Welcome, Families MIT's The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Sunny, windy, 55°F (13°C) Tonight: Clear, cold, 40°F (6°C) Newspaper .• ~:.. Tomorrow: Cloudy, rainy, 58°F (14°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 122, Number 48 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, October 18, 2002 Annan Speaks on Global Compact, Paper Shows Airline !!~~~ Ob~~~~~ro~ ~~~AID~ala Profiling Ineffective of academic discourse and gala fes- In today's society, Annan said, By Brian Loux (6.805) class. Chakrabarti "had the Kofi Annan SM '72, the seventh tivities, Annan opened the Academ- peoples and nations must build a NEWS EDITOR idea of writing a report on profil- secretary-general of the United ic Convocation with a speech on the sense of shared responsibility to Many critics of airport profiling ing," Strauss said. "We brain- Nations, delivered the keynote need for trust in the international deal with urgent global threats. have derailed it as racist and an stormed how CAPPS works and if it address last Friday at the celebration community and the obligation of "Trade and communications," he unlawful invasion of privacy. But could be successfully implement- of MIT Sloan's fiftieth anniversary businesses to aid in solving global ------------- Aaron B. Strauss G and Samidh ed." in Kresge Auditorium. problems ranging from environmen- Annan, Page 23 Chakrabarti G added something new It soon became apparent to the to the list last spring: an aid to ter- two students that the system would rorists. not. They concluded that terrorist The Computer-AssistedPassenger cells could send members on flights Prescreening System was instated without any intention of hijacking first in 1997 to single out passengers the plane just to see whether or not that posed a significant threat for an members would be flagged. After explosive device check. After Sept. testing the system enough, the cell 11, 2001, CAPPS was expanded to could confidently send hijackers secondary checkpointscreening. onto a flight knowing they would not Strauss and Chakrabarti decided be screened. The effect was termed to analyze the system in their Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier Security, Page 18 Weekend Provides Taste OfMIT Life for Families By Kathy Un tions, but most of the events are STAFF WRITER free," she said. Approximately 2,000 people There are many events planned from 550 families are expected to for the weekend, including open come to MIT for Family Weekend classes, museum visits, tours of 2002, which begins today and runs MIT and Boston, lectures, and arts - through Sunday, Oct. 20. programs. Many departments and AARON D. MIHALIK-THE TECH "It's an opportunity for families living groups will also be hosting Kofl Annan ~M '72, the Secretary General of the United Nations, was the keynote speaker at the Sloan to come to MIT and experience it in receptions. School of Management's fiftieth anniversary. celebration In Kresge last Friday. full swing," said Laura DePaoli, coordinator of MIT Family Week- Departments sponsor programs end. Fifteen of the 24 academic Voting Age Bill Stuck in State Legislature "Typically, about 50 percent of departments will be receiving inter- By Ricarose Roque cal pressure is placed on the com- to be clarified before this bill is the families that come are families ested parents with a range of pro- STAFF REPORTER mittee doing the study," Irish said. passed." of freshmen," DePaoli said. "Fami- grams including lectures, videos, and The bill to lower the voting age "However, with the legislature lies pay a small fee to cover the to 17 in Cambridge has been placed meeting informally now, even if the Voting, Page 28 breakfast and some of the recep- Families, Page 21 under a study order by the Massa- bill did pass, it can still die if there chusetts state legislature after a pub- is objection." lic hearing in July. During the informal sessions of Under the study order, the bill the state legislature, only one objec- will undergo further analysis by the tion from an state official is needed state election laws committee from either house to stop the bill if responsible for matters related to it passes. elections and election laws. If During executive sessions, mem- passed, this bill will allow 17-year- bers of a committee can give a bill a old residents of Cambridge to vote favorable report, which moves it in City Council and school commit- along the legislative process, or an tee elections, and on local ballot unfavorable report, which stops the questions. bill completely. Bills given neither a The bill, sent to the state legisla- favorable nor an unfavorble report ture by Cambridge city council last are sent to study, which, according March as a "home rule petition," to Irish, is "a nice way to kill a bill." requests that the legislature enact the modified voting policy in the Technical issues slow passage city of Cambridge. If passed, Cam- "This bill sets a precedent that bridge will become the first and other cities or even states can fol- only region in the United States to low," said Cary Maloy, legislative allow voters under the age of 18. director to Sen. Tolman. -"I think "Bills sent to study order does that's what some people are afraid not necessarily put a stop to the . of." bill," said Matt Irish, chief of staff Other technical issues have also to Sen. Steven A. Tolman, who rep- been raised concerning the bill. resents parts of Cambridge and "If a 17-year-old is given the Boston. "Though once a bill is sent ability to vote, should they also be STANLEY J1U-TIIE TECH to study, it doesn't move after that. given the right to run for office?" Runners make their way past Walker Memorial In Monday's Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. "Theoretically, a bill under study Irish asked. "These are some of the Over 5,000 runners participated In the annual race. can move forward if enough politi- reasonable issues that officials want Sadoway dis- Comics OPINION World & Nation 2 cusses life Ken Nesmith comments on cam- Opinion 4 andchem- pus aesthetics. Events Calendar 8 istry. Arts 9 Features .14 Page 14 Page 6 Page 5 Sports 32 Page 2 THE TECH October 18, 2002 WORLD & NATION Six Palestinians Die in Gaza Clash North Korea Nuke Program Till:" 1I'.4.\'II/,\'( ;TO,v POST RAFAH. GAZA STRIP After coming under fire from Palestinian gunmen, Israeli soldiers fired a tank cannon and heavy machine guns into the Rafah Refugee Caught By U.S. Intelligence Camp Thursday, killing at least six Palestinians, wounding 45, and damaging shops, houses and a school, according to Palestinian wit- By Joby Warrick and North Korea could not have done know-how. Similar purchases have nesses, doctors and U.N. officials. THE WASHINGTON POST it without outside help," said David been cited as evidence that Iran and The attack, whose victims included a woman, 70, and two North Korea's surprise admission Albright, president of the Washing- Iraq are also pursuing weapons of teenagers, raised the Palestinian death toll from Israeli missiles, gun- of a secret nuclear program was ton-based Institute for Science and mass destruction and ballistic missile fire and tank assaults to at least 65 in the last 10 weeks in the Gaza prompted by a U.S. intelligence dis- International Security. Albright, a technology. Strip, where Israeli forces have concentrated attacks recently in a covery that the isolated state was try- physicist, has tracked North Korea's In addition to tracking the alu- drive against the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. ing to acquire large amounts of high- nuclear program since the late 1980s minum, U.S. intelligence officials had The Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz, expressed strength aluminum, a metal used in and was a weapons inspector for the received reports of significant con- regret that civilians were hurt, but said the Israeli soldiers opened fire on gas-centrifuge plants for enriching International Atomic Energy Agency. struction activity that appeared relat- the refugee camp after Palestinian gunmen shot at soldiers and engi- uranium for a bomb, weapons experts Rumors about a secret uranium- ed to a uranium-enrichment facility, neers attempting to construct a new observation tower on the edge of the and officials familiar with the finding enrichment facility have circulated knowledgeable sources said. camp, which lies near the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt. said Thursday. for years, but the discovery of the U.S. officials have declined to Witnesses said soldiers in a 660-ton Merkava main battle tank The attempted acquisition of the attempted aluminum procurement reveal the location in question. Previ- fired its cannon into the camp three times, first hitting a small grocery metal helped U.S. analysts conclude was described as the first hard evi- ously, speculation about enrichment shop, then smashing through the walls of a home and finally firing that North Korea was constructing a dence that a program was actually plants had centered on three loca- into a group of residents as they tried to rescue neighbors from their secret uranium-enrichment facility underway. Officials familiar with dis- tions, including a suspected under- burning home. Soldiers also sprayed bullets from the tanks' heavy- somewhere in the country, which covery described the evidence as ground facility in Changang province caliber machine guns into the camp, residents said. North Korean officials are reported to "convincing," but declined to discuss known as Hagap, said Daniel have then confirmed in talks with a details, including where the metals Pinkston, a senior researcher at the U.S. diplomat earlier this month. originated or how much North Korea Center for Nonproliferation Studies Top Enron Trader Pleads Guilty It's not known what progress has acquired.