Faculty Approves Phase !1Changes
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- ~~~~~~~~~- -- -- ----- ·----- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~q9 Faculty approves Phase !1changes By Andrew L. Fish and for developing criteria and The faculty approved the re- evaluation procedures for Phase port of the Committee on the II papers. The report also said Writing Requiremnent which rec- departments should offer a writ- ommends transferring much of ing cooperative subject and one the responsibilty for administer- or two core subjects that will ing Phase II of the requirement generate a paper suitable for to individual departments and Phase II. implementing stricter measures to ensure the requirement is comn- Procrastination a concern pleted on time. The approval oc- The report said a major con- curred at Wednesday's faculty cern has been "student procrasti- meeting. (Please turn to page 15) Phase II, which is intended to "engage upperclass students in the more specialized forms of writing that are necessary within Departmental their professional disciplines," can be satisfied by receiving a eliminations grade of B or better for the quali- ty of writing in a cooperative subject in a student's field, receiv- studied ing a grade of B or better in an advanced writing subject, or sub- mitting a ten-page paper from By Michael Gojer A faculty committee has any MIT subject or UROP with- been ........ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~David M. Watson/The Tech meeting for almost three weeks to A deer stands quietly n a wooded copse in Minnesota. See photo essay 10.ipage in the general area of a student's professional studies. hammer out guidelines for future I departmental Until this point, the evaluation reorganizations or closings, according to Professor Applied biology questions remain of Phase I1 papers has been ad- ministered by the writing require- Sheila Widnall '60, chair of the By Darrel Tarasewicz "Some of that research was committee. or established teaching programs, ment coordinator. The report In the three months since the pretty boring," Sauer said. The commnittee according to Marie B. Chow, noted that this practice has not was formed last adminstration announced its "Though it may have been rel- month following assistant professor of ABS. been "wholly satisfacory" - out- widespread dis- plans to dissolve the Department evant to industrial needs, it was approval over Jonathan A. King, professor of side readers who were hired to the closing of the of Applied Biological Sciences, not tile type of work that stirred Department of Appied Bioiogi- biology, said that for a very long evaluate papers lacked direct con- people are still calling for the the imagination." cal Sciences in January time ABS did not have an under- tact with the MIT curriculum. - a deci- "real reasons" behind the deci- Another sion that was possible reason for graduate major. Chow however "Utimately the best teachers and apparently reached sion, Chokyun Rha '62, associate without prior consultation with ABS's poor reputation was the pointed out that in recent years judges of written discourse in a professor in ABS said. the ABS faculty. fact that many facuity mem-bers- efforts were taklen to develop particular discipline are the prac- Among the "reaI reasons" Although Widnall said it was did not have large teaching loads (Please turn to page 2) titioners of that discipline," the might have been still much too early to know what problems with report said. kind of guidelines the committee the department's reputation in Possible decline in freshman Also, "the departmental man- would propose, she doubted that other parts of MIT. Various stu- agement of Phase 1I will further they would be radical or overly dents and faculty in the Depart- performance raises questions emphasize the development of technical and said that increased ment of Biology and elsewhere taking Physics I (8.01) received writing skills within the context bureaucracy was not desired. The felt that ABS was a weak depart- D's and F's last term, marking a of each students professional Analysis Institute has traditionally been ment. It was not uncommon to slight increase in failures since program rather than as a sepa- run through consultation, she hear ABS being referred to as the By Miguel Cantillo the fall of 1985. Similarly, fail- rate activity outside the student's said. "fruit and nuts" department. Last year, failures in freshman ures in Calculus I (18.01) in- major." Widnall noted that there was ABS was especially stigmatized physics and calculus classes in- creased compared to those occur- The report said "the success of "no right way" to close a depart- with this reputation before 1985, creased compared to those of ring in the fall of 1986. some departments does demon- ment, observing that closures are when ABS was known as the De- past years. This decline in perfor- And in a recent Physics II strate the feasibilty of depart- always extremely disruptive to the partment of Nutrition and Food mance, albeit statistically slight, (8.02) test this term, students mental management of Phase II." careers of the faculty and Science, Much of the earlier re- has prompted questions among averaged only 44 percent - while Each department will be re- students involved. search concentrated on issues some professors and the professors had expected an sponsible for appointing coordin- Widnall did not want to com- concerning food, Robert T. administrators. average of 65. ators for the writing requirement (Please turn to page 15) Sauer, professor of biology, said. Seventeen percent of freshmen Professor Walter H. G. Lewin, ·- prarr 'I -·g--e-BI---· - ---- - - -- lrI who is lecturing 8.02 this term, Scholars debate foreign policy saw a growing "mismatch" be- tween what the Institute demands objectives at Tufts symposium and the preparation with which the freshmen come. Lewin be- By Paul M. Sherer tary of state under Presidents lieved that the admissions office George W. Ball opened the for- Kennedy and Johnson, declared may have contributed to this mis- eign policy symposium at Tufts that the Cold War is over. Com- match, but the mismatch does University this past weekend with paring those on the right with not mean that students do not a story from a "Peanuts" car- Japanese soldiers hiding in caves belong at MIT. toon: Lucy tells Charlie Brown unaware of the end of World War Director of Admissions Mi- how some people on a cruise ship II, he said the Soviet Union "is chael C. Behnke believed that the like to have their chairs facing anxious to reduce its revolution- Class of 1991 was just as capable the bow so they can see where ary commitments abroad," citing as previous classes. But he also they are going, and others like to the coming withdrawal from Af- suggested that the interests of the face the stern so they can see ghanistan and a lowered profile class may lie in "less technical" where they have been. When she elsewhere. areas. asks Charlie Brown which way he Richard N. Hass, the former Behnke noted, for example, likes to face his chair, he replies foreign policy issues coordinator that .i..oll..-l.eni in uio-scienes, that he can not seem to get his for Senator Robert Dole's presi- architecture, and management chair unfolded. That, according dential campaign, was less hope- has increased and that fewer stu- to Ball, sums up the current state ful about a Soviet transforma- dents in the Classes of 1990 and of American foreign policy. tion. "It would be dangerous in 1991 intend to major in electrical Ball, who served as undersecre- the extreme to exaggerate the engineering. He pointed out that work of [Soviet leader Mikhail electrical engineering students are mom usually "well-invested" in math- <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Azf1X S.] Gorbachev," he told the sym- . !.',.*''. -';X . ' posium, which was entitled "For- ematics and physical science. Erratum eign Policy Imperatives for the Another reason for the poorer The story "UA Council Next Presidency: New Realities performance might be that some discusses alcohol policy" and New Ways of Thinking." students only study enough to [Apr. 15] contained an er- Hass said "[Gorbachev's] ability pass, Lewin suggested. This atti- ror. The ODSA's proposed to stay in power is doubtful," tude would cause less responsibil- revision to the alcohol poli- adding that "every period of ity in digesting the material. cy would not require grad- Soviet withdrawal has been The attitude could be rooted in uate residents or housemas- followed by a period of aggres- the pass-fail system, which some ters to be present at siveness." argue to be good for students Kyle G:. Peltonen/The Tech dormitory parties. Marshall Goldman, professor who need time to "pull out their Bruce Rankin and Marguerite Swain performed at the (Please turn to page 17) (Please turn to page 15) MIT skating exhibition earlier this year. --------- -------- n. - --- L- ---Y -sCI R I -- : .-· i --5~-:11 M_ PAGE 2 The Tech FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1988 B B-IMIIINIII II 1 MAedical Department addresses misconceptions about AIDS By Paula Maute period, up to about eight years. using latex condoms; People need to learn to talk to deaths represent patients of the Practice safer sex. The Medical "Our concern is with the eb use latex condoms for oral each other about sexual prac- MIT Medical Department only, zi and do not Ii~ Department hopes to convey this spread of the 'invisible' HIV vir- sex as well; tices, according to Anne Gilligan, reflect the entire MIT message to the MIT comnmunity us," said Van Ness. People may 9 substitute mutual masturba- an MIT student health educator. community, he stressed. Many students and during the AIDS Awareness week not be aware they have virus and tion for intercourse; It is common for worried stu- staff receive health beginving Monday.