Letters to the Editor
When I first saw the pictures of the “BOMB” it reminded me of something that I might see in a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon. Then I read the story in <i>The Tech</i> and discovered that campus police were notified at 3 a.m. that the bomb was fake. I can think of only two possibilities for the actions of the campus police. The first is that they do not “know their beat.” The second is that there must be some friction between the students and the campus police that would cause them to disregard what is an obvious “hack” and try to embarrass the students. I believe that the campus police chief should investigate and take steps to improve what may be a strained relationship between the student body and the campus police department.
Letters to the Editor
I think Mr Blascovich’s editorial Stop Whining and Start Cheering overlooks a few fundamentals.
The Schizophrenic-in-Chief
In hindsight it’s hard to believe, but there once was a time when I thought I knew where President Obama stood on free trade. Just a year ago he was on the campaign trail in Ohio, claiming that “one million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA” and pledging as president to “renegotiate” the treaty to the satisfaction of labor interests in the U.S. In front of crowds of unemployed workers in Ohio and Texas, his beliefs were as simple as they were hyperbolic: free trade agreements “ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart.”
Moving from “DAPER” To “DAR”
Many other letters have spoken passionately and clearly about the need for MIT’s varsity athletic programs and so I will try and constrain my comments to addressing solutions to DAPER’s budget gap.
UA Update
The Undergraduate Association Dining Proposal Committee has been meeting weekly and engaging in conversations with members of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Dining and representatives from peer institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The Dining Proposal Committee’s report will be released today and will be made available at <i>http://ua.mit.edu/dpc/</i>.
Corrections
An article on March 17 about increases to graduate student stipends incorrectly stated that all graduate student stipends increased by 3.4 percent. Actually, the recommended stipends for science and engineering departments increased by that amount. Those stipends are allowed to deviate from the recommendation announced by Dean for Graduate Education Steven R. Lerman ’72 and Associate Provost Claude R. Canizares. Any department stipends 15 percent above or 10 percent below the recommended amount must be approved by the school dean and the associate provost.
Vandalism of Pro-Life Bulletin Board Silences Debate
I was surprised to learn that there has been a small vandalism wave targeted towards specific advocacy groups along the Infinite Corridor. In the past two months, a display about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was removed, a Martin Luther King display was vandalized twice, the United Christian Organization (UCO) bulletin board was torn down and pro-life ads were completely taken down along with the entire pro-life Bulletin Board.
Letters to the Editor
The motto of the Institute is “Mens et Manus,” which literally translated means “Mind and Hand.” One can only speculate as to the exact intentions of the founders, but this expression can be taken as emphasizing the importance of both thinking and doing, or equally as emphasizing the importance of one’s mind and one’s body.
Making Your College Decision: The Print Edition
A campus newspaper is a great way to find out what a college is like. When I was doing my campus tours, I always made sure to pick up a copy of the campus daily (or twice-weekly). Hidden among the pages are the collective values, fears, and triumphs of the student body. Plus, a newspaper’s objectivity simultaneously reveals the best and worst in a college. During your stay here at MIT, and wherever else you may be visiting, be sure to pick up a publication and read it not only for content, but for subtext. If you’re reading this, you’ve already completed step one. Let’s take a stroll through some recent issues of <i>The Tech</i> and the newspapers of some other colleges you may be considering to see what we can find out.
Clean Energy Forum Ignores the Facts
Ladies and gentlemen, prefrosh and parents, I’d like to introduce you to what happens when the world’s premier research university and a representative of the world’s largest subsidizer of bad ideas join together to discuss hot air. I’m talking, of course, about Monday’s clean energy and global warming forum, hosted by the MIT Energy Initiative and featuring Rep. Ed Markey. Special thanks, of course, go to the 33-year veteran congressman for his brief and monotone addition to the summit.
Obama’s Nuclear Weapons Plan
Early this April, President Obama unveiled his vision for strengthening the world’s nuclear non-proliferation regime: renewed arms reduction talks with Russia and the creation of an international fuel bank in Kazakhstan to provide fuel services to non-weapons states. Both are excellent ideas which are long overdue, but neither will resolve the major proliferation threats facing us today.
Stop Whining and Start Cheering
When DAPER announced that budget cuts would require the elimination of one or more varsity programs, the department showed great respect for students by informing them early in the process. This respect was not reciprocated by students and other members of the MIT community who have spent the last few weeks insulting administrators, insisting that this decision must have been made hastily, and demanding that the department reconsider. While DAPER is listening with open ears, students claim they are being unheard much like a bratty sixteen-year-old demanding a Ferrari when given an Acura. As a student body, we need to appreciate the incredible opportunities that we will still have without complaining about what we can no longer afford.
Institute Wisdom Watch
<b>The Prefrosh descend on Campus:</b> Yay! More students to indoctrinate. Erm, we mean “welcome.” — thumbs up
UA Update
Spring Weekend will be from April 23 to 25. Ben Folds will be performing live in concert with Sara Bareilles and Hotel Lights, starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 25th in the Johnson Athletic Center. To purchase tickets for this event, which are only $15 for MIT students, as well as tickets for any other Spring Weekend events, please visit: <i>http://sao.mit.edu/tickets</i>. Make sure to buy your tickets today, before it’s too late!
The Dalai Lama Supports a Unique Opportunity
At the end of this month, a host of influential people will be coming to MIT to speak at the opening of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT. The opening event will be headlined by the Dalai Lama and influential composer Philip Glass. The speakers cover a wide range of disciplines, including ethics, political science, environmental policy, psychology, neuroscience, economics, music, theater, religion, and spirituality. The educational focus of the Center for Ethics is to be similarly multidisciplinary.
A Research System Set Up to Fail
Thomas Friedman has a solution to fix the global energy problem and boost the economy. In his latest book, <i>Hot, Flat and Crowded</i>, Friedman presents it succinctly: “We need 100,000 people in 100,000 garages trying 100,000 things — in the hope that five of them break through.”
UA Update
Before the general proceedings, Senate hosted Provost L. Rafael Reif. The Provost spoke regarding the ongoing efforts to trim the Institute’s budget. Unlike most other institutions of higher learning, Provost Reif noted that MIT did not have a budget deficit the year before the recession hit, and as a result, it is feasible for MIT to make the budget cuts slowly—over the course of three years instead all at once. The Provost hopes that this will enable MIT to come out of the ordeal stronger and more efficient because of the cuts. He likewise ensured that MIT’s goals, such as academic and research standards, are still being held in high regard, despite the financial hold.
Saving Our Sports
Last August, I had no idea MIT had a pistol team. I didn’t even know that pistol was a collegiate sport. “Pistol?” I asked. “You mean like guns?” Coming from a high school whose prime directive in making policy was to avoid lawsuits, it had never occurred to me that a college would allow 17 and 18-year olds to handle firearms. But, in fact, MIT has a thriving pistol team which has captured two national championship titles in the past four years.