MIT’s The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Rainy, 60°F (16°C) Tonight: Cloudy, cool, 44°F (7°C) Newspaper Tomorrow: Cloudy, 55°F (18°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 124, Number 24 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, May 4, 2004 UA Rejects Power Outage Hits MIT, Surrounding Area By Ray C. He dips in voltage, but this was not the Election ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR case yesterday, he said. A transmission line equipment “We normally generate 18 failure at the Putnam Street NSTAR megawatts of our own power,” substation resulted in power losses Richard said. The plant can power 80 Process across the MIT campus yesterday percent of the buildings on campus, afternoon, said MIT Superintendent said Peter Cooper, director of utili- of Utilities Roger Moore. ties. Any demand over this capacity Changes David Branda, a customer ser- is purchased from NSTAR, according vice representative for NSTAR, the to the cogeneration plant Web site. By Waseem S. Daher natural gas and electricity supplier The plant will need to be ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR for Cambridge, said that “a large inspected for damage from the The Undergraduate Association portion of Cambridge was without power failures before returning to Senate defeated a bill modifying the power for about an hour and ten operation, Cooper said. “We must procedure for electing senators rep- minutes.” be sure that we’re not doing more resenting fraternities, sororities, and Power at MIT was off for a longer damage,” he said. independent living groups. period than in Cambridge because Moore said that power to MIT In its meeting yesterday evening, MIT needed to gradually return to the was restored by 4 p.m. the UA Senate reviewed a bill that power grid in order to avoid over- would set up a committee to change loading the system, said Bernard J. Emergency power not consistent how senators from the Interfraterni- Richard, manager of mechanical, In most buildings, such as Build- ty Council and Panhellenic Associa- electrical, and piping services at the ing 10, emergency power turned on tion are elected. Department of Facilities. almost immediately after main In addition, the Senate passed a Many classes were cancelled fol- power stopped. However, over fif- resolution affirming its support for lowing the power outage and sever- teen minutes passed before backup the IFC’s attempt to reserve Killian al laboratories experienced prob- generators started in buildings such Court for the beginning of Rush. lems with experiments. as W20 and W84. Mary Callahan, MIT’s registrar, As of last night, the facilities addressed the Senate to speak about MIT generator stops functioning department did not know what pre- WebSIS, MIT’s student information After a 115 kilovolt cable fault vented the emergency power from system. occurred at the Putnam substation, turning on in these buildings, The UA also allocated money “the generator station at Kendall Richard said. A delay “is not nor- for the Muses, DomeView, an ori- was tripped,” said Moore. mally supposed to happen,” he said. entation kick-off party, wellness The MIT Cogeneration project, Backup generators are in every seminars, and UA office renovation. which provides most of the power to building on campus, Richard said. Finally, the new officers of the the MIT campus, is “closely con- “Primarily, the emergency genera- Undergraduate Association were nected to that substation,” he said. tors power the lights so people can sworn in and formally took office. “They lost their source and momen- get out of the building,” he said. tarily we were pumping into the grid “They also support critical opera- IFC, Panhel seek voting reform much higher than we could sustain,” tions,” like delicate experiments. The rationale behind the bill he said. Some cold rooms used for can- BRIAN HEMOND—THE TECH A backup power generator in Ashdown was brought online after yes- jointly proposed by Panhel and the Normally the generator at MIT cer research in E19 were not part of terday’s campus-wide electricity failure and triggered the release of will continue to power MIT even if steam from piping outside the building. Concerned residents alerted SAE, Page 9 NSTAR experiences short duration Power Loss, Page 18 the Cambridge Fire department. See photos, page 15. Financial State of the Institute Likely To Improve Survey Helps By Kathy Dobson spoke to the MIT community yester- As a result of yesterday’s power Kresge auditorium, which lacked STAFF REPORTER day at a State of the Institute forum outage, which affected the entire lighting, and was instead held in the Choose W20 President Charles M. Vest, on a number of topics, including the MIT campus and much of East lobby. Provost Robert A. Brown, and Exec- Institute’s budget and its changing Cambridge, the forum was abbrevi- utive Vice President John R. Curry research and curriculum. ated and could not be held inside 2006 budget will grow Vendor After reviewing the budget con- By Tongyan Lin straints that faced the Institute in the ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR past year, Brown said that there will Approximately 750 people have be budget growth in next year’s completed the dining survey that budget, including raises, capital will help determine the vendor to plans, and renovations. The cuts replace Arrow St. Crepes in the stu- have caused “uniform pain across dent center, said Director of Cam- the Institute,” Brown said, but the pus Dining Richard D. Berlin III. Institute will “move ahead in the The survey, which was released next budget year to the same tradi- online Friday, April 16, will close at tion we’ve had.” the end of this week. Berlin said Cuts in the budget for the com- they intend to select a vendor by the ing year included the elimination of end of this month, after the results eleven unfilled faculty positions, a have been compiled and discussed salary freeze for those making with the Campus Dining Board. $55,000 or more, reduction in the number of graduate fellowships, and Student input an important factor a reduction in the Institute’s tuition So far, the results, “seemed to subsidy for graduate students, said vary from independent restaurants” Brown. to brand names, Berlin said. Curry said that he is optimistic Berlin said that a number of stu- about the financial state of the Insti- dents had filled out Anna’s Taqueria tute but has yet to see the impacts of as their choice of vendor, but that he the cuts made. “We are pleased we was “not prejudging” any of the made it through this budget year,” options. he said. “We will all learn the The survey is important because impacts of the cuts as we look back it is “the vehicle we are using to JONATHAN WANG—THE TECH on the year.” evaluate our options,” Berlin said. President Vest speaks in the lobby of Kresge Auditorium after yesterday’s power outage rendered it Curry also said that the budget While he hopes to select the dark. The State of the Institute Forum, at which President Vest, Provost Brown, and Executive VP John Curry were scheduled to speak, was abbreviated in the wake of the power loss. Institute, Page 17 Arrow Street, Page 16 Senior Comics NEWS BRIEFS House holds Uzamere, Faber give no reim- World & Nation . 2 its annual bursements for hacking fines. Opinion . 4 steer roast. Arts . 6 Course VI students get new club. Sports . .20 Page 10 Page12 Page 9 Page 2 THE TECH May 4, 2004 WORLD & NATION Kerry to Spend $25M on Image Ads Panel: Death Penalty Can Be THE BOSTON GLOBE WASHINGTON John F. Kerry Monday announced a $25 million advertising cam- paign, the largest single buy of either presidential campaign this year Reinstated With Safeguards and one that comes as some Democrats have expressed concern that many voters know Kerry only by President Bush’s ads. By Scott S. Greenberger death penalty. an erroneous conviction and execu- Two new spots to air this month in battleground states are THE BOSTON GLOBE The governor’s goal is to sway a tion would be vanishingly small.” designed to introduce Kerry to voters as a lifelong public servant in Massachusetts can create a capi- reluctant Legislature — both Senate Nevertheless, the safeguards the military in Vietnam, a prosecutor and lieutenant governor in tal punishment system that is “as President Robert E. Travaglini, envisioned in the 29-page report are Massachusetts, and a member in Congress. The ad buy is aimed at infallible as humanly possible” by Democrat of East Boston, and not sufficient to satisfy many death- countering over $70 million in Bush ads that have aired on radio, TV, narrowly defining the eligible crimes House Speaker Thomas M. Finner- penalty critics. and cable since early March. Most of those ads portray the Massachu- and requiring the use of DNA or an, Democrat of Mattapan, a Boston The proposal “doesn’t hit at setts senator as an equivocator who would weaken the country’s other scientific evidence, according neighborhood, have said they enough of the real problems in the national defense if elevated to the White House. to a report that will be released oppose the death penalty — by turn- system that causes false convic- That criticism is expected to find new voices Wednesday when a Monday by a panel appointed by ing the controversy over death-row tions,” said Harvey Silverglate, a group of Vietnam veterans, including some who served as Kerry’s Governor Mitt Romney. exonerations on its head: If DNA Boston criminal defense and civil commanding officers, plan to say at a news conference that they The panel of specialists is rec- can be used to prove the innocence liberties attorney who says he believe Kerry is unfit to be commander-in-chief.