IT's The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Sunny, pleasant, 42°F (6°C) Tonight: Mostly cloudy, 25°F (-3°C) ewspaper Tomorrow: Cooler, 32°F (O°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 118, umber 68 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Wednesday, January 27, 1999 6.270 Raiders Will Square Off Tonight By Jane Yoo into their opponent's bins, and STAFF REPORTER robots that try to collect as many Signaling the end of the positive balls and place them in Independent Activities Period, their own bin. Most robots, Lego robots no bigger than a one however, represent a hybrid. foot cube will, for the 13th Following weeks of building consecutive year, grace the contest and testing, teams will finally tables in Room 26-100. experience the satisfaction of This year, the robots battle a la seeing their works-in-progress Indiana Jones in a competition transformed into a fully functional entitled "Raiders of the Lost robot. While some students are Parts." intent on winning the competition, Tonight's compeition at 6 p.m. others are more relaxed and just marks the end of participants' three want to see their hard work pay and a half week struggle to off. To many participants, the construct their robots. highlight of the competition is Because the event is so popular, merely seeing if the robot works at course organizers recommend that all. spectators arrive early to get a seat. Last year's competitIOn, Latecomers will be directed to the "Robogolf," attracted over 500 overflow room, 34-101. The students and faculty. This year, AARON ISAKSEN-THE TECH competition will also be broadcast with the varying robot strategies Mark Pipes '01 shows parents Cynthia and Steven the robot his group created during Independent live on MIT cable channel 35. and the possibility of controller , Activities Period for the 6.270 competition. The competition will be held tonight In Room 26-100. "Raiders of the Lost Parts," is board failure, "Raiders of the Lost slightly different than previous Parts" should attract just as many, competitions. In addition to ifnot more. Students Prepare Presentations allowing students to use more Legos, one of the most important Course relies on many disciplines changes includes a new controller Experience in robotics is board donated by Compaq. helpful, but certainly not Of Residential Design Proposals According to course organizer necessary. To give students some By Karen E. Robinson the beginning of the fall. discussions last week. Adrian Danieli, these boards are guidance towards robot design and STAFF REPORTER A contest was the best way to Each session had a different "much more powerful than robot construction, three lectures and six As part of the Reinventing involve community members in focus: examination of the current controller boards used in previous recitations are offered during the Residence Life at MIT design planning the new system, said system, discussion of possibilities, contests." course. However, students are contest, teams of students, faculty, Chancellor Lawrence S. Bacow '72. considerations of system design, forced to integrate a variety of staff, and alumni are working this This is obviously a systems and helping each team develop a Robots are diverse this year disciplines and draw upon week on residence design systems, problem, and "much of the wisdom plan, Kolenbrander said. At the first This year's competition knowledge in mechanical and to be presented to the Steering needed could only be found with the session, a panel of five members includes an eclectic mix of robots. electrical engineering as well as Committee for Residence Design. community," Bacow said. addressed questions about the The table contains balls designated programming. Teams wiJl present their Dean of Students Kirk current system. as "positive" and "negative." Each The class is a "practical proposals for Orientation, academic Kolenbrander '60, who is running Each team will use the robot also has a scoring bin at one approach to solving a real-world advising, and residence selection the contest, caJled the contest a framework set up by those meetings end of the table. Robots score problem," said participant Morris starting in 2001 in a public forum to "bold new experience for MIT," a to design a workable system. Teams points by collecting positive balls, Tao '00. be held in 10-250 at 1:00 p.m. Friday. wide open opportunity for students will also submit web-ready depositing positive baJls in their While the majority of The steering committee will use to participate in administrative descriptions of their plans; designs bin, or depositing negative balls in participants involved in the the ideas presented by the various decisions. "The Institute is saying, will likely be available on the their opponent's bin. competition are Electrical groups to create a final residence 'We want your help.'" Internet on Friday afternoon. The robot strategies this year Engineering and Computer Science design proposal, which wiJl be At least one student from each include "bulldozers" which completed at the end of this term or designed team attended four open Housing, Page 11 aggressively push negative balls 6.270, Page 12 l~ Courses Aim to Produce Charming MIT Students By Rima Arnaout discretion of the instructors. STAFF REPORTER "AJI of the classes are run After a one-year hiatus, the differently, but they're all interactive annual lAP Charm School wiJl and all different," said Public again grace Lobbies 7 and 10 today Service Center Coordinator Monica from noon until 4 p.m. A. Huggins, one of this year's Students get the chance to earn Charm School coordinators. degrees in charm: six classes earn a Charm School is offering some students a CB (bachelor of charm) new subjects this year, such as while eight classes earn a CM "How to Tell Somebody Something (masters of charm). By passing They'd Rather Not Hear." twelve classes, a student is awarded Old favorites to be offered a doctorate in charm. include Buttering Up Big Shots," Beginning just before noon, taught by Dean of Students and students will be able to pick up Undergraduate Education Rosalind schedules detailing the afternoon's H. Williams. In addition, Chancellor classes. Lawrence S. Bacow '72 will teach a "Generally, you'll have a booth subject entitled "Small Talk." where the class is being taught," Besides presiding as the dean, said Dean of Students and Director Merritt will teach "Exemplary of the Experimental Studies Group Locomotion," which tries to "teach Travis R. Merritt, who will preside [students] stylish ways of walking ANNIE CHOI- THE TECH as Charm School dean this year. The down the Infinite Corridor" and Ngan-Fong Huang '02, left, and Kan Llu '02 prepare a vegetarian dish during a gourmet ontent and style of the different vegetarian cooking class In Networks Saturday. 'charm classes is left to the Charm School, Page 10 Several off-campus living groups Comics THE ARTS H World & Nation 2 experiment with an Independent The last movies of 1998, while II h Opinion .4 Activities Period rush. somewhat tepid, are nonetheless n ~~ Arts 6 some of the best movies of the TechCalendar .13 year. II It Sports 24 Page 9 Page 13 Page 6 H January 27, 1999 Page 2 TH H \, t, WORLD & ATIO Rescue Efforts following Columbian Re ·cans Wm Potentially Quake Slowed by Rain, Aftershocks LOS 4'\(jELES THIES ARME IA. COLOMBIA Costly Victory on Witnesses Rescue worker truggled through drivmg rain and a pair of after- hocks Tue day a they earched for urvivor of an earthquake that By Eric Planln the trial and, some senators said, take videotape," said Sen. Mike killed at lea t 500 people and injured thousand. THE WASHINGTON POST complicated efforts to adopt a reso- DeWine (R-Ohio). "I see no reason As night fell more than 24 hour after Monday' quake in we tern WASHINGTO lution censuring the president for it can't be done by this weekend." Colombia, the full extent of damage had not been as e sed. After a flurry of high pressure, his conduct. From the beginning of the three Authoritie feared the death toll could at least double. closed door talks among Senate "We've been able to largely week trial, the question of whether Building on the central Plaza Bolivar were crushed in Armenia, a GOP leader and the House avoid partisan votes until now, but to call witnesses or to rely on the city of 300,000. One heavy concrete structure collapsed upon itself, Republican managers, Republicans I'm skeptical," Senate Minority voluminous House impeachment leaving all five floors the height of a single tory. appeared poised Tuesday to keep the Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) record and grand jury testimony as It was unclear whether the two aftershocks, one regi tering 2.8, impeachment trial of President told reporters Tuesday. "I think on the Democrats favor has threatened caused any additional damage. But the plaza wa evacuated on orders C inton going beyond this week and the vote on dismissal and on the to split the Senate along partisan of Armenia' mayor, Alvaro Patino, because weakened buildings were to depose witnesses including vote on witnesses, it sounds as if the lines. in danger of collap e. Monica S. Lewinsky. lines may be drawn. I hope that is Nearly three weeks ago, senators Rescue worker used picks, shovels and their bare hands in the But even as Senate Majority not the case, but it may be." essentially agreed to postpone that ruins of collapsed building. orne earth-moving equipment was Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and But Republicans see their decision as a way of getting the trial available, but crews did not want to use it for fear of crushing possi- other Republicans savor their tacti- approach as a workable compromise launched on a bipartisan basis, but ble survivors trapped under ton of rubble.