WEATHER, p. 2 FRI: 69˚F | 51˚F MIT’s Partly cloudy Oldest and Largest SAT: 65˚F | 53˚F Newspaper Thunderstorms SUN: 59˚F | 46˚F Partly cloudy Volume 130, Number 25 tech.mit.edu Friday, May 7, 2010 Freshmen set to 2.007’s Top ‘Bot crowd MacGregor Larger freshman class will squeeze dorms By Jingyun Fan According to Daniel D. Hawk- ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR ins ’12, vice chair of the UA Dining Proposal Commitee, there is no The incoming freshman class longer a goal date for the comple- is so large that eight lounges in the tion of W1, a $90 million project. MacGregor high rise will be con- “[MIT President] Susan Hock- verted into doubles starting fall of field said that if they get all the 2010. funding by June, they can finish by Karen Nilsson, the outgoing se- Fall of 2011,” Hawkins said. “But nior associate dean for Student Life that is probably not going to hap- SAM Range—ThE TECH said that the class pen.” Junior Randall M. Briggs’s robot keels over in a fierce game of tug-of-war to win yesterday’s 2.007 of 2014 might INSIDE A donor has been found to fin- competition in Johnson Athletic Center. The design and manufacturing class culminated in the annual have around 200 more ish the exterior of the building, but two-day robotics competition featuring over 100 contestants. 1,300 students, freshmen? there a lot of work remains to be which means p.13 done for the inside, Hawkins said. that around 110– According to Munther A. Dahl- 120 freshmen would have to be eh, one of MacGregor’s housemas- squeezed into the existing dorms. ters, MacGregor has had to convert Textbook data available sooner Other dorms such as East Cam- its lounges into doubles around pus, Burton Connor, and McCor- three times in the last 15 years. To comply with law, MIT will collect textbook information mick will also be crowded to pro- In 2008-2009, the lounges in vide space for the larger freshman MacGregor were used by mem- By John A. Hawkinson man said. mits a class to list its textbooks as class. bers of the former Alpha Tau Ome- NEWS EDITOR The Higher Education Oppor- “to be determined.” In the past, MacGregor has ga fraternity when a burst pipe tunity Act of 2008 requires that Faculty will now find it easier been a last resort when there is flooded their chapter house. The To comply with a national law, by summer 2010, MIT and other to report their textbook choices. lack of beds available on campus. members stayed for nearly two se- MIT will make textbook information federally-funded universities to in- Instead of having to tell the Coop The doubles are converted back to mesters and paid “rent,” some of available before the pre-registration crease the transparency of textbook and the MIT Libraries separately, lounges as soon as space becomes which was given to the Macgregor deadline in coming terms, according information. faculty will now fill out a single web available elsewhere on campus. government. to a presentation delivered at April’s Lerman said that full compli- form. This time, The crowding in Now, the 16 students who get faculty meeting by Vice Chancellor ance with the law will require the As of last month, the schedule Macgregor is part of “a loan pro- placed in these converted doubles Steven R. Lerman ’72. faculty to make available their text- called for pilot testing of the sys- gram” between MacGregor and will stay permanently. Textbook information, includ- book choices by the pre-registra- tem during the month of May, with the Division of Student Life in “The policy of having tempo- ing ISBN and retail price, will be tion deadline, rather than in a syl- a production version complete by preparation for the Institute’s need rary rooms is bad for students who available by through the online labus distributed on the first day of June 15. for additional bed space before want to a permanent community” catalog on student.mit.edu. That class in September. In the past, students have some- renovation of the W1 residence Dahleh said. information will be made avail- In the event that a faculty mem- times had difficulty getting text- hall is completed. Once W1 opens, The conversion at MacGregor able to the Coop bookstore at MIT, ber has genuinely not yet deter- book information for courses with- the lounges will be returned to as well as to outside services like mined textbook selection for a out going to The Coop, which has MacGregor. Crowding, Page 13 Coursepicker and Bookpicker, Ler- course, Lerman said, the law per- given the Coop a sales advantage. Provost presents budget cut projections Roche will file opposition brief Biotech company Roche will file an opposition brief Before Budget Cuts After Budget Cuts with the U.S. Supreme Court in Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, et al., the intellectual property case that $35.0 $40 $40 $35.0 $30.7 Stanford and MIT have both asked the Court to hear, as have $27.3 $27.3 $20 other 40 peer institutions. $20 $6.4 The outcome of the case could determine who owns the $0 8.25% Long Term Return $4.0 7% Long Term Return $-11.2 $0 patents to inventions that come out of federally-funded re- $-20 $-29.1 search. In 2005, Stanford sued Roche for patent infringement 8.25% Long Term Return 5% Long Term Return $-40 $-31.5 7% Long Term Return $-20 over technology to detect HIV levels in blood. Roche claims $Millions 5% Long Term Return 3% Long Term Return that it owns the patent because one of the researchers trans- $-60 3% Long Term Return $Millions $-40 ferred the patent rights to a company that was eventually $-80 bought by Roche. $-60 $-100 Stanford’s petition asks whether a university’s property rights “can be terminated unilaterally by an individual inven- $-80 $-78.4 $-120 $-120.3 tor through a separate agreement purporting to assign the ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 inventor’s rights to a third party.” Fiscal Year Fiscal Year When a party asks the Supreme Court to hear a case, four of the nine justices must vote in favor; fewer than 100 cases At March’s Faculty meeting, and again at an April meeting for administrative and financial officers, Provost are selected from nearly 10,000 petitions. Frequently only L. Rafael Reif presented planning models of the Institute’s budget deficit out to the year 2020, based on various the petitioner and third parties file briefs at this stage. A brief endowment returns. These graphs show the budget without this fiscal year’s cuts (left) and with cuts (right), in from the respondent may make the case look more appealing the face of four scenarios of long-term endowment return: 8.25 percent (green), 7 percent (blue), 5 precent (red), to the Court. and 3 percent (purple). Roche will file its opposition brief on May 26, according to This data does not incorporate planned cuts for fiscal year 2011 (the 2010-2011 academic year). Adrian M. Pruetz, counsel for Roche. Roche’s brief will be available on The Tech’s website. Stanford’s brief was filed on March 22 of this year. Amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court, briefs, were filed in late April by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the Association IN SHORT Mother’s Day is Sunday! Lobby 7’s doors are being Wind blew out a window of American Universities, and MIT. WARF’s brief was joined Student Activities Dean Please call your mother, she repainted over the next two from 54-100 last night, by 10 other institutions, including the University of Michigan. Jed W. Wartman is leaving will really appreciate it. weeks, from 4–9 p.m. daily. sending glass shards tum- AAU’s brief was joined by over 30 amici, including Harvard, MIT at the end of June. He’s Watch out for wet paint. bling. See photo p. 15. Yale, CalTech and CMU. accepted a position of As- MIT fêtes Steve Lerman Roche’s brief was originally due on April 26, but it ob- sociate Dean and Director with a “Community Spring Iron Man 2 opens today. Send news information tained an extension from the Court. Copies of the filings to- of Campus Life at Colby Col- Break” on Killian Court People say it’s good — for and tips to [email protected]. date are available at http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N23/scotus/. lege in Waterville, Maine. from 3:30–5 p.m. Monday. a sequel. edu. —John A. Hawkinson ISRAEL ABUSES TEAMWORK, EVERYBODY THE CHORALLARIES, COBRA STARSHIP SECTIONS PALESTINIANS Don’t dread group projects. Here’s how WITH FEELING SPEAKS Organizers of the to make them a success. OPN, p. 5 Guitarist Ryland World & Nation . .2 By the end of their spring Opinion . .4 Palestinian Awareness Blackinton talks about Don’t MULTITASK AND DRIVE concert, everybody was Fun Pages . .6 Week at MIT say the tearing up. ARTS, p. 9 the band, Boston and Arts . .8 point is to convey the The Secretary of Transportation came on finding soul in electro Campus Life . 10 facts. OPN, p. 5 Monday bearing a warning. OPN, p. 4 music. ARTS, p. 8 Sports . .16 2 The Tech Friday, May 7, 2010 AIG is said to be replacing D Goldman as its top adviser Dow’s rapid fall of 1,000 points As its legal troubles mount, Goldman Sachs is losing a big cor- porate client: the American International Group.