I . I I I-A; 9 ae--- 7;oday ,MIT ¢->L B Continuous Cambridge -1 News Service Massachusetts Since 1881 Friday, April 28; 1989 _PHa___ _ Volume 109, Number 21 Illp -- ,-- __ __ _ · -·IC I --- -i··R P--- ·- I II - i = -X-_ II y IC p _ Faculty to vote on P/F zn Wednesday By Annabelle Boyde dent and 'his- academic needs, On Wednesday, the faculty will according to Abelson. hold a special meeting to con- Most of the faculty members clude voting on the Committee to whom Abelson has talked have on the Undergraduate Program's told him they thought his amend- motion concerning freshman ment 'was a good idea," but that pass/no-credit grading. In the it would probably "have difficul- wake of 'discussion generated at ty passing" a faculty vote,. he the April 19 faculty meeting, two said. Abelson said he is interested more amendments h ave been in student opinion on his amend- proposed to the CUP motion. ment, and hopes to hear from Professor of Architectiire Leon students before the faculty B. Groisser '48 has proposed an meeting. amendment which calls for the Groisser explained his amend- retention of the current two-se- ment as "an attempt to try to mester pass/no-credit system, deal with the problems that fac- with the ex ception that pass ulty- members believe exist with would denote a grade of C or the pass/fail system, within the better. Under the Groisser pass/fail system, rather than to Mourad M. Bakhoum -amendment, a freshman who -ob- deal with those problems by stop- The construction team for the concrete canoe Icebreaker I display their awards from a tained the equivalent of a D ping pass/fail in the freshman recent civil engineering competition. See story page 2. grade in a subject could have the second term and extending it INI-LI -·I au ·-a Pu s - I, -- -- r grade and the associated credit through to later in a student's made part of his permanent career." record through petition at the Groisser said he believes that Arms thefts spark :oncern end of the semester. the basic idea behind pass/no- By David P. Hamilton *partment will have implemented would place motion sensors Harold Abelson PhD '73, as- credit remains true and necessary. Two incidents of firearms theft any necessary security changes in across the firing line in each sociate professor of electrical en- "We [the faculty] should fix the from the MIT armory in as many the shooting facilities and proce- range. The alarms would be set gineering and computer science, flaws in the pass/fail system months have led Campus Police dures. Since the pistol and rifle to trigger corresponding alerts in submitted an amendment which without dismantling it," he said. to- restrict shooting at the pistol teams have completed their sea- the Campus Polica office if acti- states: "Each undergraduate [af- Groisser proposed his amend- and rifle ranges and to review sons, as has the MIT Pistol and vated. security at the armory. Rifle Club, the current restric- ter the first-term freshman year] ment on his own, arid has not Outside job suspected has the option to . alter his/ "spoken to the faculty or On April 1 l, two .22 target tions "aren't impacting on any- her permanent record as follows: students."' pistols were stolen immediateley onPe. severely," Melaragn~o said. When the istl theft occurred, Fqr any designated grade-record- '6I have. no understandiag of after the first meeting of a pistol One of the security chanfges is Melaragno had steppled' fiimie ed as A,- B. or C, the record shall the reaction of- the.-faculty. I physical education-- class, accord- likely. to, involve mnovlng the room immediately outside hee be changed so that the grade will wont campaign or make calls for ing to Pat Melaragno, range- weapons safe:out of the.ranges range to change a sttrdent's subsequently appear -asP; or, for my amendment. *-But, it seems master and coach of the pistol and into the rangemaster's office, schedule. While he was occupied, any designated grade recorded as that retaining the pass/fail sys- team. The pistols were new and which will be locked and the, thief removed two pistols D or A, the subject and the grade tem in tact is the right answer," valued at about $500 apiece, he alarmed. Another proposal Pflease turn to page 2) shall be deleted from the stu- he said. continued. dent's record. Each student may In addition to the Abelson and The earlier theft, in which a exercise this option at most seven Groisser amendments, the faculty ;22 caliber target rifle and an air MIT prof voices doubt times during his/her undergradu- will also vote -on an amendment rifle were taken, took place on ate career." The Abelson amend- by Professors Marc A. Kaistner March 3 shortly before an inter- about cold fusion clailns would allow students to use and Robert J. Birgeneau which collegiate shooting tournament. ment By Niraj S. Desai this option for at most one de- was on the April 19 agenda, but The-weapons belonged to the US vide the scientific community his talk yester- about requirement, two Hu- got pushed back because the Military Academy rifle team, and Before starting with adequate information partmental in cold fu- manities, Arts, and Social Sci- meeting ran over time. The were valued at $1500 and $900 day on developments their experiment, Ballinger said. Professor Ronald of ence requirements, and two Kastner/Birgeneau amendment respectively. I sion, Associate He charged that the University Science core requirements. gives students two. options on For nearly two weeks after the G. Ballinger SM '82 warned the Utah and others are stampeding audience that there would be a According to Abelson, whenl when to switch to grades. One pistol theft, the Campus Police the scientific review process in quiz on the subject afterwards. the faculty at its April 19 meeting option is the one proposed by the placed a moratorium on weapons the rush to obtain support for the But he told them not to worry Pons/Fleischmann method. struck down a move to reduce the CUP. Under the second option, practice at the MIT ranges. Pistol number of pass/no-credit options second-term freshman would be classes were permitted to begin because "no one can tell if you're Ballinger's comments came the available to students after the allowed to take four subjects on shooting again this week, largely wrong." day after he testified before the with the first term under the CUP plan a pass/no-credit basis; but, in because of nearly 60 seniors who That is the problem House Committee on Science, from seven to two, it was indicat- subsequent years, these students need the PE credit in order to claims made by University of Space, and Technology. Earlier in ing that it 'favored partial grade could take at most three pass/no- graduate. Utah researchers to have pro- the day, witnesses had called on duced nuclear fusion at room recording, as opposed to, main- credit subjects, with some These classes are operating un--- Congress to appropriate $25 mil- The researchers - commercialize the pur- taining a complete transcript" of restrictions; der some new security proce- temperatures. lion to stuldent performance. The CUP plan as it now stands dures. Students must now leave Stanley Pons and Martin Fleisch- ported discovery. '<Given the choice, I believe in calls for the elimination of both identificationn when checking out mann - announced they had University of Utah President partial grade reporting. It helps pass/no-credit grading for sec- pistols, and two supervisors over- made a breakthrough in the de- Chase Peterson and productivity students make a smooth transi- ond-term freshmen and the two- see all shooting to ensure that no cades-Iong quest for fusion ener- specialist Ira C. Magaziner encourages .subject pass/fail optiqn available pistols leave the range. gy at a press conference last joined Pons and Fleischmann in tion to MIT, and it month. exploration," Abelson said. to Juniors and seniors. Instead, Unrestricted shooting is not ex- pressing congressmen to fund However, -Abelson -said he does the CUP motion would allow stu- pected to return until at least But since then, Pons and work on "table-top" fusion, say- (Please turn to page 12) not believe in "the game-playing (Please turn to page 2) next fall, when the Athletic De- Fleischmann have failed to pro- afforded by the CUP proposal" as it currently stands. Jamksso, at arvard, calis {or bold leadership By letting the student decide i:':·rCc; , * By Paula Maute criticized the current political ·'I··. after taking a class whether it In a fiery speech at Harvard process for producing morally- X,l the In- r'· should be pas's/no-credit, University Tuesday night, Rev. bankrupt leaders afraid to fight 4. stitute would be showing a great- -; "` Jesse Jackson called for "bold for social and economic Justice. -. I-''-·- -t stu- er respect-to the individual new leadership" in America and Speaking for nearly two hours at the John F. Kennedy Center for Politics, Jackson advocated a redistribution of America's wealth from the corporate elite to the working poor. He called for an increase in the minimum wage, economic equality for women, economic investments in slums, and building more afford- able housing. Jackson described the recent presidential campaign as an "im- poverishment of American poli- tics,", and criticized both Presi- jB;i dent George -Bush and Gov: Michael S.-Dukakis for conform- Paula Maute//The Tech (Please tumn "topage2 .- M-Revertend Jesse-Jackson .--- = .e-_ .