UA Update
Senate met on Monday, October 19 to discuss three pieces of legislation. Senate passed 41 U.A.S. 2.2: Resolution to Continue Transparency and Representation throughout the Institute-wide Planning Process, which seeks to continue undergraduate involvement in the ongoing budget reduction process. On a larger scale, this is part of a push for an increase in undergraduate involvement in Institute decision-making processes.
Condoms, Canoes, and Drunken Argentinean Men
Taxes, a necessary evil of our society, represent the means by which we fund our government. Or rather, the way our government charges us for its bills. Did you know that the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which established the income tax, was supposed to be temporary? Did those who ratified this amendment really think that the government would cut off funding to itself?
Letters to the Editor
MIT’s favorite individual donor, Jeffry Picower, is likely soon to be bankrupted. The Madoff Trustee Irving Picard has a $7.2 billion clawback suit against him (his lawyer has already said he’s ready to make a deal), and it’s likely the IRS will have big claims too, because Picower got billions in phony tax loss statements from Madoff.
The Brilliant and the Dangerous Ideas of The Institute-Wide Planning Task Force
One of the best characteristics of MIT is the freedom the Institute offers to its students. Of course, we all have to satisfy the GIRs, but from sports to UROPs, MIT students have options. In harsh economic times, when we must cut back, do we have to cut back by reducing these options?
Corrections
An article last Friday, “MIT’s Endowment Over the Past Ten Years” contained several errors. MIT’s endowment payout is expected to drop in fiscal year 2011 (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011), not the current fiscal year (FY2010). The payout dropped twice in the 2000s — from FY2003 to FY2004 and from FY2004 to FY2005 — not once, making the projected drop in FY2011 the third in history, not the second. MIT now plans to reduce its budget by $118–$128 million over two years instead of $150 million over three years as originally planned (not a revised $150 million over two years).
UA Update
The Executive Committee prepared the Undergraduate Association’s “Response to the Institute-wide Planning Task Force Preliminary Report” based on undergraduate feedback from the UA website. This report was approved by the Senate on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. The Coordinating Team of the Planning Task Force; the Chancellor, Executive Vice President, Provost, Chairs of the Institute Committees, and Chairs of the Task Force Working Groups; received a copy of the final report this week, and the report is publicly available at <i>http://web.mit.edu/ua/docs/updated_</i><i>taskforce</i><i>_</i><i>response</i><i>.pdf</i>.
MIT Admissions Right to Use Shorter Essays
MIT Admissions was right to ask for more, shorter essays from its applicants in lieu of a single, long essay.
The Real Danger of Qom
On September 25, at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, President Obama revealed to the world that Iran has been covertly constructing an uranium enrichment facility outside the holy city of Qom. Flanked by his allies Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, Obama demanded that Iran disclose the entirety of its nuclear activities “or be held accountable.”
Obama’s Peace Prize — Political Posturing?
Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the end of the 1904 Russo-Japanese war, in which 130,000 people died. Woodrow Wilson was similarly rewarded for his role in founding the League of Nations in 1919. Now, Barack Obama has become the third president of the U.S. to be awarded the Nobel peace prize — for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Spot the difference? Roosevelt and Wilson actually did something constructive (or prevented the destructive), but Obama has been applauded for his “efforts” — precisely because he hasn’t actually done anything yet.
Corrections
An Oct. 9, 2009 figure credit said it measured “the market value of MIT’s endowment in real dollars (not inflation-adjusted).” The market values are nominal (not inflation-adjusted). The market value in real dollars was not shown.
Letters to the Editor
In the September 25 edition of <i>The Tech</i>, Clare Bayley ’11 wrote an important opinion piece on a major change to the admissions application. This was picked up by other media including the massive internet technology news aggregator, Slashdot. I am writing to suggest that my fellow alumni join Ms. Bayley in urging the admissions office to reconsider watering down the application by removing the long essay requirement.
Corrections
Because of an editing error, a Tuesday, Oct. 6 “In Short” item on the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan ran one week late. The deadline for canceling or enrolling in the plan was Sept. 30, as correctly reported in the “In Short” section of <i>The Tech</i>’s Tuesday, Sept. 29 issue.
UA Update
The fall semester’s introductory Senate meeting was held on Monday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m. in W20-400. Before the Special Budgetary Session, Chancellor Philip L. Clay PhD ’75, Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo, Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel E. Hastings ’78, and Vice Chancellor and Dean for Graduate Education Steven R. Lerman ’72 discussed the Institute-wide Planning Task Force recommendations. The Chancellor and deans emphasized that they are looking for as much feedback on the recommendations as possible — especially implementation possibilities that would not involve completely cutting an entire service, but would still save money. They also noted that many of the recommendations which would save large amounts of money would take significant research and time to implement.
Corrections
An article Friday on the UA Senate and Freshman Class Council elections incorrectly claimed that the UA will hold elections for the UA Executive Board in the Spring. Only the President and Vice President are elected at that time. The majority of the Executive Board — committee chairmen — are appointed by the incoming President and VP and approved by the Senate. The Senate Speaker and Vice Speaker are elected by the Senate in late Spring.
Missing from the Institute-Wide Planning Task Force Report: Cuts to the Administration
On Sept. 21, I attended the second forum for the Planning Task Force. While I am not against everything in the Task Force Report, it is appalling that the report has sections on cutting down the very nature and purpose of the Institute — academics and research — without any clear and specific attempt at cutting down the costs of having a workforce larger than the student body. At the forum, I mentioned that the Task Force report did not include a section specifically reducing the administration and its overhead. However, it does have a section on reducing academic costs and another section on reducing research costs. In the research section, it even goes so far as to suggest cutting the graduate student population (in other words, the main researchers) by up to 1,000 students. I received no answer to my comments from any Task Force member or any other administrator at the Forum; only repeated information or attempts to “correct” my statement.
Public Education Reforms: What America Needs to Do
Summer vacation. Lectures. Math, Science, English, and History as discrete subjects. All things of the past. Today, more and more schools are shifting into the realm of project-based learning, interdisciplinary instruction, and, to the sound of millions of children wailing, longer school days and years. Let’s look at the facts: According to the OECD’s (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Program for International Student Assessment in 2003, American “15 year olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem solving. In the 2006 assessment, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 57 in mathematics and 29th out of 57 in science.”
Corrections
An article printed on Friday, September 25 incorrectly reported the number of pistol team members: The team has 34 members, including 12 new recruits and 22 returning members, not 22 members total.
Letters to the Editor
The article “Proposed Minor Asks: How Does Technology Alter the Environment?” (September 29, 2009 of The Tech) leaves readers with the impression that the new undergraduate Energy Studies Minor emphasizes traditional forms of energy supply and treats renewable energy, energy efficiency, and environmental impact as marginal concerns. This portrayal is not accurate.