Word association
A friend once complained to me that she couldn’t trust Republicans. Paraphrasing her words: “You see them in interviews on cable news and it’s uncanny — they’re all using the exact same phrase to describe a situation. Every hour, on the hour, you’ve got a right-wing talking head repeating the line of the day, and I can’t help but think that there’s some secret board of shadowy figures, passing out memos to conservatives that tell them what they’ll be saying.”
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Question 81. If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed, how, if at all, will your military career plans be affected? N Overall Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard I will stay longer than I had planned 1,422 1.7% 1.9% 0.7% 2.2% 1.2% 1.7% I will think about staying longer than I had planned 1,500 1.8% 2.0% 1.2% 2.2% 1.4% 1.5% I will think about leaving sooner than I had planned 12,698 11.1% 11.8% 15.0% 8.6% 9.9% 9.1% I will leave sooner than I had planned 12,126 12.6% 14.2% 23.1% 7.9% 8.2% 6.2% My military career plans would not change 73,210 62.3% 60.2% 47.5% 68.0% 69.0% 67.5% Don’t know 10,690 10.5% 9.8% 12.2% 11.2% 10.3% 14.0% These statistics were recovered from the Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” released by the Department of Defense in November 2010.
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Questions 70 & 71. If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and you are working with a Service member in your immediate unit who has said he or she is gay or lesbian, how, if at all, would it affect your immediate unit’s effectiveness at completing its mission… Very Positive/Positive Equally Positive and Negative No Effect Very Negative/Negative Question 70. Respondents without combat deployment experience since September 11, 2001 On a day-to-day basis 17.4% 32.6% 29.3% 20.8% When a crisis or negative event happens that affects your immediate unit 17.2% 32.8% 29.9% 20.0% Question 71. Respondents with combat deployment experience since September 11, 2001 In a field environment or out at sea 11.4% 25.8% 18.6% 44.3% When a crisis or negative event happens that affects your immediate unit 12.5% 33.3% 24.7% 29.4% In an intense combat situation 12.4% 31.4% 25.6% 30.6%
Keep your eye on the ball, America
The governments of Egypt and Tunisia have toppled like dominoes, accompanied by immense protests in Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan, and Yemen. Cries for freedom, revolution, and reform have been transformed into global slogans. Amidst the chaos and excitement, it is important to not lose sight of one of America’s most prevalent threats: a nuclear Iran.
Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t change
Let’s start with one basic, almost indisputable fact: the likely effect of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) will be to make our military weaker. Judging by the recent survey of servicemen, the Marine Corps will suffer the greatest impact: of those marines who say they’ve actually served with a homosexual leader, co-worker, or subordinate, they reported that in 28 percent of instances it worsened their unit’s ability to work together, in 26 percent it reduced unit morale, and in 25 percent it harmed the unit’s performance. Virtually no Marines reported that having an effectively open homosexual in their immediate unit had a positive effect.
Welcome, Chancellor Grimson
Today is the first day of the chancellorship of W. Eric L. Grimson PhD ’80. The Tech applauds his selection, and is excited to see the new ideas and perspective that he brings to the position. Student leaders have voiced strong support for the new chancellor, based on Grimson’s past service with students and faculty members on numerous committees. Grimson has also received praise for his work as a professor and academic advisor, and through his experience as a graduate student here, we feel that he is well positioned to understand and support the unique culture of the Institute.
Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t keep
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) does not simply disallow gay soldiers from serving — it marginalizes gays. Keeping this antiquated law is to continue institutionalizing discrimination within the military. Since 1941, the U.S. has discharged more than 110,000 soldiers for being gay. Since Obama took office, the U.S. has discharged more than 13,000 troops under DADT. We are firing good soldiers who have put their lives on the line to protect our country. We have lost our men and women not to war, but to our own bigotry. Thankfully, times are changing, because recent studies have shown that service members think positively of the repeal of DADT. At long last, openly gay service members are able to pridefully serve their country in a military capacity.
How America aided the Egyptian disaster
The United States has delivered, on average, $2 billion in aid to Egypt every year since the peace treaty with Israel was signed in 1979. This corresponds almost exactly to the start of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency; after serving as vice president of Egypt since 1975, Mubarak became president in 1981 and remained in power until the recent revolution. Egypt’s economy has declined steadily since Mubarak took the reigns of government.
The battle for Wisconsin’s soul
Paul R. Krugman PhD ’77’s recent article “Wisconsin Power Play” in the New York Times is a revealing look into the liberal derangement over the ongoing public sector union battle in the Badger State. In his article, our esteemed alumnus claims that unions must be defended because they are a bastion against undemocratic forces. And against what undemocratic forces are they arrayed? The Republicans, of course. And how do we know that Republicans are, as Krugman says, trying to turn America into a “third-world-style oligarchy?” Because they oppose unions.
Don’t settle for settlement condition
Last week, the United States vetoed a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements as illegal, and rightly so. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are by no means the main obstacle to peace, and peace can only be achieved as soon as a genuine and willing partner takes Israel’s outstretched hand. It is important that the Obama administration continues to correctly pursue a foreign policy that allows Israel to negotiate a peace agreement for herself.
Digital freedom, liberty, civility, love
While it is certainly encouraging to see that the current U.S. government is intent on bringing more freedom of expression and opportunities for democratic action to people in repressed regimes around the world, the latest effort at new legislation for improving Internet access to such regions may understandably leave us perplexed.
The inequality illusion
Benjamin Disraeli is once said to have remarked that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. As a man who views the world through empiricist lenses, I’ve never been fond of the saying (I prefer to think of the three categories as lies, damned lies, and personal anecdotes), but there is some truth to the maxim. Statistics, arranged with malice aforethought, can lead their viewers to make facile, incorrect inferences.
Letters to the Editor
It disturbs me that most in the MIT community have missed the point when it comes to hazing.
Grabbing the third rail
Last year, the Social Security Trust Fund paid out more than it received in tax revenue. By 2039, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the trust fund will be exhausted, at which point either benefits will have to be cut by 20 percent or taxes increased by 25 percent.
America: Align yourself with your strategic allies
America is confronting significant challenges and turmoil at home and abroad, including severe partisan tensions domestically, collapsed governments and regime changes in the Middle East, the existential threat of a nuclear Iran, and uncertainty about Egypt’s future.
The Twitter Revolution inside our hospitals
Last week on Grey’s Anatomy, the doctors danced once again with the dangers of love and death. Dr. McSteamy took his wife, Dr. Grey, out of Alzheimer’s clinical trials because he wanted his love-life and work separate. Meanwhile, in a quadruple bypass surgery, Dr. Bailey was live-tweeting. Dr. Webber, Chief of Surgery, scolded Bailey for being unprofessional. Bailey defended herself by pointing out how the tweeting would allow outside medical students to follow a surgery uncommonly witnessed, and she exited with lips pouting. Later, in another complicated surgery, witty banter and schoolyard-winks over the operating table turned quickly — as they often do — to flatline-beeps and spontaneous hemorrhaging. The patient needed a transfusion within three hours. The team had looks of despair until tweets from a nearby hospital announced they had the transfusion. The operation was eventually successful, and Dr. Webber overcame his distaste for Twitter, embracing it as a hand-in-hand tool for surgery.
UNTITLED
The main discussion at last week’s UA Exec meeting was focused on Orientation. In discussing steps to take as the UA moves forward, participants were adamant about promoting student engagement in upcoming decisions and wanted to hear a clear proposal from the administration on the Orientation calendar (particularly REX).
DISSENT Students shouldn’t accept blame for administrators’ unresponsiveness
While we agree with the basic premise of the above editorial — that the relationship between administrators and students has reached a low point — we differ with placing equal fault for the problem on students. Compared to the countless missteps in communication and access committed especially by the Division of Student Life, student leaders have been proactive and reasonable in attempting to engage with the administration, outlining time and again their desire for a more constructive relationship. Years after years of students have voiced their grievances about poor transparency and limited student involvement in decisions with important implications on student life. It’s now time for the administration to extend their hand.
Roadmap to reason
MIT needs to take a step back and take a look around. When it comes to student-administration interactions, we’re in a bad spot. Students have a deep mistrust of many elements of the administration, and the administration has found it extraordinarily difficult to successfully communicate with students about their motivations for student life policy changes. Both groups are talking, but the other side doesn’t understand.