Continuous . __ 'M IT | News Service _ __ ____ Cambridge Since 1881 - Massachusetts Volume 103. Number 5 _ A Tuesday, February 15, 1983 rIIIr --- I- -""--L L-·"' -- d ' 'OL Student starts trash fire in Ilac Gregor By Burt S. Kaliski mittee, and faculty resident Pro- A fire broke out in MacGregor fessor Nathan H. Cook '50 will House shortly after 7pm Sunday, review the case, Olivieri said. Po- because a student threw a flam- lice action is not necessary, he ad- ing piece of paper down the trash ded, because the student did not chute of the high-rise buildings perform a "malicious act." starting a fire in a basement rub- Smoke spread through the bish room, according to Chief of basement into J-Entry in the low- Campus Police James Olivieri. rise portion of the building, and "We had to evacuate the build- into the first floors of the high- ing because of the smoke," Depu- rise. No one was hurt, O'Brien ty Chief Cornelius O'Brien of the added. Cambridge Fire Department said. A resident said he saw smoke Firefighters had little cooperation and flames in the rubbish room in evacuating students from the and called senior tutor Associate dormitory, he commented. ""The Professor Derek Rowell. Rowell students think it is a joke." then contacted Campus Police The fire was controlled by from the MacGregor desk. sprinkler systems and auxiliary Goodridge said the house fire water lines in the basement, O'- alarm was not ringing when he Tech photo by Omar Valerio Brien said. arrived, and the alarm box near Last weekend's snow storm left several cars stranded. This car was towed away from the Massa- The offending student immedi- the desk did not work. He acti- chusetts Avenue parking lane. ately told Campus Police Ser- vated another alarm box on the ------- - _ r4Pr 911 1 geant Vincent S. Goodridge, the first floor of the building. first officer to arrive at the build- The fire set off a sprinkler in Iing, how thle fire started, Oliv~ieri the rubbish room, which should 2700 sign nuke freeze petition Isaid. The confession, O~livieri have caused an alarm to start, ac- continued, showed a "igreat de- cording to O'Brien. By Daniel Crean tures are in, according to Jerry S. tives. gree of responsibility and con- The alarm did not ring long The MIT Disarmament Study Frost '86, a DSG member. The group has contacted cern." enough to convince residents Group (DSG) has collected over 'We ... urge all members of Speaker of the House Thomas P. The Office of the Dean for there was a fire, Goodridge ex- 2700 signatures on its open letter Congress to move toward reduc- O'Neill Jr., who represents the Student Affairs (O)DSA), the plained. to Congress and has "a shot at ing the risk of nuclear war in any district that includes MIT, Demo- MacGregor House Judicial Coma (Please turn to page 13) breaking 3000," when all signa- part of the world," the DSG let- cratic Senators Edward M. Ken- ter states, "and toward the even- nedy and Paul E. Tsongas of tual abolition of nuclear wea- Massachusetts, six congressmen Police recover MIT nicro0cope pons." who are MITalumni, and Demo- The letter, which DSG plans to cratic Representatives Edward J. By Thomas Hruang Kari, Assistant Professor of Im- it," she continued. "We really present to Congress in late Febru- Markey and Silvio 0. Conte, who Boston police recovered a sto- munology. need the instrument for our re- ary or early March, urges Con- sponsored last year's nuclear len MIT microscope in a raid-'in "It was last seen on Sunday search" in cell fusion. gress not to appropriate funds for freeze resolution. Five representa- mid-January, according to- Lieu- [Dec. 191-, because some of my It- tooks police several-days -t4 nuclear tzsts and, Jsneead. to co- tives have accepted and one has tenant Joseph F McCluskey of students were still working at the verify the microscope was MIT operate with other nuclear pow- declined DSG request to read the i the MIT Campus Police. lab," Imanishi-Kari explained. property, according to McClus- ers to stop the further spread of letter so far, according to Frost. I "The microscope was found in "At five o'clock the next moxrn- key. "There was a mix-up when nuclear weapons. None of the Massachusetts a shop in the center of the city, ing, a cleaning lady came and uhn- we tried to match identification The group solicited signatures congressmen contacted have yet iI along with other stolen goods," locked the lab door. She cleaned numbers," he said. from MIT students, faculty mem- replied, Frost said, but all have i said McCluskey. "The Boston the room, switched off the lights, Imanishi-Kari reported the bers, and staff rmembers, accord- expressed interest in the letter. II police notified us on January 28." and then left the door unlocked. theft to Campus Police the day it ing to Frost. Faculty members Kennedy has already offered the The microscope, worth $7000, When she came back at six o'- was found missing. "However, I who have signed the letter in- use of his office for the presenta- had been stolen from a lab in the clock, she found the lights on." do not think the Campus Police clude former MIT president Jer- tion of the letter to the sponsor- MIT Center for Cancer Research. Imanishi-Kari said she did not notified the Boston police," she ome B. Wiesner and all eleven ing congressmen, he added. It was discovered missing early know if the microscope was taken said. participants in the World War, II United Campuses Against Nu- on the morning of December 20, at that time or the night before. "The Campus Police were not Manhattan Project currently at clear War (UCAM) is adopting a according to Thereza Imanishi- "It's amazing that they found even the first to notify us that the M IT. letter similar to the DSG letter. ------- LI I__ -- --- microscope had been found," she "Because of MIT's national UCAM will collect signatures for continued. "It turns out that and international reputation, we its letter at approximately 550 when the Boston police got the hope to bring a lot of attention colleges, according to Frost. microscope, they asked Harvard to the anti-nuclear cause," Frost UCAM sponsored last year's if it belonged to them. said. DSG plans to have a con- series of anti-nuclear rallies "Harvard told the police to ask gressman read the letter on the across the United States in which ,'Pleaseturn to page 13) floor of the House of Representa- DSG participated. Legislation to be proposed, creating caonnission to study DNA guidelines By James F List or irreligious per se," the com- agencies but also scientific and Legislation to create an over- mission stated in its November academic associations, industrial sight body to examine all aspects report that an oversight group and commercial groups, ethicists, of human genetic engineering is should determine "by what stan- lawyers, religious and educational likely to be introduced in the US dards, and toward what objec- leaders, and members of the gen- Congress this year in accordance tives, should the great new pow- eral public." The commission with recommendations made by a ers of genetic engineering be gui- also recommended the proposed presidential commission. ded." oversight body be seperate from Representative Albert Gore Jr., The presidential commission research funding agencies to D-Tenn., chairman of the Sub- recommended the proposed over- avoid conflicts of interest. committee on Investigations and sight body involve "not only the The proposed oversight body Oversight of the House Science Congress and executive branch (Please turn io page 2) and Technology Committee is ex- pected to introduce the legisla- YS11 '· tion. ;;I ·- U " ·: ·r;li*L· F,'"r ''· E·, .i E- iij·-·-·;2·113 President Jimmy Carter created ;· the President's Commission for I the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and i The Student Center The benefits of Behavioral Research in 1980 after Materialism. three prominent religious groups i gets all wet. expressed their concern that mor- I-I Page 2 Page 9 al, ethical, and religious issues as- sociated with human genetic en- gineering were not receiving ade- I scream; you scream; Dolpha strikes back quate examination. we all scream. on the comics page. Although the commission Page 8. Page 15 could find no grounds for con- cluding that any current or Tech photo by Laurie S. Goldman planned forms of genetic engi- Student reviews company listings at the placement office wrong LP·D- I - I-I---- ·b-·s·1---- -----aaap-P-s·i·l 1·11' ---- -- - -----r.------ 4· 1-Q ----CI--- ---· - - -I ---- s---· neering are "intrinsically I "--LIC-C -ILI i--l-e LPI is ~ PAGE 2 The Tech TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1983 _ - - ~ ^lg$D~%PBB~~wi~~~ ;t~Q~-{~~~.l ;:.:.' . ::j~t .IoCo'ngress may form. team .to study; DNA guidelines (Continued from page 1) not the focus of the public's con- should also examine, according cern. to the commission, an issue Concern that genetic alteration which should prove immensely might create a lethal killer out of difficult to resolve- whether in- a harmless virus, which might be heritable changes in the human· accidentally released- captured genetic code should be allowed public imagination and sparked and,-if so, to what extent. This is- the creation of such regulatory sue divides the scientific commu- groups as the Recombinant I)NA nity as well as the public. Advisory Committee of the Na- These issues have recently tional Institutes of Health.