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.
While Karachi slowly burns
In the game of geopolitics, Pakistan was dealt a terrible hand. It began its existence situated next to an aggressive and mortal enemy who, both in population as well as gross domestic product, outnumbered it by more than three to one.
Letters to the Editor
While there has historically been a degree of suggestiveness or double entendre in the entries of the Daily Confusion, we at East Campus felt that a number of the entries added by the Tech staff this year were highly inappropriate and damaging.
Welcome to MIT
There are always things you wish someone had told you earlier. This is especially true for a place like MIT, where you’ll likely be facing challenges you’ve never had to face before. But there’s also value in learning to how to deal with these challenges on your own. So without taking some of the mystery (and fun) out of your first year at MIT, here are some things we wished we knew for our upcoming freshmen years.
Letters to the Editor
<i>Samuel Markson is also an associate arts editor for </i><i>The Tech</i><i>.</i>
Leaving our children behind
<i>“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works... Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”</i>
A freshman’s guide to thriving at MIT
At this point, you’ve settled into your temporary room, semi-unpacked and probably eaten lots and lots of free food. If you’re hungry or have paid for food, you’re doing something wrong. Maybe you’ve gone to some “mandatory” Orientation events or you’re doing an FPOP. You’re meeting lots of people, staying up all night, and generally having a great time. And slowly, you might even be starting to believe that this is what MIT is like all of the time.
I Have Truly Found Paradise — now what do I do with it?
It feels a bit strange to write that September 8 will mark the third annual Wednesday that I walk down the Infinite to the requisite “first day of classes” buzz at MIT. Time flies when you’re having fun. Or, in our case: psetting, socializing, studying, exploring campus and city life, and discovering every possible iteration of “IHTFP.” Either way, I am officially an upperclassman, and as such, I’m going to give you ’14ers a bit of practical advice that I’ve accumulated from two, very busy years at the Institvte.
Build the NYC mosque
On August 3, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Society voted unanimously not to extend landmark status to 45–47 Park Place, formerly a Burlington Coat Factory, now a partially-damaged warehouse. As far as municipal law goes, the decision was as mundane and routine as handing out a parking ticket or issuing a liquor license — the warehouse, with its commonplace architectural style, simply did not offer a compelling justification for landmark status. And yet to hear many conservatives talk about the matter, it seems as if the Landmarks Preservation Society has dealt a death blow to the American way of life. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich claims that it will “encourage [radical Islamists] in their challenge to our civilization,” and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl writes that it will “risk giving militant Islamists a victory to exploit.”
Radically bitter tea
The tea party movement has come a long way since its inception. Emerging in 2009 as a reaction to bank bailouts and the looming health care reform, the movement originally appeared to be a highly localized and disorganized group angry with the increasing size, power, and spending of the federal government. They seemed to resuscitate the ghost of the old “states-righters” around the time of the Civil War. Due to the extremely localized nature of the movement, many believed that the party would quickly disintegrate. Unfortunately, they were wrong — instead of falling apart, it has mutated into a virus that is taking hold of many voters and Republican politicians throughout this country.
Tyranny of the majority in France
Legislation banning face veils from public, passed by the lower house of the French Parliament, is a sadly misguided attempt to maintain national identity. In reality, it promotes only xenophobia and religious discrimination.
Getting lost in <br />freshman advising
As the fall semester approaches and MIT’s Class of 2014 arrives, I feel obligated to discuss an issue that affected my experience as a freshman. The Institute can boast of an exemplary faculty, course selection, and student body. However, MIT’s freshmen advising program has not been impressive. In contrast to most schools, MIT offers freshmen the ability to choose between group and individual advising. Residence-based Advising (RBA) and Freshmen Seminar Advising (FSA) place students with a group of their peers and MIT faculty members, while Traditional Advising focuses on individual meetings with a specific faculty adviser. Whereas most schools assign hundreds of students to a few specialized counselors, MIT advisers are largely drawn from the normal faculty.