Red Sox Win!

MIT'sOldest and Largest

Newspaper

The WeatherToday: Sunny, 62°F (17°C)Tonight: Clear, 49°F (lO°C)

Tomorrow: Sunny, 71°F (21°C)Details, Page 2

Reading Room, Page 14

Renovations are 'high priority'Last spring, the proposal was

"put on a list to go forward provi-sionally" but then became one of adozen projects that had to be cutbecause of an unexpected 25 per-cent decrease in CRSP's budget,Canizares said.

By Beckett w. 5temerNEWS EDITOR

to CRSP last spring and thatremains on CRSP's list.

The first phase focuses on theaddition of group study space,since there are few such spaces oncampus and since there is highdemand for them among students,said Phillip]. Walsh, director ofCampus Activities Complex.Walsh worked with the UA on theproposal.

Deora said that the desired studygroup space would consist ofsound-proof rooms complete withwhiteboards, and that the first phasealso included fire safety improve-ments.

The second phase will focus ongeneral improvements to the room:the addition of network drops andnew furniture, carpeting, lighting,and climate control systems.

Benedict said that phase twowould be submitted to the CRSP inthe year immediately following theyear of phase one approval.

Canizares said the renovation isthe second-largest project currentlyon the list and that the CRSP plansto put half a million dollars towardsit.

The Theta Delta Chi fraternitymust do "something creative" tochange fellow fraternities' attitudestoward alcohol and the police, or facea 14-day suspension from their houseduring their rush period next fall.

"It's going to have to be some-thing big," said Cambridge LicenseCommission Chair Benjamin C.Barnes. "It's going to have to make asplash."

The sanction is a response to anincident at TDC this summer involv-ing alcohol, objects being thrownfrom the roofdeck, and party atten-dees taunting and swearing at the

Phase I includes group study areasThe cost of the renovation was

initially estimated at over a milliondollars and required the proposal besplit into two phases, Benedict said.It was phase one that was submitted

An Undergraduate Associationproposal to renovate the readingroom on the fifth floor of the Stu-dent Center failed to receive fund-ing from the Committee for theReview of Space Planning lastspring, but it remains high priorityon the committee's project list.

Claude R. Canizares, associateproyost and CRSP Chair, said thatthe proposal is "being carried [over]as a high priority project that weintend to do at the earliest time thebudget will allow."

The proposal calls for the addi-tion of group study space and forthe modernization of the readingroom. CRSP must approve all spacechange and renovation projects forthe Institute.

Dean for Student Life Larry G.Benedict, who submitted the pro-posal last year, said it remains his"top priority" this year.

Benedict "emphasized it was histop priority last year, [so he] seemsto be keeping his word, which isgreat," said Parul Deora '04, lastyear's Undergraduate Associationvice president. Deora worked withother UA leaders to submit the pro-posal to Benedict and the CampusActivities Complex.

By Christine Casas

to~k part in last night's discussion

AARON D. MIHALIK-THE TECH

Erik Demalne examines one of his origami creations. Demalne, a 22-year-old assistant professor In Course VI, was a recent recipient ofa $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship.Genius, Page 17

Volume 123, Number 46 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, October 7,2003

Students Discuss Flag Issues at UA Forum. TDCMustBy Jay Cameron Ell teSTAFF REPORTER .. • ,aU

Students discussed the flag-fly- ut./Iing controversy at a forum hostedby the Undergraduate Association Pellowlast night, but. no representatives £ 4from the administration were iqattendance. . ~

Jonathan A. Goler G has had an OUSIO~Israeli flag hanging outside his win- Vt:7dow since this summer. He has beenasked to take it down repeatedly,but he has refused, .saying he is onlybeing asked to take- the flag downbecause a fellow resident of the Sid-ney-Pacific Graduate Re.sidencecomplained about its political impli.,.cations.

MI'F has said repeatedly that theflag violates MIT rules and is a fireand safety hazard.

After the Housing Office men-tioned the possibility of an evictionnotice, Goler proceeded to hang hisflag inside his ninth-floor-window,illuminating it with a backlight dur-~~ the night.

JOHN CWUTIER-THE TECH

Jonathan Goler G fields questions from a panel of dormitory representatives Monday night. The UA-spon-sor~d discussion focused on MIT's official policies regarding the hanging of banners and flags on theoutside of dormitories.

Goler hints at legal action action, mentioning ongoing discus- ment Rights cases.At the meeting, Goler hinted that sions with the American Civil Lib- Reporting on the cpinions of

he might be prepared to take legal erties Union and past First Amend- their constituents, UA senato_fSwho Flag, Page 11 TOC, Page 14

MlT's~emaine- Wins 'GeniusGrant' Reading Room Renovations~~T~=~D~~O~X DeIaved for Lack of Funds

The Tech: So let me get this 'J 'straight: What's your birthdate?

Erik D. Demaine: February-28,1981.

TT: OK, that makes you tenmonths older than me. And roughly,what's your MIT salary?_ Demaine: My salary? About

- $75,000.TT: OK, now we'll add that to

the half-million you just gpt, andnow we'll look at my loans ... thisinterview is over. .

Demaine: What? You still gotten months!

Professor of Computer ScienceErik D. Demaine, the youngest pro- -fessor at MIT, is now also the win-ner of a prestigious MacArthur Fel-lowship. .

The so-called "Genius Grant" isa monetary award of $500,000given by the John D. and CatherineT. MacArthur Foundation to "recog-nize the importance of individual

- creativity in society by finding peo-ple who are creative in their field ...and will go on to do great things,"said Roy Boyer, associate vice pres-ident for public affairs of theMacArthur Foundation.

Demaine is largely .known for.his creative work involving algo-rithms and computational geometry, .or using folding algorithms toexamine the results that can be gen-erated. Demaine' s interest in thefield began when his father began toteach him origami. The field hasmushroomed in recent years asmore and more applications for the

CambridgeUniversitydoes theBard justice.

Page 7

Comics

Page 19

OPINIO-=-=~:=..=...::...:-_---- -----Matt DeBergalis '00 explains whyhe's running for Cambridge CityCouncil.

Page 5

World & Nation 2Opinion 4Arts 6Features 10Sports 24

•

October 7, 2003

take should avoid escalation andcreating higher tensions.:'

But the president then pointedlyturned to the subject of the Pales-tinian AuthorIty and, without nam-ing him, Yasser Arafat, the Pales-tinian leader. Bush, who haswritten off any chance that Arafatwould"'advance the prospects forpeace, has been pushing the Pales-tinians to create a goyemment witha prime minister who could assumeenough power to crack down on theviolent groups like Islamic Jihadand Hamas that have been respon-sible for most suicide bombings inIsrael.

"In order for there to be a Pales-tinian state, the Palestinian Authori-'ty must fight terror and must usewhatever means is necessary to fightterror," Bush said, pounding his fist

. for emphasis. ,Bush spoke during an appearance

before reporters with Pres'identMwai Xibaki of Kenya, who wasmaking a state visit to -the WhiteHouse to discuss economi~ aid,trade, and the fight against terrorism.

American officiais said Mondaythat the camp in Syria was known tothem as having been a training basefor various Palestin.ian terroristorganizations.

of whether haron's governmenthad adopted Bush's policy of focus-ing on not just terrorists but alsostate that harbor them. The lack ofexplicit criticism from the UnitedStates did nothing to dispel theimpression that the White House,after discouraging Israel froma uming that ft could embrace theBush doctrine to justify its battleagainst Palestinian extremists, wasnow doing nothing to stop Israelfrom doing so.

The White House spokesman,Scott McClellan, said Israel hadconducted the raid without inform-ing the United States in advance,and that the administration was notgiving Sharon permission to take hisnation's fight against terrorism intoother countries.

"We're not a traffic light," hesaid.

But other administration officialssaid the United States was keenly'aware of the parallels.

"There is some applicability hereof the Bush doctrine," one adminis-tration official said.

Bush did say he had also toldSharon, during a phone conversa-tion on Sunday after the Israeliattack inside Syria, that "it's 'veryimportant that any action that' Israel

ATIO

By Richard W. Stevensonand Carl HulseTHE NEW YORK TIMES

President Bush aid on Mondaythat he, had told Prime MinisterAriel haron of Israel that hiscountry "must not feel constrained"in defending itself, signaling thatthe United tate would not con-demn Sharon's decision to launchan airs trike inside yria in responseto th,e latest suicide bombing inIsrael.

A day after Israel attacked whatit aid was a terrorist training camp .in yria in retaliation for the suicidebombing in northern Israel on Satur-day that killed 19 people plus thebomber, Bush suggested that the.responsibility for breaking the esca-lating cycle of violence now restsprimarily with the Palestinian lead-ership.

"I made it very clear to the primeminister, like I have consistentlydone, that Israel's got a right todefend herself, that Israel must notfeel constrained in ,defending thehomeland," Bush said at the WhiteHouse in response to a reporter'squestion.

Israel's strategy of hitting a tar-get inside Syria raised the question

s s ael 'Must. Not FeelConstrained' inSelf~Defense

Guantanamo Bay. Interpreters.May Have Sabotaged Interviews

LD&Le al Injec ·on

Peaceful as to P--..&........

After days of scandalous accusations and increasingly bitterattacks, the California recall campaign drew to a tumultuous closelate Monday with as much uncertainty as it began.

Some polls indicated the race had tightened; others indicatedRepublican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger had widened hislead. Golden State voters, meanwhile, faced a dizzying list of ballotoptions and voting techniques that could leave Tue day's vote opento calls for a recount and assorted legal challenges.

In the campaign's closing hours, Schwarzenegger insisted thatallegations that he had groped as many as 15 women had not affect-ed his popularity. Many of his supporters contended the negativestories were part of a political smear campaign. But advisers toGovernor Gray Davis circulated figures, mainly collected by theirown pollsters, indicating a decline in the number of voter express-ing certainty that they would vote to oust the sitting Democraticgovernor.

Calif. Recall Campaign DrawsTo Thmultuous Close

THE EW YORK TIMES

THE BOSTON GLOBE

At the Riverbend Maximum ecurity Institution here, through aset of double doors next to several vending machine , a gurney standsready to deliver pri oners to their execution by lethal injection.

Ju t about every aspect of the death penalty provoke acrimonioudebate, but this method of killing, by common con ensus, is ahumane as medicine can make it.

But a growing number of legal and medical expert are warningthat the apparent tranquility of a lethal injection may be deceptive.They say the tandard chemical combination u ed to execute people inmost states could, ~specially in the hands of inexperienced pri on,Per-sonnel, lead to paraly is that mask intense distres , leaving a wide-awake inmate unable to speak or cry out as he slowly suffocates.

In 2001, it became a crime for veterinarian in Tenne ee to u eone of the chemicals in that standard protocol to euthanize pets.

The chemical, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the skeletal mus-cles but does not affect the brain or nerve. By itself, it leaves a per-son conscious but unable to move or speak.

In Tennes ee and about 30 other state, the chemical is used incombination with two others. But a judge here recently found thatpancuronium bromide it elf has ''no legitimate purpose."

Page 2 T

South Korea DebatingSending Troops to Iraq

THE NEW YORK TIMESSEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

With the Bush administration pressing South Korea to send up to5,000 combat troops to Iraq, South Korea's president is setting aprice: progress by Washington in reducing tensions with North Koreaover its nuclear weapons program.

"I fear that if we decide to go ahead and send troops, it wouldnot help achieve the second round of six-way talks over NorthKorea's nuclear program, or an agreement to be reached," Presi-dent Roh Moo-hyun said on Friday, the latest of a series of state-ments linking a dispatch of troops to Iraq to defusing tensions with

orth Korea.Since May, South Korea, a longtime American ally, has had about

675 military medics and engineers working out of an American basein Nasiriya, in southern Iraq. But there were violent protests here lastspring over the decision to send them.

By Erik Schmittand Thom ShankerTHE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHlNGTON

American interpreters at the mil-itary prison at Guantanamo Bay,Cuba, who have been arrested or areunder suspicion for possible 'espi-onage may' have intentionally sabo-taged interviews with detainees byinaccurately translating interroga-tors' questions and prisoners'answers, senior American officialssaid on Monday.

It is unclear in how many cases,if any, this may have happened, theofficials said. But military investiga-tors are taking the issue seriouslyenough to review taped interroga-tions involving the Arabic-languageinterpreters under scrutiny to spot-

check their accuracy.If the investigators' worst fears

are realized, officials said, scores ofinterviews with suspectecl al-Qaidaor Taliban prisoners at the Cubandetention center could be, compro-mised, and military officials couldbe forced to reinterview many .of thecamp's 680 detainees:

"There are enough suggestionsthat give us cause to compare theaudiotapes with the translations,"said one senior American officialfamiliar with the inquiry.

The official declined to say whatthose suggestions might be, andother senior American officials sim-ilarly refused to cite any specificevidence of deliberate mistransla-tion by the interpreters.. The concerns about the reliability

of some of the camp's 70 military andcivilian linguists only add to thegrowing mystery surrounding themotives and objectives of as many as'10 people who worked.at the camp,had contact with the prisoners, and are.now under suspicion in the wideninginquiry, military officials said.

Pentagon officials are sayingvery little publicly about the cases,in part because they are still baffled ...about whether there was a conspira- 'cy to infiltrate the camp, and partlybecause of the nature of the investi-gation, a sensitive matter involvingmilitary, law enforcement, and intel-ligence agencies.

Top defense officials have yet toexplain publicly what any of theaccused spies might have been try-ing to achieve at Guantanamo Bay.

•WEATHER

I

400N •

2S0N

300N

Weather Systems Weather Fronts Precipitation Symbols Other SvmbolsSnow Rain -H ~igh PreMure -, Fog- - _Trough * -Showers V V ~•••• WarmFront ThunderstormL Low Pressure Light * . 00 Haze~CoklFronl

~ HurricaneModerate ** .. Compiled by MIT

~ Slationaly Fronl Heavy A . Meteorology tafT.. and TIu! Tech

Situation for Noon Eastern Daylight Time, Tuesday, October 7,2003

~~ r:)~ rS~

.Lauterbur, Mansfield AwardedNobel Prize for Work with MRI Leading a discussion at Kresge Auditorium last month, CharlesM. Vest, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

looked every bit the engineer: tall and lean, measured in tone, under-stated. Few would peg him as an'alarmist, or a political wrangler. Yetwhen he decried the "fuzziness" of language creeping into federalresearch contracts over the past two years, he sounded like a politicalactivist, giving voice to an uneasiness that is spreading on U.S. cam-puses.

The discomfort is with new government barriers to open researchand international collaboration. And it has thrust Vest, in his 13thyear at the helm of one of the nation's top research universities, intothe maelstrom of public policy.

Over the'past six months, Vest, a member of the President's Com-mittee of Advisors on Science and Technology, has met twice withBush administration officials seeking to strike a balance between theneeds of university research and national security in the post-Sept. IIworld. He and his MIT colleagues were instrumental in preparing awhite paper for Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge last springrt'?commendingcontinued openness in research, timely decisions onvisa applications, and ongoing dialogue between university,and gov-ernment leaders. And Vest has sought to rally his colleagues at otherUS research universities to present a united front on these issues.

Vest, a native of Morgantown, W.Va., and a former University ofMichigan mechanical engineering professor, might prefer to talkabout lasers and optics. But he has emerged as a high-profile, ifsomewhat unlikely, spokesman for academic researchers seeking topreserve a culture of scientific openness in an age of terror.

Vest Makes Case for Open Research

With the help of some fat yellow mice, scientists have discoveredexactly how a mother's diet can permanently alter the functioning ofgenes in her offspring without changing the genes themselves.

The unusual strain of mouse carries a kind of trigger near the genethat determines not only the color of its coat but also its predisposi-tion to obesity, diabetes and cancer. When pregnant mice were fedextra vitamins and supplements, the supplements interacted with thetrigger in the fetal mice and shut down the gene. As a result, obeseyellow mothers gave birth to .standard brown baby mice that grew uplean and healthy.

Scientists have long known that what pregnant mothers eat -whether they are mice, fruit flies or humans - can profoundlyaffect the susceptibility of their offspring to disease. But until nowthey have not understood why, said Dr. Randy Jirtle, a professor ofradiation oncology at Duke and senior investigator of the study,which was reported in the Aug. 1 issue of Molecular and CellularBiology. '

THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE TECH Page 3

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Pregnant Mouse's Diet LeadsGeneticists to Look at Nutrition

WORLD & NATION

"The industry is being draggedinto the future," said Jerry Goolsby,a business professor at Loyola Uni-versity in New Orleans who studiesthe music industry.

The rush of companies offeringor working on download servicessignals that established technologycompanies believe broad audiencesare ready to pay to download songs.

Since Apple Computer Inc.launched its iTunes Music Store,which has sold 10 million songs,established e-commerce and com-puting players have signaled theirintention to follow. The success ofitunes comes in spite of the factthat the service is available only tothe 3 to 5 percent of computer userson the Macintosh platform.

persuaded the editors to rever etheir decision.

His jdea concerned a techniquecalled nuclear magnetic resonance,or NMR, spectroscopy, in whichmolecules are entrained in a strong

. magnetic field and zapped withradio waves. Chemists went togreat pains to create a uniformmagnetic field, under which themolecules gave the clearest signal.Lauterbur realized that the fuzzi-ness in the signal in fact containedinformation about the spatial distri-bution of the contributing mole-cules. By applying a varying mag-netic field, he could obtain thespatial information to build animage of molecules arranged insome structure.

magnetic resonance imaging probesthe body only with magnetic fieldsand pulses of radio waves.

MRI has replaced invasive tech-niques for examining joints, thebrain, and other vital organs. Thetechnique is'now so sensitive that itcan locate the site where differentmental tasks cu:eperformed in theliving brain, essentially by trackingthe extra blood flow to the brain'sactive regions.

Lauterbur, a physical chemistthen at the State University of NewYork at Stony Brook, Long Island,published his crucial paper on thenew technique in 1973. In the tradi-tional fate of truly innovative ideas,it was at first rejected by Nature, aleading scientific journal. Lauterbur

October 7, 2003

By Nicholas WadeTHE NEW YORK TIMES

This year's obel prize for med-icine has been awarded to two pio-neers of magnetic resonance imag-ing, a widely used procedure tovisualize the body's tissues withoutusing radiation.

The recipients are Dr. Paul C.Lauterbur of the University of TIli-nois at Urbana, and Sir Peter Mans-field of the University of Notting-ham in England., '

The two researchers took a tech-nique used by chemists' to studysolutions and developed it into away of imaging the human body,which, appearances to the contrary,is mostly water. Unlike CAT scan-ning machines, which use radiation,

NapSter 2.0 Music Service DetailsTo Be Unveiled Thursday by RoxioBy Chris Gaither most popular business models:..:TH.;.:E:..:B:..:O..:;.ST

Page4 THE C' October 7, 2003

OPINION.

'.Erratum

An article and infographic about thenew MIT Boston Winter Shuttle ["Day-time Shuttle to Start in December," Sept.30] misspelled the names of two streetsthat the daytime shuttle will stop at. Theshuttle will stop at the intersection ofDe.erfield Street and Baystate Road, notDearfield Street and Bay State Road.

To Reach Us

given higher priority. Once submitted, allletters become property of The Tech, andwill not be returned. The Tech makes nocommitment to publish all the lettersreceived.

The Tech's Ombudsman, reachablebye-mail at ombudsman@the-tech.mit.edu, serves as the liaison betweenThe Tech and its readers. From time totime, the Ombudsman writes an indepen-dent column reflecting the complaints,questions, and concerns of the readership.

The Tech's telephone number is (617)253-1541. E-mail is the easiest way toreach any member of our staff. If you areunsure whom to contact, send mail to gen-eral@the-tech.mit.edu, and it will bedirected to the appropriate person. Pleasesend press releases, requests for coverage,and information about errors that call forcorrection to news@the-tech.mit.edu. Let-ters to the editor should be sent to let-ters@the-tech.mit.edu. The Tech can befound on the World Wide Web athttp://the-tech.mit.edu.

'C.--=

"The biggest danger I ever faced working for the CIA? When myspouse criticized the Bush administration."

Opinion PolicyEditorials are the official opinion of

The Tech. They are written by the editorialboard, which consists of the chainnan, edi-tor in chief, managing editor, opinion edi-tors, and a photography editor.

Dissents are the opinions of signedmembers of the editorial board choosing topublish their disagreement with the editori-al.

Letters to the editor, columns, andeditorial cartoons are written by individu-als and represent the opinion of the author,not necessarily that of the newspaper.Electronic submissions are encouraged andshould be sent to letters@the-tech.mit.edu.Hard copy submissions should beaddressed to The Tech, P.O. Box 397029,Cambridge, Mass. 02139-7029, or sent byinterdepartmental mail to Room W20-483.All submissions are due by 4:30 p.m. twodays before the date of publication.

Letters, columns, and cartoons mustbear the authors' signatures, addresses, andphone numbers. Unsigned letters will not beaccepted. The Tech reserves the right to editor condense letters; shorter letters will be

EWSSTAFF

Director: Roshan Baliga '03; taff: FrankDabek G, Kevin Atkinson '02, Daniel Leeds '05.

EDITORS AT LARGE

dvertising Manager: Aye Moab '05; Staff:William Li '06, Victoria Fan '06, Lauren W. Leung'07, DonaJd H. Wong '07, Jennifer Y. Wong '07.

TECHNOLOGY STAFF

OMBUDSMAN

John A. Hawkinson.

PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Editor: Brian Loux '04; Associate Editor:Ricarose Roque '06; Columni ts: Bruce Wu G,Akshay Patil '04, Michael Short '05; Cartoon-ists: Jason Bums G, Kailas Narendran '01, Bao-Yi Chang '02, Jumaane Jeffries '02, Lara Kirk-ham '03, Alison Wong '03, Sergei R. Guma'04, Sean Liu '04, Jennifer Peng '05, ancyPhan '05, Josie Sung '05, Qian Wang '05.

BUSINESS STAFF

Editors: Jeremy Baskin '04 Allison C.Lewis '04; Associate Editors: Daniel S.Robey '04, Kevin G. Der '06; taCC: ErikBlankinship G, Bence P. Olveczky G, SonjaSharpe G, Fred Choi '02', Amandeep Loomba'02, Bogdan Fedeles '03, Sonali MukheIjee '03,Jed Home '04, Pey-Hua Hwang '04, DevdootMajumdar '04, Chad Serrant '04, Petar Simich'04, Jorge Padilla '05, Ricky Rivera '05, AmyLee '06, Jacqueline A. O'Connor '06.

PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF

Editors: Brian Hemond '04, Jonathan Wang '05, DanBersak '02; Staff: Regina Chamg G, Wendy Gu G,Jinyang Li G, Michelle Povinelli G, Peter R RussoG, Dong Wang G, Xiaowei Yang G, Stanley Hu'00, Eric 1. Cholankeri1 '02, Yi Xie '02, Scott John-ston '03, Marissa L.Yates '03, Miguel A Calles '04,

ina Kshetry '04, Drnitry Portnyagin '04, BenjaminSalish '04, Dalton Cheng '05, Annie Ding '05, MichaelLin '05, Timothy Suen '05, Amy L. Wong '05, HassenAbdu '06, Matt D. Brown '06, Jolm M. Cloutier '06,

oel Davis '06, Colin Dillard '06, Grant Jordan '06, JinaKim '06, Melanie Michalak '06, Edward Platt '06,Omoleye Roberts '06, Benjamin Schwartz '06, SandraYu '06, EIizabeth Zellner '06, Jean Zheng '06.

FEATURES STAFF

Senior Editor: Aaron D. Mihalik G, SatwiksaiSeshasai G; Contributing Editors: Joel C. Corbo'04, Joy Forsythe '04.

ARTS STAFF

Editor: Jennifer DeBoer '05, Phil Janowicz'05; Staff: Yong-yi Zhu '06; Columnists:0.8. Usmen '03, Eric Rosenblatt 'M.

ew and Feature Director: Jennifer Krish-nan '04; e Editor: Keith J. Win tein G,Lauren E. LeBon '06, Beckett W. temer '06;

ociate Editor: Kathy Lin '06, Mari saVogt '06, Jenny Zhang '06; taff: JeffreyGreenbaum '04, Michael E. Rolish '04, Jay K.Cameron '05, am Hwang '05, Jessica A.Zaman '05, Tiffany Kosolcharoen '06, Laksh-mi ambiar '06, Jennifer Wong '06; eteor-ologi t: arnantha L. H. Hess G, Robert Lind-say Korty G, Greg Lawson G, ikki Prive G,William Ramstrom G, Michael J. Ring G.

PRODUCTION STAFF

Editors: Andrew C. Thomas '04; ociateEditor: Vivek Rao '05; Columni t: Philip Bur-rowes '04; taff: Basil Enwegbara SM '0 I,Gretchen K. Aleks '04, Ken esmith '04, AtifZ. Qadir '04, W. Victoria Lee '06, Daniel Bar-clay '07, Ruth Miller '07.

SPORTS STAFF

ChairmanJyoti Tibrewala '04

Editor in ChiefCoo tine R. Fry '05Bu ine anagerRoy K. Esaki '04

anaging EditorDavid Carpenter '05

E ecuti e EditorEun J. Lee '04

Editor : Hangyul Chung '05, Kevin Chen '06,Tiffany Dohzen '06; iate Editors: ie Hen-drata Dharmawan '05, icholas R. Hoff '05; taff:Andrew Mamo '04, Albert Leung '06, .JoJima Lin'06, Y. Grnce Lin '(JJ, Jooathan Reinharth '06, JemiferHuang '(J7, Yaser M Khan '(JJ, Sylvia Yang '(JJ .

OPINION STAFF

Editors: Andrew B. Mamo '04, David CaIpenter'05, Hangyul Chung '05; s ociate Editor :

icholas R. Hoff '05, Jonathon Reinharth '06;'taff: Y. Grace Lin '07, Lauren W. Leung '(JJ.

Peter Peckarsky '72, Paul E. Schindler, Jr. '74, V.Michael Bove '83, Barry Surman '84, Roret E. MaJch.man '85, Debornh A Levinsoo '91, Jooattm R.ichrtuv1PhD '91, Vladimir V. Zelevinsky '95, Arms Hove '96,Saul B!lIn:ntha1 '98, Joel ~ '99, Jaqjl Dieck-haIls '00, RYhone:(617);z,~I504I._(617)238-&329.~'617)~&aimole.~~ww/~ ()lIDIDTIle

T__ ... r«yc/cd".,,-byC'lw1rlnRJwrPIJJI~

mailto:eral@the-tech.mit.edu,mailto:news@the-tech.mit.edu.mailto:ters@the-tech.mit.edu.http://the-tech.mit.edu.mailto:letters@the-tech.mit.edu.

Why I'm Running forCambridge City Council

9ctober 7, 2003 OPINION THE TECH Page 5

The Fame of theIg Nobel Prize

I am in favor OJ coru:retechanges 'that immediately,benefit student life. Mostimportantly, I want to giveus a voice at the .table ...

Matt DeBergalis

My name is Matt DeBergalis, class of2000, and I am running for Cambridge CityCouncil to give student and young people avoice in Cambridge that will improve studentlife. With the help ofMIT and Harvard voters,I will have the city encourage late night foodoptions. I will pressure MIT to keep graduatestudent rents below market rate. I will dramat-ically improve bike safety, shuttle services,and late night bus and T service throughoutCambridge. And I will fight to preserve nightlife, and ensure that ManRay is the last Cen-tral Square club to be torn down, not the first.

Historically, MIT andHarvard students do notvote; and your City Coun-cilors know this! Theyknow that they can ignore'students without concernthat they will lose essen-tial support in -the elec-tion. They know that theyshould prioritize Qur gen-eration below everyoneelse in Cambridge. Theyknow that we don't real-izehow much power the'15,000 students in Cambridge could have.

My platform is very different from theusual issues you'll hear other candidates dis-cuss. I am in favor of concrete changes thatimmediately benefit student life. Most impor-tantly, I want to give us a voice at the table:and make it clear that we, as a group, mustnow be consulted on important decisions.

All MIT students that live in Cambridge areeligible to vote in the elections. Even if you justarrived last month, you can vote, as long as 'you.intend on living here more than half the year.With the exception of Alaska, Delaware, NewMexico, Tennessee, and Virginia, you can votehere without jeopardizing your. residency backhome. Voting nas absolutely nothing to do withtaxes, scholarships or grants, your driver's.license, or jury duty. You cannot vote both hereand at home Qn the same election day, but youcan vote back home next year. '

I cannot stress this last point enough. Youare eligible to vote here, without affectinganything else whatsoever. Confusion aboutvoting requirements is,- in my mind, thebiggest hurdle that lies in the way of havingmeaningful student representation in our city.

Many of our students come from some of

the most important states in next year's Presi-dential election. Because of how our ElectoralCollege works, voters in Florida, Michigan,Ohio, and other swing states have a far greaterimpact in the election than those of us whowill vote in Massachusetts in 2004. Some ofyou also come from New Hampshire, Iowa,South Carolina, and other important primarystates that will decide the Democratic nomi-nee for the Presidency. Regardless of yourpolitical leanings, I want to see students maxi-mize the value of their votes.

The law says that students are residentsboth here and back home, so you may vote ineither place. I am asking for your vote herethis November because the local Cambridge

election has a tremendous'impact on your daily livesat MIT. The week after theelection, with plenty oftime before the first pri-maries, my campaign staffwill send all of our votersre-registration forms fortheir home states. You areof course free to remainregistered here instead, butwe want to make sure youhave the option of votingback home in 2004.

Can just one person on the City Councilmake any difference? Absolutely. The CityCouncilors approve the city's budget, pass theoccasional law, and most importantly, advo~cate for their constituents. They request theCity Manager (essentially, Cambridge's hiredCEO) to draft reports' on various concerns.They ensure that city officials are looking outfor their interests. Nearly every sitting coun-cilor and candidate has told me they want tosee students playa more important role inCambridge, but the issues they spend mosttime on relate very little-to us. I believe mostCouncilors will welcome som~one who has areal understanding of what we want.

The voter registration deadline is Oct. 15.Every day between now and then, you'll see,me at events in different dorms and aroundcampus. Please register to vote, and on Nov. 4,consider casting your nun1ber one vote for Ple,as a vote for student life and for a city whereyoung people are an equal part of government.

For more information on Matt DeBer-galis's campaign, information on how to reg-ister, or to pledge your vote to him, pleasevisit his Web site at http://www.deberg.org, ore-mail him at matt@deberg.org.

Andrew C. Thomas

I'm sure that many young scientists enter there earch profession for the allure of the NobelPrize. Winning the fabled award is thought tobe a crowning achievement to an investigator'scareer, or at least something that the scientist'smother can say proudly to her local bridge club.

But only recently has another award madeits way into the public consciousness, onededicated not only to scientific excellence butto research that makes people wonder why itwas conducted in the first place.

I speak of the Ig Nobel Prizes, a set of tenawards given out at Sanders Theater on Thurs-day night. They are sponsored by the Annals ofImprobable Research (http://www.improb.com)and were first spearheaded by the Annals'founder and editor Marc Abrahams. The cere-mony, now in its 13th year, has its own lore.The creation and test flight of hundreds of paperairplanes before (and during) the ceremony hasbeen a trademark since its second year, as was acertain relaxed atmosphere - after all, theNobel laureates asked to present the awards,including MIT's own Wolfgang Ketterle, weredressed down to say the least; one wore LEDearrings and another blew a bullhorn at oppor-tune moments. And the ceremony was not lim-ited purely to' scientific achievement; a minia-ture opera, Atom and Eve, was presented withan abundance of physics jokes, and several briefnon sequitur "moments of science" were alsoportrayed.

But all the flourish surrounding the cere-mony was second to the true marvel of theevening, those achievements of sciencewhich, according to Abrahams, are selectedfor dual criteria: that they first make youlaugh, and then think.

A strong case. in point was the first awardof the evening, the Prize for Engineering,given to John Paul Stapp, George Nichols,and Edward A Murphy, Jr. The research? Theformulation, in 1949, of an engineering princi-ple originally designed to spur creative think-ing about error analysis ..

But before you could blink, the cynics got ahold of Murphy's Law, and reformulated it asthe classic "If anything can go wrong, it will."

The serious science of the trio's researchwas emphasized in the acceptance speechgiven by Edward Murphy III in his latefather's absence. He told a story of a safetyworker at the World Trade Center whoassumed the worst after the terrorist attack of

1993, instituting regular safety drills knowingthe extreme likelihood that a repeat attackwould happen. When it did, only six workersfrom his company, Morgan Stanley Dean Wit-ter, perished; sadly, the worker himself wasone of them, after making a return trip to res-cue more people.

The Ig Nobel Prize (from this point forth,referred to as "Ig") for Literature was equallyilluminating, awarded to John Trinkaus of theZicklin School of Business, for his meticulouscollection of data, and publication of it, on awide range of subjects. And we do meanwide. Among his many analyses, he asks whatproportion of baseball cap wearers place thebrim to the front, side or back, and how manycommuters would come to a complete stop ata certain intersection. The subtitle to most ofhis works is "An Informal Look," which is anunderstatement to the amount of attention hepays to these phenomena in general.

But the crowning award of the evening, theIg for Peace, was'awarded to Lal Bihari ofIndia, largely for creating the Association ofDead People.

OK, for all of you who picture Haley JoelOsment's famous Oscar-nominated scene, youcan stop laughing now.

Bihari spent nearly 20 years of his lifelegallY dead, due first to the actions of an unclewho had him declared dead for inheritance pur-poses, and then to the extreme incompetence ofthe bureaucracy to have his death reversed.

What makes Bihari's case so compelling isthat it was in no way isolated. Many other"living dead" walk in India, and it was hiswork in uniting them that gave the movementstrength. A new understanding was given tothe problem, one that likely would' not havebeen noticed if Bihari had not take suchunusual steps as organizing his own funeral orarranging for a pension for his wife/widow.

I left the ceremony realizing that, yes, Iwould be just as honored to appear on thestage of Sanders to be presented with such anaward, having paid my own way to get there(which, by the time I become infamous and ofmodest wealth, will hopefully be more thanbus fare.) But not anyone can win an Ig; thou-sands of nominations are received every year,and some go to the famous for accidental rea-sons; French President Jacques Chirac wonthe 1996 Peace Prize for the commemorationof the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima by con-ducting atomic weapons tests in the Pacific.

Still, short of nuking a wide variety of sealife, I could give it a try.

The .Challenge Undergraduates FaceAlvin Lin

Since I first s~t foot on MIT's campus.three-plus years ago, it has changed positive-ly. Back then, there was no Zesiger Center, nonanotechnology laboratory in the infinite cor-ridor, and no open skylight 'or coffee shop inLobby 7. Construction had not even begun foreither Simmons Hall or the Stata Center. Iremember feeling embarrassed wlien talkingabout our facilities with friends from otheruniversities. I could only shrug when compar-ing facilities like Northeastern's gym to oursmall, one-room weight room. I am happy tosee that MIT's facilities have much improved.

Now, it may be because I am becoming anostalgic, old fart, but I have recently caughtmyself admiring the campus and thinking it isactually beautiful. Views from Kresge Oval orKillian Court are nice. Even Simmons Hall, alightning rod for criticism, has its charms..From the small docks on the Bostop. side ofthe Charles River, Simmons Hall stands outon the skyline in a way that exclaims innova-tion and uniqueness. Additionally, the facilityimprovements have made my job easier to sell

the school to prospective famili s at informa-tion sessions and college fairs; MI)"s campussells itself in ways it never could -Eefore inwords and numbers. But the builClmgs andfacilities are not the only things that havechanged.

MIT's students have changed - they look,dress, and even smell nicer than they used to.I doubt underclassmen are even aware of this,but I bet many of my fellow seniors will agreeit is a wonderful thing. I attribute this improve-ment to MIT's greater focus on well-roundedstudents,and the on-campus freshmen policy.While the stereotype of the nerdy, awkward,and socially inept MIT,'student may never goaway, it is being amended. Somewhere in thenear future, it may change to the point where Ino longer have to prove to non-MIT peers thatI am articulate, assertive, and social; beingfrom MIT will imply those qualities.

The campus and its people have ch~ngedfor the better, but a new challenge hasemerged: preserving the unique cultures of theresidential system. During the glory years,half of MIT's males started their collegecareers in ~ternities up and down the CharlesRiver. Dormitory residents and fraternity,

sorority, and independent living group mem-bers alike took great pride in the unique tradi-tions and personalities of their communities. Itused to mean something when you said youwere from a specific living group. Many peo-ple found identity from their choice of home.Since all freshmen have started living on cam-pus, residential identity has decreased. Num-bers for dormitory and FSILG populationshave reshuffled and stabilized at new equilib-rium levels. Many freshmen move off campus .every year, which creates a problem for main-taining dormitory culture. It has been suggest-ed that residential culture may not even bedesirable in the future, and will become a relicof the old system. I strongly beg to differ. Inmatters of. community, I believe the housingevolution has lead to an acute state of affairs:that dormitories and FSILGs are charged withide-{ltifying and preserving their cultures morethan ever.,.

Soon, MIT will consist of students whoknow only of the current housing system.They will only have a faint understanding ofits recent history. Preserving culture in eachFSILG and dormitory will soon become astruggle, especially in large freshmen-based

houses like Next House. Cultural sustainabili-ty will require vigilant, willful efforts of mem-bers in each living group. So far, I amextremely impressed by what I have seen.Across many different communities, I haveseen my peers' serve as excellent, inspiringleaders in protecting the culture of theirhomes. The many vibrant cultures of MIT willnot be lost by this year's graduates.

I am afraid that once the leaders from theold system graduate, the cultures they havefought for will slowly die away with them.Future students will come to identify them-selves more with MIT, but at what cost? I amcertainly not suggesting that future residentialcommunities will become indistinguishablefrom one another. My fear is that traditionsthat have come to define residential communi-ties may be lost. Under MIT's new housingstructure, it will be a yearly necessity forupperclassmen to help underclassmen appreci-ate, embrace, and add upon the traditions ofthe coinmunity that they live in. Otherwise,students may cotne to remember their resi-dence as nothing more than a place they usedto live in. I think that would be a shame.

Alvin Lin is a member of the class of2004.

Have a lotto say?

Write Opinion for The Tech!Stop by. W20-483

or e-mail opinion@the-tech.mit.edu

http://www.deberg.org,mailto:matt@deberg.org.mailto:opinion@the-tech.mit.edu

Page 6 October 7 2003

EVENT REVIEW

Cho Brings Revolution to KresgeSold-Out Comedy Show the Highlight of Fall Festival

"YOI/ call prevent coloncallCer, evcl beat it."

.1I1lLo\U RoDUAM CUH'I"Of"t •

PO. ern ay TH NATfOffAL COt.OllliCTALC"--"'t(;t;M ROUHDTA .....f-Olll. M(~ INP

October 7, 2003 ARTS THE TECH Page 7THEATER REVIEW

Shakespeare Done the Right WayCambridge University Brings ~ Midsummer Night's Dream' fA! MIT

Photography by Sylvia Yang

Demetrius {Robert Donnelly) confronts Helena (Susanna Cousins) about her persis-tent pursuit as Fairy King Oberon (Mark Richards) watches.

The Cambridge University American Stage Tour presented Shakespeare's "A Midsum-mer Night's Dream" in Little Kresge on September 29, 2003.

Quince (Robert Donnelly) delivers a monologue in Shakespeare's "A MidsummerNight's Dream."

Demetrius (Robert Donnelly) and Lysander (George Corbett) hold back the angeredHermia (Laura Wood). Hermia struggles to free herself in order to attack Helena forstealing her love, Lysander.

In Quince's production of Pyramus and Thisbe, Flute (George Corbett) and Snout(Susanna Cousins) kiss through an invisible wall.

What made theCAST's perfor-mance uniquelywonderful for mewas the manyways in which theactors took uponthemselves theburden of connect-ing with the audi-ence. By their ownadmittance, it'sfearfully easy tolose sight of themeaning behindShakespeare'swork wheninvolved in itsintricacies for somany months, andthe members ofthe CAST's castmade sure to keeppersonal contact atthe forefront oftheir perfor-mances. Camp-bell's shrugs at themore archaic ofShakespeare'sphrases and herdirect interactionwith the audienceon several countshelped forge a bond between audi- .ence member and character.

The incredibly humorous transfor-mation of Bottom (Tom Cantrell) intoan ass rather gifted in the phallusdepartment provided endless amuse-ment to the ,less mature of theCAST's audience, myself included.The fairies' voices, Puck's insightfulcommentary into the nature ofQuince's fruitiness, and many othersmall details altogether made for anoverwhelmingly positive experiencefor myself and for the many otheraudience members as well.

It is a pity that the CAST's tour atMIT had to be so brief, but I myselfcertainly look forward to seeing themaround in the near future, and willmake sure to tear myself away onceagain for what is sure to be anothermasterful performance by some quitetalented actors and actresses.

Clockwise from left:

Robert Donnelly's wonderfully fruity inter-pretation of Quince, the.cast lent hake-speare' characters a great deal of personalflavor.

For those unfamiliar with the story, A Mid-summer Night's Dream ha a plot more twist-ing than a telenovela. In a few words, there'ssome issue between a bunch of Athenians'who are to be married by decree, two of them(Hermia and Lysander) decide to elope, butnot before telling the admirer (Helena) of the

man Hermiashould have mar-ried (Demetrius),had her fatherhad his way.When the Kingof the Fairies'(Oberon) hearsabout the sad-ness envelopingHelena, beingspurned by theobject of heraffection, he tellshis servant(Puck) to admin-ister a lovepotion untoDemetrius' eyesso that the firstbeing he sees(hopefully Hele-na) he will fallhopelessly inlove with. So,clearly, Puckaccidentallymakes Lysanderfall for Helenainstea~ ofDemetrius, andthere's just a bigmess, much toPuck's delight.

Meanwhile,in a wonderfulact of recursion,there'is a playwithin' a play,

whose own actors, are struggling with prob-lems of their own. But of course in the endeverything works out, and the right people getmarried.

By J.D. 2amflrescu

A Midsummer Night's DreamBy William ShakespeareCambridge University American Stage TourKresge Little TheaterSept. 29-30, 7:30p.m.

Itisn't often that I am able to tear myselfaway from my routine to engage in cultur-al activities. So when a friend told me togo see theCambridge Univer-sity AmericanStage Tour's per-formance of Shake-speare's A Midsum-mer Night'sDream, I jumped atthe opportunity.Shakespeat:e pre-sented the way Godintended - byBritish people!How coul,d I passup such a uniqueopportunity?

Yes, so my jus-tification wasn't sogreat, but the per-formance was. Witha cast of eight per-forming- the parts ofall twenty majorand minor charac-ters and a simple setdesigned in part formobility, this slightadaptation ofShakespeare's clas-sic comedy didn'thave much in theway' of resourcesbehind it. But thatsame .' simple setcombined with theintimate atmo.s-pbere of the KresgeLittle Theaterallowed theater-goers to interact personally with the talentedcast. .

From Sarah Campbell's brilliant and very,very humorous performance as Puck to

We'll show you howto get busy

in' the dark rOOIn.

Page 8 ARTS October 7, 2003

In Indian Meat Heaven on NewburyKashmir Serves Divine Chicken, Lamh, and CheesePatties

erved in a shallow metal bowl with a lightsprinkling of crush d pi tachios on top. Theairy texture of the cheese was evocative of amixture of lightly hardened whipp.ed cu tardand compressed cottage chee e. The milksyrup was what made the dessert distinctive.Flavored with cardamom, the syrup had atrace of out-of-place spice that contrasted per--fecdy with the blander cheese.

ot only was Kashmir more inconspicu-ous than a flashing Las Vegas billboard say-ing, "Meat Doe The Body Good," but it pro-vided remarkable twists in presentation andflavors of its dishes. I was only afraid at theend of the meal that, from the abundance of.flies, I may have eaten a little more proteinthan intended.

typical cow' heaven, with a barely-there bed unwelcome vi itor in the form of a fly, whoof green mothered by excessive chicken inconveniently decided to land on my naantrip and cucumber slices, unified by a slight- before I could enjoy very much of it. By the

ly sweet yogurt auce. The most noticeable extent of its e .ploration path, I think climbingthing of the whole night was the excellence of the mountains of naan may have been moretheir meat ; nothing ha either the typical appealing to the fly than eating any.

. over-chewiness or toughness of teaks. The Iwas content to give up the naan a dessertchicken, ironically in a salad, wa no excep- was being erved. Rasmalai, chee' e pattiestion: it wa 0 tender I had to examine it to immersed in a fragrant creamy sauce, wasa sure my elf Iwas indeed eating "the ~--~----~-~--other white meat."

Before my new fly friend couldcontinue his que t of obesity throughsampling my alad, the next dish wasserved. Along with the tandoori rackof lamb entree came a plate of fresh-ly-made naan, a tretched out triangle-haped bread, erved hot and brushed

with oil. The flatbread, baked in a clayTandoor oven, had an amazinglydoughy te ture, perfectly soft andden e, except in the little crispy burntspot.

The lamb wa incredible, both inpresentation and taste. erved stillaudibly sizzling, three lamb ribs wereplaced on a layer of slightly wiltedgreens and sweet onions with a lemonhalf placed on the side. The lamb wascooked to a flawlessly medium rarestate, slightly red on the inside but notquite a vampire' feast. Marinated inan exotically tart but sweet spicesauce, the lamb was succulent and fla-vorful. AMYLEE-THE TECH

Unfortunately, I had another An order of tandoori rack of lamb sits uneaten at Kashmir, a restaurant on Newbury Street.

EVIEW

By Amy LeeSTAFF WRiTER

Kashmir279 Newbury Street(617) 536-169511:30 a.m. -11 p.m.

16- 30

have never felt so unremorseful about eat-ing a cuddly baby animal. Kashmir, a poshrestaurant on ewbury, pecializes in Indi-an cuisine. Although their lamb di hes

should reilluminate the wonders of being acarnivore to all, Ka hmir doe also providemany tasteful vegetarian dishes.

For an appetizer, the meal began with theshrimp sarno a di h, two dumpling-sizedgolden brown turnovers placed on top of amedley of vegetables. With a melt-in-your-mouth flaky pastry covering that would makeany French pastry chef indignantly smitten,the samosa convinced me Ihad a partiality forKashmir before I started on my entree.Wrapped within was a surpri ingly bland mix-ture of curry spices and herbs and tiny wholeshrimp that sadly lowered my favoritism.

While awaiting the next dish, I spent halfthe time watching trendy-looking leg stridepast the window. The other half wasemployed crutinizing a strangely large, veryhairy fly that had landed on my food. eed-less to say, I generously allowed the fly tohave full reign of the rest of the appetizer.

ext came the tandoori tikka salad, servedin a metallic pot-like bowl with handles. Thesalad was the complete opposite of the stereo-

Junior scholarship recipients are eligible for one year of scholarship SUPPO!!

Sophomore scholarship recipients are eligible for two years ofscholarship upport

THE BARRY GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIPUp to $7500 per academic year

CITY & REGIONALPLAN ING

contact:

Donna Harding: 3-3366,dharding@mit.edu

MIT Facuity Repre~entative:Associate Dean Dick K.P. YueMIT School of Engineering

For further information

general:

The IT School of Engineeringannounce the following opportunities open to eligible Sophomore and/or

Junior tudents in the School of Engineering and the School of Science whoare interested in a career in mathematics, the natural sciences,

or engineering:

http://www.act.org/goldwater/

http://mit.edu/engineering/goldwater.html

http://mit.edu/acadinfo/# chol

ph • 617.625.3335fx • 617.625.0404

email .info@qrsts.comwww.qrsts.com

serving the MJ.T. Community since 1989

necessary 'act 0' college li'e

•••and be t of all - no boring I ctures

• Deal direct. ..no middlemen• Fast turnaround• Award winning & computer literate art department• Free delivery & Reasonable prices• ost major organization logos on file for easy art work at no charge• Full color heat transfers. no minimum!• Web, print & graphic design

mailto:dharding@mit.eduhttp://www.act.org/goldwater/http://mit.edu/engineering/goldwater.htmlmailto:.info@qrsts.comhttp://www.qrsts.com

October 7, 2003 ARTS THE TECH Page9

Sigma Kappa Late NightMIT takes a night off to strut its stuff

Clockwise from top:

Ravi Kapoor '06 sings "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls whileplaying the acoustic guitar.

Lincoln W. Pasquina '07 juggles knives during his perfor-mance in a skit by Phi Beta Epsilon's pledge class.

Laura G. Condon '05 (left) and Jessica Eisenstein '06 try toget boys in Alpha Chi Omega's MIT Teen Girl Squad, basedon the online cartoon at hftp://www.HomesfafRunnef.com.

Elizabeth A. Sievert '05 performs a Polynesian dance in tradi-tional costume.

David Rush '07 portrays the tormented GOllum from the Lordof the Rings.

Tim the Beaver shows off his moves in "MIT: Behind theMascot" performed by the brothers of Pi Lambda Phi.

Sigma Kappa Late Night, an annual Institute-wide talentshow, marked the end of Greek Week 2003.

Photography by Stephanie Lee

http://hftp://www.HomesfafRunnef.com.

( uming our hairi reall blonde or rd.)

Fai,. hin. light eyes and a tendencyto Lwrn in tIle un, also put you at ahigher risk. '0,e 'amine your skin

regularly. Iryou find anythingunusual. 'ee your (/ermato/ugist.

could have been easily added. While it's sim-ple to have all your lights go to a predeter-mined brightness level at the push of a button,or your air conditioner turn on an hour beforeyou get home, it isn't as easy to make yourroom voice activated.

The bottom lineI found the ability to control all my lights

centrally made life much easier. Instead ofrunning 'around the room turning lights on andoff when necessary, I have a few strategicallyplaced remotes that command the entire apart-ment.

The affordable and expandable nature of. this system is key. Spending as little as $100,

it's possible to automate the lighting ofalmost any dorm room or small apartment. Ifyou want to expand later, the system isdesigned to still function with a very largehouse.

If you're not happy with the little wallwarts, there are modules built into lightswitches and outlets, allowing your room topreserve a normal look, with added function-ality. You can buy modules through the com-pany . Web' site athttp://www.xlO.com.

They're always running various promotionsor deals, so if you can wait and watch, you can.most likely get a good deal. I also fQund vari-ouS modules on EBay at Substantial savings.

to air conditioner , while .the commandingmodules can be controlled from your comput-er, a table top console or a wireless remote.

So~areinftexib~tyWhile the software did have quite a bit of

functionality, it lacked some flexibility that

It lices and diceI was very impressed by the ease of use

and versatility of this entire system. It literallytakes minutes. _

There are a large number of slave modulesyou can purchase' a la carte" from the x-tOWeb site that afford binary (on/off) controland even dimming functionality for incandes-cent lamps.

The computer interface for the systemgoes as far as to actually watch the networkactivity and learn about your daily activities,in case you want to replay them when you aregone for an extended period of time. It caneven determine dawn/dusk times (from dateand location information), and run lightsbased on those hours.

In addition to automated control of lights,you can control all your appliances from a.cordless remote using the wireless modules.There is even a model of a remote that is inte-grated into a universal TV remote, allowingyou to dim the lights and start your moviewithout even leaving your.seat.

EATURES

Pro• Allow remote and automated control of

almo t aU of your room• Flexible, modular design• Rea onable cost

October 7, 2003

By Kallas arendanSTAFF wluTER

Gadget Re\(iewX-10 Home Automation System

Con• oftware for computer interface some-

what inflexible

Thelo downFrom the makers of those damn pop-up ads

that canvass the Internet with pictures ofscantily clad women being watched by a"secu~ity" camera comes the X-IO homeautomation system.

The X-IO system, when built up withindividual modules, can quickly and afford;-ably give your living or working space thesci-fi touch. The X-IO system is comprisedof a number of modules, about the size ofwall warts, inserted into power outlets aroundyour place. These modules utilize a clevermechanism for talking to each other, usingthe existing wiring of the power lines in yourbuilding.

In a network, there are a few commandingmodules, and a plurality of slave modules. Theslave modules control everything from lamps

HE TECHPage 10

T~is space donated by The Tech

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10 7:00 p.m.Harvard University SCience center, LectUre Hall C

1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts

BE A PART OF THE SCIENTlRC DEBATE.

PAUL DAVIES, Australian centre for Astrobiology Why is the universe bio-friendly?SIMON CONWAY MORRIS, University of cambridge What's inevitable in evolution?

•••••••••••••. ••• ARE YOU • •• A healthy 'W'OKnao 01' •

• nor-nal _eight? •• -ages :18-357 •• -have norwn" periods •

~. -not on blrtb control pUis ••.. ...•••••••••Ma sac,husetts General Hospi1:al and theMassachusetts Institute of Technology are

conducting a 6-day inpatient. research study on theeffects of fasting and nutritional bOrIDones

in "W"ornenQualified participants receive a

comprehensive. Tnedical evaluationYou ""il1 receive up t.o $500 at the completion of'"the study

and ",ill be reimbursed Cor transportation.

B)r~Tr"!~C F"or more inf'onnation,. contact.~1""~_ units Schurgin. MD at (617) 724--9027 .......... -: ,. All inquiries are st.rictly confldentiaC

~ECONOMY-~_ Hardware/Hcimeware .

JOIN THE CONVERSATION wrTH DISTlNGUISHED PANELISTS:

CHRISTIAN DE OWE, Rockefeller Univers;ty, Nobel Laureate in Medicine EVElYN FOX KElLER, Massachusetts Instituteof TechnologyMARTIN A. NOWAK, Harvard University OWEN GINGERICH, Harvard-Smithsonian Genter for Astrophysics

LIMITED PARKING:http://www.extenslon.harvard.edul2OO3-04lresourcesJpartdng.jspCAMPUSMAP: http://www.extenslon.harvard.edul2OO3-04lext03map.pdf

Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and Harvard faCUlty partiCIpating In the Harvard-Smithsonian CenterFor Astrophysics research symposIUm, "The FItness of the Environment: BIOchemIstry and Flne- Tumng."

Bring us your old furniture, & get20% off new furniture

Columbus Day Weekend Oct. I I - I 3WE DELIVER!!!

438 Mass Ave.:. Cambridge 219 Mass Ave - Boston

All 4 locations are (i) accessible.Boston · Cambridge · Brookline Allstonwww.economhardware.com

http://www.xlO.com.http://www.extenslon.harvard.edul2OO3-04lresourcesJpartdng.jsphttp://www.extenslon.harvard.edul2OO3-04lext03map.pdfhttp://www.economhardware.com

October n, 2003 THE TECH Page 11

Goler Finds SupportAmong Undergrads

•

•

•

Wednesday, October 8Talbot Lounge

East Campus, Bldg. 624 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Preview the Photo Exhibit"Being LBGT and at MIT"

You are cordially invited to the annual

Please JOI V as we work together to build astronger, safer community through conversation,refreshments, and of course, a little fun.

For more info contact lbgt@mit.cdu

http://wcb.mit.cdu/lbgr/photos

This annual event for the MIT communitycelebrates our diversity and provides the chancefor different egments of the MIT community tointeract and demonstrate support for LBGTissues on campus and celebrate ational ComingOut Day.

We look forward to seeing you there!Mark your calendars. Always a great time, thisevent is not one to be missed .

•••

•

•

•

•

•

•

••

allow people to hang flags outsideof windows."

"I think we're stillldnd of in theearly stages here," said VA Presi-dent Pius A. Vzamere n '04. "Thereare various perspectives from allover campus."

He said that some studentsbelieved that MIT was being selec-tive in taking down Goler's flag,while others believe that MIT wasmerely following the rule.

Though Goler is a graduate stu-dent, he came to the VA seekingtheir formal support.

The VA Senate does not haveany authority to permit Goler todisplay his flag, but it can makerecommendations to the administra-tion on behalf of the undergradu-ates.

"I hope that MIT comes to itssenses and decides to reverse [its]decision," Goler said.

Rag, from Page 1

mostly agreed that Goler should beallowed to hang a flag out of hiswindow on the basis of freedom ofspeech.

However, without feedback fromMIT administration, the final out-come and -resulting campus-wideimplications of the issue are still inthe air.

Students were told that a repre-sentative of the Housing Officewould be in attendance, but noneshowed up.

Many undergrads support Goler"The general sentiment was that

the institution handled the issueinappropriately," said Hannah K.Choe '06, representing MacGregorHouse. "We're leaving it up tofuture negotiations to decidewhether MIT should explicitly

What they gave wasn't money. - 'It was time.They volunteered their skills to people who needed help doing

their taxes. And it made them feel great.They weren't necessarily accountants. They were people, Uke you

and your club or group members, who have a basic aptitude for mathand a desire to help other~.

You know, you can help make someone's tax season less taxing.And you'll be amazed by lhe return you'll get from helping people

with what taxes thepl ..To find out about the free IRS training program that will teach you

and your organization the ins . m fit ~. , A Public service of 1 --,-and outs of preparmg taxes, Tn Pub!' Cion & • \ Revenue

call 1-800-424-1040 now. SICa. ServIce

This space donated by The Tech

•

For more information, please visithttp://wwwosig.com.

SIG is an equal opportunity employer.

SUSQUEHANNAI NT ERN A T ION A L G R0 U P, LLP

Susquehanna International Group(SIG) is a leading global tradingorganization. We currently seekindividuals to join our tradingand technology teams. We valuecandidates who possess exceptionalquantitative and analytical skills, strongcomputer kills and an interest infinancial markets. We retain talentedprofes ionals by offering a competitivecompensation package with excellentbenefits.

Ibut h

On-campus interviews.October 21,2003See Career Services fordetails.

Information Session:October 9, 20037:00 PMRoom 4-153

MIT students are invited tovisit with IG on"campus.

Opportu:nity•Meritocracy.

Education.

For questions please contact: Mandy Yeung(mandyy@~It.edu) BMES VP of Special Programs

Associate Professor,BiologiCal Engineering DivisionMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Wednesday, October 8th 20037PM (Refreshments at 6:30PM)

MIT' Building 1,77 Mass. Ave, Room.1-190

.:. Age 18-35

.:. On no medications includingoral contraceptives and

•:. Have regula~periods(25-35 days in length)

,Volunteers,paid for participation

Call Carole at 617-726-6433

Are You a Healthy Female withIkgular Menstrual Cycles?

P You are wanteq for a research study atMassachusetts General Hospit~l if you are:

mailto:lbgt@mit.cduhttp://wcb.mit.cdu/lbgr/photoshttp://wwwosig.com.

Page 12 THE TECH October 7, 2003

Biology, C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotter-

dam, the Netherlands, for documenting thefirst scientifically recorded ease of homosexu-al necrophilia in the mallard duck.

The list of winners, including references, isavailable online athttp://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pas twin-ners.html.

Source: Annals of Improbable Research.

'posthumous campaign against bureaucraticinertia and greedy relatives; and Third, forcreating the Association of Dead People.

PeaceLal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a

triple accomplishment: First, for leading anactive life even though he has been' declaredlegally dead; Second, for waging a lively

entire country for corporate conventions, wed-dings, b3l'milzVahs, and other gatherings.

Interdisciplinary ResearchStefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and

Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University, fortheir inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beau-tiful HumaliS."

I'

EconomicsKarl Schwiirzler and the nation of Liecht-

enstein, for making it possible to rent the

of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end ofa pool rather than the deep end; What percent-age of automobile drivers almost, but notcompletely, come to a stop .1l partic'stop-sign; What percentage. commut,,_~carry attache cases; What percentage of shop-

.pers exceed the number of items permitted ina supermarket's express checkout lane; andWhat percentage of students dislike the tasteof Brussels sprouts.

lbelsfor results that cannot or should not be reproduced

Chemistry

Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, forhis chemical investigation of a bronze statue,in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attractpigeons.

LiteratureJohn Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of

Business, New York City, for meticulouslycollecting data and publishing more than 80detailed academic reports about specificannoyances and anomalies of daily life, suchas: What percentage of young people wearbaseball caps with the peak facing to the rearrather than to the front; What percentage ofpedestrians. wear sport shoes that are whiterather than some other color; What percentage

John Culvenor delivers an acceptance speech for his Ig Nobel prize In Engineering In front of a figure from his paper, "An Analysis of the Forces Required to DragSheep over Various Surfaces."

Clockwise from top left:

Professor Yuklo Hirose of Kanazawa University attempts to bribe Miss Sweetle-Poo (Sylvia Rosenberg) after going over his one-minute time limit. Hirose acceptedthe Ig Nobel In Chemistry for his analysis of a bronze statue ttlat falls to attract'plgeons.

C.W. Moellker holds up a model duck as he accepts the Ig Nobel for Biology. Moellker was awarded the prize for documenting the first scientifically recorded caseof homosexual necrophilia In the mallard duck.

The Performing Swedish SClentl~ts, Including Joost Bonsen, Daniel Rosenberg, and Natasha Rosenberg, demonstrate an air cannon In "A Moment of SCience."

Jason McStoots, Atom In the nano-opera "Atom and Eve," delivers his last breaths as a Bose-Einstein Condensate. "Atom'and Eve" was presented In four actsthroughout the celemony.

Professor of Biology Eric Lander presents a nano-Iecture on the genome at the Ig Nobel prizes. The nano-Iectures required. presenters to provide a completedescription of their field In 24-seconds, followed by a seven-word summary that anyone can understand. Lander, one of the leaders of th'e Human Genome Project,summarized the genome: "Bought book, hard to read."

An audience member swoons after winning a date with Richard Roberts, winner of, the Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine In 1993 In the Wln-&-Date-Wlth-&-NobeJ.Laureate Contest.

The annual Ig Nobel awards are given by the Annals of Improbable Research to scientific achievements that "cannot or should not be reproduced." The awardswere once held at MIT, but are now held at Sanders Theater at Harvard.

Photography by Jonathan Wang

Medicine

Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, IngridJohnsmde, Catriona Good, John Ashburner,Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith ofUniversity College London, for presentingevidence that the brains of London taxi dri-vers are more highly developed' than those oftheir fellow citizens.

PsychologyGian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Bar-

baranelli of the Univetsity of Rome, andPhilip Zimbardo of Stanford Univers'ity, fortheir discerning report "Politicians' UniquelySimple Personalities."

Engineering

PhysicsJack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren

Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance,David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Aus-tralia, for their irresistible report "An Analysisof the Forces Required to Drag Sheep overVarious Surfaces,"

The late John Paul Stapp, the late EdwardA. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for joint- .Iy giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law, thebasic engineering principle that "If there aretwo or more ways to do something, and one ofthose ways can result in a catastrophe, some-one will do it" (or, in other words: "If any-thing can go wrong, it will").

http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pas

October 7 2003.

o e Alco 0 -Free for Rest of YearTDC, from Page I

police.Barnes said he was concerned

about the "cops be damned" attitudehe felt was becoming more prevalentat MIT fraternities. He said TDC.should "tell the story [of the unfortu-nate incident] throughout the MITcommunity," and that the project"should be something creative."

Robert P. Schreiber '75, a mem-ber of TDC's alumni corporation,said he thought the sanction ~as fair.

TDC alcohol-free for a yearThe CLC's decision on Sept. 27

came after several major changesimposed by the fratenuty's alumnicorporation, which owns the hou e,and the fraternity itself, includinggoing alcohol-free for the remainderof the academic year and suspendinga brother from the fraternity for atleast one semester.

TDC President Daniel M.Halperin '04 said at the decisionhearing Sept. 27 that the fraternitymembers had agreed to make thehouse "alcohol-free" for the academ-ic year and to make the roof deckalcohol-free for the swnmer as well.

In addition, Halperin said the fra-ternity and alumni corporation hadjoined the Campus Alcohol AdvisoryBoard, a group focused on promotingresponsible drinking habits.

"Our goal is to go in and figureout how it works and spearhead aproject," he said.

Barnes further required that no"event," or party of any kind, be heldon the roofdeck until TDC is again

reviewed by the LC.The CLC ~ review the fraterni-

ty's efforts in six months and thendecide whether to impose anctionsor take further steps.

ummer management found IHalperin and chreiber said the

summer incident could be traced topoor summer management of thehouse.

'The management i sue duringthe summer wa pretty severe,"Halperin said.

He aid that ''the mo t importantsteps are that the summer officers aregoing to be more plentiful and moreresponsible" next year. He also aidthat next summer house officerswould meet every two weeks withmembers of the alumni corporation.

Alumni corporation memberSchreiber said the 'face of the housechanges" during the summer. Non-member summer residents make upone half to two thirds of the popula-tion of the house, and these are "gen-erally very young people."

He said these summer boarderswere a "major income source," butthat the alumni were trying to raisefunds .to eliminate the need for sum-mer boarders.

In the future, TDC will "interview[potential summer residents] in amore selective way," he said.

Alumni action p~eempts TDCOne major action taken by the

alumni corporation was to ban TDCmember James P. Wagner '04 fromthe house following allegations bythe police that he was one of two

main aggre ors in the incident. .chreiber said that a a conse-

quence Wagner is not supposed toset foot in the house" until the alumni, agree it' okay."

Halperin said that the decisionbanning Wagner would not be recon-sidered until at least January 2004.

..As the landlord from which' TDCrent its house, he said, the alumnicorporation has the power to disallowany person from the premises.

He said that the fraternity waspreempted in taking ~ny actionagainst Wagner by the corporation'sdecision at the initial hearing in early

eptember.Wagner did not return requests for

comment.The alumni corporation also sus-

pended the members of the alumnisoftball team from the house.

TDC moves to change culture"We're very much still here and

very much stronger," Halperin said."It's unfortunate something this badhad to happen to turn us around, butpeople are sticking together."

Other changes the alumni are con-sidering include having a residentalumnus, ''not a very recent alum,"live at the house, Schreiber said

He also said that at least once amonth, a member of the alumni cor-poration \yould attend the fraternity'sweekly chapter meeting, and thatTDC would have an annual retreat atthe. beginning of each school year atwhich the alumni could reinforcehealth and safety'standards.

Jennifer Krishnan contributed tothe reporting of this story.

JOHN CWUTIER-THE TECH

The Cambridge Ucense Commission will require Theta Delta Chi to"do something creative" to change htllow fraternities' attitudes'toward alcohol and the pollee or face a 1~y suspension duringRush next fall. The fraternity will also be dry for the remainder ofthe year. . ..

Reading Room Renovations. Still a Priority for Benedict

JOHN CLOUTIER-THE TECH

Plans are being made to renovate the reading room on the fifth floor of the Student Center. Over 10years have passed since the room's last renovation.

Reading Room, from Page 1

The CRSP will be soliciting pro-jects from Benedict and other Insti-tute deans in a few weeks. The pro-posal "clearly was high prioritywhen first submitted and is still con-sidered high priority, and he [Bene-dict] just needs to affIrm it again,"Canizares said.

Canizares explained thatalthough renovation projects arehighly desirable, they are often"postponable," as was the case lastspring. He said that the CRSPwould likely face financial limita-tions this year, but that the propos-al still has an "excellent chance" ofreceiving funding. "[I] would verymuch like to do [the renovation] .... The rest of the committeeagrees and hopes that that willhappen."

Canizares said that renovationprojects associated with studentsand academic cycles are usuallycompleted over the summer so asnot to disrupt study.

Students say.renovations neededJulia D. Kurnik '06, who uses

the reading room "all the time," saidshe would find beneficial the addi-

tion of group study space. She saidshe is often distracted by groupworkers in the reading room andthat the area outside the fifth floorAthena cluster does not haveenough seating for all the peoplewho want to engage in group workthere.

Danielle D. Chu '06, who usual-ly uses the reading room to studyfor exams, said that the lighting"definitely need[s] to improve"because she has the tendency to fallasleep as soon as she walks in.

Munhee Sohn '04 agrees thatlighting is a problem. She said thedarkness of the room makes itdepressing. She also said that if theroom were nicer, more peoplewould probably use it.

VA survey prompted proposalThe VA approved the proposal

to renovate the reading room afterthe results of an online survey theyconducted last ovember indicatedthat student demand for the renova-tion was significant.

At the time of the approval, theVA also voted against an alternativeproposal by the Association of Stu-dent Activities that part of the read-ing room be converted into space

for the MIT Science Fiction Societylibrary, currently housed on the

fourth floor of the Student Center.The current MITSFS space would

then have been converted to addi-tional student group offices.

featuring-Traditional, vegetarian and international groceries-Beverages -Snacks-Sandwiches and salads

_.~.~_. . __ ~.t~~.turing

-Complete grill menu-Pasta Entrees -Salad Entrees-Daily and weekly.specials

London S310Paris S371Rio de Janeiro S643Los Angeles S262Las Vegas olS262

Fare is round trip from Boston. Subject to change a(ld availability.Tax not included. Restrictions and blackouts apply.

2 nights + transfers + activities

New Orleans S110Las Vegas S113San Francisco S131Vancouver S141Miami. S160New york S192

1.lrf.r. not Included)

October 7, 2003

~

THE TECH Page 15

We're not just a 'newspaper.

Friendship andComraderie

The Tech's holiday party - staffersexchange secret santa gifts, distrib-uted by Santa himself.

· Free Foodand Go'od'Company.

, ExcitingOutings and

Get-togethers

,The Tech's annual catered banquet - an_excuse to dress up and toast a year'sworth ot'memories and contributions.

The Tech's annual fall trip to Talbot. House for s~me R&R, hikes, and goodfood. .

How to join: E-mailjoin@the-tech.mit.edu or call x3-1541 or visit W20-483

mailto:E-mailjoin@the-tech.mit.edu

the LOBDEll FOOD COURTStratton Student CenterOPEN Monday - Thursday 11am - 3pmFriday 11am - 2prn

Page 16 THE TECH

P TITIO-

Q) :::su'~

:::s0

Q) <Cf) Cll,..

c:: o'0 :::s';; 0u« Cll<Q) Cll

,!!? '0e- "3Q) Cll... ~c::

UJ m... ~c::Q) Cll

E -Q0-0 iii'v Cll> »Q)0 ~

c:: o'0 :::s';:i(I:l

>0c::c::

Find a Project!Find a Teaml

The IDEAS Competition offers students the opportunity todevelop projects that address community needs.

http://we b. mit. edu/i dea s/www

Frid ctober 10th, 7:30pmLittle Kresge Auditorium

October 7, 2003

GRANT JORDAN-THE TECH

The Prudential building lights up to cheer on the Red Sox dur-ing their game against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday. TheSox went on to win In the Uth Inning with Trot Nixon's walk-off homer that brought the score to 3-1.

We want you in our sheets.

. join@~t.mit.eduW2Q-483, 617-253-1541

TODAY'S'SPECIAL ...Any made to.order sandwich,chips, pickles andany size fountainsoda for (2)only $5.25 \~y

~~~~ '

.r~'''''-

October 7, 2003 THE TECH Page 17

Demaine 'Home-Schooled,' Received Bachelor's at 14

FREE FOOD

**Spon"or.:d by: ARCADE., Presented by Advocate;:; t{)l' Awareness: Discussing Race and Divl.:lsity h~ucs \lfi C~mpu;:;

Open to the entire MIT Community

Demaine's work.Demaine said that he is not too

certain about how he will use thegrant, which is free to be used asthe recipient pleases. He said it willmostly help him travel and visitcolleagues to do collaborativework, though he also mentionedconstructing an art or architectureproject based on mathematics.

work. It is amazing that we're dis-covering things about paper fold-ing, which has been around forthousands of years, and yet stillthere are so many deep mysteriesabout it."

O'Rourke and Demaine are col-laborating on a book entitled Fold-ing and Unfolding, which first drewthe foundation's attention to

Be Part ofConversations about Race and

Diversity on Campus

Thursday, October 9, 20037-9pl11

Location: Student Center (Lobdell)

Brought to you by Advocates For ,Awareness andPangaea

How can we get differentcultural groups to work

together?

Amidst colleagues' praise for theprofessor's academic accomplish-ments, there dwelt a strong respectfor his warm and per onable atti-tude.

"It really couldn't happen to amore deserving and nicer guy,"said Joseph O'Rourke, chair ofcomputer science at Smith College."It's a great confirmation of his

Colleagues congratulate DemaineMany of Demaine's colleagues

have come forth to congratulate himon the honor.

"I was extremely happy," saidAnna Lubiw, an associate professorof Computer Science at the Univer-sity of Waterloo and one of his PhDsupervis~r~. "The award says it isfor outstanding creativity andmarked capacity for self-direction,and that's Erik."

entered Dalhouise University inHalifax, ova cotia, to takeadvanced courses in the computercience department. The skeptical

department heads were convinced ofhis meot when he aced the cours s.He received his bachelor's degree intwo years and his PbD (at the Uni-versity of Waterloo) in six.

In the same year, Demame cameto MIT with his father (who is a vis-iting scholar at MIT's Laboratoryfor Computer Science). "I primarilycame because it's the top place forcomputer science, but now I realizeI like the culture here," he said."People are excited about projectsand love to jump in on them."

While at MIT Demaine has con-tinued his research in puzzle ,recently proving the game of Tetrisis so difficult as to belong to a classof problems known as "NP-com-plete."

"Essentially, I proved that it iscomputationally intractable - orth~t the computer can't necessarilywin," said Demaine. "If I told [thecomputer] all the pieces that willcome, and it had infmite dexterityso falling pieces weren't a concern,could [the computer] stay alive?And it can't ... it'.s what makesTetris such a hard puzzle and whatI think makes Tetr'is so fun toplay."

Genlus, from Page 1

field - such as protein folding -are discovered.

"There are a "lot of [areas ofresearch] that have been passedover, ... a lot of basic questions thatnobody ever asked," Demaine aid,recognizing that knot theory had asimilar history. "It has led to somedeep mathematics, like in knot theo-ry. . .. Whether [computationalgeometry] is a big area remains tobe seen."

Demaine is the 14th MIT profes-sor to receive the foundation'sgrant, joining professors such asEric S: Lander in biology, Noam A.Chomsky in linguistics, and mostrecently, professor Sendhil Mul-lainathan in economics. Demaine isalso the youngest recipient of thefellowship this year.

Unconventional schoolingWith an unusually bright profes-

sor comes an unusual history. Hewas "home-schooled" by his father,Martin L. Demaine from age sevento twelve, which actually involvedvisiting various cities of North-America, selling crafts to supporttheir journey, and reading what cap-tured l;1isfancy in local libraries andbookstores ..

Demaine said that he did attend apublic school in Miami Beachbecause of a girl who went there."My father encouraged [nie to] go,but when I realized she wasn't inter-ested in me, I stopped," he said.

Demaine said that despite hisunusual schooling, social interactionremained an integral part of his life."Either by my dad's design or byluck, I just hung out with kids whenthey returned home from school forthe rest ofthe day," he said.

At the age of 12, Demaine

This space donated by The Tech

October 14, 2003Deadline for Full-Time Applicationswww.monstertrak.com

October 28, 2003On-Campus InterviewsCareer Center

February 4, 2004Deadline for Sunnner Applicationswww.monstertrak.com

Cornerstone Research360 Newbury StreetBoston, MA 02115

www.comerstone.com

CORNERSTONE RESEARCHFINANCE AND ECONOMICS CONSULTINGBoston • Los Angeles • Menlo Park • New York • San Francisco • Washington

EGG DO ORS EEDEDS20,~.OO (pLUS ALL EXPE SE )

We are seeking women wbo are attractive,under the age of 29, SAT 1300+,

. pbysically lit and maintaining a bealtby lifestyle.Ifyo.u bave a'desire to belp an infertile family and

would like more information please contact u •1-800-264-8828 or 1-619-464-1424

Email: darlene@aperfectmatch.coJnwww.operfc:etmatdl.C:om

Movie Extras/Models Needed

No exp. required,all look~ and ages

Earn $100 to',$500 a day

1-888-820-0167ext. U87

http://www.monstertrak.comhttp://www.monstertrak.comhttp://www.comerstone.commailto:darlene@aperfectmatch.coJn

o '.op

300 Tech Square at Kendall SquareMain Street.. Cambridge, MA

Tel. 617-5n-0555Fax 617-5n -9957

GREAT DINNER DESTINATION

SPECTACULAR DECOR

AUTHENTIC

ITALIAN AMERICAN

CUISINE

, .

World Famous ~Since 1926

Validated FREE Parking Evenings after 5PM. and All Day on Weekends in the

Technology Square G;Jrage .

FABULOUS BAR

MONDAY-THURSDAY: 11.:00AM-I0:00PMFRIDAY & SATURDAY: 11:00AM-l1:00PM

SUNDAY: 12l\1OON-10:00PM • LOUNGE OPEN UNTIL 12:30AMVISIT US AT: WWW;POLCARIS.COM

POLCARI'S RESTAURANTAT 300 TECH SQUARE ·

.. CONTEMPORARY CREATIONS

Octob.er 7,2003.

TheTech

Page19

"l6UR\i oU('A-nnv~\ ,Cort\~r\+\Dh ·

I'll 'tf ro .f'hei~P~t1\elA ArJef6c?nlook- ~\\k ~te~\.

I

Otl'4tl~ w~rIe. ~1~he. f1tNtea At-)I UVf, PAwl. ~

, club.

Page 20 The Tech October 7, 2003

PILED HIGHER ANDDEEPER

ALLRI&I.ff, WE NEEDTO CJKX)SE W~IC.~&RAD sc.~OOLS TOAPPLY TO.

NOW, SOME OF T~ARE BETTER T~ANOT~~ 50 WE DON'TWANT TO WASTE TIMEAPPL YIN& TO ANY a...'sc.~00L ...

WE ~o..LD SET ASTANDARD FOR()(J(SEL VESJ

FoxTrot by Bill Amend Dilbert@ by Scott AdamsCHINESEASTROLOGYI

f PLEASE! BE THAT.

~io

)

!L...__ ,j"i""I",..Ii;I,l", ....... 11..-_... _""'-- ........

! MY 10 IS 2!fO. YOUR: 10 ASPIRES TO THE~ THREE-DIGIT RANGE.~ I ASSUME THAT YOURi INTUITION AND -EXPER-

IENCE ARE GUIDINGYOU.

I'VE NOTICED THATEVERY DECISION YOUMAKE IS DIHERENTFROM WHAT I WOULDHAVE DONE.

No!,IN THEGARAc;E,Tt!EN?HONESTlY.'S IT ok IF HAvE

MARcUS ANI> 1 YOUBuILD A MINI LoST

NUCLEAR RUC- YoURToR IN TtiE MIND?!8ASEMENT? ~

I I....:: 2"

E

MY CONSULTING FIRM 8SPECIALIZES IN !FIXING BUSINESS ~STRATEGIES. i

E-8

t:~

i

HAVE YOU EVERFIGURED OUT WHYYOUR OWN INDUSTRYIS IN THE TOILET?

~I'LL GIVE YOU ATHOUSAND DOLLARSNEVER TO MENTIONTHAT AGAIN.

~f YOU SAID YOU'D! DO IT BY TUESDAVH!

.\II UMM ... I WAS~- TOO BUSY.!

~ \~o

~~ CONSIDERING THAT• YOU'RE MASSIVELY~ UNRELIABLE I I'D LIKEi TO SAVE TIME BY• YELLING AT YOU NOW,OK.

I ABSOLUTELY NEEDYOUR INPUT BYTUESDAY.

JASON, IT'S oCToBER! THIS WAYMY

CHRISTMASLIST.

News • Plwtography * Business ~Features • (Jpinion -+ World tind. NatiDn .. Sporls" Oomks ... Arts

E-mail join@the-tech.mit.edu

WHAT'S Tt!IS?

Q) 2 3 4 . 67 8 9 12 13

ACROSS 35 "Pursuit of the DOWN 30 Solar-lunar- 1 Flat-bottomed Graf 1 Desert lily calendars 14N boat 36 Actor Young 2 Critical point differential 17N 5 Conductive 37Snap 3 Singer Anita 31 Site of ancient.. element 40GPs' org. 4 Type of furnace Greek games 20::I 10 Pork cut 41 Yeah, sure 5 Mary Tyler and 32 Cherished ones

A.14 "The Ring of the 43Actress Gill Roger 34 Safety grp.

...... Nibelung" 44Shoe salesman, 6 Montreal team 38Chem. figure... character at times 7 Adolescent 39Mix

1! -~15 Type of daisy 46 Gentlemanly 8 Rand and others 42 Paper hankies 33

a 16 Verdi work dispute? 9 Brown of music 45 Magic-lamp man17 Forage legume 48 River ends 10 Marks of quality 47 Property claim 36c: 18 Generally known 49 Pose 11 Add to staff 48 Philanthropists0 .2 20 Incongruous 50 fide 12 Lofty poems 50 Having less 41....

~.a figures of speech 51 Conflicting sounds 13 _ de foie gras coverage 460 22 The near ones 54 Withdrawal 19 Type of collar 51 Use a microwave?

CI) 23God of war 59 Unknown soldier? 21 Speak from a 52 Cameo stoneen 24 Cohort of Curly 61 Qatar's capital soapbox 53 Wight or Skyeen 25 Crazes 62 Rote or Petty 24 Pre-stereo sound 54 Light carriage28 Back to the 63 Horse opera 25 Aorida team 55 Head of Francee beginning? 64 Laverne's L 26 Excuse 56 One Chaplin 59330n the qui vive 65Alimony recipients 27 Israel's desert 57 Caprice 6234 Heroine of "The 66 Color changers 28 Aviator 58 Cager ArchibaldCJ Good Earth" 67 Title 29 Indian royalty 60 Deity 65

mailto:join@the-tech.mit.edu

October 7, 2003 The Tech Page 21

Events CalendarEvents Calendar appears in each issue of The Tech and features events for members of the MIT community. TheTech makes no guarantees as to the accuracy of this information, and The Tech shall not be held liable for any loss-es, including, but not limited to, damages resulting from attendance of an event.

Contact information for all events is available from the Events Calendar web page.

Visit and add events to Eve