MIT’s The Weather Today: Sunny, then cloudy, 58°F (14°C) Oldest and Largest Tonight: Cloudy, 42°F (6°C) Tomorrow: Cloudy, 63°F (17°C) Newspaper Details, Page 2 Volume 126, Number 17 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, April 11, 2006 Inside Caltech Strikes Back, Retrieving Cannon By Marissa Vogt MIT’s D.C. NEWS EDITOR The end of Campus Preview Weekend brought the passing of two temporary presences at MIT — by Office, the the time classes began on Monday, both the prospective members of the Class of 2010 and Caltech’s Fleming Priority House cannon were noticeably absent from campus. Twenty-three Fleming House Is Policy residents and seven alumni arrived at McDermott Court dressed in red sweatshirts and jerseys shortly after By Benjamin P. Gleitzman 7 a.m. yesterday morning to reclaim ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR the Fleming Cannon, a Caltech land- Beyond the sleepless nights, leg- mark that had appeared in front of the endary hacks, and uniquely geeky Green Building on Thursday. reputation, MIT is a thriving institu- Approximately 45 minutes later, tion whose success is tied directly to the cannon was on its way back to funding for research allocated at the Pasadena, though the Flems had left national level. a miniature cannon and a letter to the Just ask Joseph Roy-Mayhew MIT community in its place, and cov- ’08, whose bioengineering lab at ered the commemorative plaque with MIT lost funding from the National another sporting a large “F”. The text Institutes of Health midway through of the letter can be found on page 11. his freshman year. “The graduate MIT students, who easily out- students were running around trying numbered the Flems, stood ready to to find funding instead of pursuing greet their visitors, whose arrival had ROB A. RADEZ their research,” said Roy-Mayhew. previously been announced to the Students from Caltech’s Fleming House traveled to MIT on Monday to collect their stolen cannon. MIT Jessica H. Liao, a graduate stu- dormitory mailing lists by Tim Howe students threw a spontaneous farewell party as Caltech rolled the cannon to an awaiting flatbed truck. dent in Materials Science and En- of the “Howe & Ser” moving com- gineering, received a three-year Na- pany, which had taken responsibility non were to roll away without proper pared the cannon for transportation, everyone had a good time,” wrote tional Science Foundation and NASA for the hack. celebration,” Howe wrote. then rolled it to Ames Street, where a Fleming House President Scott D. co-grant whose two-year portion was Countering the moving company’s Sure enough, MIT students sent flatbed truck was waiting. Afterward, Jordan in an e-mail. “Although I had not renewed because of funding cuts Web site, http://mitcannon.com, the the cannon back to California with students from both schools joined to- my doubts coming into the prank, I at NASA’s Department of Biology. Flems created the rival http://flem- fanfare and a warm welcome for gether on the Dot for a barbecue and found that the ‘good natured rivalry’ Both Roy-Mayhew and Liao ingcannon.com, which was released their guests from the West. MIT stu- friendly conversation. was everything it was expected to came to Washington this spring break yesterday. dents played Wagner’s “Ride of the “Fleming very much appreciated be.” “We would be remiss in our duties Valkyries” on a stereo as the Flems the music, food, and socializing dur- Washington D.C., Page 11 as Tech men and women if the can- emerged from Building 66 and pre- ing and after the stunt, and I feel that Cannon, Page 9 Khoury Named as Associate Provost By Kelley Rivoire teaching. Currently planned to oc- the visibility and stature of MIT’s NEWS EDITOR cupy 36,000 gross square feet on the humanities, arts and social sciences MIT’s Dean for Humanities, corner of Albany Street and Massa- programs increased considerably,” Arts, and Social Sciences, Philip S. chusetts Avenue, the project awaits Reif said. Khoury, has been named to serve as additional funds. Khoury first came to MIT in associate provost, the Institute an- Khoury will also be charged with 1981. He was named associate dean nounced yesterday. enhancing interdepartmental initia- of the School of Humanities, Arts, Khoury, who will take the posi- tives, helping to lead MIT’s inter- and Social Sciences in 1987, and tion on July 1, will succeed current national programs, and supporting acting dean as 1990 before becom- Associate Provost for the Arts Alan discussion about the relationship ing dean in 1991. Brody. As announced in January, between science, technology, soci- Khoury’s research interests focus Brody, MIT’s second associate pro- ety, and policy, according to a letter on political and social studies of the vost for the arts, will return to full- to the community from Provost L. Middle East. He has written a num- time teaching and writing plays after Rafael Reif. ber of books, and is a fellow of the having served 10 years in the posi- In his letter, Reif praised Khoury’s American Academy of Arts and Sci- tion and 18 years on MIT’s faculty. accomplishments over his 15 years as ences. Khoury’s primary duties will be dean of the humanities, arts and so- Reif will be leading the search to lead MIT’s arts initiatives, includ- cial sciences, including the creation to find a replacement for Khoury as ing fundraising efforts. Among the of graduate programs in Comparative dean of the School of Humanities, projects Khoury is likely to preside Media Studies and Science Writing, Arts, and Social Sciences. Confiden- over is a proposed Music and Theater as well as the expansion of MIT’s in- tial comments about the search can Arts Teaching Laboratory intended ternational education efforts. be sent to Reif in Room 3-208 or by to provide space for rehearsals and “Under his leadership as dean, e-mail to [email protected]. Simmons Still Under Review for 2004 Party By Gabriel Fouasnon cial host training program as a con- ding the albatross around its neck. and Kelley Rivoire sequence of the Oct. 2004 party, in Andrew T. Lukmann ’07, Sim- STAFF REPORTERS which there was a stampede down mons president and Undergraduate A year and a half after a birthday 10 flights of stairs as students fled Association president-elect, said that party involving underage drinking police. he and others at MIT were “caught off at Simmons Hall got out of hand, Since then, Simmons has twice guard” by the License Commission’s the dormitory is still feeling its im- returned to the commission to as- most recent decision to once again pact, with the Cambridge License sess its progress in completing the extend its watch over Simmons. He DAVID TEMPLETON—THE TECH Commission voting last month to program. said that at the meeting Commission A Polski Fiat guitarist performs a solo during Battle of the continue to review the dormitory’s Though representatives from Chair Richard V. Scali had said they Bands, which was organized by Zeta Beta Tau and took place efforts to curb underage drinking for both sides say the commission has would put the matter on file, normal- Saturday, April 9. An upcoming review of Battle of the Bands another six months. responded positively to Simmons’ ly meaning it was concluded, but that will run in Friday’s issue of The Tech. Over a year ago, the commission progress, each time, the commission the commission then decided to hold issued a warning to the dormitory has demanded that it return again, requiring residents to create a so- preventing the dormitory from shed- Simmons, Page 12 Comics CAMPUS LIFE NEWS The “Run Over by the RIAA” Saga Big Screw results as of Monday World & Nation. 2 Continues. Page 9 Opinion . 4 As College Costs Rise, Students Campus Life . 5 Are Increasingly Footing the Bill Sports . 15 Page 6 Page 5 Page 14 Page 2 THE TECH April 11, 2006 WORLD & NATION Hearings Continue Multitudes Rally Across U.S. in Kickback Scandal By Raymond Bonner THE NEW YORK TIMES SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA For Illegal Immigrant Rights The high-profile hearings into accusations that an Australian wheat company, AWB Ltd., paid $200 million in kickbacks to Saddam Husse- By Rachel L. Swarns most of them Hispanic, may be emerg- civil rights movement. in’s government under the United Nations’ oil-for-food program became THE NEW YORK TIMES ing as a potent political force. Some Republicans in Congress even more dramatic on Monday with the appearance of the deputy prime WASHINGTON Over and over, construction work- say the demonstrations have also re- minister, Mark Vaile. Waving American flags and blue ers, cooks, gardeners, sales associates calibrated the bitter debate on immi- Vaile, who is also minister of trade, was asked whether he knew about banners that read “We Are America,” and students who said they had never gration legislation, forcing lawmakers the kickbacks and about his harsh rejection three years ago of public sug- throngs of cheering, chanting immi- demonstrated before said they were to take into account the group’s politi- gestions by American wheat growers that AWB was paying kickbacks. grants and their supporters converged rallying to send a message to lawmak- cal muscle. He responded repeatedly to questions with the answer, “I don’t recol- on the nation’s capital and in scores of ers. Ruben Arita, a 30-year-old illegal “Immigrants are coming together lect.” other cities on Monday calling on Con- immigrant from Honduras who joined in a way that we have never seen be- Adding to the tension, Prime Minister John Howard announced that gress to offer legal status and citizen- the demonstration in Washington, said fore, and it’s going to keep going,” he had been asked to give a written statement to the commission, the first ship to millions of illegal immigrants.