Add Date Today The Weather MIT’s Today: Cloudy, windy, unseasonably warm, 60°F (16°C) Oldest and Largest Tonight: Becoming clear, 39°F (4°C) Tomorrow: Sunny and warm, Newspaper 57°F (14°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 126, Number 10 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, March 10, 2006 Missile Dispute Enters 7th Year As Air Force Takes Over Inquiry By Keith J. Winstein But last week, MIT and the Penta- secrecy, both because of MIT’s re- SENIOR EDITOR gon agreed on an end to the standoff: quirement to keep misconduct mat- Last Friday, MIT turned to a new MIT will diverge somewhat from its ters confidential as well as the pres- chapter in the seven-year-old dispute written rules and disband its panel ence of classified information. As over whether Lincoln Laboratory re- of outside investigators, but the De- a result, questions raised about the searchers fraud- fense Department will conduct its compromise may prove difficult for ulently issued own investigation, by a senior Air MIT to answer: News a passing grade Force scientist and administrator, to a 1997 pro- Brendan B. Godfrey. ¶ Did MIT submit to so many Analysis totype from the At the Institute’s insistence, Nor- restrictions on Augustine’s ability military’s missile defense system. man R. Augustine, the retired long- to “advise” the investigation that he The Lincoln-led study gave a time chief executive of Lockheed won’t be able to do anything? generally positive review to claims Martin Corp., will serve as “advi- As part of the MIT-Defense agree- of the defense contractor TRW, now sor and consultant to the investiga- ment, Augustine, who is volunteer- part of Northrop Grumman, that its tor, to help assure an impartial and ing his time, is to “have full access to software was able to tell the differ- thorough investigation,” Provost L. all classified and unclassified docu- ence between an enemy warhead and Rafael Reif wrote in an e-mail to the ments,” except those on a special list a decoy balloon in a 1997 missile faculty. of documents withheld in 2003 from test. MIT officials clearly regard the a civil lawsuit that also alleged fraud For three years, ever since a pre- compromise as a welcome step to- in the missile defense system. liminary inquiry found that the mat- ward reaching some resolution of the Unfortunately, the list of withheld ter warranted a full-blown exami- allegations, even if the MIT rules are classified documents is itself clas- nation, the Institute’s policies have not being strictly adhered to. sified, and no MIT official appears called for a “prompt” investigation “Would we prefer to be oversee- to have had access to the list before into the allegations of scientific fraud ing the investigation? Yes. That’s agreeing to this condition. levied in 2001 by Professor Theodore why we tried to do that,” said Claude That could put Augustine in a dif- A. Postol ’67. R. Canizares, the associate provost. ficult position, because the disputed BRIAN HEMOND—THE TECH That hasn’t happened, because “Given the limitations that we have Jorge Cham, author of the Piled Higher and Deeper cartoon, gives the Missile Defense Agency forbade not been able to get around and that Lincoln Labs, Page 12 a talk on the virtues of procrastination in 26-100 on Wednesday MIT to investigate, saying the risk of are the law of the land, this is the best afternoon. A book signing followed the presentation. disclosure of classified information we can do.” was too great. The entire matter is shrouded in In Short Online voting for the Under- graduate Association president and Graduate Programs Receive More Applications vice president and class council rep- By Kirtana Raja this year, Johnson said, because than the overall average. this year in order to allow student- resentatives began yesterday. Can- STAFF REPORTER many of the departments are still Terry P. Orlando, professor of faculty ratios to balance out. didate platforms and voting ballots MIT’s graduate programs have accepting materials for incomplete electrical engineering and computer The physics department received can be found at http://vote.mit.edu. seen a significant overall increase applications. science and a graduate admissions seven percent more applications this Voting will continue online until of the number of applicants for fall The Department of Electrical officer, said that based on previous year. Academic Administrator Brian 11:59 p.m. next Tuesday, March 14, 2006. Applications totaled around Engineering and Computer Science years, the yield is expected to be E. Canavan said that the Department and paper balloting will be available 14,850, about 15 percent higher than did not see much change this year. about 50 to 60 percent. of Physics has more fellowship and in Lobby 10 next Wednesday. the corresponding total last year, For both years, the applicant pool Also, he said, since last year’s research money this year, so it will said Elizabeth S. Johnson, associ- was split 60-40 between foreign and yield was about 65 percent, much likely offer more admissions. Last Send news information and tips to ate director of admissions. Johnson domestic citizens. higher than the anticipated 50, the [email protected]. said it was unclear what might have Twenty percent of admits were department admitted fewer students Applications, Page 11 caused the increase. In the past two women, and 4 percent were un- years, the numbers had taken a dip derrepresented minorities in both of approximately the same magni- years. tude, so numbers this year indicate This year, of the 60 applicants a possible recovery. from MIT, 20 were accepted into the The totals are not finalized for graduate program, far better odds Pushpinder Singh Family and friends of Pushpinder Singh ’98 gathered in MIT chapel yesterday for his memorial service, filling all the seats and crowding against the back and side walls. The service was informal and did not follow a schedule, as Singh would have liked, according to Media Lab director Frank Moss PhD ’77. Friends, mentors, and students came up to the microphone to share memories of the MIT post-doctoral associ- ate, who will be remembered as brilliant and enthusiastic about learn- ing, yet humble and kind. The mood swung as speakers shared funny anecdotes, and sometimes lost their composure as they described the loss of an individual who had been part of the MIT community for over a decade. Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Professor Gerald J. Sussman ’68 described meeting Singh 13 years ago and seeing him in his classes over the years. Singh “showed up at my office” all the time until recently, he said. Sussman said that “Push’s work was a breath of fresh air,” and although “it’s been a rough time for all of us … Push would not want us to be miserable.” STEPHANIE LEE—THE TECH British artist Simon Starling describes his “Island of the Weeds” project, inspired by rhododen- Singh, Page 15 drons, during a Center for Advanced Visual Studies presentation at the MIT Museum Thursday. Comics Natania Ant- NEWS ler shares her SAT scoring mistakes may affect World & Nation . 2 thoughts some college applicants. Opinion . 4 on Bad Taste. Arts . 7 Sports . 16 Page 5 Page 7 Page 14 Page 2 THE TECH March 10, 2006 WORLD & NATION U.S. Military to Close Abu Ghraib Dubai Company Drops Ports Prison in Iraq By Robert F. Worth THE NEW YORK TIMES BAGHDAD, IRAQ Deal Amid American Uproar The American military will close Abu Ghraib, the prison west of Baghdad that became notorious after revelations of abuses by Ameri- By David E. Sanger Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., an- signal that Bush wanted a face-sav- can guards there in 2004, a spokesman said Thursday. THE NEW YORK TIMES nounced the change on the Senate ing way out of the shift by declining A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Keir-Kevin Curry, said that opera- WASHINGTON floor, two hours before the Senate to repeat the veto threat. tions will be transferred to a new prison facility at Camp Cropper, The state-owned Dubai company had been scheduled to vote on a mo- DP World said the decision had once construction is completed there. “The plan is to accomplish this seeking to manage some terminal tion that could have paved the way been made by the prime minister of within the next three months,” he said. operations at six American ports for a Democratic proposal to scuttle the United Arab Emirates who is the Curry said the detainee population at Abu Ghraib was 4,537. dropped out of the deal on Thurs- the deal. ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Camp Cropper, at the Baghdad airport, now holds 140 prisoners, day, bowing to a political uproar in Warner made his announcement bin Rashid al Maktoum. including dozens who have been termed high-value detainees, includ- Congress and around the country amid indications that the White “This was clearly not a business ing Saddam Hussein. that swept aside President Bush’s ef- House was looking for a way out of decision made by DP World,” a se- Even though American military prisons have been overcrowded, forts. the confrontation. nior administration official said. “It Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner of the Army said in December that no The company, DP World, said A delegation of Republican was a strategic decision made by the facilities or prisoners now held by American forces would be turned that at the direction of Dubai’s ruler congressional leaders told Bush on UAE, to avoid further damage.” over to the Iraqi government until worries about mistreatment had it would “transfer” to a still-unnamed Thursday morning that his threat to In Dubai, a senior political offi- been laid to rest.