I ... 0,000Die in Indian Quake, Page 2 ~~~~i i iii iii ii ii i . ..... i.ii- .....i i MIT's The Weather Oldest and Largest Today: Sunny, cool, 62°F (1 6°C) Tonight: Clear, chilly, 50°F (10°C) Newspaper Tomorrow: Breezy, mild, 68°F (20°C) Details, Page 2 Volume 1 13, Number 46 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, October 1, 1993 ,, I - 4 -C _-- L· · h-8L _I -I -- L -- - - - - II -- -- C- Media Lab to Get $2.65M from HP I By Eva Moy expression from human beings," NEWS EDITOR Machover said. Hewlett Packard announced Traditionally, devices have been Monday that it will donate $2.65 limited by physical characteristics, million in computer equipment and such as overheating. Now, "the funds to support research at the devices computers use to interact Media Laboratory over the next with the environment are cruder three years. than [what is] inside," Gershenfeld "The project aims to improve the said. ways in which humans interact with Gershenfeld, who heads the computers by programming the physics and media group at the machines to be able to recognize Media Laboratory, is interested in more than just text and numbers," the boundary between physics and according to the HP press release. the human interfaces. Specifically, The donation will support two his research will try to answer, research groups that are investigat- "How do computers describe physi- ing information not only as content, cal systems?" One example is a but as representing physical proper- three-dimensional mouse which ties. senses the user's activity, instead of These research groups include the user directly controlling the Associate Professor Tod Machover, mouse, Gershenfeld said. who works with computer recogni- Recently, he and Machover col- tion of audio signals; Assistant Pro- laborated in using computers to fessor Rosalind Picard, who concen- model and enhance the sound gener- trates on video recognition of ated by internationally renowned A trade show of MIT vendors took place on McDermott Court yesterday. It was sponsored by the patterns and textures; and Assistant cellist Yo-Yo MAa. Sensors mea- Office of Lab Supplies. Professor Nell A. Gershenfeld, who sured factors such as finger and bow I is conducting research relating the position, along with Ma's individual physics of sensors and the interfaces style. between computers and their envi- Machover, who is also a com- ronment. poser, works with "hyperinstru- CAVS Director Otto Piene Retires Equipment being donated in the ments that involve connecting pro- first year includes 1I HP Apollo fessional virtuoso musicians to very MIT searching for new head; CAVS to relocate below the MIT Museum 9000 Series 700 workstations, as well as laboratory test and measure- Media Lab, Page IO By Matt Mucklo Massachusetts Avenue to Building questions that CAVS has tried to ment instrv--mentation. N52, below the MIT Museum. Not answer is "how can art be communi- The grant continues HP's more Otto Piene, director of MIT's only will this new location provide cated in a world with five-plus bil- than 20-year tradition of supporting Center for Advanced Visual Stud- more space for the new director, it lion" people, he said. In the past, undergraduate and graduate educa- ies, retired on Sept. 1 and was should also allow better access to CAVS has experimented with forms tion and research programs at MIT. INSIDE nome d rrofesscr eneritrl~ the miuseum so that projects can eas- such as sky art. holographyv. com- HP provided the first workstation to Piene turned 65 last spring, but ily be displayed. puter art, laser art, and environmen- the Media Laboratory in 1985. his reasons for leaving lie in his CAVS is the first center of its tal art. Joel Birnbaum, HP vice presi- belief that "once you've lived kind. It was formed in 1967 and Since CAVS formation, between dent of research and development a Arab, Jewish Students through two generations, it's time to became part of MIT in 1968. This 180 and 185 fellows have been and director of HP Laboratories, comment on recent leave your obligations to a new gen- year marks its 25th anniversary. The invited to the center for periods said, "The External Research Pro- eration," he said. He also wanted purpose of the center is to encour- ranging from three months to five gram exists to allow HP researchers MidFast peace accord. more time to pursue his own work. age interaction between artists, sci- years, in order to do research, pro- to collaborate with educational Page12 Since last year, MIT has been entists, engineers, architects, as well duce artwork, and work with stu- researchers at the coulntry's top uni- actively searching for a replacement as those in the humanities. dents. versities. This partnership between director and is now in the second Piene sees the CAVS program as As with any academic institu- HP and 1MIT is an ex-. !.:nt example a On the Screen, a round of the selection process. A "a combination of the most basic tion, one of the fundamental con- of a valuable public/private relation- review of current final candidate should be chosen by and traditional concerns of teaching cerns of the center has been teach- ship that will benefit not just HP and the end of the school year. and learning in the arts," with ing. In the past, the center has MIT, but potentially the rest of the movies. Page 7 Furthermore, CAVS is in the explorations into "new art forms in offered classes, as well as a gradu- world." process of moving from its present the service of contemporary expec- These projects funded by HP location next to Bexley Hall down tations." One of the fundamental Plene, Page 17 address nontraditional, "nonverbal ·L- ----I __ - -- - Y - --_ -- -I ---L--- - I -i_ II_ -I - _-- a L· IlLI- - LI _-- LILIU -- ale - - aa - - - Campus Crimes Drop Slightly in '93 By Ben Reis The figure of eight serious crimes "reflects crimes STAFF REPORTER which took place on MIT property and not crimes The number of serious crimes at MIT dropped involving members of the MIT community that slightly between January and June, according to a occurred adjacent to MIT," according to the report. midyear report released by the Campus Police. Memorial Drive is actually outside the jurisdiction of The report for January to June 1993 also indicates the Campus Police, though "MIT Police officers may that theft continues to be the most frequent campus have been involved in the police response to the crime and that the Safe Ride service is serving more scene," according to the report. students than ever. The Campus Police made 41 arrests in this time "It's difficult to get too deep into trends at this period, matching the number from 1992. halfway point, but so far the situation is relatively Another fairly frequent complaint was obscene and ,vo,. C,,,ihg,OI of'he serious crimes that followed annoying phone calls, reported by 44 students. The the tragic murder last year around this time," said midyear report states that there were seven harassment Anne P. Glavin, chief of Campus Police. complaints, and there was one sexual harassment com- Over the six-month period, the Campus Police plaint. received 1,043 complaints - about 100 more than the Theft is most prevalent crime same six-monlth period in 1992. This number included Larceny was still the most reported crime, with eight serious crimes: one assault with dangerous Glavin calling it "the crime on this campus." So far weapon, five assault and battery complaints, and two this year, about $200Q,000 worth of property has been assault and battery complaints reported by police offi- Campus Police Chief Anne Glavin. cers. Crdme,Page 17 - -r ------ I - -. - -I-' -- ----- i Page 2 THE TECH October 1 _ d __ __L L_ IL __ _· 1, 1993 _____ _ ___ __ __ L I __ __ U 9 M9 Denny Trial Sent to Jury Death Toll C'dnbs to 10,000 LOS A2:GELES I Tine Reginaid O. Denny beating cse was s,-snt to the jury Th.urs- dav, v'ituh a defen~ attome,, savina the defendants are scapegoats for the Los Angeles riots and proecutors portraving them as violent cri- As India Digs, Out of Quakre i mininals wNhocormitted un.conscionable acts. By Molly Moore powerful aftershocks. While the washed out roads and bridges to w Superior Court Judge John NV. Ouderkirk excused the panel for I THE W,$SHGTO.' POST most violent tremors shook the some villages. Hospitals were m the dayat ,:4-5 p.m. PDT and ordered them back to court Friday HYDERABAD, INDIA southern portion of Maharashtra, the jammed with casualties and doctors ..or..n. Th, raciall- mixed 'u-· of I0 women and two men is A powerful earthquake rocked rumbling was felt in India's com- were pleading for blood donations, I 0 exse;.t~ed to scetct a4forema, Friday. but it is unclear how much delib-- India's southwestern heartland mercial capital of Bombay, more local police reported. ert Ing it be,-ii! able to do before Mlondav when one juror will be Thursday, flattening villages and than 100 miles to the northwest of Medical authorities reportedly u-'aine~d torold.rate a avietpplayer. tumin. large towns into graveyards the epicenter, and in seven sur- expressed concern about the possi- ii Vid-eotape of :he assaults as riotin-, erupted on April" 29 '>99 of rubble. The death toll climbed to rounding states extending to Madras ble spread of disease from contami- 0 playe~d a cinfiaz! role in the Prosecution's case.