Trials and Tribulations in the First Twenty Days
Storm clouds have begun to gather since the bright, sunny day we welcomed Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Faced with a seemingly intractable economic crisis and a Senate mired in the same kind of partisan squabbling that we all know and hate, there were few who truly expected the administration to fix the country in the first few weeks. I did not expect Barack Obama to resolve the crisis single-handedly. But, like many Americans, I expected more from the people the President picked to run his administration.
Unreasonable Expectations
I have to say, I was seriously irked last week by the public reaction to the “shocking” announcement that swimming sensation Michael Phelps had taken a hit from a bong. How scandalous! In the summer of 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, Phelps was, to put it crudely, “the shiz.” How quickly the tables can turn.
Idealist or Realist?
Obama’s muddled thinking on foreign policy will walk him into the same pitfalls as his predecessor
The Crisis Within and the Voice Abroad
Even here at MIT, with so many students and faculty interested in finding solutions to the great problems of our world, very few have knowledge of the humanitarian catastrophe currently unfolding on the island of Sri Lanka.
Keeping Students’ (and Stomachs’) Interests in Mind
Two weeks ago, when a mass e-mail announced the commencement of campus shuttle service to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, students cheered. For the health-conscious, the gourmand, or the simple eater alike, improved accessibility to these popular grocery markets is certainly a win.
Screw Bipartisanship
When it comes to health care policy, two viable economic theories are battling it out across the left-right spectrum.
A Year to Remember
Soaring Fuel Prices. Subprime Mortgage Crisis. Chengdu Earthquake. Georgia. The Olympics. Phelps. Musharraf. Recession. Iraq. Bailout. Large Hadron Collider. An Obama Victory! Madoff. Plummeting Fuel Prices. Gaza. Leap Second.
This Is MIT?
I chose MIT because of the stories: the great cannon heist, the police car, the student-run live-action role playing club, the simple trust that was placed in the intelligence and competence of the students — in letting them choose their own living groups that kept up their own cultures, often decades old, in letting them have a voice in any decisions affecting them. I guess I was imagining a sort of Utopia — 5000 of the funkiest, most brilliant minds from the entire country and around the world molding a homeland of their own in which to learn and live.
America is Different
Last Tuesday night, for the first time in my life, I felt proud to be an American. For the first time, I felt genuine faith in my country and a genuine desire to serve it. And for the first time in my life, my voice was heard and my voice made a difference.
Out of the Wilderness and Back into the Big Tent
For the GOP, it really wasn’t that bad of an election, considering the circumstances. Amid corruption, scandal, and mismanagement of affairs both at home and abroad, Republicans still managed to pull in 45.7% of the popular vote. That they did so is a testament to the enduring conservatism of America’s electoral landscape.
Spending for Tomorrow
Barack Obama said in his inaugural address that “our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began; our minds are no less inventive.” America, according to the President, has lost none of its manufacturing prowess from the current recession. Obama followed this with a list of just some of the projects his administration hopes to fund in order to “stimulate” the economy back to productivity.
The View from the Mall
Last Wednesday, I was one of the huddled masses who braved the cold for hours on the National Mall to catch a glimpse of the inauguration. While I saw less visually than I might have from 10-250, I stood amid the beating heart of America and watched it change firsthand.
Expecting More from an MIT Professor
We write today to voice our concern about Professor Noam Chomsky’s reckless behavior at a talk held last week (January 13th) as part of the MIT CIS Starr Forum. We wish to address some points in Professor Chomsky’s talk to explain our position, which we hope will encourage members of the MIT community to refrain from making cynical use of their position and support by the institution.
Proportionality and the Just War
The objective of Joseph Maurer’s piece entitled “Justifying Self-Defense” was to critically engage with Professor Chomsky’s recent talk on the Gaza conflict. Maurer’s targets also include those who have expressed concern regarding Israel’s alleged violation of the principle of proportionality, a concern that “has been screamed ad nauseam by many of Israel’s staunchest foes.”
Letters to the Editor
I was deeply disappointed by the article “At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard.” The reporter lauded the new teaching method, TEAL, as fun and effective, while implying the old, “traditional” lectures are oppressive and ineffective. (They aren’t, by the way.) The article barely mentions that TEAL is actually very controversial on campus.
The Gaza Situation
Last Tuesday, Noam Chomsky explained to a packed auditorium at MIT’s Center of International Studies that Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza was nothing if not “familiar.”
Justifying Self-Defense
As reported in <i>The Tech</i>, last Tuesday Noam Chomsky, MIT’s well-known linguistics professor, gave a talk on the Gaza Strip conflict. While he didn’t hesitate in heaping scorn on Israel, he condemned the actions of the United States and its leaders even more.
A Year to Remember
Soaring Fuel Prices. Subprime Mortgage Crisis. Chengdu Earthquake. Georgia. The Olympics. Phelps. Musharraf. Recession. Iraq. Bailout. Large Hadron Collider. An Obama Victory! Madoff. Plummeting Fuel Prices. Gaza. Leap Second.
Letters to the Editor
I’ve been hearing for years that MIT people are the smartest people on the planet. Well, I’ve tried my hardest to believe this but the news about the “minimum nutritional fee” has utterly destroyed my faith. The “minimum nutritional fee” is probably the worst possible idea involving food on campus that has ever been thought and is a miserable mark of shame on our existence as an intellectual body.