Volume 131, Number 47 Tech.Mit.Edu Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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WEATHER, p. 2 TUE: 61°F | 42°F MIT’s Sunny Oldest and Largest WED: 54°F | 44°F Newspaper Chance of showers THU: 49°F | 39°F Rain Volume 131, Number 47 tech.mit.edu Tuesday, October 25, 2011 First campus-wide Hunger Week ends 20 percent of MIT Banerjee delivers keynote Fifty participate in 12-hour fast; registered in address on nutrition deficiency over $900 raised by MFWH Cambridge According to the Cambridge Elec- By Naina Mehta dramatic statistics on nutri- By Jessica Sandoval awareness of global food depriva- tion Commission, as of Oct. 16, 1207 tional deficiency in coun- tion and malnutrition. people living in precincts 2-2 and 2-3 are Last Thursday evening, tries like India, Indonesia and For 12 hours, an estimated Approximately 100 individu- registered to vote in the upcoming mu- Professor Abhijit V. Banerjee, Bangladesh — 48 percent of 50 participants battled an empty als advertised the fast by wearing nicipal elections — about 20 percent of co-founder of the Abdul La- children in India, in terms of stomach during the MIT Fight- shirts that read, “Are you hun- total population of these precincts. With tif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, nutritional requirements, are ing World Hunger (MFWH) club’s gry?,” though many said they did a few exceptions, including an apart- delivered a keynote speech for two standard deviations below first campus-wide hunger strike. not participate in the half-day ment complex at 100 Memorial Drive, Hunger Week on nutrition defi- where they should be. The fast capped the MFWH- strike due to medical or athletic all of the residential buildings within the ciency in developing countries. He recalled an incident sponsored Hunger Week, held reasons. Throughout the week, boundaries of these precincts are owned Throughout the course of the week following World Hun- by or affiliated with MIT. his speech, Banerjee revealed Banerjee, Page 13 ger Day on Oct. 16. to promote Hunger, Page 11 The finalized numbers for this year will be reported by the Commission when they finish being compiled in a few days. The deadline to register to vote was this past Wednesday, Oct. 19. A representative from the Cambridge Election Commission said that the num- ber of voters registered fluctuates from year to year, and this year’s numbers are not overly high or low compared to the changes between any other years. Last year, a total of 1370 people across the two precincts were registered to vote as of election day, but only 362 people cast ballots in the November 2010 election. The nearest voting location for resi- dents within these two precincts is Kresge Auditorium. Voters go to the polls on Nov. 8. —Stan Gill Saferide con-artist? MIT Police issued an informational bulletin via email yesterday warning the MIT community of an unauthorized 18-passenger bus that had been charg- ing students $5 for transportation during overnight hours. According to the bulletin, MIT Police stopped the bus on Sunday just before 3 a.m. on Amherst Alley near McCormick CHRISTOPHER A. MAYNOR—THE TECH Hall, but MIT Police urges the commu- nity to report any reappearance of the vehicle. The bulletin also noted that of- IN YOUR COMMUnity ficial Saferide shuttles are marked “MIT Parking and Transportation,” and driv- ers wear an MIT Parking and Transpor- Meet Professor John Guttag tation uniform. Operations Manager of Parking and Transportation Larry Brutti had no ad- Former EECS department head started in English ditional information as of Monday after- noon. He said he’s never heard of an in- By Kali Xu life, for better or for worse. involvement in computer sci- “It’s sort of the classic thing, cident like this before in his time at MIT. STAFF WRITER Professor John V. Guttag ence — he started out as an if you’re an engineer and you Harvard had a similar incident ear- (first syllable pronounced like undergraduate at Brown ma- look at someone in the liberal lier this year. According to a Jan. 24, 2011 Bets — sometimes they’re “gut,” not “goot”), co-head of joring in English. The introduc- arts, you think that’s just easy. article in The Harvard Crimson, an un- risky, sometimes they’re CSAIL’s Networks and Mobile tory computer programming ‘Could I actually pass a real marked van driver charged students $5 funny, and sometimes, you Systems Group, can certainly course at Brown was known course?’ was the question,” for transportation and claimed to work wonder whether you were de- appreciate the impact of a bet. as legendarily difficult, so Gut- Guttag said. for a private charter company unaffili- lusional at the time you made The beginning of Guttag’s ca- tag and his friend placed a bet ated with Harvard. them. One bet can change your reer didn’t predict such deep as to whether he could pass it. Guttag, Page 8 —Maggie Lloyd Sign up for senior portraits with Tech- Suicide off Harvard Bridge last Thursday IN Short nique, the MIT yearbook, this week. You Campus dining brunch hours were can schedule an appointment online today Last Thursday, Oct. 20, Massachusetts State tion. Authorities identified her as a 21-year old changed to 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. last Saturday. at http://photoappointment.com/. Police recovered the body of a woman from Dorchester resident after the State Police re- Previous hours were 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Charles River after a witness reported see- leased photographs of her jewelry. MIT’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team placed ing the woman jump off the Harvard Bridge Officials shut down the Harvard Bridge -af MIT’s Fall Festival, featuring comedian 16 of 37 in the Veolia World Solar Challenge. into the river. The witness reported the jump ter the woman was seen jumping into the river. John Oliver (The Daily Show), is this Friday around 6:20 a.m., and the body was recovered The bridge was opened again after the body in Kresge Auditorium at 10 p.m. Purchase Send news information and tips to news@ by police divers around 8 a.m. was recovered, but delays from closure radi- tickets at http://web.mit.edu/fall. tech.mit.edu. According to a press release from Daniel ated outward to the Boston University bridge F. Conley, Suffolk County district attorney, around 8 a.m. the woman was not carrying any identifica- —Derek Chang State OF the LaVerDE’S Price INDEX InstitUte DOUBLE HeaD OF the SECTIONS World & Nation . .2 See how LaVerde’s prices change over race taKE charLes! Opinion . .4 time. CAMPUS LIFE, p. 9 There’s more than just Ever wondered about the The Tech was there, Fun Pages . .5 a presidential election RED Line CLosUres Lobby 10 walls? taking photos. Campus Life . .8 next year! CAMPUS LIFE, p. 9 SPORTS, p. 16 Sports . .16 OPINION, p. 4 Weekends, from November through March. NEWS, p. 14 2 The Tech Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Republicans turn judicial D power into a campaign issue Cameron faces internal WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidates are issuing biting and sustained attacks on the federal courts and the role they play in American life, reflecting and stoking skepti- revolt over European policy cism among conservatives about the judiciary. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas favors term limits for Supreme Court By Sarah Lyall and that, in any case, leaving the up, but there is nothing you can do WORL justices. Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Ron Paul, R- THE NEW YORK TIMES European Union was not a reason- about it.” Texas, say they would forbid the court from deciding cases con- able option. After a debate that lasted late N cerning same-sex marriage. Newt Gingrich, the former house LONDON — After being be- Throughout the day, Cameron’s into the evening, the motion was speaker, and former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania rated by President Nicolas Sarkozy aides telephoned Conservative rejected on a vote of 483-111. The want to abolish the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, of France at a rancorous European members who oppose member- leaders of all three parties — the calling it “a rogue court” that is “consistently radical.” summit meeting over the week- ship in the union, the so-called Conservatives; the Liberal Demo- “If you want to send a signal to judges that we are tired of end, Prime Minister David Cam- Euroskeptics, warning that the crats, the junior partner in the them feeling that these elites in society can dictate to us,” Santo- eron on Monday faced an all-out party would look unkindly on any Conservative-led coalition gov- rum said at an event in Ames, Iowa, “then you have to fight back. rebellion from members of his signs of disloyalty. But dozens of ernment; and the Labour opposi- ATIO I will fight back.” own party over whether Britain angry members turned out for the tion — had told their backbench- Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has so should even be part of the Euro- debate anyway. ers to vote against the measure, far shied away from the far-reaching criticisms of his rivals. At pean Union. David Nuttall, the Conservative giving no chance of its passing. But a conservative forum in South Carolina, he dismissed the idea Defying orders from the gov- member of Parliament who intro- the exercise exposed a potentially of a congressional confrontation with the Supreme Court over ernment, legislator after legislator duced the measure, gave voice to lethal schism within Conservative abortion, saying, “I’m not looking to create a constitutional from Cameron’s Conservatives widespread public concern that ranks.