Letters to the Editor
I am a Phi Bete. I have been a member since that warm Labor Day weekend in 1971, when two words, “I pledge” brought the ringing of a chime and an unexpected sea of hands all clambering to shake mine in welcome. It is among the most memorable moments my life, when an awkward, somewhat nerdy freshman was overwhelmed with an outpouring of genuine, unconditional friendship and acceptance. I knew I had become part of something unique and good but could not imagine how this fraternity would so profoundly influence what I would become in life.
Letters to the Editor
<i>Editor’s note: These letters were addressed to MIT President Susan Hockfield and sent to </i>The Tech.
When charity feels like a ripoff
Half an hour waiting in a long, snaking queue, or a “line,” according to the jargon over here. There’s room inside and no hold up for checking identification. It’s close to eleven at night and not cold outside, so we’re not complaining, but we’re thinking we should already be on the dance-floor. “What’s the hold up?” I ask a doorman walking outside along the queue, thanking us for our patience.
The value of involvement
Last semester in these pages, I implored the student body to participate in, or at least care about, student government. In the wake of last week’s Undergraduate Association election results, it’s again time to talk about the worth of the UA and student government in general. Freshmen may still be unfamiliar with the workings of the various student policy-making organizations — the UA, Dormitory Council, the Interfraternity Council — just to name a few, but that’s all the more reason why new MIT students should start this year with an open mind about student government.
Dr. Keynes-love
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past year (better luck next time with that mortgage), this should come as no surprise: The recovery is not going well. The stimulus bill, passed at the start of 2009, failed to bring the economic growth and employment predicted by its architects. Unemployment is higher than the White House projected it would be <i>without</i> the stimulus, suggesting, in the ultimate of political embarrassments, that the administration’s own numbers prove their policies have been counter-productive.
FSILGs are not exceptional
If there is one thing I have learned from having friends in FSILGs and reading the editorials in <i>The Tech</i> over the last two years, it is that two things are true:
Why not rush sophomore year?
The rush debate could go on endlessly since thus far it has been based on opinion alone. Allow me to offer a concrete example: Dartmouth. Dartmouth, famous for inspiring Animal House, does not allow students to join Greek organizations until their sophomore year. Clearly, this has not negatively impacted their Greek culture. If a school with such a rich tradition of Greek life can wait to recruit, why can’t we?
INTERVIEW From A.N.I.T.A. to the Big Bang
As a respected high energy physicist, Dr. David Saltzberg’s work has brought him to many remarkable places: Antarctica, his classroom at UCLA, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, and to the set of CBS’s <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>, for which he is the scientific consultant.
Who knew we elected Bush to a 3rd term?
Remember when you first got hit with Obamania? I sure do. I was a sophomore in high school in February of 2007 when a politically inclined friend of mine and I started spreading the Good Word about our very own fresh-faced, junior Senator’s bid for the presidency. We stuck with his 21 month long campaign and watched proudly as he was inaugurated — she from the National Mall and I from Chicago.
Spinning away
The past twelve months have not been good for Iran. Domestically, the country still roils from the electoral chicanery of the previous August. Internationally, the United Nations has placed fresh sanctions on the regime for failing to comply with its resolutions. Economically, it seems recession has hit the nation, though it is hard to be certain — the government has ceased releasing numbers entirely.
The facts about Rush
I was very disappointed by the columns concerning Rush in the September 10 issue of <i>The Tech</i>. William Damazer’s opinion article was particularly insulting. Freshmen at MIT do not show commitment to their fraternity through hazing. MIT has a strict no-hazing policy to which the fraternities adhere, and to suggest otherwise without evidence is irresponsible. I also find William’s use of the phrase “cheap booze and women” unprofessional and unacceptable. One of the reasons rush is dry is so that alcohol is not a factor in a freshman’s decision, and in any case it’s not any harder to get alcohol on campus than it is at a fraternity. I am particularly appalled at the second half of the phrase, though. The women who spend time at my fraternity are our close friends; we respect and care about them a great deal. They are intelligent and self-empowered, and to suggest that they are here only to be some kind of sexual incentive for freshmen is deeply offensive to them, to the fraternity system, and to me personally. I think we are all owed an apology.
Make textbooks free
Textbook costs can run a thousand dollars a year per student, and thus are a big drag on education — not just at MIT but around the world.
Why no freshman should accept a fraternity’s bid
By this point, the frivolous spending of FSILG rush is almost over. In the real world, people driving around in vans with blacked out windows trying to pick up freshmen would be creepy. In the real world, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a week on trips, food, and Segways would be considered brash and spendthrift. In the real world, using all of those purchases to convince someone to join your club is called “bribery.” But here at MIT, it is the norm for fraternities to recruit members by taking advantage of freshmen’s unfamiliarity with their campus living groups.
Net neutrality is a broken concept
Suppose the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stood up one day and declared, under a law written 76 years ago, it has the authority to regulate the delivery of newspapers. Shortly after making this proclamation, the FCC chairman announces he has decided how newspaper delivery will be regulated — rather than letting the use of our finite news transportation supply be prioritized by competitive, free market bidding, he will instead institute a one-size-fits-all rule: Delivery companies must deliver the news in the order it is received and charge all customers an equal price. The chairman calls his model “Newspaper Boy Neutrality.”
Rush is a valuable addition to campus life
Ryan Normandin is severely misinformed on rush, spending, and fraternities in general. He is not a member of a fraternity, so I cannot expect him to understand, but his ignorance could cause many people to make a bad decision.
On rush and razors and yeshivas
One of Keynes’s less emphasized ideas was to make economists “humble” and “competent people, on a level with dentists.” In addition to macroeconomic forecasts, they could provide analysis to our day-to-day lives. Keynes’s idea, however, is objectionable on many levels. First, my personal experience with dentists has been one of arrogance and control rather than of deference to the patient. Second, in light of the economic crisis, many people would question if economists are even capable of competence; economists have already led the world into a major recession, imagine the carnage if they took control of our intimate surroundings too.