Established 1881 WEATHER, p. 2 MIT’s Oldest and TUE: 29°F | 17°F Largest Newspaper Increasing clouds WED: 29°F | 15°F Mostly cloudy tech.mit.edu THU: 28°F | 12°F Mostly sunny Established 1881 Volume 134, Number 7 Tuesday, February 25, 2014 Alcator C-Mod experiment operates with restored funds Warren visits as fusion experiment resumes operations By Tushar Kamath PSFC. All were provided a tour of the Senate in November, 2012. “What NEWS EDITOR facility and were allowed to converse goes on here is something we all with theEstablished faculty and graduate stu 1881- need to support. This is our future in In a large, press-filled event at dents who oversee the lab. science, but also our future in power,” MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion “It is great to be represented in stated Warren, affirming her contin- Center (PSFC) Monday, scientists and Congress by people who understand ued support of C-Mod. legislators celebrated the restoration the value and importance of basic While both the legislators and of funding to Alcator C-Mod. The cer- science and the connection between the MIT administration conveyed emony began with the press of a giant basic science and innovation,” said similar attitudes toward the fund- red button, signifying the restart of nu- President Reif, who applauded the ing, the future remains uncertain for clear fusion experiments at the facility. efforts by Senator Warren and Rep. C-Mod. As it stands, the $22.2 mil- Alcator C-Mod, MIT’s magneti- Clark to secure funding for the proj- lion will only last through the end of cally confined nuclear fusion device ect as part of the nation’s most recent September, and no budget has been (a tokamak), was a winner in the most budget deal. set for the Department of Energy, the recent U.S. budget deal, receiving During interviews with the press primary source of funds for C-Mod, $22.2 million to continue nuclear fu- contingent, both Warren and Clark by Congress for fiscal year 2015. The sion tests. The experiment remained expressed the necessity for contin- legislators, administrators, and sci- in inactive maintenance mode dur- ued basic research in the nuclear entists at the event agreed this will be ing 2013 due to funding cuts from fusion field. “It’s not only the energy a continuous problem. the Department of Energy as part of research Establishedwe are doing here today 1881 “In the long term, we have to have the sequestration. The restoration of but the investments in the students assured long-range funding. It is not funding is not without uncertainty, that are here and the science and the enough to fight year to year. Grad stu- however, as the funding will only last work they’re going on to do whether dents need to be able to come here until the end of September. it’s in fusion or beyond”, commented and work and know that they can Present at the ceremony were Rep. Clark. Clark, a Massachusetts start projects and that the lab will still legislators, including Senator Eliza- Democrat, won the special election be open a year from now, three years, beth A. Warren and U.S. Representa- in December 2013 to represent the and five years from now” claimed PAUL RIVENBERG tive for Massachusetts’ fifth district 5th district of Massachusetts. Her Warren. Professor Zuber agreed Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with MIT Nuclear Katherine M. Clark, as well as MIT victory came directly before the pass- with Warren and mentioned a “plan Science and Enginering professor Anne White and Massachusetts administrators, including President ing of the new budget deal. to recommend C-Mod to continue Congressman Jay Livingstone (not pictured), prepare to officially restart L. Rafael Reif, Vice President for Re- Warren, also a Massachusetts for years to come,” seeing the recent Alcator C-Mod, a fusion research project at MIT’s Plasma Science and search Maria T. Zuber, and Professor Democrat and former Harvard Law Fusion Center� The program was set to shut down at the beginning of Miklos Porkolab, the Director of the Professor, started her term in the U.S. Alactor, Page 10 the year, but funding was recently reintroduced by Congress� Established 1881 Ex-MIT professor Moniz is the man in the middle Energy chief balances environment, industry By Matt Viser circumvent a recalcitrant Congress, Moniz, THE BOSTON GLOBE 69, is in charge of one of the most contro- versial portfolios in the Cabinet, requir- Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is ing him to balance worries about global known around his department for a quick warming with the demands of a powerful wit, a leader of a vast bureaucracy who energy industry. draws quotes from Monty Python skits Constituencies clamoring for his favor and chuckles self-deprecatingly at the at- include gas and oil companies that want tention paid to his unusual Colonial-style permission to drill and export more; clean hairdo. energy start-ups eager for more govern- As he toured a government lab in Vir- ment loans; environmentalists, some of ginia the other day, he also displayed a them critical of Moniz’s ties to industry, deep knowledge of technical science, mak- who want a stronger emphasis on wind ing small talk with fellow scientists that and solar energies; and scientists seeking sounded like code to an outsider. more research money. “What’s the typical Q?” he asked about In a wide-ranging interview as he trav- CHRISTOPHER A. MAYNOR—THE TECH one machine (“8 times 10 to the 9th,” came eled around the Virginia coast — touring a Rambax MIT, MIT’s Senegalese drum ensemble, performs behind co-director and art- the answer). As they passed by a clean- federal laboratory and giving a speech at ist-in-residence Lamine Touré as he conducts the audience at “Pulse 2014: Feel The room used for experiments, he asked non- Hampton University — Moniz, who was Beat.” The show was hosted by the MIT Black Students’ Union this Saturday evening and chalantly whether it was a “Class 10” (it confirmed 97 to 0 by the Senate in May, featured a wide variety of acts, from gospel choir to a reading of an excerpt from Martin was). Introduced to a high school senior discussed the administration’s “all-of-the- Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech� interested in science, he enthusiastically above” energy philosophy. recommended a book: “The Existential He previewed plans to increase en- Pleasures of Engineering.” ergy efficiency standards. And he said he But hidden behind the wonky demean- planned to move forward aggressively on or one would expect from Moniz, a former more government loans to private energy ning an event this Wednesday, February 26 at 6 IN Short MIT professor who got hooked on phys- companies, despite the embarrassing p.m. in the R&D Commons where students can ics at Durfee High School in Fall River, is bankruptcy filings of Solyndra and A123 The MIT Egyptian Student Association is host- address campus issues of energy, water, environ- ing billionaire Naguib Sawiris. Be sure to check a measure of political savvy earned as a Systems of Waltham. ment and sustainability. veteran of the Clinton administration. It is ”We’ve got a big-time problem to ad- out Sawiris’ talk and Q&A session at Wong Au- a well of experience that his supporters say dress climate,” he said, riding in the back ditorium this Tuesday, February 25 from 6-7:30 Add date is next Friday, March 7. Obtain ap- will help him lead key initiatives in Presi- of a sport utility vehicle. “And if it’s busi- p.m. proval from your advisor if you submit a form. dent Obama’s second term — including ness as usual, we’re not going to get there an expansion of America’s nuclear power in time.” Join the MIT Generator to improve MIT’s cam- Send news information and tips to news@ industry. The opera-loving fly-fisherman also di- pus sustainability. The MIT Generator is run- tech.mit.edu. At a time when the White House plans to exercise greater executive authority to Moniz, Page 9 Sochi HIGHLIGhts ConteMPorarY BALLet RHYE at roYALE reiF Letter on SECTIONS World & Nation � � �2 Ice hockey, speed Boston Ballet Company’s trio of one-act Live rendition of album TIDBit, resPonse Opinion � � � � � � � � �4 skating result in thrilling performances� ARTS, p. 7 brings out subtleties, new MIT’s president Fun Pages � � � � � � �5 finishes, despite perspectives� explains the Institute’s Arts � � � � � � � � � � � �7 disappointing finishes A theatricaL circus ARTS, p. 8 plans, stance on issue� Sports � � � � � � � � � 11 for the U�S� Australia’s Circus Oz brings an on-stage OPINION, p. 4 SPOrts, p. 11 circus to Boston� Arts, p. 7 2 The Tech Tuesday, February 25, 2014 Ukraine’s acting government D issues warrant for Yanukovych’s Thai general urges protestors arrest KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s acting interior minister issued a to ‘compose yourselves’ warrant Monday for the arrest of former President Viktor Yanu- kovych, accusing him of mass killing civilian protesters in dem- By Thomas Fuller ing one officer and injuring several more complex than a political stand- WORL onstrations last week. THE NEW YORK TIMES dozen. A second police officer died off four years ago. Arsen Avakov, the acting official, made the announcement on Monday of injuries suffered during Although he said the military and N on his official Facebook page Monday. He also said Yanukovych BANGKOK — The head of Thai- the same fighting. the police did “not support either had arrived in Crimea on Sunday and had fled to an unknown land’s army, one of the most powerful Violence escalated over the week- side,” Prayuth used the word “consti- location without his security detail, according to The Associated institutions in the country, appeared end, with attacks on protest sites by tution” nine times in his 10-minute Press.