Tears and Tragedy in the World’s Youngest Republic
Situated at the heart of South Asia, amidst major tall mountains of the World, Nepal is a beautiful land. In the 70s, Nepal was counted as one of the world’s top tourist destinations. As a toddler I still remember saying in my classroom — “Guests are gods.” We used to satisfy the needs of our guests before looking on to ours. Our values taught us to love every human being’s and help the helpless. Our glorious history taught us to fight against injustice, yet remain peaceful. Such uniquely rich culture; rife with empathy, respect, dignity and sacrifice; has always propelled me to remain proud for my nation.
Cleverer and Cleverer
It was all the way back in the middle of November when I first wrote about the brewing issue of appointments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. To catch you up: the NRC is led by a five-man commission, with one of them serving at the President’s discretion as the chairman of the body. The commission controls the high level nuclear regulatory policy in the United States, and as such plays an important role in the development of nuclear power.
Letters to the Editor
The recent decision by the athletic department to eliminate eight sports from the Varsity program at MIT was supposedly made using an objective process:
Letters to the Editor
I gradutated M.I.T. in 2000, just in time to see a thriving campus life undercut time after time by overzealous security measures enacted by spineless administrators in the face of mobs of Cambridge citizens and failed parents looking to the university system as a surrogate. I’ve seen the fraternity system whittled down and student freedoms trampled, their voices silenced on issue after issue, as former school bureaucrats move on to positions of power (or is that infamy) in certain (here unnamed) governments.
Arlen Specter Switches Parties
It’s not a happy time to be a Republican. After first losing control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2006, and then the White House this past election cycle, the Republican Party has lost a big name Republican senator from a blue state. Specter needed to switch to survive a primary challenge from right wing Republican Pat Toomey. Whatever the politics of the decision, it’s given the Democrats what they want: the opportunity for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Assuming Al Franken, Democratic Senator from Minnesota, who is facing a court challenge over the results of the 2008 Minnesota senate election from incumbent Norm Coleman, becomes seated, the Democratic caucus will reach the magic number 60 in the Senate required for shutting down the filibuster.
Democrats Need to Go Back to the Blackboard on Education Policy
Basketball-player-cum-Secretary-of-Education Arne Duncan recently outlined the president’s proposal to reform our nation’s schools, and for those who follow education policy, the plan was a frustrating let-down. Duncan’s plan consisted of two major points: increasing the resources put towards early childhood education and extending the school year. Both are failed strategies that will significantly raise educational costs without significantly improving results.
UA Update
Before the Senate proceedings last Monday, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Graduate Education Steven R. Lerman ’72 met with students for a town-hall style meeting. Based on his experiences with the Institute, Lerman presented his perspective on how life at MIT has changed over the last decades, differences between undergraduate and graduate student culture, and the development of Athena. Additionally, he touched upon the bias that exists in the personnel aspect of the budget cuts due to administrators making the decisions, and he also mentioned the need for renovation both in dormitories and academic buildings.
Everyone Can Learn from Bombed Hack
Last Friday’s hack by Burton-Connor House and the subsequent investigation by MIT police, the Cambridge Fire Department and Cambridge Bomb Squad once again brought to the fore lingering questions regarding the relationship between MIT police and the hacking culture on campus. This most recent event especially highlighted the need for MIT students, administrators, and police to develop a common understanding of the obligations each group holds in our unique community.
Trouble Finding a Home at MIT
As my first year at MIT draws to a close, I’ve noticed how a great number of procedures and requirements at the Institute are far more complicated than they need be. During CPW, a prefrosh had asked me about the housing lottery. Since this conversation was taking place within the realms of a frat party, I advised him to just read all the pamphlets that would be sent in the mail over the summer. The wide-eyed prefrosh was persistent: “Can you just explain it?” Sighing, I pulled him over and explained that if I were to cover the housing lottery in its entirety, it would’ve ruined the party mood. He dutifully took my words and went off to attack another student about triple majoring.
We’re Problem-Solvers. Let Us Help.
MIT prides itself on educating the best and brightest scientists and engineers — in short, the world’s best problem solvers. Why is it then that the MIT administration’s default modus operandi is to lock students out of the chance to help solve the problems the Institute faces today?
Roll Back the DAPER Cuts!
Last week, the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) announced that eight of 41 varsity sports would no longer be offered following the end of this academic year. Citing the need to reduce its budget by 15 percent over the next three years, the varsity cuts are intended to help DAPER to shave off nearly $1.5 million in costs. The cuts; which eliminated varsity alpine skiing, golf, men and women’s gymnastics, men and women’s ice hockey, pistol, and wrestling; were met with significant student opposition in the weeks leading up to the announcement.
Letters to the Editor
When I first saw the pictures of the “BOMB” it reminded me of something that I might see in a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon. Then I read the story in <i>The Tech</i> and discovered that campus police were notified at 3 a.m. that the bomb was fake. I can think of only two possibilities for the actions of the campus police. The first is that they do not “know their beat.” The second is that there must be some friction between the students and the campus police that would cause them to disregard what is an obvious “hack” and try to embarrass the students. I believe that the campus police chief should investigate and take steps to improve what may be a strained relationship between the student body and the campus police department.
Letters to the Editor
I think Mr Blascovich’s editorial Stop Whining and Start Cheering overlooks a few fundamentals.
The Schizophrenic-in-Chief
In hindsight it’s hard to believe, but there once was a time when I thought I knew where President Obama stood on free trade. Just a year ago he was on the campaign trail in Ohio, claiming that “one million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA” and pledging as president to “renegotiate” the treaty to the satisfaction of labor interests in the U.S. In front of crowds of unemployed workers in Ohio and Texas, his beliefs were as simple as they were hyperbolic: free trade agreements “ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart.”
Moving from “DAPER” To “DAR”
Many other letters have spoken passionately and clearly about the need for MIT’s varsity athletic programs and so I will try and constrain my comments to addressing solutions to DAPER’s budget gap.
UA Update
The Undergraduate Association Dining Proposal Committee has been meeting weekly and engaging in conversations with members of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Dining and representatives from peer institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The Dining Proposal Committee’s report will be released today and will be made available at <i>http://ua.mit.edu/dpc/</i>.