Letters to the Editor
<i>This letter is in response to Kevin Wang’s March 4, 2008 column, “Not Even Fit For a Last Meal”:</i>
Corrections
The Feb. 26, 2008 captions for the Bexxxley Roxxx Some More concert incorrectly identified a band as The Peaches. The band is actually called The Pears.
Financial Aid Leaves Out Middle Class
The article about the Senate requesting MIT’s information on endowment and tuition on Friday, Feb 22, makes things sound reasonable enough, but it’s glossing over some of the ugly facts underlying MIT’s financial aid policies.
Letters to the Editor
If I were to say that the NFL’s governing body is smarter than the administrations of our nation’s wealthiest universities, would you believe me? People may look in wonder at the nature of the statement, asking themselves “How could a handful of individuals in the sports business outwit those that are responsible for educating our nation’s brightest students?” The answer is simple: they understand that their own success depends on the success of the group.
The Necessity of Hope
On Tuesday, Wisconsin handed Barack Obama his ninth consecutive victory in the race for the Democratic nomination. In state after state, Obama’s speeches have drawn together thousands of people from all backgrounds to stand up and shout “Yes we can.” But, as Obama-mania fades in the coming months, the focus will turn to where each candidate stands on the issues. Political pundits have repeatedly argued that although Obama is inspirational, he doesn’t address the “meat-and-potatoes problems.” David Brooks of the New York Times calls Obama’s message of hope “vaporous.” So what are his policies? This question is being echoed more loudly with Obama’s increasing success in the primaries. While I agree that Obama should provide a more concrete outline of the policies he wants to enact and how, it is my opinion that his message of hope represents a world-view that will have a real impact on questions of policy.
Letters to the Editor
Historically, MIT’s role in promoting science policy is unparalleled. Vannevar Bush EGD ’16 had a key role in the massive mobilization of the science community during World War II. But even in peacetime, he lobbied for the creation of the National Science Foundation. MIT Presidents Karl T. Compton and James R. Killian Jr. ’26 also helped shape U.S. science policy in this era.
Corrections
The Feb. 12, 2008 article “Green Hall Residents Will Leave In Fall and Thetas Will Move In” incorrectly stated that fewer beds will be available to undergraduates in fall 2008 after Senior Segue ends. In fact, the same number of beds will be available. Though 103 fewer beds in graduate dormitories will be offered to undergraduates, Green Hall will provide housing for 46 Kappa Alpha Theta members, and 57 spaces have been reserved in new graduate dormitory NW35 for students who will eventually occupy W1 when it becomes an undergraduate residence.
Student Living Demands Student Input
As we students enjoy a passing resemblance to having lives and would be delighted to contribute meaningfully to MIT’s decisions regarding how students live — that is to say, regarding housing — we are continually dismayed at how little attention the administration pays to student input. But are we surprised? A reading of <i>The Tech</i>’s archives suggests that even “ten-yeared” students should be anything but.
Corrections
<i>The Tech</i>’s Feb. 8 feature about the 2008 BattleCode contest incorrectly noted that the “Best Team Name” award was given by BAE Systems. It was actually awarded by the BattleCode directors.
Letters to the Editor
Your February 5, 2008 Year in Review issue contained glaring errors in the section about the death of Daniel Barclay ’07, in sharp contrast to your newspaper’s usually-high standard for reporting.
Letters to the Editor
While I thought The Tech’s recent Year in Review issue did an outstanding job of representing the triumphs, controversies, and other stories that profoundly affected MIT over the past year, I am troubled that, in all of the issue’s 36 pages, not once does the word UROP appear. The student-driven research for which MIT is supposedly so highly regarded is barely mentioned, even while eight pages are dedicated to MIT’s athletics program. Although The Tech selected nine athletes to showcase as “Profiles of Dedication” — a title well deserved — that phrase could just as easily have been applied to any number of UROP students. To be sure, I do not mean to slight the student-athletes who devote so much of their time, energy, and passion to excelling in their chosen sport or sports. But I find it strange that even here at the Massachusetts Institute of <i>Technology</i>, we still seem to value articles about athletics above stories about academics.
Corrections
The “The Tech Asks…” feature in <i>The Tech’s </i>2007 Year in Review misspelled the name of a popular Afghan restaurant near the Cambridgeside Galleria. It is Helmand, not Helmond’s.
The Year in Tech Editorials
Incorporating perspectives built upon institutional memory and the paper’s untouched archives, <i>The Tech’s </i>editorial board weighed in on several matters of importance to the MIT community this past year. Below find editorials on what we consider to be some of the year’s most important topics.
MIT’s Missile Defense Cover-Up
Over the past seven years, the MIT Corporation has been actively concealing evidence of scientific fraud at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, relating to the effectiveness of a national missile defense system. During that time, the U.S. has mis-spent nearly $70 billion of national treasure on a flawed system, and MIT’s name has been used to lull the nation’s decision makers into believing that the defense might work. My aim in writing this article is to provide the MIT community with facts so powerful that anyone who reads them will understand that the actions of the MIT Corporation in this case have ignored the nation’s best interests.
MIT Students Go Global
The constant barrage of news about climate change, energy shortages, environmental degradation, disease, and war demonstrates the challenges and dangers of an increasingly interconnected world. However, in the face of these grim realities and predictions, it is reassuring to witness the real-world, international successes of MIT students. By working with communities around the world, MIT students create positive outcomes that have transformative effects. The more MIT students participate in international public service, the better chance we have of creating a world where interconnection is an asset and headlines can be positive.
New Admins Can’t Take Nerd Culture for Granted
I’ve often referred to MIT as a “nerd reservation,” or a place for the world’s extremely bizarre people to live and work together by their own system of rules and social norms.<i> </i>This beautiful society they created — one based on respect for logic and invention<i> </i>— is not coincidentally a mine of greatness. While churning out Nobel Laureates and top ranks, MIT garnered the reputation of being fun for those that appreciate spelunking, Smoots, and steer.
Quiet Victories for Student Initiatives
2007 represented a year of quiet victories for student-led initiatives. Two examples merit particular attention — the first for confirming that partnership between students and administrators is possible, the second for demonstrating that sustained student pressure can change even the most entrenched of Institute policies.
The Paradox of Institute Performance and Faculty Perceptions
During the last few months, as I served as the chair of the MIT faculty, I have been surprised by a phenomenon which I can only describe as a paradox. While all the indicators of MIT’s institutional performance look quite positive and convey clearly that MIT remains a leading research university in the world, the faculty — not all, but a sizeable number — seem to feel that the Institute is not moving in the right direction, that its institutional norms and practices are changing, moving away from MIT’s traditional culture of decentralized innovations towards a relatively centralized and somewhat corporate model of governance. This odd juxtaposition of success and alarm has been intriguing for me.
Not Just Another Ivy League
MIT is going through an identity crisis. Administrators frequently use Ivy League universities as a yardstick by which MIT’s student life is evaluated. MIT fundamentally differs from these other elite institutions in our dominance of science and engineering as well as our values of self-determination and independence in student life.
The Great Copyright Crackdown
2007 has been the year of the great copyright crackdown. While copyright has been part of the law for hundreds of years, protecting intellectual property so that those who create it are justly compensated is now even more important in an information economy, even as the prevalence of digital media makes it easier to violate copyright laws.