The Graduate Student this goal seems more difficult now that he has received confidential tips abouts of the chairs, and if the search Council president and the Under- because there will be fewer spaces Green Hall, Page 10 that the expensive, durable Steelcase results in the property being located, chairs are “within the campus com- may lead to criminal and/or disci- munity.” The CAC has forwarded the plinary charges.” tips to the Campus Police, who are In 1991, MIT expelled two seniors now investigating the thefts. who stole $70,000 of Institute-owned Marlena T. Martinez, assistant computer equipment and installed it director for fraternities, sororities, in their Phi Gamma Delta house. In and independent living groups in the FSILG office, said in a Jan. 31 Theft, Page 12 Court Rules That Tang Will Remain Confined To Apartment, May Visit Gym By Yuri Hanada cuss evidence, will take place at the StaFF Reporter Middlesex Superior Courthouse. Ac- Anna L. Tang, the former Welles- cording to the Cambridge Police ar- ley College junior accused of stab- rest report, MIT Police found Tang in bing Next House resident Wolfe B. Next House in possession of a buck Styke ’10, is scheduled for a pre- knife with her backpack and jacket trial discovery hearing on Monday, covered in blood after Styke’s stab- July 14 at 2 p.m., according to the bing. Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. Tang last appeared in court on Tang last appeared in court on Mon- Monday, Feb. 4, when she requested day, Feb. 4, when the court adjusted the conditions of her release be ex- SHERRY Yan—THE TECH the terms of her house arrest to al- panded to let her attend church and Graduate students will no longer occupy Green Hall in fall 2008. The dormitory will become a house for low her to use a gym, the Wellesley use a gym located inside the Fram- the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, which has occupied part of Sidney-Pacific since fall 2003. Green Hall Townsman reported. residents will be allowed to move to any other graduate dormitory. The July hearing, which will dis- Tang, Page 9 Nuclear Research Reactors Perilous, Says GAO Report Threats to Reactor Safety Have Been Vastly Underestimated By Matthew L. Wald An unclassified version of the The New YorK Times audit found uncertainty “about WASHINGTON whether NRC’s assessment reflects The risks of a terrorist attack on a the full range of security risks and nuclear reactor on a college campus, potential consequences of an attack and the potential consequences, have on a research reactor.” The audit said been underestimated by the Nuclear that the rules “may need immediate Regulatory Commission, congres- strengthening” and that more parts sional auditors say in a report. of research reactors were probably The report, by the Government vulnerable to damage than the com- Accountability Office, said the com- mission assumed. mission had overruled expert con- Research reactors typically are tractors who thought differently, and less than 1 percent as powerful as ci- misrepresented what the contractors vilian power reactors, and they usu- had said. ally do not operate under pressure, Security requirements at the re- so there is less energy available to actors have changed little since the spread radioactive material in case attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according of attack or accident. They are used to the auditors, even though many of for scientific research, training and the reactors still run on enriched ura- making medical isotopes. OMARI STEPHENS—THE TECH nium, which terrorists could convert But while power reactors are With 200 meters to go in the 5th heat of the 4x400-meter relay, John A. Granata ’11 chases a into an atomic bomb. In contrast, the surrounded by fences, guard tow- SUNY Cortland runner while trying to fend off a runner from Bryant College. The MIT relay finished rules for civilian power plants have ers and open space, the research in 3:22.46, placing 23 of 51 relay teams. The MIT men’s and women’s track and field teams com- become much stricter, the report peted at the Boston University Valentine’s Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. said. Reactors, Page 15 Comics Foreign direct SPORTS investment in Men’s volleyball finishes second World & Nation ������������������������� 2 Bangalore Page 16 Opinion �������������������� 4 Athlete of the Week: Sophia L. Campus Life ���������������� 5 Harrison ’08 Sports �������������������� 16 Page 6 Page 5 Page 16 Page THE TECH February 1, 008 WORLD & NATION A Deadly Drive to Distraction Clinton Backers Desperate For In Gadget-Laden Vehicles By Bill Vlasic THE NEW YORK TIMES DETROIT Wins in Ohio, Texas Primaries Drivers have never had so many distractions tempting them to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel. By Patrick Healy confirmed this view. will of the voters and also take into Talking on cell phones and typing text messages while driving has THE NEW YORK TIMES Several Clinton superdelegates, account who they believe would be already led to bans in many states. But now auto companies, likening Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and whose votes could help decide the the best nominee. Superdelegates are their latest models to living rooms on the road, are turning cars into her advisers increasingly believe that, nomination, said Monday that they Democratic party leaders and elected cocoons of communication systems and high-tech entertainment. after a series of losses, she has been were wavering in the face of Obama’s officials, and their votes could decide Some drivers are even packing their car interiors with GPS naviga- boxed into a must-win position in the momentum after victories in Wash- the nomination if neither candidate tion screens, portable DVD players and computer keyboards and print- Ohio and Texas primaries on March ington state, Nebraska, Louisiana wins enough delegates to clinch a ers. 4, and she has begun reassuring anx- and Maine last weekend. victory after the nominating contests State Sen. Carl L. Marcellino of New York learned this firsthand ious donors and superdelegates that Some said that they, like the end. while riding in a cab in Miami — the driver was watching a boxing the nomination is not slipping away hundreds of uncommitted superdel- With primaries on Tuesday in match on a television mounted on the dashboard. from her, aides said Monday. egates still at stake, might ultimately Maryland, Virginia, and the Dis- “I can understand a monitor in the rear, but up front it is a differ- Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops “go with the flow,” in the words of trict of Columbia, Clinton advisers ent world,” said Marcellino, who sponsored a bill last year to ban all conference call on Monday with do- one, and support the candidate who were pessimistic about her chances, “display generating devices” in the driver’s view. New York already has nors, superdelegates and other sup- appears to show the most strength in though some held out hope for a sur- a law against TV sets in the front seat.