CORRECTIONS
An article published on Nov. 29 incorrectly stated that the Dalai Lama has visited the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT three times. He has only visited twice. The same article also incorrectly said that Ethics Initiative talks involve approximately 15 students — it is actually closer to 25–30. In addition, these talks are made available on MIT World, not MIT OpenCourseware.
A sordid end for the ‘Cain train’
Last Saturday was a happy day. Republican presidential contender and former frontrunner Herman Cain announced the suspension of his presidential campaign. Cain, who initially gained support for his conservative values and rags to riches story, has been dishonored and discredited by a slew of lewd sexual assault accusations that eventually killed his political ambitions. Americans can now take a collective sigh of relief because Cain, with his questionable ethics (at best), is no longer in the running for our country’s highest office.
Oh Cain, you will be so sorely missed
Herman Cain, former frontrunner of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, announced late last week that he would be “suspending” his campaign in light of the numerous (read: many) allegations of sexual misconduct during his time as the CEO and President of the National Restaurant Association. Let’s take a moment of silence to mourn the death of his bid for the presidency and then reflect on the highlights of his campaign.
Congress needs to get its act together
Lost hopes and broken dreams: these seem to be the recurring themes with Congress nowadays. I’m sure most of you remember what happened back in August with the federal budget; if not, here’s a brief recap.
Vote YES on UA reform
Editor’s Note: The UA passed a restructuring bill last night, after the deadline for this column.
Occupying is not the answer
Throughout history, American movements for social justice have been given life by protesters exercising their freedom of speech. However, the ones that succeeded did so by coupling the voices of the people with concrete goals and actions. In recent months, Occupy Wall Street, utilizing the empty rally cry “We are the 99 percent!” has gotten only half of this formula correct. Everyone, including the protesters, is confused by the movement’s complete lack of a clear message. Occupiers, as they’re being called, despise corporate America, people with generously-paying jobs, and anything with a semblance of elitism.
GUEST COLUMN Two sides to every campus
Editor’s Note: The following was sent as an open letter to Chancellor Eric Grimson and Alan E. Siegel, MIT’s chief of mental health services.
Does OWS have an image problem?
Certainly there is no shortage of people with “The Definitive Opinion” about Occupy Wall Street and its hundreds of offshoots, but I figured I would go the marginally less tired route of addressing the unacquainted, the undecided, and the just plain uneasy.
Occupy yourself
“No entry without a Harvard ID,” I was told by a police officer. And I was not alone — this was the response that hundreds of tourists received when they tried to walk through Harvard Yard last week.
GUEST COLUMN Response from the Chancellor
I am writing in response to Stephen Tsai’s letter. Stephen has given me a fresh understanding of what pain and loneliness can feel like on our campus, and the accounts he gives of his and others’ experiences and feelings will remain with me as I lead efforts to review our support services and the ways we make them available to community members. Stephen, thank you.
Incompetency abounds in GOP pack
I envy people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who get to talk about the many political absurdities on broadcast television. Since the beginning of the debates for next year’s Republican presidential primaries, the two hosts have had daily opportunities to expose how amazingly unfit for duty some candidates are. If I wanted to enumerate all the astonishing remarks made by the candidates, I think I would have to fill up an entire edition of The Tech. Instead, what follows is a “Best Of” list covering the top three candidates, who have managed to show unparalleled creativity in the many ways they mess up. So without further ado, let’s look at our winners.
CORRECTIONS
An article about Amphibious Achievement in last Tuesday’s issue incorrectly named one of the Public Service Center’s staff. The staff member is named Jennifer Currie, not Jennifer Higgins-Spiers.
Keeping up with the Kardashians
Who’s Kim Kardashian? I’ve been seeing her name everywhere. Over internet posts and magazine spreads, headlines read, “Kim Kardashian’s Divorce — TMZ.” I did not know that this person was getting divorced. In fact, I hadn’t known that this person was married, either. Another celebrity married-in-a-heartbeat-then-divorced-just-as-fast. In other words, publicity-publicity-publicity-publicity.
Republicans should not ignore Occupy Wall Street
The Occupy Wall Street movement has been lambasted by Republicans nearly since its inception. This is not entirely unreasonable — interviews with some of the protesters have demonstrated an extensive lack of knowledge regarding what they’re protesting and why they’re protesting it. One college student said that he thought the government should pay for his college tuition simply because he wants them to. Others, even if they are able to clearly enunciate problems, have no ideas about the solution. As such, it has been only too easy for Republicans to trivialize the movement, portraying it as a group of people too lazy to look for work, individuals who simply want everything handed to them, or people who are looking for something to do and figure that Occupy Wall Street — being the latest fad — would be fun.
CORRECTIONS
An opinion article published last Friday on the state of nuclear energy in the United States incorrectly referenced the “Electrical Power Research Institute.” It is the “Electric Power Research Institute.”
From the desk of the 1 percent
I have been informed by one of my simpering, sycophantic servants that “the people,” as the serfs of this principality laughingly refer to themselves, have recently risen in protest. On every corner of New York City, it seems, one cannot so much as raise one’s head from the velvet embrace of a gilded palanquin without being accosted by the stench of these ne’er-do-wells and their grade-school Marxism, each clawing for a sip of the proverbial chocolate milk. Fie, I say, this is my milk, and no discount baseball card or pennywhistle shall convince me otherwise!
Did Fukushima kill the nuclear renaissance No, that renaissance died right here at home
In the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, many wondered what the event’s impact would be on the nuclear renaissance in the United States. Those who follow the nuclear industry didn’t need eight months of hindsight to give an answer: what nuclear renaissance?
It’s all Greek (economics) to me
Let’s start with something obvious: Greece is insolvent. What this means is that it is no longer financially capable of paying off its debts. Insolvency usually occurs in one of two ways: you are either incapable of paying your debts as they are due or you own net negative assets, meaning your liabilities exceed your assets. The former is true in the case of the Hellenic Republic, where the government simply no longer has the financial power to pay off its many debts.