LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Editors Note: We received the following letters in response to our advertisements calling for submissions, and in response to our survey.
CORRECTIONS
An article published on November 30, 2012 about the new director of digital learning Sanjay Sarma misspelled the name of physics professor John Belcher. The article also said that 8.02x would feature clips from Walter Lewin’s 8.02 course. 8.02x will actually feature his lectures in sequence along with other digital material.
CORRECTIONS
An article about USAID published on Nov. 13. failed to cite the MIT News Office as the main source for the article. All quotations are statements from sources to the MIT News Office.
Rocket fire in the Gaza strip hits close to home
I’m frightened. My younger sister, who will be a freshman at MIT next year, is currently hiding in a bomb shelter in Israel. My phone buzzes nonstop with worried calls from my mother, and texts from my sister with messages like “update: sirens went off, went to safe room, heard blast but out now,” and “wow that was loud … two more rockets fell near us, one was hit by iron dome and the other they say fell in the sea.” While my sister is handling the terrible situation well (she is mostly complaining that the rocket attacks are preventing her from seeing the new Twilight movie), the reality is that Israel has been thrown into turmoil by the constant barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, which have made living everyday life impossible for millions of Israelis.
America on the edge
As the fervor of elections slowly draws to a close, early signs indicate an imminent storm of controversy — the so-called “fiscal cliff” — coming our way.
CORRECTIONS
An article published November 9 about the three month anniversary of Hubway at MIT incorrectly reported that students and other members of the MIT community were eligible for subsidized memberships. Eligibility extends only to current MIT students and employees.
A left turn off the fiscal cliff
I can think of no easier path to a Republican resurgence than the debt solution plan put forward by that darling of the progressive left, Robert Reich. In an article for the Huffington Post, Mr. Reich outlined the following:
Who’s in charge?
On Nov. 8, two days following the re-election of President Obama, General David Petraeus, director of the CIA, resigned his post over an extramarital affair. The affair would be notable on its own — a CIA director having a covert affair that may have led to a security breach is certainly newsworthy — but when viewed in the context of the ongoing investigation of the 9/11 Benghazi terror attacks it is just another example of the degree to which the administration has lost control.
CORRECTIONS
Last Friday’s Tech incorrectly misspelled the name of the meteorologist who wrote the weather. He is Roman Kowch, not Rowan Koch.
The Republican path forward
I’m usually skeptical of claims made by party faithfuls who, in the aftermath of losing an election, claim that no ideological adjustments are necessary to win the next election. When Kerry was defeated by Bush, I rolled my eyes as the surviving liberal rump of the Democratic Party blamed their loss on a lack of partisan purity. Similarly, I rolled my eyes when 2009 Republicans said the path forward was a return to conservative principles. To me, in both instances, the remedy for electoral losses was a simple application of median voter politics: moving toward the middle yields more victories than retreating to extremes. A bitter medicine for those who belong to those extremes, perhaps, but Hippocrates would recommend no other.
America deserves better than good enough
If you surf the web, watch television, or are of the rare breed that reads newspapers, you are painfully aware that we recently held a presidential election. And if you have heard any chatter on the candidates and their campaigns, I’m sure you can agree that 2012 was very different from 2008.
CORRECTIONS
Tuesday’s Tech ran a photo on p. 8 of the MIT Gangnam Style video’s three creators. The caption incorrectly stated that Ingwon Chae ’14, Richard C. Yoon ’13, and Eddie Ha ’13 were standing right to left. They were actually standing left to right.
Who will win tonight’s election?
A wise man once said, “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” But judging by the enormous volume of guesses made in the national print, merely making a prediction seems to take no effort at all. Bewilderingly, this election cycle has predictions that run the gamut from an imminent Romney victory, to a completely tied race, to a foregone conclusion for Obama, all made with straight faces by normally reasonable people.