Spring Carnival 2014 Preview: ‘Best of the Best’ Reunion Issue • Section B Midway Map • C8–C9 Carnival Calendar • C15 thetartan.org @thetartan April 7, 2014 Volume 108, Issue 23 Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper since 1906 Glasner, Ray elected as SBP, SBVP BRENT HEARD voting, a small drop from the on her experience serving on Contributing Editor 3.94 percent who voted in the university’s Joint Funding 2013. Committee (JFC) and prom- Student government elec- Glasner and Ray ran their ised to provide an easier-to- tion results were released on SBP/SBVP ticket on a plat- understand budget process Monday, March 31. Junior form of getting students more for student organizations. electrical and computer engi- involved in their representa- Kothandapani said that neering and business admin- tion, promising to push for a “starting the application for istration double major Ian number of reforms including next year’s JFC reps” would Glasner was elected student restructuring dining plans to be her first task when taking body president (SBP) and ju- be more desirable to upper- office, and spoke about the nior biological sciences ma- classmen and changing the number of votes she received, jor Shalini Ray was elected school’s dorm alcohol policy saying “it feels really good to student body vice president to one which uses an internal have that support.” (SBVP). system rather than one which Michalak built his cam- Additionally, the student involves the police, similar paign around a set of reforms body voted sophomore elec- to the system currently in beginning with the organi- trical and computer engi- place at all eight Ivy League zation recognition process, neering major Divya Kothan- universities. setting up a better system dapani as student body vice While not designating for student organizations to president for finance (SBVPF) one policy as a top priority, receive advice, and creating and sophomore computer sci- Glasner said, “I’m very pas- an improved system for room ence and math double major sionate about dining, and I’m registration. Michalak also Jack Michalak as student also passionate about looking spoke of supporting broader body vice president for orga- into the current alcohol policy campus reforms, such as ex- nizations (SBVPO). on campus.” panding the Amnesty Interna- Student voter turnout “I think every change that I tional policy for alcohol to in- showed a slight increase over want to happen is going to be clude drugs, and the prospect previous years, with 17.9 per- a year’s process, if not more,” of establishing gender-neutral cent of total students voting. Glasner continued. “So, get- restrooms. 32.21 percent of undergradu- ting them all started at the be- Michalak recalled the ate students cast their votes, ginning of the year is going to wishes of current SBVPO as compared to 30 percent in mean weekly meetings with Corrine Rockoff. “She really 2013. Graduate student vot- administration, bringing stu- wanted someone with the ing decreased, however, with dents on board, and getting experience to take over the only 3.32 percent of Carnegie student feedback.” Mellon’s graduate population Kothandapani campaigned See ELECTION, A3 Anne-Sophie Kim/Assistant Layout Manager, design by Maggie Bignell Khan lectures about online education CMU discontinues GEORGE LEDERMAN Staffwriter Culbertson’s 70-419 Students, faculty and staff BRIAN TRIMBOLI uncomfortable.” jostled to get into Rashid Au- News Editor After that, McDermott ditorium to hear a talk by Sal said, the course focused on Khan, founder of Khan Acad- When Carnegie Mellon selling products and get- emy, Thursday morning. Ten released its Fall 2014 course ting funding from venture minutes before the speech listings last Sunday, some capitalists. was scheduled to begin, the Carnegie Mellon students For the final apprentice- 250-seat auditorium was noticed that something was ship, Culbertson gave each standing room only — it was missing — 70-419 Entre- group of students a seed so crowded that the Univer- preneurship Practicum: Ap- fund and asked them simply sity Police closed the doors, prentice, a course taught by to make as much money as barring additional spectators Robert F. Culbertson, adjunct possible, which, McDermott to prevent a fire hazard. assistant professor of entre- said, “is the heart of entrepre- Determined to see Khan, preneurship in the Tepper neurship.” many students looked in School of Business. McDermott is also author through the window instead, Culbertson’s course was of a change.org petition to like Robert Buarque de Mace- an outlier in Tepper’s entre- “Save RF Culbertson and 70- do, a sophomore physics ma- preneurship offerings, and 419,” which currently has 579 jor, who said that seeing Khan gave students hands-on les- signatures. According to the was amazing after hearing his sons in entrepreneurship. petition, “By signing this peti- voice so often in Khan Acad- According to Michael Mc- tion, we as students stand to- emy videos. “Khan helped Dermott, a junior materi- gether to save one of the most me through high school,” als science and engineering influential classes taught Macedo said, although he and biomedical engineering here at Carnegie Mellon, and had never met Khan nor seen double major and a teaching to save the man who has giv- him in person before. Aatish assistant for the course, the en so much to this school and Nayak, a first-year electrical Michelle Wan/Art Editor course was broken down into its students.” and computer engineering Sal Khan’s Thursday morning lecture filled Rashid Auditorium. Khan explained how he began Khan Academy four to five apprenticeships, McDermott has reached major, added, “It’s crazy that and discussed the possibiliites of online education. which are different projects, out to the administration of [Khan] makes his own videos; usually in groups and ranging the Tepper School of Busi- it shows his dedication.” capable of this … if you’re — her success inspired other rible idea. YouTube is for cats from two weeks to a month ness, focusing on how the Khan’s videos, which now willing to … we’ll work on the family members to ask Khan playing the piano.” But after long, that students complete. loss of Culbertson’s course form the basis of the website phone everyday,’ ” Khan said. for tutoring help. Khan, who a month of using the YouTube The first one, McDermott affects not only current stu- Khan Academy, have become Starting in August 2004, Khan has a background in software, videos, his cousins told him said, was always karaoke. dents but future students, as enormously popular, with worked with her on her math started writing quizzes for that they preferred the videos Students had to break into well as alumni relations. more than 10 million students skills while he lived in Boston his students to take and was over the video chats. groups and sing in front of “We just want to highlight viewing them each month. and she lived in New Orleans. mentoring as many as 10 fam- “It soon became clear that the class, “because most of — whether the course gets Khan is, in many ways, an Khan’s belief that everyone ily members at once. A friend people who were not my cous- us have terrible voices, and reinstated or not — the cus- accidental educator. While can succeed if given the right recommended to Khan that ins were watching the videos. just look and sound terrible tomer at CMU; if we talk in working for a hedge fund, his education drives much of his he prerecord his lessons and Most of the comments were in front of the class when terms of sales, the customer family was visiting and he work. load them onto YouTube so he just ‘Thank you’ which is a we’re doing it,” McDermott is a student. And so if you’re learned that his cousin Nadia Nadia rapidly progressed could scale to more students. pretty big deal. I don’t know said. “That primes you to [angering] your customer, was struggling in math. “I told in her school from “slow” Khan was apprehensive work with other people and her, ‘Look, I think you’re fully math to an advanced track at first, saying, “That’s a hor- See EDUCATION, A3 be comfortable with being See CURRICULUM, A3 Slackman talks about foreign policy in the Middle East BRADEN KELNER the Middle East. The discus- February 2011. Slackman was they were determined to push colleagues ran from the con- have access to information Editor-in-Chief sion was presented by The New dispatched to Bahrain when a for their rights,” Slackman flict, but were fired upon too. about the world around them York Times, Undergraduate community of Shiite Muslims said during an interview with “A helicopter ... flew overhead, — so that they can be respon- He lived in Egypt for eight Student Senate, and the Col- demanded rights from the rul- The Tartan. and I thought we were be- sibly informed citizens. years — three as a correspon- legiate Readership Program. ing Sunni Muslim family dur- One day, abut a thousand ing shot at by the helicopter,” “Being a reporter is one of dent for the Los Angeles Times During his discussion, ing a series of peaceful pro- young protesters marched to Slackman said. the most thrilling and reward- and five for The New York Slackman stressed the impor- tests. “Members of the Shiite Pearl Square in Manama, Bah- He ran into an alley with a ing jobs you can have,” Slack- Times — and returned to the tance of the citizen’s respon- community were coming out rain’s capital. colleague and saw the helicop- man said to The Tartan. “It region to witness the dramatic sibility to be informed.