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Volume 128, Number 14 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, March 21, 2008 Bexley Withdraws From Dormcon Dean of Admissions Residents Say $1,200 Tax Bought Them Nothing, But Dormcon President Disagrees By Valery K. Brobbey Replacement Picked; Contributing Editor Bexley Hall has decided to stop paying its yearly $1,200 tax to the Dormitory Council and will not be Identity Still Secret represented by Dormcon, effectively seceding from the organization. By Marissa Vogt candidate internal to MIT. The other Independent and sometimes an- Staff Reporter two candidates on the short list are archic, Bexley residents have a tra- MIT has selected its next dean of external to MIT and have extensive dition of not participating in student admissions and is expected to make experience in the admissions game, government or Dormcon. However, an announcement in the coming but their identities are a closely kept Bexley has been taxed by Dormcon days. secret. since 2001, an incongruity with It is unclear to whom the job has Hastings declined to confirm or their principles that residents only been offered. But some details about deny whether an offer has been made noticed this fall. Residents contend the selection process, including the to one of the candidates, saying only that they were never represented by name of one of the final candidates, that the selection process was “on- Dormcon and that they received no have emerged. going” and that an announcement benefits from their membership. But Three of the 20-40 candidates would be made soon. But people Dormcon’s president says that Bex- considered by the search committee involved in the search process say ley has benefited from the organi- were submitted, unranked, to Dean that MIT has extended an offer and zation’s advocacy and is part of the for Undergraduate Education Daniel is waiting for a reply. Hastings also community. E. Hastings PhD ’80 for final consid- declined to confirm Schmill’s pres- The conflict peaked last week, eration. Interim Director of Admis- when about 25 Bexley residents went sions Stuart Schmill ’86 is the only Admissions, Page 10 to the March 12 Dormcon meeting and asked the organization to stop taxing Bexley residents. Dormcon has agreed not to tax Bexley in the Alumni Pool Introduces future, but declined to refund taxes paid in prior years. “In our eyes Bexley has been Single-Sex Swim Hours part of Dormcon because they are a dorm and we represent all dorms,” Pilot Program Funded By Institute Chaplain said Sarah C. Hopp ’08, Dormcon’s By Elijah Jordan Turner On Tuesday nights from 9:30 president. Staff Reporter p.m. to 10:30 p.m., the Alumni Pool Katherine L. Cheney ’09, a Bex- The Alumni Pool next to the Stata is made available to women only. ley Hall resident, said that Bexley Center will be open two extra hours During the same hour on Thursday “has never been a part of Dormcon.” Eric D. Schmiedl—The Tech each week to accommodate a single- nights, the pool is open to men only. Beginning next fall, Bexley Hall will no longer pay taxes to the Dormi- gender swimming program from The program is a response to stu- Bexley, Page 13 tory Council. now until June 5. dent demand, said Director of Recre- ational Services Tim Moore. Zahra Khan G has been a particu- Faculty Consider Awarding larly strong proponent of bringing the program to MIT. 97 women and 27 men responded to a survey she Double Majors, Not Degrees gave in February about optimal times for single-gender swimming. Current Students Would Retain Double Degree Option Institute Chaplain Robert M. By Ramya Sankar complete 270 units beyond the Gen- Randolph helped to fund the incipi- Staff Reporter eral Institute Requirements, but all ent program. Initial costs, according Future students pursuing separate other requirements would remain the to Randolph, were around $2,500, programs in two courses will receive same. In particular, students would spent from a fund earmarked for gen- a single “double major” degree in- still need to complete the full aca- eral student needs. Much of that ini- stead of double degrees if a Commit- demic requirements of each depart- tial expense included one-time costs tee on the Undergraduate Program mental program. such as the installation of curtains to proposal is passed at the next faculty “Students are deterred by the ensure the privacy of swimmers. meeting on Wednesday, April 16. number of unit hours,” said Dean If the program continues, Ran- At the Wednesday, March 19 for Curriculum and Faculty Support dolph said, he will find additional faculty meeting, the CUP proposed Diana Henderson, in reference to the funding for the recurring costs of to change the way double degrees current requirement that students work. Under the new proposed pol- Swimming, Page 14 icy, students would no longer need to Double Major, Page 15 In Short Harvard Student Killed in Accident ¶¶A Boston court will rule today A Harvard student was killed Monday in Cambridge after being on whether or not to dismiss the struck by a Shaw’s delivery truck. Isaac J. Meyers was hit 6:45 a.m. charges against Star A. Simpson while in a crosswalk at the corner of Prospect Street and Mass Ave. ’10. Simpson faces charges of pos- Meyers was dragged 160 feet while trapped be- sessing a hoax device for appearing tween the fourth and fifth axles of the truck, ac- at Logan Airport wearing a circuit News cording to a police report cited in the Cambridge board mistaken for a bomb in Sep- Chronicle. He was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m. tember 2007. Similar accidents have occurred on both Me- Briefs morial Dr. and Mass Ave. on the MIT campus. Mi- ¶¶Petitions are due today at 5 p.m. chele S. Micheletti ’00 was killed on Halloween in 1997 outside New for prospective Undergraduate As- House on Memorial Dr. after she was struck by two oncoming cars. Eric D. Schmiedl—The Tech sociation and class council candi- A Boston University freshman, Beatriz Ponce, was killed in October Jason Burgess G looks out over Killian Court, where hackers dates. placed a 20-sided die last Tuesday, Mar. 18 in memory of Gary Briefs, Page 14 Gygax, the inventor of the Dungeons and Dragons. Send news information and tips to [email protected].

Ar t s Ne w s World & Nation ��������������������������2 This is The Tech’s last issue Looking for a Restaurant Week High schools mislead the Opinion ����������������������������������������4 before spring break. Regular adventure? Try Grotto for high- government about their dropout It’s Friday ������������������������������������5 publication will resume on end Italian on Beacon Hill. rates because of No Child Left Arts ����������������������������������������������6 Tuesday, April 1. Behind requirements. Comics / Fun Pages ��������������������8 Page 7 Page 11 Sports ����������������������������������������16 Page 2 The Tech March 21, 2008 Wo r l d & Na t i o n Michigan Lawmakers Won’t Back Clinton Treats Remarks From New Primary By John M. Broder The New York Times WASHINGTON Obama’s Pastor Cautiously There will be no new primary in Michigan. Ignoring entreaties from state party leaders and an in-person plea By Patrick Healy besides, cable television is keeping allies of Hillary Clinton said they from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on Wednesday, state law- The New York Times the issue alive. were privately pushing the issue with makers adjourned on Thursday without acting on a bill to authorize a do- ANDERSON, Ind. On Thursday night, the Obama key party members to lift her candi- over of the disqualified Democratic presidential primary held in January, Ever since Sen. Hillary Rodham campaign, in an effort to shift the dacy. And at least one prominent sur- effectively killing any new vote. Clinton, D-N.Y., started running for spotlight to the Clintons, provided rogate of hers has gone off message: Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat who supports Clinton, said president, her team has argued that The New York Times with a picture Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White in a statement that she was “deeply disappointed” that Michigan Dem- she is more electable than Sen. Ba- of Wright and President Bill Clin- House lawyer, has publicly chal- ocrats would not get another crack at a primary ballot. The Michigan rack Obama, D-Ill.: more experience, ton at the White House in 1998 at lenged Obama to answer questions contest was voided by the national Democratic Party because it was con- as first lady and senator; more spine, a breakfast meeting with religious about his views on racist speech and ducted earlier than party rules allowed. after years fighting Republicans; and leaders just hours before the Starr re- Wright. Now Michigan, like Florida, which also this week abandoned the more popular with key voter blocs, port on the Monica Lewinsky scandal Clinton, of New York, side- idea of redoing its unauthorized January primary, must find some new like women, Hispanics and the el- was made public. stepped questions from reporters way to comply with party delegate-selection rules or be locked out of the derly. The Obama campaign also provid- Thursday about Wright and elect- national convention in August. Yet this week, Clinton’s elect- ed a letter Bill Clinton sent to Wright ability. At one point, she turned away ability argument has taken on a the next month thanking Wright for from a reporter, pursed her lips and new dimension that for her and her a “kind message” and saying he was shook her head no. A spokesman said Obama Campaign Says Clinton advisers is both discomfiting and touched by his prayers. afterward she was unaware of anyone unpredictable, but also potentially A spokesman for Hillary Clinton involved in the campaign pushing the Distorted Her Support for NAFTA helpful. Some Democrats are now said Thursday night that the cam- Wright matter with superdelegates. By Julie Bosman looking at the racially incendiary and paign did not believe the Clintons had As a matter of strategy, top Clin- The New York Times anti-American remarks of Obama’s met with Wright before the speech or ton allies and advisers said Thursday Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign on Thursday accused Sen. Hillary longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah were aware of any views expressed they were treading carefully when it Rodham Clinton of purposely distorting her position on the North Amer- A. Wright Jr., and wondering if that by him at his church. came to talking about Wright with ican Free Trade Agreement, pointing to newly released White House association could weaken Obama as Phil Singer, a Clinton campaign superdelegates, the elected officials schedules that show Clinton attended several meetings on the trade pact a nominee. spokesman, said in an e-mail mes- and party leaders whose votes could while first lady. Clinton advisers have asked their sage, “In the course of his two terms determine the Democratic nomina- In one meeting cited by the Obama campaign, on Nov. 10, 1993, allies not to talk openly about the is- in office, Bill Clinton met with, cor- tion. They said they were aware of Clinton spoke to about 120 participants at a NAFTA briefing. sue, for fear it could create a voter responded with and took pictures the potential repercussions of press- On the schedule released by the National Archives on Wednesday, the backlash and alienate black Demo- with literally tens of thousands of ing the issue too directly but were meeting was described as a “Nafta Briefing Drop-By” and was closed to crats. They also say Obama is in people.” convinced this was going to be a key the press. Three other meetings in 1993 were generically described as enough trouble over Wright that they Despite the complications and factor in superdelegates’ making a NAFTA meetings, but the schedules provided few details. do not need to foment more — and, risks of engaging on the issue, some judgment on Obama’s electability. Risks to Public Health Are Seen As More Parents Reject Vaccines Chinese Crackdown in Tibet By Jennifer Steinhauer The New York Times SAN DIEGO Echoes in Taiwan Before Vote In a highly unusual outbreak of measles here last month, 12 children fell ill; nine of them had not been inoculated against the virus because By Keith Bradsher election. Both the Nationalists and the their parents objected, and the other three were too young to receive vac- The New York Times On Thursday, China acknowl- Democratic Progressive Party prom- cines. TAIPEI, Taiwan edged for the first time that security ise to reduce tensions between Tai- The parents who objected to their children being inoculated are Violent unrest in Tibet has cre- forces had opened fire on Tibetan wan and China. But China has been among a small but growing number of vaccine skeptics in California ated shock waves in another volatile protesters in Sichuan province, while wary of the Democratic Progressive and other states who take advantage of exemptions to laws requiring region on China’s periphery, shak- also saying that protests had spread Party’s presidential candidate, Frank vaccinations for school-age children. ing up the presidential election in to several areas of China where eth- Hsieh, who inherits a volatile coali- The exemptions have been growing since the early 1990s at a rate Taiwan and sapping support for the nic Tibetans live. tion that includes many native Tai- that many epidemiologists, public health officials and physicians find candidate Beijing hoped would win Even if Ma wins, the election may wanese who favor outright indepen- disturbing. handily. now give him a weaker mandate for dence from China. Children who are not vaccinated are unnecessarily susceptible to se- The suppression of Tibet protests his goal of pursuing closer economic Hsieh and his party, with help rious illnesses, they say, but also present a danger to children who have by Chinese security forces, as well ties and reduced diplomatic tensions from Chen’s ministers, have moved had their shots — the measles vaccine, for instance, is only 95 percent as missteps by the Nationalist Party, with China. swiftly to turn Tibet into a central effective — and to those children too young to receive certain vaccines. which Beijing favors, have nearly A loss by Ma, which campaign campaign issue. They contend that Measles, almost wholly eradicated in the United States through vac- erased what had seemed like an in- analysts say is unlikely but now pos- Tibet’s fate is an example of Tai- cines, can cause pneumonia and brain swelling, which in rare cases can superable lead for Ma Ying-jeou, the sible, would be a major setback for wan’s future if it does not stand up lead to death. The measles outbreak here alarmed public health officials, Harvard-educated lawyer who has China’s leaders. They have cultivated to Beijing. sickened babies and sent one child to the hospital. been the front-runner in the race. the Nationalists in recent years to “What has happened in Tibet in Every state allows medical exemptions, and most permit exemptions Concern that China’s crackdown undermine Taiwan’s current pro- the past three decades, and what is based on religious practices. But an increasing number of the vaccine could herald a tougher line on out- independence president, Chen Shui- going on now, is a warning to us,” skeptics belong to a different group — those who object to the inocula- lying regions that Beijing claims as bian, and reduce the chances that said Information Minister Shieh Jhy- tions because of their personal beliefs, often related to an unproven no- sovereign territory, including Tai- his Democratic Progressive Party wey, a Democratic Progressive Party tion that vaccines are linked to autism and other disorders. wan, has become the most contested will hold the presidency after Chen’s hard-liner toward Beijing. “We don’t campaign issue ahead of Saturday’s mandatory retirement. want to have the same fate as Tibet.” We a t h e r Spring Roars In Situation for Noon Eastern Standard Time, Friday, March 21, 2008

By Jon Moskaitis 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 Earlier this week, a slow-moving storm system dumped extremely heavy rain over a wide arc from northeast Texas to southern Indiana. Accumulated 1032 rainfall totals of over 6 inches (15 cm) in a 36 hour span were commonplace in this area, with scattered reports of up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain. Some rivers with localized drainage basins in southern Missouri and northern Ar- 35°N kansas have experienced the highest water levels since record keeping began. Even portions of main-stem rivers like the Ohio and Mississippi are expected to see major flood conditions this weekend, as the rainwater continues to flow downhill toward the Gulf of Mexico. The low pressure system responsible for the aforementioned heavy rain 30°N

moved through our area on Wednesday night, dropping a relatively paltry 1014 0.76 inches (1.9 cm) of rain in Boston. The storm is now strengthening to 1027 our northeast, with the pressure gradient between this low and a high to our southwest expected to support windy conditions through tomorrow. 25°N Extended Forecast Today: Mostly sunny, very windy. High 40°F (4°C). Tonight: Windy and chilly. Low 25°F (-4°C). Tomorrow: Sunny, breezy. High 43°F (6°C). Saturday Night: Clear. Low 26°F (-4°C). Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 40°F (4°C). Monday: Increasing clouds, slight chance of precipitation. High 37°F (3°C). Weather Systems Weather Fronts Precipitation Symbols Other Symbols Snow Rain Fog High Pressure Trough - - - Showers Thunderstorm

Q Q Q Q Warm Front Light Low Pressure Haze LLLLL Cold Front Moderate Compiled by MIT Hurricane Q Q Meteorology Staff L L Stationary Front Heavy and The Tech March 21, 2008 Wo r l d & Na t i o n The Tech Page 3

U.S. Defends Use of Intrusive Global Conflicts Overstretch U.N. By Warren Hoge The New York Times UNITED NATIONS Tactics in Spitzer Investigation Kofi Annan, the former secretary general, said Thursday that the United Nations was “overstretched” in conflict areas and should resist By David Johnston Club VIP case as justifiable and nec- The Washington Post. Stakeouts and taking on new responsibilities as long as major powers proved unwill- and Philip Shenon essary since it involved the possibil- surveillance are labor-intensive and ing to supply needed support. The New York Times ity of criminal wrongdoing by New often involve teams of a dozen or “I don’t think the U.N. is in a position today to go in and take over in WASHINGTON York’s highest elected official, who more agents and nonagent special- Afghanistan; I don’t think the U.N. will get the resources to play a ma- The Justice Department used had been the state’s top prosecutor. ists. jor and active role in Somalia,” he said. “We are already struggling to some of its most intrusive tactics Bradley D. Simon, a veteran Jus- An affidavit filed in the prosti- get the resources in Darfur, where some have declared it a genocide.” against Eliot Spitzer, examining his tice Department trial lawyer who tution case did not identify Spitzer The United Nations, he said, must make clear what it can and can- financial records, eavesdropping on was a federal prosecutor in Brook- by name, only as Client 9, but it not do. “To create the impression of action when nothing is happening his phone calls and tailing him dur- lyn throughout the 1990s, said that provided far more detail, some of it is, I think, more damaging,” he said, in a conversation with journalists ing its criminal investigation of the although it was rare for the depart- unusually explicit, about Client 9’s who cover the United Nations. Emperor’s Club prostitution ring. ment to use so many resources on encounter with the prostitute than The scale and intensity of the the workings of a prostitution ring, about any of the nine other clients investigation of Spitzer, then the the involvement of such a high-level identified by number in the docu- At Harvard, Students’ Muslim governor of New York, seemed on politician must change the equation. ment. its face to be a departure for the Jus- “If they’ve got some evidence Government officials, including Traditions Are Topic Of Debate tice Department, which aggressively of a high-ranking public official in- several who have been briefed on By Neil Macfarquhar investigates allegations of wrongdo- volved in violations of federal crimi- details of the case but declined to The New York Times CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ing by public officials, but almost nal code, it may not be unreasonable speak on the record because they A small controversy over how Harvard practices tolerance has been never investigates people who pay for them to pursue it,” he said. Still, were not authorized to discuss a sparked by two issues relating to Muslim belief — whether the call to prostitutes for sex. he said, “I don’t think prostitution continuing inquiry, said there was no prayer should ring out across Harvard Yard and whether women should A review of recent federal cases has been a high priority at the Jus- alternative but to look into Spitzer’s be granted separate gym hours. shows that federal prosecutors go tice Department.” activities once investigators began Heated discussions have erupted on dormitory chat rooms, students sparingly after owners and operators The focus on Spitzer was so in- examining reports of suspicious said, while various opinion articles in the student newspaper, The Har- of prostitution enterprises, and usu- tense that the FBI used surveillance transactions that banks filed with vard Crimson, have denounced both practices. ally only when millions of dollars teams to follow both him and the the Treasury Department. Those re- “I think that because Harvard is a secular campus, there is a fear are involved or there are aggravating prostitute in Washington in Febru- ports suggested to investigators that among some students that religious beliefs or practices might be im- circumstances, like human traffick- ary. The surveillance teams had Spitzer might have been trying to posed on people who don’t want anything to do with them,” said Jessa ing or child exploitation. followed him at least once before keep anyone from noticing transfers Birdsall, a sophomore who said she thought the university should ac- Government lawyers and investi- — when he visited the city in Janu- of his own funds. That is the kind of commodate the beliefs of all students. gators defend the expenditure of re- ary but did not engage a prostitute, activity that can bring an investiga- The debate began in early February, when the undergraduate col- sources on Spitzer in the Emperor’s officials said, confirming a report in tion of the possibility of corruption. lege restricted one of the three largest gyms on its main campus, the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center, to women only on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Facing Declining Markets, Lender The college spokesman, Robert Mitchell, would not describe how the decision was reached, but various students said a small group of Muslim women undergraduates living in the Leverett House dormitory Resorts to Emergency Financing asked for the change. The group of women felt that workout clothes violated the Mus- By Eric Dash tral bank also expanded the types of downgrades meant that it could no lim prescription that both sexes wear appropriate dress in shared envi- The New York Times collateral that firms can use in buying longer secure short-term debt financ- ronments. So they asked the dormitory to set aside its mini gyms for Even as financial shares led a stock Treasury securities at a government ing to pay loans. As a result, CIT said women a few hours each week. The request eventually made its way to market rally on Thursday, the crisis in auction next week. The moves helped it would draw upon backup financing the Harvard College Women’s Center and it was decided that the Quad- the credit markets threatened to engulf shore up confidence in the financial and might have to sell certain busi- rangle center, which Mitchell called the college’s least-used athletic one of the nation’s largest commercial system and set off a rally in shares of nesses. Analysts, however, said CIT facility, would be restricted to women only at certain times. He said the finance companies. banks and brokerage firms. executives might be forced to sell the change was an experiment that would be evaluated in June. The CIT Group, a century-old But unlike banks and now Wall entire company. The second controversy occurred after the adhan, or call to prayer, company that lends money to small Street firms, commercial lenders like CIT prospered when credit was was once again broadcast across Harvard Yard at noon from the steps businesses and midsize corporations, CIT cannot borrow from the Fed. And easy. But its fortunes began to plunge of the Widener Library for several days in late February. The broadcast was forced to draw on $7.3 billion of also unlike banks, which use customer last summer as the credit crisis that be- was part of Islam Awareness Week, sponsored by the Muslim student emergency bank credit lines. Its shares deposits to finance the loans they make, gan in the market for subprime home club, the Harvard Islamic Society. and bonds plummeted. lenders like CIT depend almost solely mortgages started to spread. The com- CIT, whose businesses range from on the capital markets to raise money. pany posted a loss of $132.2 million making student loans to financing pur- Shares of CIT plunged almost 45 last quarter, in part because of bad United Airlines Grounds 7 Planes chases of airplanes and railroad cars, percent in heavy trading on Thursday investments linked to subprime home By Matthew L. Wald announced that it would try to sell some morning before rebounding during loans. Meanwhile, the credit market The New York Times assets or businesses to raise cash and re- the afternoon amid the broad rally crisis has made it difficult for CIT to United Airlines grounded seven Boeing 747s on Thursday when pay its debts. Analysts said the tighten- in financial shares. CIT closed down issue bonds and commercial paper, or it was told by the Federal Aviation Administration that a maintenance ing credit squeeze could drive the entire $2.01, or 17.3 percent, at $9.63. short-term IOUs. contractor, Korean Air Lines, had checked the planes’ altimeters using company into the arms of a suitor. “Tapping bank lines of credit for Struggling to raise money in the an instrument that was not properly calibrated. The developments at CIT suggest financials is viewed as very much a markets, CIT drew upon that entire A spokeswoman said Thursday that disruption to flight schedules that the credit troubles that felled Bear rainy day” solution, said Richard Hof- emergency credit line on Thursday af- was “minimal” but she added that some of the planes had not yet been Stearns this week continue to spread, mann, an analyst for CreditSights, an ter its troubles intensified. This week, cleared to return to flight. despite efforts by the Federal Reserve independent research firm based in Moody’s Investors Service and Stan- “All our international flights left on time today,” said the spokes- to encourage banks to lend to other fi- New York. “It’s another blow to con- dard & Poor’s reduced CIT’s credit rat- woman, Megan McCarthy. nancial companies. fidence in the company. They are in a ing, making it even more difficult for United made the announcement two days after the FAA told its For the first time since the Depres- significantly challenging state.” CIT to raise money by selling short- inspectors to reconfirm that the airlines were in compliance with all sion, the Fed has extended credit di- In announcing its moves on Thurs- term notes to big money market funds, requirements. rectly to securities firms in an effort to day, CIT said a “protracted disrup- which are typically barred from buy- This month, the FAA proposed a fine of $10.2 million against stabilize the capital markets. The cen- tion” in the credit markets and ratings ing securities that lack high ratings. Southwest Airlines because it flew dozens of older Boeing 737s with- out the inspections required by FAA orders called airworthiness direc- tives. According to the FAA, Southwest also misled the agency about Oil, Gold Prices Drop Sharply In the planes. But United said in a statement that the problem with its 747s was not related to airworthiness directives. It also said that the retesting, conducted Tuesday, “found no issues.” Volatile Commodities Market United said it had “voluntarily disclosed” the problem to the FAA, By Michael M. Grynbaum Thursday saw a bubble bursting. cut interest rates by three-quarters a step airlines can use to gain immunity from penalties. But the FAA The New York Times “Commodities prices got way out of a percentage point. That was less was unable to confirm that Thursday evening. Oil, gold and other major com- of hand because people felt that when than markets had expected, sending modities fell sharply on Thursday, you couldn’t buy stocks because of the dollar higher. Within hours, com- capping their steepest weekly drop in the soft dollar and the economy, the modity prices — which had been Immigration Agent Demanded Sex, a half-century, as investors fled what place to be was in these hard com- volatile for weeks — began to drop. many had believed to be the last safe modities,” said Michael Rose, a trad- Investors who had seen commodities Officials Say haven in turbulent markets. er at Angus Jackson in Fort Lauder- as a hedge against the dollar scram- By Nina Bernstein Oil tumbled 6.9 percent in two dale, Fla. “Every speculator in the bled to get out of their bets. The New York Times days of trading, and most other com- world bought gold and crude oil and “The precious metals markets No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citi- modities fell by 7 percent or more in the grains and coffee and sugar and and all commodity markets had built zen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview that period — including a precipitous cocoa. Prices became insane.” in a higher cut,” said James Steel, a in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her ap- 15 percent drop for wheat. If the declines continue, they commodities analyst at HSBC. plication for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: This week’s declines brought an could be good news for consum- Gold, which had recently crossed What was her cell phone number? abrupt end to months of big price ers. Lower prices for commodities the $1,000-an-ounce mark after a The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she increases that had attracted specula- like oil and wheat can translate into huge run-up, settled Thursday at $920 said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to tive cash. “It was the last thing that lower inflation for many products, in New York trading. Oil intermit- a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to bankers could hang their hats on,” including gasoline and groceries. tently straddled the $100 mark before a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Op- Such a development would ease the settling down 2.5 percent, at $101.84 Boulevard, he named his price — not realizing that she was recording penheimer & Co. “Everything else job of the Federal Reserve, which is a barrel. That is still an unusually everything on the cell phone in her purse. had melted before their eyes.” battling lower economic growth with high price, but it is down 7.6 percent “I want sex,” he said on the recording. “One or two times. That’s all. For the four-day week ending steps that risk adding to inflation. since the beginning of the week. You get your green card. You won’t have to see me anymore.” Thursday, an index created by the Indeed, one such step earlier in “These are all significant de- She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to Commodity Research Bureau in the week may have sparked the com- clines,” Steel said. leave his car, he demanded oral sex “now,” to “know that you’re seri- Chicago fell 8.3 percent, the sharp- modity sell-off. Some analysts saw them as more ous.” And despite her protests, she said, he got his way. est one-week decline since the index Almost all commodities are than just a reaction to a higher dollar. The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New began in 1956. (Markets are closed priced in dollars on global markets. In their view, investors are growing York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, testifies to the for Good Friday.) When the dollar falls, commodity increasingly worried that a recession vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and to the growing Seeking to make sense of the prices tend to rise, and vice versa. will cause a worldwide drop-off in desperation of immigrants seeking legal status. sharp declines, some analysts on On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve demand for raw materials. Page 4 The Tech March 21, 2008 Op i n i o n Letters To The Editor best-selling book Bringing Down the House, Chairman Right to Protest about the real-life team of mostly Asian MITCO Shouldn’t Benjamin P. Gleitzman ’09 The pro-independence protests that Tibet- American males who won big in Las Vegas. Spoon-Feed Editor in Chief ans around the world kicked off this past week The two main characters in the book, ‘Kev- Nick Semenkovich ’09 should be allowed to continue in a peaceful in Lewis’ and ‘Steve Fisher’, were Jeffrey My experience with MITCO was quite dif- manner. Timed to coincide with the 49th an- Ma ’94 and Michael Aponte ’95, two Asian ferent than what Sarah Levin described in Tues- Business Manager niversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape from American males. day’s Rants and Raves. When I decided last Austin Chu ’08 Lhasa, Tibet to Dharmasala, India, these pro- The Hollywood version stars Jim Sturgess, minute to apply to medical school, I too walked Managing Editor tests stand for an impressively sustained defi- and according to the book author Ben Mezrich into the Careers Office clueless about my future ance against the Chinese political machine. It in a Tech interview dated Sept. 30, 2005, the and the application process. I too was given sta- Jessica Witchley ’10 is most disappointing that neighboring India Hollywood casting directors initially wanted to tistics and a checklist of questions. But instead Executive Editor has decided to detain protesters for no appar- completely exclude any Asian male characters of taking so personally their objective criti- Michael McGraw-Herdeg ’08 ent reason. It demonstrates India’s willingness from the film: cisms, I took advantage of MITCO’s resources to bow to China’s political wishes for the sake “Mezrich mentioned the stereotypical Hol- to strengthen my chances. MITCO was accom- News Staff of maintaining relations. While this may be the lywood casting process — though most of the modating in scheduling mock interviews, giving Editor: Nick Bushak ’10; Associate Editors: correct diplomatic move, no individual who actual blackjack team was composed of Asian feedback on my essays, and answering my many JiHye Kim ’10, Arkajit Dey ’11, Jeff Guo ’11, cares for the well-being of other human be- males, a studio executive involved in the cast- questions. I left the Careers Office that day with Ryan Ko ’11, Natasha Plotkin ’11, Emily Prentice ings should be able to genuinely accept it. It is ing process said that most of the film’s actors a stack of handouts, brochures, and a clearer ’11; Staff: Waseem S. Daher G, Curt Fischer a heinous crime. The monks have the right to would be White, with perhaps an Asian female. sense of what further steps I needed to take. I G, Ray C. He G, John A. Hawkinson ’98, Jiao non-violent protest and let them exercise it, be Even as Asian actors are entering more main- understand, though, how my experience would Wang ’08, Daniela Cako ’09, Mei-Hsin Cheng it in Lhasa, New Delhi, Kathmandu, or Wash- stream films, such as “Better Luck Tomorrow” be disappointing if I believed MITCO’s respon- ’09, Diana Jue ’09, Ji Qi ’09, Kirtana Raja ’09, Yiwei Zhang ’09, Yi Zhou ’09, Yuri Hanada ’10, ington, D.C. If human rights are sacrificed and the upcoming “Memoirs of a Geisha,” sibilities to be sugarcoating and mollycoddling. Joyce Kwan ’10, Manisha Padi ’10, Joanne Y. so easily now, what will happen in the future these stereotypes still exist, Mezrich said.” What I love about MIT is that we’re not Shih ’10, Yan Huang ’11, Elijah Jordan Turner when the economic clout of certain countries I think this is pretty outrageous, and is just spoon-fed all the answers; we learn how to fig- ’11, Lulu Wang ’11; Meteorologists: Cegeon grows? As the Olympics approach, let us all as questionable as when Brian Dennehy played ure things out ourselves. We’re not told, “Fol- Chan G, Jon Moskaitis G, Michael J. Ring G, remember we are human beings and not let Kublai Khan in HBO’s recent “Marco Polo” low steps 1, 2, and 3, and you will succeed,” Roberto Rondanelli G, Scott Stransky G, Brian others be treated so trivially in the name of su- movie. like we may have been in high school. I am H. Tang G, John K. Williams G, Angela Zalucha perficial purpose. While there have not been too many com- most disappointed when students feel entitled G, Garrett P. Marino ’08, Mike Yee ’08. Krishna K. Gupta ’09 plaints in mainstream media over these devel- to that success while making excuses such as Production Staff opments, one cannot help but wonder what “MIT does not have grade inflation” or “it is Editor: Steve Howland ’11; Staff: K. Nichole the backlash would have been like if, for ex- harder than most other schools” to not work Treadway ’10, Yue Li ’11, Mark Thompson ’11, ‘21’ Casting ample, Hollywood had made the movie “Coach harder, become better, and exercise more asser- Mark Yen ’11. Carter,” with a Caucasian actor replacing Sam tion in pursuing what they want. At MIT, we’re Discrimination is Jackon’s role, which was also based on a real- not told that we’re not good enough, as Ms. Opinion Staff life story. In terms of marketing or box office Levin claims. Instead, we’re told what more Editor: Aditya Kohli ’09; Staff: Josh Levinger Inappropriate numbers, it is also puzzling why they would we’re capable of doing and how much further ’07, Ali S. Wyne ’08, Krishna Gupta ’09. After reading the March 14 Tech inter- cast Sturgess (a relative unknown) as the lead we can push our limits. We can either be de- Sports Staff view about the upcoming ‘21’ movie (due out student instead of Aaron Yoo (also in the film feated and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can Editor: Shreyes Seshasai ’08; Staff: James March 28), I came across some eyebrow-rais- as a minor role), when the movie already had listen carefully and take personal initiative to Zorich ’08, Albert Ni ’09. ing news about the film’s casting process on cast such big-name stars as Kevin Spacey and benefit from all the resources MIT has to offer various blogs. For those unfamiliar with the Laurence Fishburne. so that we can fulfill our dreams. Arts Staff film or interview, the movie is based off the Alvin Lin ’04 Erqi Liu ’08 Editors: Sarah Dupuis ’10, Praveen Rathinavelu ’10; Staff: Bogdan Fedeles G, Andrew Lee ’07, Alice Macdonald ’08, Tyson C. McNulty ’08, S. Balaji Mani ’10, Tina Ro ’10, Kevin Wang ’10.

Photography Staff Editors: Perry Hung ’08, David M. Templeton ’08, Ricardo Ramirez ’09, Andrea Robles ’10; Staff: Vincent Auyeung G, Alex H. Chan G, David Da He G, Dmitry Kashlev G, Andrew T. Lukmann G, Ramya Sankar G, Martin Segado G, Scott Johnston ’03, Christina Kang ’08, Arthur Petron ’08, David Reshef ’08, Martha Angela Wilcox ’08, Ana Malagon ’09, Peter H. Rigano ’09, Eric D. Schmiedl ’09, Jerzy Szablowski ’09, Diana Ye ’09, Daniel P. Beauboeuf ’10, Mindy Eng ’10, Helen Hou ’10, Monica Kahn ’10, Samuel E. Kronick ’10, Diane Rak ’10, Aaron Sampson ’10, Jongu Shin ’10, William Yee ’10, Kari Williams ’11, Sherry Yan ’11.

Campus Life Staff Editor: Charles Lin G; Staff: David Shirokoff G, Bruce Wu G, Kailas Narendran ’01, Elizabeth Zakszewski ’06, James Scott Berdahl ’08, Jason Chan ’09, Sarah C. Proehl ’09, Michael T. Lin ’11; Cartoonists: Scott Burdick G, Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer G, Roberto Perez-Franco G, Emezie Okorafor ’03, Nancy Hua ’07, Jia Lou ’07, Ash Turza ’08, Danbee Kim ’09, Roxana G. Safipour ’09.

Business Staff Operations Manager: Michael Kuo ’10; Staff: Jeffrey Chang ’08, Cokie Hu ’08, Tai Ho Kang ’08, Neeharika Bhartiya ’10, Jennifer Chu ’10, Ritu Tandon ’10, Heymian Wong ’10.

Technology Staff Staff: Quentin Smith ’10.

Editors at Large Contributing Editors: Rosa Cao G, Brian Hemond G, Valery K. Brobbey ’08, Angeline Wang ’09, Caroline Huang ’10; Senior Editors: Satwiksai Seshasai G, Jillian A. Berry ’08, Omari Stephens ’08.

Advisory Board Paul E. Schindler, Jr. ’74, V. Michael Bove ’83, Barry S. Surman ’84, Robert E. Malchman property of The Tech, and will not be returned. Letters, columns, and ’85, Deborah A. Levinson ’91, Jonathan E. D. Opinion Policy cartoons may also be posted on The Tech’s Web site and/or printed Richmond PhD ’91, Karen Kaplan ’93, Saul Editorials are the official opinion of The Tech. They are written by or published in any other format or medium now known or later that Blumenthal ’98, Frank Dabek ’00, Daniel Ryan the editorial board, which consists of Chairman Benjamin P. Gleitzman, becomes known. The Tech makes no commitment to publish all the Bersak ’02, Eric J. Cholankeril ’02, Jordan Editor in Chief Nick Semenkovich, Managing Editor Jessica Witchley, letters received. Rubin ’02, Nathan Collins SM ’03, Keith J. Opinion Editor Aditya Kohli, and Contributing Editor Rosa Cao. Guest columns are opinion articles submitted by members of the Winstein ’03, Akshay R. Patil ’04, Tiffany Dohzen ’06, Beckett W. Sterner ’06, Marissa Dissents are the opinions of signed members of the editorial MIT or local community and have the author’s name in italics. Col- Vogt ’06, Zachary Ozer ’07, B. D. Colen. board choosing to publish their disagreement with the editorial. umns without italics are written by Tech staff. Letters to the editor, columns, and editorial cartoons are writ- Production Staff for This Issue ten by individuals and represent the opinion of the author, not neces- Editors: Austin Chu ’08, Steve Howland ’11; sarily that of the newspaper. Electronic submissions are encouraged To Reach Us Staff: Ricardo Ramirez ’09, Jessica Witchley and should be sent to [email protected]. Hard copy submis- The Tech’s telephone number is (617) 253-1541. E-mail is the eas- ’10. sions should be addressed to The Tech, P.O. Box 397029, Cambridge, iest way to reach any member of our staff. If you are unsure whom

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Couture 101 Figuring Out Fashion Ask A By Manisha Padi and Ying Yang ers, fashion shows, and the trends they bring. chiffon and organdy dresses under puffy jackets When most people think of fashion, they don’t So, why do we care about trends? They cer- and lightweight coats that run from rocker style picture this column or the average trip to the mall. tainly don’t have to be followed — some of them to very rich. TA Instead, they think of the glamorous world of cou- are downright ugly! Since we no longer live in a Yves Saint Laurent was founded in 1962 and Dear AskaTA, ture, replete with catwalks and coat hanger-thin world where we make our own clothes, howev- initially developed the beatnik look, safari jack- I don’t get entropy. How is it that models, wearing outrageously impractical cre- er, there are two benefits to staying current with ets, tight pants, and thigh high boots. They also entropy in information theory seems ations and strutting among crowds of high-brow trends. First, the trends dictate what will be avail- created the tuxedo suit for women. In a season completely different than entropy in socialites. Though this world exists, it has not able at the stores most of us shop at; top design- where most of the fashion revolves around flow- thermodynamics? What’s up with been the focus of this column, as it is a world none ers heavily influence the clothing types carried at ers and ruffles, YSL’s Spring 2008 collection is all this? of us will likely ever inhabit. What goes on there, affordable stores. Second, experienced designers about minimalistic elegance and a tailored look, Thanks, however, does have a direct impact on the clothes and stylists give the average person great ideas on with strongly cut, modern jackets. Shana we wear. So we decided to take a peek into that how to put together flattering and artistic looks Missoni, an Italian company based in Milan world to see why people care at all about design- by experimenting with cut and fabric. This is par- was founded in 1964 with what started as a small Dear Shana, ticularly important for all of us here at MIT, since family owned store. Missoni is famous for their Entropy is a lot like me, Random. we certainly don’t have the time to do too much unique knits, colorful patterns and stripes on So the best way to understand entropy original experimentation. many types of fabrics (wool, cotton, linen, rayon is to do random things. How about We are, of course, not encouraging anyone and silk, etc.) and forty colors. Missoni’s Spring instead of the stroll to class through to become slaves to the trends. Since it is true, 2008 collection consists of the same noticeable the infinite, try walking outside sing- however, that most of us shop in places that are knits and prints with all sorts of designs (short, ing at the top of your lungs to the new influenced by trends (even thrift stores follow long, zigzags, flowy, flowery, and boho styles). Britney CD or giving out some high trends, just of decades past), trends provide a Overall, the trend on the runways seemed to fives to your professors after lecture. structure for ordinary non-designers to express be a contrast of feminine, floaty dresses and mas- That’ll keep them guessing. Try your their creativity. Therefore, given the silhouette culine, tailored pants and jackets for the ladies. own random thing like in the middle and cuts that are popular during a particular sea- Guys, the runways are not so clear, but there is of class, get up and yell, “Why is he/ son, consumers can shop for the fits, colors, and definitely a turn towards slim fit pants with lower, she saying this, What is going on?” combinations that are most flattering to them. We baggier crotches, and bright accessories and ac- and then just walk out. Now you will encourage everyone not to turn away from de- cents. produce the entropy that you wish to signers, but instead embrace the creative Now, what can you do with this information, understand. If anyone looks at you guidelines they bring to our outfits. you ask? Well, those of us looking for a spring weird, just tell them, “Hey I created Therefore, as a short orienta- jacket could pick up a tailored, suit-type piece, entropy today, what did YOU do?” tion, here are some influential de- while the ladies looking for spring dresses could ­—TA Ramya Sankar G sign houses and what they think experiment with modern floral prints. And, we you might be wearing in the next could all keep in mind the popular silhouettes Dear Shana, couple months and how you might when picking out spring accessories. I have office hours Tues. 5-7 rm. make use of the information. So, next time you hear something about a de- 2-342. Come by if you want to know Burberry, a British luxury signer or have a chance to look through a maga- the real answer. house founded in 1856, manufac- zine, don’t completely tune it out — it might give —TA Dave Shirokoff G tures outdoor attire as well as ev- you something to think about. And remember eryday wear and accessories. You the best thing about trends — you don’t have to can probably spot the unmistakable adopt all of them. Take what you like and forget Ask a TA: Real TAs tackling life checked pattern (aka Haymarket about the rest, and certainly don’t be afraid to look problems they’re unqualified to check) from a mile away. Burb- outside the usual ready to wear collections in the handle. Got a question? E-mail erry’s Spring 2008 collection mall. Just create the mix that you’re most happy [email protected]. Serious focuses on short, highly worked and comfortable with. inquiries need not inquire. Campus Stylewatch

WMBR Top 5 “Balkans are Sexy” Songs 1. “Passport” by Gogol Bordello, Voi-La Intruder 2. “Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)” by Beirut, Gulag Orkestar 3. “Kalasnjikov” by Goran Bregovic, Underground (Soundtrack) 4. “Bulgarian Chicks” by Balkan Beat Box, Balkan Beat Box 5. “Pehlivanis” by Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Vraxnos Profitis

Show: The Magik Bus DJ: Kostas Show Style: A musical journey from East to West and from North to South. A Mix and Match. Time Slot: Tuesday Nights (Wednesday Mornings) 2–3 a.m.

We have plenty of great world music for you to hear on WMBR 88.1 FM. Fans of “Balkans are sexy” might consider tuning in 6–7 p.m. on Monday Agata Wisniowska ’11 is for Turkish Takeover. Sundays you can hear Compas, Caribbean, and African wearing a cardigan from music, and we have a Western Hemisphere talk show on 6-7 p.m. Fridays. Victoria’s Secret ($25) while Asian music abounds from 12–1 a.m. Sunday night on Japanamationation. everything else: necklace ($10), tank top ($5), skirt And Jesse “Flying ‘Bows” Kaminsky brings down the house Wednesdays ($30), tights ($5), and shoes from 6–8 on the Intercontinental, which features not-English underground ($30) was bought in Poland. Why we like her look: Wisnio- music from all over the globe. You can see our full schedule and listen to a live wska’s outfit is well coordinat- stream at wmbr.org PLUS listen to archived feeds from the last two weeks! ed and perfect for spring, bright-

Ying Yang ening up any cloudy/rainy day.

Overheard at MIT “My mom was right, caffeine is an anti-depressant!!” —Unknown

“What’s wrong with you!?! How the f**k have you never heard of the Biot Number!?!” —Outside the Pappalardo Labs, one guy (loudly) to another

Person 1: “That stuff is more polar than a bear.” Person 2: “You realize that if I weren’t holding a vial full of toxic solvent right now, I would punch you, right?” Person 1: “Yep.” —Overheard standing in line for the nitrogen atmosphere pump in 5.310 Page 6 The Tech March 21, 2008 Ar t s Interview How to Lose a Movie Set in Vegas Jim Sturgess Talks About Filming ‘21’ By Jillian A. Berry for that to finish. senior editor TT: Did you get a chance to speak with A few weeks ago, I sat down with the some of the original MIT team members before charming Jim Sturgess, the up and coming 26 or during shooting? year old British actor best know for his role as JS: They were a big part of the whole pro- Jude in the Beatles musical, “Across the Uni- cess. They were on set a lot, we hung out a lot, verse.” In the upcoming film “21,” (based on we went out on the weekends, we gambled with the book Bringing Down the House by Ben them a lot. Mezrich) Mr. Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an TT: Did they win and you lose? MIT student who uses his math acumen to win JS: Pretty much. They would kind of shout millions playing blackjack in Vegas. During our out, Jim — they were just playing around — conversation, Mr. Sturgess talked about what it what’s the count (shakes head and mouths ‘no was like playing a character who is based on idea’) … So it was fun. And I think for them, a real life MIT alum, Jeffrey Ma ’94, filming they were just loving the fact that we were mak- in Las Vegas, and working with Kevin Spacey. ing this film about them. Below is an excerpt: TT: This film is very different from “Across the Universe,” obviously, because you don’t The Tech: Are you happy with the final re- sing. Do you prefer being a singer over an actor sults of the film? or vise versa? Jim Sturgess: Yeah, definitely. I saw it a JS: I don’t have a preference, really. I’ve while ago. When you’re making the film you always done both. I’ve been sort of writing have no concept of how kind of visual it’s go- music, and playing music, and being in bands ing to look. Especially in the scenes when we’re and stuff like that since I was about 15. And playing cards and all that kind of stuff. While kind of acting — it’s always just kind of been we were shooting those scenes it was fairly kind both. I’ve never had to separate the two. I’ve of tedious kind of work; pushing chips and flip- never felt I had to separate the two. I still kind ping cards and all that kind of stuff. And then of feel like that. “Across the Universe” was a when you see the film you see how dramatic it kind of dream job really because it was both looks. It was a shock to all of us, I think. The molded into one, which then became a whole director [Robert Luketic] kept saying just trust different difficult and complex thing; having to me, trust me, it’s going to look great … stuff sing your kind of dialogue. Singing a song is that you kind of don’t like doing as much. Ac- one thing, singing what you’re supposed to be tually you want to do the kind of big shouting thinking or saying is another. And then trying scenes or all the meaty scenes or whatever. But not to laugh is another. I was pleased I didn’t we kind of stuck with it and I think it paid off. Peter Iovino—Courtesy of Columbia Pictures have to sing [in “21”]. TT: Did you actually understand the math Jim Sturgess stars as MIT Blackjack team member Ben Campbell in the upcoming TT: Did you see any similarities between concepts in it? movie “21.” The film opens next Friday, March 28. your character in the movie and yourself? JS: Not at all. No. Couldn’t get my head JS: Yes, certainly. I think the fact that he round it at all. I mean we tried. On the weekends JS: The story, I think. I was kind of ap- that and coming out on top, which is always a needs a sort of push or kick start to think out- I had to play basic strategy blackjack, which is proached. I was shooting another film called nice take on life. It was just a feel good movie side the box and not live in a kind of safe envi- pretty much all you can do unless … you’re a “The Other Boleyn Girl” at the time, and I just that was exciting to read as a script and I think ronment, which is just so easy for all of us to do. mathematical genius, which is why I think it’s got a call saying that Robert Luketic, the direc- exciting to watch as a film. And I got to go to And I think I could see a lot of myself in that. I so specific to these people’s story. It’s just not tor, wanted to meet me about this film that he’s Vegas. And I got to wear designer suits which I think acting really is one — the only reason that something everyday people can do. making … I guess the idea of these kind of ev- had never worn before. stops me from being like that. You’re often kind TT: What drew you to the movie? eryday people just going against the system like TT: Were you worried about doing an Amer- of thrown into these difficult situations which ican accent since you’re Brit- make you have to think and behave different ish? … Other than that, he’s a very intellectual hu- JS: Yeah, definitely, it’s man being, which I am not. [The former] would always a challenge. I enjoy probably be the main similarity that we share a challenge that I’ve never and I think most people share. KAUST Discovery Scholarship done before. Anyone from TT: Now that you’ve done “Across the Uni- England always thinks they verse,” “The Other Boleyn Girl,” and “21,” do can do an alright American you find that you’re getting recognized more? accent. And you quickly learn JS: Not really, no. No, I wish it would Full scholarships for science once you’re put in a room (laughs), but no. No, I’m joking. “Across the with a dialect coach that you Universe” was really the only film that’s come can’t … I think I maybe 2 out. Which was mainly more so here in Amer- and technology students weeks to learn how to do it ica and I’ve been in Belfast shooting another before we started shooting, film the whole time it’s been out. so it was pretty rushed. I was TT: What film was that that you were shoot- nervous about it. ing? TT: Did you play cards at JS: It’s a film called “50 Dead Men Walk- all before? ing.” It’s about the troubles in Northern Ireland The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology JS: No, not at all. Coming in the 1980’s, kind of the Catholics and the from England, it’s not really Protestants and all that stuff. (KAUST), a 21st century graduate-level, research university, — I mean we play poker for TT: Not the feel good movie. is offering scholarships for future leaders in science, maybe matchsticks or spare JS: No. And no singing in it either. So I’ve change, or something like really been kind of living in that little bubble engineering, and technology. that … We don’t have a ca- since the film’s come out so I haven’t kind of sino kind of culture as much stepped out into the real world I guess. as you guys do over here. TT: What was it like working with Kevin The benefits of the KAUST Discovery Scholarship include: And we certainly don’t have Spacey? • Full tuition at current institution an equivalent to Las Vegas. JS: It was cool. He’s an amazing actor, a So that was part of the ap- great guy, fun guy, and a very intense guy … • Living stipend, book and computer allowance peal really, to sort of learn I’ve seen so many of his films and he’s some- this whole new world that I one I certainly have been so aware of … I • Upon graduation, admission and full scholarship for didn’t know anything about. remember he phoned me when I first got the TT: What was it like film- part and I was back in London, and I just got the KAUST master’s degree program at the University’s ing in Vegas with all the cra- a phone call and it was an anonymous number ziness still going on around and I answered it, and said ‘hello.’ And he said, Red Sea campus you? (in an intense American accent) ‘Hello, this is JS: It was insane. It was Kevin Spacey.’ But then we went out and we The KAUST campus opens in September 2009. Highly the only time ever a film set had lunch back in London because he lives in seemed inconspicuous. I re- London. I went to see his play that he was do- talented students with one to three years remaining in member I went to the toilet ing at the Old Vic … [and] then we just hung in the casino and I remember out then and it was cool. He just felt like a kind first university degree programs can apply now. I came back and I couldn’t of friend. find the film set. It’s like, it’s TT: Did you have a lot of free time when you in here somewhere. That’s were filming, especially in Vegas? how crazy it is … We were JS: On the weekends we did. A lot of times kind of sectioned off in areas we shot 6 day weeks and we only got one day Visit www.kaust.edu.sa/discovery or email of the casino. We couldn’t off. I remember we did a scene where on the [email protected] shut down the whole place. weekend we’d all been out and partied and did So of course the everyday all this crazy stuff that you do in Vegas, and life and the machines and then we woke up and pretty much the next of CONTACT: all that were all going on filming was acting what we had just done the whilst we were kind of play- night before. The line between reality and work KAUST Scholarships ing, which helped the atmo- was slowly blurring. Vegas it’s easy to kind of 520 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 740 sphere of the film, I think. get into trouble over there. Not trouble, but fun, Somebody would be doing a which we definitely did. Houston, TX 77027 scene when somebody would Phone: 713.621.6300 x23 be like, “Wheel of Fortune,” **The official movie review for “21” will be and we’d have to cut and wait in the April 4 issue of The Tech. MIT - The Tech 6” x 8” March 21, 2008 Ar t s The Tech Page 7 movie review Paranoia, Innocence, and Skateboarding ‘Paranoid Park’ Depicts Teenage Realities with Elegance and Ease By Balaji Mani taking place. This is where the success of “Par- seems more normal these days). Drama arises to Alex, he is convinced that the only way to Staff Writer anoid Park” triumphs beyond other films about when Alex and Jared decide to visit Paranoid purge his feeling is to write it down in a let- Paranoid Park the difficulty being a teenager: it is as though Park, an epicenter for teenage subculture. Alex ter. The entirety of the narration of this film is Written and Directed by Gus Van Sant all the elements (artistic and practical) conspire hops a train with a stranger, blindly following Alex’s dreadful composition of this letter. Each Starring Gabe Nevins and Taylor Momsen together to make the viewer feel like Alex. We him with no inhibition. The week after their vis- scene is accompanied by another piece of the Rated R truly see and live as Alex is seeing and living. it, Alex and all the skateboarders at his school story, spoken with almost no affect. Alex fails Now Playing in Limited Release Alex is completely immersed in skateboard- become implicated in the case of a murder to inflect words or indicate one end of a thought ing and its culture. Though he’s admittedly me- which took place near the park that weekend. and the beginning of another. The pathos is ew films (that I’ve seen, at least) achieve diocre, his thoughts are dominated by visions Not only is Alex already dealing with the haunting, yet strikingly real. Alex is already en- what Gus Van Sant’s latest work, “Para- and dreams of skating. Van Sant’s clever inser- pain of his separated parents, but he’s now in tangled in a web of lies between his mother and noid Park,” accomplishes with such el- tion of home-made skating videos (replete with the middle of dealing with an unfriendly, irk- his girlfriend when his father seems to be mov- Fegance and ease. If the disjointed, hand- grainy, fish-eye perspective) throughout the some detective. The scenes replay to the viewer ing out of the house. In a sedated, business-like wound montage of San Francisco traffic in the film echoes Alex’s periodic distraction. These as they would replay in Alex’s mind. The only conversation, his father parts with just as little opening scene isn’t enough to foreshadow the vignettes, which occur a handful of times be- chronology here is that of Alex’s apprehension affect as Alex’s droning voice-overs. lack of order and peace in our hero’s young tween every few scenes, give depth and context – it’s very clear who committed the murder, The combination of Alex’s loneliness, para- teenage life, then certainly it’s the haunting to Alex’s obsession while locking the viewer but this is not a detective film. This is a film noia, innocence, and longing are so tangible soundtrack. Or, you also have the eerie shift in into nostalgia for the freedom and excitement about a teen coping with responsibility and self- that they help launch this film forward from lighting when Alex (Gabe Nevins), America’s of skating. identity. beginning to end. The aforementioned cinema- John Doe of troubled teens, escapes to the sea- Normalcy seems to dictate Alex’s life: be- Life drives forward and Alex becomes emp- tography effects (thanks to Christopher Doyle) shore to write an epic letter. Then you consider yond his love for his skateboard he has his friend tier as time passes. Color fades from Alex’s complete this trajectory and solidify an honest the fact that the majority of the scenes shift in Jared, a girlfriend (played by the quintessential eyes as his girlfriend attempts to be intimate. picture of what it is like to be in Alex’s situation. and out of focus, sometimes barely giving the valley girl Taylor Momsen), and lives with his After talking to his friend Macy, the only person “Paranoid Park” reminds the viewer that film viewer any clue as to where the scene is actually single mother (a situation which, unfortunately, at school it seems who will sit down to listen doesn’t need an agenda to re-enact reality. restaurant review Lunch Splurge Grotto Does Restaurant Week By Joanne Shih For our first courses, we settled on the grilled oddly enough had little taste. I kept waiting for that comes with the prix fixe menus of Restau- staff writer calamari, garlic and black truffle soup, and the enticingly-named “secret sauce” to kick in, rant Week). Of the three desserts offered, which Grotto ricotta cavatelle (a pasta dish), none of which but it remained just that — secret, as I couldn’t include tiramisu and a brownie sundae, my fa- 37 Bowdoin St disappointed. Tossed in a heavy cream sauce taste much of anything at all besides meat. On vorite was the creamy vanilla bean panna cotta Boston, MA 02114-4201 with fresh peas, mushrooms, pancetta, and sa- the other hand, the fries, coated with sharp par- with raspberry drizzle, though it was missing Phone: (617) 227-3434 vory house-prepared sausage, the cavatelle was mesan shavings, tasted great with the ketchup, the crispy lemon cookie touted on the menu. Hours: perfectly cooked. For a which was especially Verdict: Hit or miss. What I thought would Lunch - Monday-Friday 11:30-3pm lighter first course, the sweet and tangy, per- be a typical dish turned out to be surprisingly Dinner - Sunday-Saturday 5pm- 10pm calamari, pleasantly The black truffle soup had an haps in comparison to creative and delicious, and what I thought would chewy and with a hint the rather dull burger. be a signature item disappointed. For $20.08, decided to kick off my 2008 Boston Res- of smokiness, proved to extremely rich consistency and The other entrees we the Restaurant Week price for lunch, eating at taurant Week experience with lunch at be an excellent choice. tried were hit-or-miss Grotto was still a good deal, even though there Grotto with a couple friends. Grotto, one of The black truffle soup strong garlic flavor, which as well. The crab ravi- were some minor disappointments. I Beacon Hill’s high-end Italian restaurants, had an extremely rich was great in small doses but oli, with asparagus and looks unassuming enough from the outside; consistency and strong almonds, was nothing Grotto Tips: the restaurant is below street level and, like its garlic flavor, which was made it difficult to finish too remarkable, with Know before you go: Make reservations. name implies, is quite cave-like once you get great in small doses but small portions and Dress is surprisingly casual. (So save your past the heavy purple curtain at the entrance. made it difficult to fin- skins that were border- money for the meal!) Inside, the red brick walls are peppered with ish the large portion. All of the starters we tried line rubbery. The true winner of the night was Good for: a romantic date, gaining back paintings done by local artists, and chandeliers at Grotto were decently sized. an innovative presentation of crispy pan-roast- calories burned from walking around Beacon and a fancy wall mirror juxtaposed against The main entrees we ordered were less ed chicken, laid on top of creamy Yukon gold Hill the red-piped ceiling (complete with greasy unanimously satisfying. I ordered the signature potatoes and baby spinach. Bad for: kids, groups larger than six or rag) give the place a funky, almost hip vibe. Grotto’s Burger, an 8 oz. Italian blue-cheese- Though my pants were feeling uncomfort- eight, someone with a burger craving A glance around the small dining area made it stuffed hamburger with apple wood smoked ably snug at this point, there was no way we clear that we were the youngest patrons there; bacon, tomatoes, “secret sauce”, and parme- were going to forego our third course (a problem Coming up: Sonsie, Top of the Hub, Haru perhaps Grotto entertains a younger crowd for san-tossed fries, and was a dinner. The service, while not extraordinary, bit disappointed. The bread was decent, and the atmosphere relaxed, al- was more biscuit-like than though a bit noisier than what I expected. a traditional hamburger bun '����+�����+��������������������������������������� ������������ ��������������������������������������Grotto’s RW lunch menu is pleasing in that and was a poor complement ������������,�9�:( ��0�4.��/�12&$$425%26��1����!4%24#&6it offers a relatively large number of choices; to the hefty hunk of blue- most places only offer two or three main entrees. cheese-oozing beef, which

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Page 8

Steal My Comic by Michael Ciuffo

by Ben Peters Instructions: Fill in the grid so The Daily Blunderbuss that each column, row, and 3 by 3 grid contains exactly one of each of the digits 1 through 9. Solution on page 13.                           Solution, tips, and computer program at http://www.sudoku.com

ACROSS favor...” 2 Biblical weed 32 CD-__ 1 Map collection 44 Scottish hillside 3 Made stuff up? 34 Drawing draft 6 Clifton and Karrie 45 Play poodle? 4 Indian state 36 Bara of silent 11 Gotcha! 46 Dutch cheese 5 CBS part movies 14 Oxeye __ 49 Lyric poem 6 Director Craven 37 Continental cash 15 “The Jetsons” boy 50 Sprinkle after a 7 Yore 38 Somewhat 16 Research rm. shower 8 Stock 39 “Of __ I Sing” 17 Garments adorning 53 Oil-rich area 9 Boxer Riddick 41 __ Paulo duck feathers? 55 Piled up 10 “Auld Lang __” 42 Leafy climber 19 Fridays’ lead-in? haphazardly 11 Regardless of the 47 Lie next to 20 Tranquilize 58 Ill fact that, for short 48 Secondary areas of 21 Cut canines 62 Also 12 Actress Uta study 23 Yiddish man with 63 Men’s garments, 13 Endure 50 Crownlet fortitude made perfectly? 18 Start of a 51 Tack on 26 Sharpen 66 Theol. belief counting-out rhyme 52 Soup spoon Solution, page 13 27 D-Day craft 67 Shenanigan 22 1951 Broderick 53 Of bees 30 Legendary tale 68 Harry Hamlin’s Crawford film 54 Anticipate 31 Mine extraction Lisa 24 Secretarial skill, in 56 Spot 33 Cornelia __ 69 Tin Man’s tool brief 57 Mystique Skinner 70 New Age pianist 25 Gab 59 Sicilian volcano 35 Vegetarian rule 71 RBI and ERA 27 In a fog 60 Fasting period 40 Footwear taken 28 Greek portico 61 Where kine dine orally? DOWN 29 Clock sound 64 Station from Tenn.

Crossword Puzzle Crossword 43 Say, “All in 1 Appends 31 Individual 65 Travel on snow March 21, 2008 The Tech Page 9

Dilbert® by Scott Adams

Pseudoscience by Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer Figure 29. The pie charts show the distribution of people attending seminars, according to whether they are paying attention (40%) or not (60%). The chart reflects data from 50 seminars, all of which were followed by a reception. The subcategories shown are the reasons that attendees give for being disinterested, as follows: A. Catching up on sleep; B. Fantasizing about the refreshments that will be served at the reception; C. Not understanding the speaker’s accent; D. Got distracted during the slide with the equations; E. Meant to go to restroom beforehand but decided to go get a seat instead; F. Thought the talk was on a different topic. (See Figure 30 for the subcategories of ‘Attentive’). “Words, Words, Words” Cre8ive Spellings by Philip Engel Sesquipedalia ACROSS DOWN 1 Fur source 1 Plant and animal studiers? 5 L’____ my ____ 2 Black 9 King’s Maine home 3 AARP, for one 11 Matriculate 4 7th Secretary-General 13 Polymath 5 ____’acte 16 Potter, to Hagrid 6 Bear sound 17 Less friendly 7 Objective 18 “Omg, that’s funny.” 8 Hemingway novella 19 My Italian 9 Type of hospital “milkshake” 20 And so forth (abbr.) 10 Andretti, for one 21 Fuss 11 President decider 22 Plague swelling 12 Introduction 24 Rabbit tails 13 Door post 26 In a ____ (irritated) 14 Started smoking 27 Mississippi River urbanite 15 Flue deposit 30 Das Musikalisches ____ 23 Equal 31 Back from the dead 24 Finds a Snitch 32 Taxing slopes 25 Unctuous 35 Make fast 26 Court scribe 36 Lolcat owl’s cry of surprise 28 NY Giants, SF 49ers org. 37 German statesman von 29 Before topic Bismarck 32 Woods’ enemies 39 Boot company 33 Real ending 40 Apple product’s codename 34 Killed, Bible-style 41 Type of scotch? 35 “Go, doggie, go!” 42 Sevillan six 38 Bloom County character 44 Charles de Gaulle object 43 Colonnade 46 Prix fixe or à la carte 44 God of war 47 De-wombs (British) 45 Cultural standard 50 Dracula’s creator 46 Product of atomization 51 Effaced 48 A flatline, e.g 52 Droops 49 Mercutio’s queen 53 The T Solution, page 11 Page 10 The Tech March 21, 2008

Switch House Interim Admissions CONDOMINIUMS 217–229 Putnam Avenue, Cambridge Cambridge Home www.switchhouse.net Director Is Only Top Ownership is Within Your Reach. Candidate From MIT You’re closer to owning Admissions, from Page 1 at MIT is that committees serve only a new condo than you think. in an advisory capacity. ence on the short list, which others “I like to make my own deci- Two-bedroom units from $190,000 have confirmed. sions,” Hastings said. and three-bedroom units from $200,000 Schmill declined yesterday to comment on the search process. New dean will face competition Members of the search commit- The new dean of admissions, tee said that the new dean of admis- whoever he or she may be, will INFORMATION SESSION APPLICATION DEADLINE sions should be someone who either need to navigate an environment of Monday, March 31, 2008 Friday, April 14 by 7:00 p.m. has knowledge of MIT’s culture or heightened competition for the best City Hall Annex Building; 344 Broadway, who can get up to speed quickly. students. “We’re heading into turbu- 2nd fl oor conference room, 6:00 p.m. The dean of admissions “repre- lent waters,” Hastings said. sents MIT to the public as much as MIT already has an impressive anybody, second perhaps only to the admissions profile as judged by the ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS president,” said search committee median SAT scores, numbers of • Applicants must have adequate income and/or savings to qualify for a mortgage member Professor Patrick H. Win- underrepresented minorities and in an amount suffi cient to purchase the property, down payment and closing costs. ston ’65. “It’s important for this per- valedictorians, and a high yield, or • Applicants must have appropriate household size for available unit. son to be able to tell the MIT story.” percentage of admitted students who Search committee chair and for- choose to enroll. • Applicants must not exceed the maximum income and asset guidelines. mer President Paul E. Gray ’54 said But as peer institutions begin to • Applicants must qualify as fi rst-time homebuyers. that he personally has “a prejudice recruit more science and engineering • All units are subject to resale, limited equity and primary residency restrictions. toward … promoting from inside,” students while also increasing finan- though the relative brevity of Sch- cial aid for the middle and upper- MAXIMUM INCOME ELIGIBILITY mill’s admissions record was an im- middle classes, competition for the Household Size 100% of Median 120% of Median portant consideration in the selection best students will grow, said Hast- (calculated) (calculated) process. Schmill started working in ings. Additionally, the number of stu- the admissions office in 2002. dents graduating from high schools 2 persons $68,600 $82,320 Administrators declined to com- is expected to peak and then decline 3 persons $77,201 $92,640 ment further on the identities or in the coming years, so colleges will qualifications of the two external have fewer students to recruit. 4 persons $85,801 $102,960 candidates, citing concerns that The new dean will therefore have 5 persons $92,701 $111,240 the news of their application would to work to both continue and enhance make it back to the candidates’ home the quality of the students, said Hast- 6 persons $99,501 $119,400 institutions. ings. He or she should “continue to The original charge from Hast- be very proactiveHenisi. with regard Pat, corto un- sum nos doloreet elesseq uatuera esectem doloboreet, con heniscidunt at, quat dolobore diam, veliquisl el ut adip eraesto duis dolor sum ex exeros ea faci ea amcommo lorper adit nullaor at, commy nosto odolenim nostrud et laore feu facidunt alit lutetue modolor accum ea am, quamcon sequat wisl ullam, consequat. Iquat. Ut el iure feugait elit, quis adionsectet ex endre facip er accum zzrit lor sustis aut verit, sed modolor eraessim et dolore duis nisis ad minit in vendrem quatums andigna feuissed enim zzriusci tem nos dipsusto od magniat wismod tat, voluptat. Ut amcon volesequisl iure deliscillam quatetum dolorpe riusto del eriusto core facilit, qui tem nonsenim zzriustrud dolore conse molestrud modolore corpercilla feu faccum quisci blan volut iustrud minim ipsum ad magnibh esequatem qui bla con volor sectem zzrit eum nonum ese dolortisis amconullaore vulla feu feu feu feum duipsus tionsectem erci tet aci endreet lor si. For more information and to request an application, ings to the search committee request- derrepresented Magnimminorities” doand doloreet,with conulput wisi ex ex eu facincilit alit iustissed eugue vel dolore vent please visit www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/hsg ed an unranked, rather than ranked, MIT’s mission of being an elevator or call the Housing Division at (617)349-4622. short list because the general policy for students of poor economic sta- tus. LEGAL COUNSEL One additional goal for the new MIT students, family, employers and dean will be to increase the number The City of Cambridge Community Development Department does not discriminate on the basis of start-ups seeking U.S. legal counsel, of female applicants, Hastings said. disability. The Department will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats campus or office consultation. Call: In recent years, male applicants have and reasonable modifi cations in policies and procedures to persons with disabilities upon request. outnumbered female applicants three James Dennis Leary, Esq. to one. 321-544-0012

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You could be suffering from Mental Health Service 617.253.2916 Depression It’s smart to reach out. March 21, 2008 The Tech Page 11 High Schools Underrepresent Dropouts to Government By Sam Dillon revisionist studies argued that the na- nia, Los Angeles, said he once point- have them taking those tests,” said ried that schools were not preparing The New York Times tion’s schools were losing more stu- ed out to a state official that, at that Wanda Holly-Stirewalt, director of the work force their states need. In JACKSON, Miss. dents than previously thought. pace, it would take California 500 a program in Jackson, Miss., that December 2005, all 50 agreed to When it comes to high school Jay P. Greene, a researcher at the years to meet its graduation goal. helps dropouts earn a G.E.D. “We’ve standardize their graduation rate graduation rates, Mississippi keeps Manhattan Institute, a conservative “In California, we’re patient,” Mr. heard that a lot. It happens all over calculations, basing them on track- two sets of books. research organization, compared Losen recalled the official saying. the system.” ing individual students through high One team of statisticians working eighth-grade enrollments with the Most troublesome to some ex- After several research groups school. at the state education headquarters number of diplomas bestowed five perts was the way the No Child law’s questioned graduation rates, the Fifteen states have begun to use here recently calculated the official years later to estimate that the na- mandate to bring students to profi- federal Department of Education the formula, said Dane Linn, direc- graduation rate at a respectable 87 tion’s graduation rate was 71 percent. ciency on tests, coupled with its lack in 2005 published an estimated rate tor of the education division at the percent, which Mississippi reported Federal statistics had put the figure of a requirement that they graduate, for each state, to identify those that National Governors Association. to Washington. But in another of- 15 points higher. created a perverse incentive to push were reporting least accurately. The And it has produced some stunning fice piled with computer printouts, Still, Congress did not make drop- figures suggested that nine states had revelations. a second team of number crunchers outs a central focus of the law. And overstated their graduation rates by In North Carolina, the rate plum- came up with a different rate: a more when states negotiated their plans to 10 to 22 percentage points. meted a year ago to 68 percent from sobering 63 percent. carry it out, the Bush administration Part of the discrepancy is because 95 percent. The News & Observer in The state schools superintendent, allowed them to use dozens of differ- “They get them out so many states inflate their official rate Raleigh likened the experience to the Hank Bounds, says the lower rate is ent ways to report graduation rates. they don’t have them by counting dropouts who later earn shock of hearing a doctor diagnose a more accurate and uses it in a cam- As an example, New Mexico a G.E.D. as graduates or by removing terrible illness. paign to combat a dropout crisis. defined its rate as the percentage of taking those tests.” them from calculations altogether. “But now doctors can start treat- “We were losing about 13,000 enrolled 12th graders who received The undercounting of dropouts ments that can lead to a cure,” the dropouts a year, but publishing re- a diploma. That method grossly un- —Wanda Holly-Stirewalt, can be striking. paper said in an editorial. ports that said we had graduation dercounts dropouts by ignoring all Jackson, Miss. In Mississippi, the official for- Mississippi is among the states rate percentages in the mid-80s,” Mr. students who leave before the 12th mula put the graduation rate for the that have become the most seri- Bounds said. “Mathematically, that grade. state’s largest district, Jackson Public ous about confronting their dropout just doesn’t work out.” The law also allowed states to Schools, at 81 percent. Mr. Bounds, problem, Mr. Linn said. Like Mississippi, many states use establish their own goals for improv- students to drop out. If low-achiev- the state schools superintendent, said The state has been building a re- an inflated graduation rate for fed- ing graduation rates. Many set them ing students leave school early, a the true rate was 56 percent. cord system capable of tracking stu- eral reporting requirements under low. Nevada, for instance, pledged school’s performance can rise. At Murrah High School, one of dent data from year to year, and in the No Child Left Behind law and to get just 50 percent of its students No study has documented that eight here, the official graduation 2005 used it to estimate a graduation a different one at home. As a result, to graduate on time. And since the the law has produced such an ef- rate is 99 percent, even though year- rate of 61 percent, 24 points below researchers say, federal figures ob- law required no annual measures of fect nationwide. Experts say they books show that half of Murrah’s the official rate. scure a dropout epidemic so severe progress, California proposed that believe many low-scoring students freshmen disappear before becom- Mr. Bounds took office that fall that only about 70 percent of the one even a one-tenth of 1 percent annual are prodded to leave school, often by ing seniors. Even Murrah’s principal, and was initially consumed with the million American students who start improvement in its graduation rate school officials urging them to seek Roy Brookshire, expressed surprise. aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But ninth grade each year graduate four should suffice. an equivalency certificate known as “I can’t explain how they figured he eventually had time to pore over years later. Daniel J. Losen, who has studied a General Educational Development that, truly I can’t,” Mr. Brookshire the data. California, for example, sends to dropout reporting for the Civil Rights diploma. said. “It was time to boldly confront Washington an official graduation Project at the University of Califor- “They get them out so they don’t Governors also stepped in, wor- the facts,” he said. rate of 83 percent but reports an esti- mated 67 percent on a state Web site. Delaware reported 84 percent to the federal government but publicized four lower rates at home. The multiple rates have many causes. Some states have long ob- scured their real numbers to avoid embarrassment. Others have only recently developed data-tracking systems that allow them to follow dropouts accurately. The No Child law is also at fault. The law set ambitious goals, en- forced through sanctions, to make every student proficient in math and reading. But it established no nation- al school completion goals. “I liken N.C.L.B. to a mile race,” said Bob Wise, a former West Vir- ginia governor who is president of the Alliance for Excellent Educa- tion, a group that seeks to improve schools. “Under N.C.L.B., students are tested rigorously every tenth of a mile. But nobody keeps track as to whether they cross the finish line.” Furthermore, although the law re- quires schools to make only minimal annual improvements in their rates, reporting lower rates to Washington could nevertheless cause more high schools to be labeled failing — a dis- incentive for accurate reporting. With Congressional efforts to rewrite the law stalled, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has begun using her executive powers to correct the weaknesses in it. Ms. Spellings’s ef- forts started Tuesday with a measure aimed at focusing resources on the nation’s worst schools. Graduation rates are also on her agenda. In an interview, Ms. Spellings said she might require states to cal- culate their graduation rate accord- ing to one federal formula. “I’m considering settling this Kl\j[Xp#(8gi`c)''/#-1*'GD once and for all,” she said, “by defin- ing a single federal graduation rate B`ijZ_8l[`kfi`ld#9c[^*)$()* and requesting states to report it that way. That would finally put this issue JkXkX:\ek\i#D@K to rest.” In 2001, the year the law was drafted, one of the first of a string of Solution to Words... from page 9 Uif!Xbz!Ebwje!Nbdbvmbz!Xpslt;! gjoejoh!jefbt-!nbljoh!cpplt!'!wjtvbmj{joh!pvs!xpsme bvuips!pg!Uif!Xbz!Uijoht!Xpsl

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http://caturday.mit.edu [email protected] March 21, 2008 The Tech Page 13 Bexley Didn’t Notice Dormcon

Tax Between 2000 and 2007 Up to Bexley, from Page 1 shown to incoming freshmen to help “I encourage them to be thought- SPERM DONORS them find an appropriate dorm. Bex- ful and polite and clear — and think NEEDED $1100 a month! She said that Bexley does not send ley will still produce an i3 video for about acceptable compromises,” representatives to Dormcon and does the Housing Office. “Consistency is Randolph said. Healthy MEN in college or with a college degree wanted for our not consider itself a member. “What important for freshmen,” Hopp said Dormitories have considered leav- sperm donor program. has been misinterpreted as our seces- about the videos. ing Dormcon before, although not sion is actually just us trying to clear for disestablishmentarian reasons. Minimal time commitment up an accounting error.” Advocacy, dinners, judicial In December 1976, Burton House, Help people fulfill their dreams of starting a family. process may change Cheney said that “there was a Baker House, and MacGregor House Receive free health and genetic screenings. misunderstanding in 2001 during Despite Bexley’s assertions threatened to secede from Dormcon which the Dormcon president took it that they receive no benefits from over policy differences. They would APPLY ONLINE: upon himself to start taxing Bexley.” Dormcon membership, they will have formed a “West Campus alli- Cheney said that Bexley has since likely see some changes in the future ance.” www.SPERMBANK.com been taxed “a total of $9,280, none as Dormcon excludes the dormitory of which Dormcon has agreed to re- from certain activities. imburse.” Dormcon will not exclude Bexley Dormcon receives $5 per semes- when advocating on dormitories’ be- ter from the house tax of all under- half, Hopp said, but it will “encour- graduates who live in dormitories. In age administrators to invite Bexley total, Dormcon receives $1,200 per to represent themselves.” year from Bexley. Hopp said that Bexley will have Hopp said that Dormcon will to take responsibility for organizing not return taxes already collected a dinner during REX. because Dormcon has provided ser- Bexley residents will also not vices such as early return housing, have access to Dormcon’s judicial funding for Residence Exploration committee, which settles disciplin- events during Orientation, and ad- ary issues without involving MIT vocacy on behalf of dormitory in- administrators, Hopp said. terests. “Bexley was made aware of However, Robert M. Randolph, all of these losses before leaving Bexley’s housemaster and the In- Dormcon,” she said. stitute Chaplain, said that Bexley Cheney said that Bexley has nev- residents don’t get any benefits from er asked Dormcon for representation Dormcon. and will fund a dinner if it is a man- “Bexley doesn’t get money from datory REX event. Dormcon to do things Bexley wishes Randolph said that residents to do,” he said. Bexley benefits from “didn’t realize that money was being “other reasons for early returns such taken away from them” until there as sports,” Randolph said, and Bex- was a change in how bills were pre- ley does not participate in REX. sented. Residents tried to opt out of Randolph said that he has heard the tax in the fall, Randolph said, and many students say that they don’t they have “made a stronger effort have a voice in the MIT adminis- this year.” tration, and that he doesn’t know Randolph said that Bexley will whether Dormcon has a voice that probably not get past taxes refunded. represents students. “[I’m] sure Dormcon has spent the Hopp said that Dormcon is “more money,” he said. of a confederacy than a governing He said that “Dormcon should body” and does not impose rules on make itself more attractive to Bex- dorms, although there are a few ex- ley” if it wants Bexley’s participa- ceptions. One is that Dormcon orga- tion. nizes a dinner at each dormitory dur- Hopp said that Dormcon has en- ing REX. Another is the Interactive couraged Bexley in the past to come Introduction to the Institute videos, to Dormcon meetings. Solution to Crossword Solution to Sudoku from page 8 from page 8                                                                                  Page 14 The Tech March 21, 2008 Single-Sex Swimming Pilot Will Continue Until June Swimming, from Page 1 Khan says the program is more ference in interest may be because If the men-only hour were to be program at MIT has nothing to do popular among women; nine showed women might feel more uncomfort- eliminated, Nek said he would re- with sexism or religion. “We try to staffing the pool two extra hours a up the first week, and 13 showed up able among men in the pool than vice turn to using the pool during regular meet demands wherever they are,” week. during the second. Nek attributes the versa. hours, as he did before. Khan was he said. Although the pilot program will disparity to greater publicity among “Guys are more likely to ogle at less open to the idea of returning to Moore also pointed out that the end during the week of commence- women. Khan said she advertised women,” Nek said. the pool during regular hours, citing Harvard program substantially dif- ment, the athletics department hopes the single-gender sessions to mem- The inconsistency in participation the cumbersomeness of wearing a fers from MIT’s, as Harvard offers to make the single-gender swimming bers of the Muslim Students’s As- appears to coincide with the interest sufficiently modest swimsuit. female-only hours but not male-only hours permanent if there is strong in- sociation, students associated with Randolph and Moore noticed prior to MIT’s decision to begin holding swimming hours. He also noted that terest, said Moore. Hillel, and residents of all-female the program’s implementation. Both single-gender swim hours comes on the single-gender times occur out- According to Murtaza Nek ’09, undergraduate dormitory McCor- noted that women had requested the the heels of a decision by Harvard side regular operating hours. The only three men have taken advantage mick Hall. single-gender swim sessions more University to begin making one of its Alumni Pool closes at 9 p.m. on of the swimming hour each week. Nek also suggested that the dif- often than men. gyms open for women only during weekdays, so there is a thirty minute Moore and Director of Athletics, six specific hours each week. That gap before the single-gender swim Physical Education, and Recreation move sparked local and national con- sessions. Julie Soriero said they would prefer troversy, as some believed the move Randolph said he supports keep- News Briefs, continued to keep both of the single-gender was sexist and caters to religious ing the swim option open. “We have Briefs, from Page 1 sessions. “You have to offer oppor- interests — specifically, Muslim in- a big and diverse community and I tunities to both [genders],” Moore terests. think it’s important to allow that di- 2006 at the intersection of Amesbury Street and Memorial Dr. while said. Moore says single-gender swim versity to express itself,” he said. crossing outside of the crosswalk. Joseph A. Croswell ’99 sustained se- rious injuries after a motorcycle accident on Mass Ave. in 1996, when he was hit by a car making a left turn onto Amherst Street. Meyers, a native of New York City and a graduate of Yale Univer- sity, was pursuing a master’s in the classics. He was an active member of Harvard Hillel and fondly recalled by many of his colleagues. “Isaac was a cherished member of our community, and we feel immeasurable pain and sorrow at this time,” Harvard Hillel wrote on its Web site. Ben Shapiro wrote in his column on townhall.com: “Isaac was simply a phenomenal person. He was ridiculously literate -- his love for lit- erature and philosophy was infectious.” Family and friends met for an informal gathering at Harvard’s Boylston Hall on Monday night. The funeral was held Wednesday in New York City. —S. Campbell Proehl Faculty Vote On Proposals At the Wednesday, March 19 faculty meeting, the faculty voted to make the sophomore exploratory option permanent. The option had been a five-year experiment of the Committee on the Undergraduate Program. The CUP reported that students who declared a subject ex- ploratory had a higher sophomore-year grade point average than stu- dents who did not declare a subject exploratory. The faculty also voted to add a Pass/D/Fail option for graduate students. Departments and subject instructors will be able to restrict students’ use of the option. The Committee on Graduate Programs will reevaluate the option after five years. The faculty also heard a proposal to make the Comparative Media Studies course, which had been a five-year experiment, permanent. Alice Fan The faculty will vote on that proposal at the next regularly scheduled Michael Aponte ’95 (left) and Dave Irvine ’95, two of the foremost players in MIT’s blackjack meeting, on Wednesday, April 16. team, share their experiences at “The True Story of the MIT Blackjack Team” sponsored by LSC —Michael McGraw-Herdeg last Tuesday, March 18. SUMMER UROP 2008 MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Want to have fun... work on interesting research... and get paid? Find out about CSAIL summer research opportunities for undergraduate students:

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CUP Proposes New Regulation: ARE YOU TERRIFIED OF ILLNESS? Two Majors, One Piece of Paper Double Major, from Page 1 change next month, the CUP, COC, tee on Curricula and Faculty Policy Do I have a Brain Tumor? and administrative offices will imple- Committee reviewed this proposal A.L.S.? getting two degrees complete an ex- ment the change. The CUP hopes to and these concerns, the CUP brought Alzheimer’s? tra 90 units. offer this option to students in gradu- the proposal before the faculty. Instead of receiving two degrees ating in 2010, said Henderson. Cur- The proposal originated from the Could I have at commencement, a student study- rent students will not be prevented recommendations of the Task Force ing two courses will receive a single from receiving double degrees. Hol- on the Undergraduate Educational Heart Disease? S.B. degree with both courses print- mes said that double degrees could Commons, which recommended ed on it. This will have no effect on be eliminated for incoming freshmen flexible cross-disciplinary studies in Multiple Sclerosis? how minors are awarded. Petitions starting with the class of 2012. its fall 2006 final report. The idea for triple majors, which were last ac- But not all students approve of has been thrown around since 1999, cepted in March 2000, will still not the new proposal. Henderson said. Do I have Cancer? be accepted. Martin F. Holmes ’08, the Under- Members of the CUP hope that One justification for the change graduate Association’s president and more students will pursue two ma- is leveling the playing field for stu- a member of the CUP, said that some jors under the new plan, said Hen- dents who might not come in with people see the two degrees as a tradi- derson. x You may be eligible for a research study at Brigham and Advanced Placement (AP) credits. tion unique to MIT. Most peer insti- Will getting one piece of paper “There is this equity issue,” said tutions do not hand out two pieces of instead of two change the world? Women’s Hospital Henderson. paper to students who complete two Maybe not. x 24-week treatment for health anxiety and hypochondriasis Henderson said that the change majors. But by allowing more people to at no cost would make it simpler and easier to Others, Holmes said, were con- pursue degrees in more than one x Receive $550 for 6 research visits understand what pursuing two ma- cerned that removing the extra 90 area that interests them, Holmes and jors entails: completing the require- unit requirement would make the de- Henderson said they hope that this CALL: ( 6 1 7 ) 7 3 2 - 5 9 6 9 ments of two department programs, gree seem less challenging. A related transition will promote interdisci- not completing two separate under- concern raised by student feedback to plinary collaboration that could one E-MAIL: [email protected] graduate degrees. the CUP is that peer pressure might day tackle the world’s challenging VISIT: www.TheHealthStudy.com Henderson said that faculty re- entice more students to attempt an problems. sponded positively to the proposal at apparently easier double major. Wednesday’s meeting. After various faculty standing If faculty approve the policy committees such as the Commit-

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This space donated by The Tech ©2004 Bose Corporation. Patent rights issued and/or pending. Delivery is subject to product availability. Page 16 The Tech March 21, 2008 Sp o r t s MIT Volleyball Takes Brophy, Jacobi Swim at Nationals Down Rival Harvard As Holbrook Captures Third Place By James Kramer finished third in the one-meter com- Jacobi split 24.47 seconds to close in DAPER Staff petition, scoring 428.65 to hold off 21st in the 50-yard freestyle during The Engineers put the finishing Calvin College’s Erica Duer, who Thursday’s preliminaries. During Senior Night touches on their third consecutive made a late push for the bronze. MIT participated in only two top 20 finish at the NCAA Women’s Sasha B. Brophy ’08 delivered events on the final day of the meet, By Shreyes Seshasai special moments of the season. Swimming and Div- an electrifying performance in the with Brophy and Jacobi returning Sports Editor MIT pulled out to an early 6-3 ing Championships 200-yard freestyle, shaving nearly from strong efforts earlier in the Senior night ended in triumph lead in the first game, but Harvard on Saturday, while three seconds off her personal best to weekend to compete in the 100-yard for the men’s volleyball team, as the took control late, 25-19. The visitors senior Doria M. Hol- finish sixth in Friday’s preliminaries freestyle. In the final race of her Engineers defeated Harvard Univer- held that lead and took the first game brook ’08 closed her with an Institute-record and NEW- collegiate career, Brophy delivered sity for the first time 30-22. career as the top diver MAC Open-record time of 1:52.64. another solid effort by placing 25th since 1999 in front of In the second game, Malcolm in Institute history. Holbrook won Brophy finished eighth in the finals in the prelims with a time of 53.13 an energized Rockwell K. Bean ’11 set the tone early with her eighth All-America honor in as with a time of 1:53.86. seconds. Jacobi finished 36th dur- Cage on Wednesday a block to take the first point. With many tries. Amy E. Jacobi ’11 also enjoyed ing the morning session in a clip of night. After dropping Eugene Jang ’09 serving, and strong Holbrook finished fourth overall a good first trip to nationals, finish- 54.05 seconds. the first game, MIT net play from T. Scott Pollom ’09 and on the three-meter with a score of ing seventh in the consolation finals MIT finished 19th out of 52 scor- came back to defeat its rivals from Dean, MIT built its lead to 13-7. 490.40. Despite easily topping her on Friday in the 100-yard fly. Jacobi ing teams to earn its highest finish at down the river, 22-30, 30-26, 30-28, The advantage didn’t last that championship score of last year, split 57.67 seconds in the morning the NCAA Championships since se- and 30-27. long though, as Harvard came back Holbrook slipped from first to fourth and 57.71 seconds at the evening curing 16th place during the 1988-89 As part of the annual senior night before another block by Dean tied after the preliminaries as the first session. campaign. Kenyon College cruised celebration, the team commemorated the game at 20-20. Later after a long three finishers shattered the exist- Brophy swam 5:06.65 to finish to its 22nd national title in the past the careers of its five seniors before rally, a kill by Pamidimukkala, last ing national record. Holbrook also 24th in the 500-yard freestyle and 25 years. the game, with younger players in- week’s NECVA Player of the Week, troducing and giving short speeches brought the score to 27-24. The En- about each senior. Combining seri- gineers took the second game 30-24. ous praise with a little humor, the MIT held its momentum in the Harrison Leads Women’s Gymnastics team and fans showed their gratitude third game with more strong play at towards five of the most influential net. Three straight blocks brought players in the program’s history, set- their lead to 8-2, and artful serving To Highest Team Score in Four Years ting the stage for what would become by Jang kept MIT ahead 14-7. By Eduardo Ovalle tion and crushed the previous Insti- as they were unable to maintain their yet another memorable night in their A Harvard timeout seemed to end Assistant Coach tute record of 46.675, set in 2004 ranking. Harrison led the way with volleyball careers. MIT’s momentum, but a drop shot The women’s gymnastics team and matched earlier this year. Zim- her title-winning total of 9.625 as A short four years ago, Praveen by Bean followed by an ace by Pami- posted its highest team score in four merman topped the MIT record with Trowbridge (8.925) and Barnard Pamidimukkala ’08, Ryan G. Dean dimukkala brought MIT’s lead back years and the third-best total in the a 9.75 to claim first place. Alison M. (8.825) bolstered the team’s efforts. ’08, Matthew Ng ’08, and Stephen up to 21-15. Seniors Dean, described program’s history with Barnard ’09 registered a personal- Due to their strong individual D. Ray ’08 came to MIT and joined a by teammates as the heart and soul a total of 185.025 best score of 9.575 to finish seventh performances, MIT will send five men’s team in flux. This core group, of the team, and Ng, whose defense points to place fifth at overall. Rebecca L. Stavely ’11 also gymnasts to the NCGA Champion- which soon would be joined by Ken- continues to impress audiences, both the Eastern College set a new personal standard (9.30) ship which will be hosted by State neth K. Rosche ’08 to round out were steadying factors for the team. Athletic Conference as Harrison (9.475) and Trowbridge University of New York in Cortland the current senior class, stayed to- With the game becoming tight, championships hosted (9.175) rounded out the squad. on March 28-29. Trowbridge, on gether and developed MIT into the the Engineers brought in co-captain by Springfield College on Saturday. After three rotations, MIT was in the strength of a career-best total of powerhouse it is today, consistently Ray to serve, as they have done in Ursinus College was the crowned third place heading into the uneven 36.85, qualified for the all-around performing well in the challenging many pressure situations throughout the champion with an overall mark bars. With an automatic team bid to along with Harrison and Zimmer- North East Collegiate Volleyball As- the year. Ray responded beautifully, of 187.675, followed by State Uni- the National Collegiate Gymnastics man. Barnard will compete on the sociation New England Division. surprising Harvard with an ace. The versity of New York at Brockport Association Championship on the vault while Mingo will represent the Much of this success can also strong serving of Harvard’s Brady (187.175), State University of New line, the Engineers’ quest fell short Engineers on the balance beam. be credited to head coach Paul Dill Weissbourd though brought the score York at Cortland (186.75), and the and his experienced coaching staff. close again, but another kill from host Pride (185.875). Dill has done well in developing the Pamidimukkala ended it 30-28. Individually, the Engineers took program, starting with the current In the fourth game, a kill from home more awards than any other Women’s Water Polo seniors, his first recruiting class at Garrett L. Winther ’11 tied it at 22, school as Sophia L. Harrison ’08 MIT. Earlier this month, Dill became and with Pollom serving, Tech went was named the Co-Gymnast of the Defeats Boston College the first coach in the program’s his- on a run. With the crowd on their feet, Year. The honor marked the third By Analiese DiConti tory to reach 100 career wins. Michael Demyttenaere ’10 unleashed year in a row MIT was part of con- Team Member For the seniors, this game didn’t a spike that Harvard couldn’t handle, ference gymnast of the year acco- The women’s water polo team took sole control of first place in the mark the end of their home careers, and MIT won the game 30-27, secur- lades. In 2006, Julia C. Zimmerman North Atlantic Division on March 13 with a 10-8 win over Boston Col- but it still provided some of the most ing their fourth win in a row. ’09 was voted the Rookie of the lege at the Zesiger Center Pool. Blair K. Brettmann G and Analiese M. Year and then followed this up with DiConti ’10 had three goals each to give the Engineers Gymnast of the Year plaudits last an early lead. The team held off Boston College’s late season. attempts in the final minutes of the game. In addition to her conference After two quarters in goal, Caroline A. DeBoer ’11 award, Harrison captured the all- came out of the cage to tally three more goals for the around crown with a personal best Engineers. Newcomer Amanda C. Engler-Dobberke G of 38.275 and successfully defended made three saves in goal to hold the Eagles down in the final half of the her uneven bar title with a 9.625. match. Lisa C. Tacoronte ’10 proved a valuable asset with four assists, Zimmerman put up a new Institute and Kristen L. Cook G contributed unstoppable defense and a goal. record on vault (9.75) which also claimed top honors in the event. The Cardinal and Gray got start- ed on the beam with its highest total of the season (46.55) and its second- The Tech’s Athlete of the Week: highest mark in Institute history. Katie M. Mingo ’10 (9.15), Sarah Sophia L. Harrison ’08 N. Trowbridge ’08 (9.425), Harrison Sophia L. Harrison ’08 was named the Eastern Collegiate Athletic (9.50), and Zimmerman (9.55), the Conference Co-Gymnast of the Year on Saturday as MIT placed fifth defending national champion in the at the ECAC Championships. In addition, Harrison captured the all- event, all contributed solid routines. around crown in the competition with a personal best of 38.275. She On floor, Harrison took third placed first in uneven bars with a 9.625, and took third on floor with place with a 9.675 as Zimmerman a 9.675 finished fifth with a mark of 9.65. Harrison will join four other MIT gymnasts at the National Colle- David Da He—The Tech Trowbridge contributed a solid giate Gymnastics Association Championship, which will be hosted by Ken Van Tilburg ’11 hits a running forehand during a doubles 9.375 while Elizabeth L. Stavely ’11 SUNY Cortland on March 28-29. Sarah N. Trowbridge ’08 set a new match against Emerson College in the J.B. Carr Tennis Bubble notched a season-best performance career best in qualifying for the all-around competition, along with on March 19. Van Tilburg and partner Eric A. Beren ’08, this of 9.25. teammates Zimmerman and Harrison. week’s NEWMAC Doubles Team of the Week, won the match MIT showcased its dominance on The honor marked the second straight year MIT has won this con- 8-2. The Engineers won the match decisively 7-0. the vault with a 47.225 event total ference honor, as Zimmerman was awarded it last year. that ranked second in the competi- —Shreyes Seshasai, Sports Editor

Sc o r e b o a r d Up c o m i n g Ho m e Ev e n t s Baseball Men’s Tennis Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Friday, March 21, 2008 Rhode Island College (7-3) 3 Emerson College (0-1) 0 Baseball vs. Vassar College 2, 4:30 p.m., Briggs Field Men’s Tennis vs. Skidmore College 4 p.m., duPont Tennis Courts MIT (0-1) 1 MIT (7-3) 7 Saturday, March 22, 2008 Softball Men’s Volleyball Baseball vs. Babson College 12, 2:30 p.m., Briggs Field Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Sailing, Boston Dinghy Cup 9:30 a.m., Charles River Men’s Gymnastics, New England Invitational Simmons College (9-2) 10 Harvard University (7-9) 1 3:00 p.m., duPont Athletic Center MIT (0-1) 11 MIT (22-10) 3