The Tech Interviews the UA President and VP Candidates
Elections for Undergraduate Association President and Vice-President will begin this week. Electronic voting begins at <i>http://vote.mit.edu/</i> on Thursday, March 15 and ends Tuesday, March 20. Paper balloting will start Wednesday, March 21 in Lobby 10. Read on for <i>The Tech</i>’s<i> </i>interviews with the UA candidates for President and Vice President: Martin F. Holmes ’08 and Ali S. Wyne ’08; Manisha Manmohan ’08 and Fernando Funakoshi ’09; Lauren E. Oldja ’08 and Steven M. Kelch ’08.
Downed Mail Server Up Saturday, Then Another Fails, Webmail Too
The mail server outage that began last week Wednesday drew to a close on Saturday morning, but then was followed by an unrelated outage of another of the five post office servers on Monday afternoon. In a third outage, early Tuesday, two of the six Webmail servers were down for about half an hour.
Manmohan and Funakoshi
Manmohan and Funakoshi said that they believe they can bring a fresh perspective to the UA because neither has been directly involved in the UA administration.
Holmes and Wyne
“I feel that there are a lot of inefficiencies and problems with the UA and I’d like to reform them,” Holmes said. Wyne pointed out that “some people don’t even know the UA exists. … we really want to make this the student body’s association. It’s about pushing the agenda of the students.” Both emphasized the need for change within the UA.
Oldja and Kelch
“I feel at home in the UA,” said Oldja. “I think … what’s very important for the role of a president is to have the proper experience … That way, you can hit the ground running.”
News Briefs
The commencement speaker for the Class of 2007 will be former MIT president Charles M. Vest, according to Kirk D. Kolenbrander, vice president for institute affairs and secretary of the Corporation.
Iran’s Nuclear Vision Initially Glimpsed at Institute
The young Iranians arrived in Cambridge in the summer of 1975, part of a historic venture between their government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to train the first generation of Iranian nuclear scientists. The program began as a symbol of friendship but quickly became a lesson in unintended consequences.
UA Election Candidates Discuss UA, ASA, Textbooks
The Undergraduate Association Presidential/Vice Presidential debate drew a small crowd, as three pairs of candidates lobbied for community votes. During the debate, the candidates did not stray far from their platform statements.
The Classic British Sports Car, Reincarnated as Chinese Model
MG, the legendary British brand that expired after a lengthy illness, will be revived this month as a Chinese sports car, when the Nanjing Automobile Corp. begins to produce convertible sports cars under that name in China.
Shorts (left)
Ford Motor Co. will raise $848 million toward its overhaul plan by selling Aston Martin, its British luxury sports car brand, the automaker said Monday.
GOP Voters Voice Anxieties on Party’s Fate; Iraq War Strategy
After years of political dominance, Republican voters now view their party as divided and say they are not satisfied with the choice of candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Kennedy, Eager For GOP Support, Reconsiders Tactics on Immigration
Facing a rebellion from some key Republicans, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill and is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary committee as the starting point for negotiations this year, lawmakers said on Monday.
Shorts (right)
DePauw University severed ties Monday with a national sorority that evicted two-thirds of the university’s chapter members last year in what the sorority called an effort to improve its image for recruitment, but which the evicted women described as a purge of the unattractive or the uncool.
UN Council: Sudanese Gov’t Participated in Darfur Crimes
A U.N. Human Rights Council mission to Darfur said Monday that the Sudanese government had organized and taken part in human rights crimes against its own population, and that international action to stop the killings and rapes had been inadequate.
17 Feet Under
When precipitation is measured in feet, it’s usually when it snows. For example, a severe Nor’easter may bring 2-3 feet over a day or two to New England, but how about 17 feet of rain in six days? A small island in the Indian Ocean, La Reunion, received an incredible amount of rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Gamede late last month. A new world record was set at Commerson’s Crater, a volcano on the island, with a staggering three day rainfall total of 155 in. (3.9 m) and a one week total of 213 in. (5.4 m). Compare this to the yearly average precipitation in Boston of 41.5 in (1.1 m). Although Gamede never made landfall on La Reunion, the excessive rainfall was caused by persistent rain squalls continually lashing the island as the tropical cyclone moved slowly toward the southwest.
What Impact Will Engineers Have in a Flat World?
Over the past few years, the paean to the rapid expansion of emerging economies has reached a crescendo. The excitement is palpable and everywhere. And unlike the similar frenzy about “Asian Tigers” in the mid-90s, this seems to be no swan song. The fate of the first world is now inextricably linked with these countries. The debate if the world is, or should be flat is passé. The more interesting question concerns our impact in this world.
A Convenient Forum
Some issues actually have two sides. Global warming, though? Not so much.
Institute Wisdom Watch
By <i>The Tech</i> Editorial Board <b>E-mail Failure:</b> Gmail saves the day. — thumbs down
Letters to the Editor
I would like to respond to Rahmat Muhammad’s letter entitled, “In Search of Meaning: Beyond the Veritas Forum.” Ms. Muhammad correctly states that the Veritas Forum on Science, Faith, and Technology sought to address whether religious belief, specifically a belief in Jesus Christ and Christianity, can exist in intellectual harmony with scientific pursuit. I am writing this letter because Ms. Muhammad affirms that resolving “the need for a meaningful life and a career in science” is an important issue. In addition, she welcomes critiques of her definition of “meaning,” which I will attempt to offer.
THEATRE REVIEW “Scoundrels” Will Sneak Into Your Heart
Perhaps it says something about me, but <i>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels</i> has been one of my favorite movies since the age of seven. Starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, this movie about two con-men trying to one up each other in the French Riviera was just about the funniest thing I’d ever seen. Thus when I heard a musical based on it was coming out, I was both thrilled and worried. Since I love the original and I love musicals, it had the potential to be magnificent. Of course, if they messed it up and tarnished the good name of <i>Scoundrels</i>, it would be a bitter disappointment on the order of <i>The Matrix Reloaded</i>. Finally, after years of fear, I bit the bullet and saw the show. My hopes were realized: it was really good.
Holbrook Wins NCAA Title in 3-Meter
Doria M. Holbrook ’08 became MIT’s first national champion of the 2006-07 season on Saturday evening, bringing the three-meter diving title back to Cambridge after winning the event with a cumulative finals score of 480.90.
MIT Weighs in With Only 2 Wins in Dual Match Loss to Colby
The 22nd-ranked MIT men’s tennis team fell to unranked Colby College 7–2 in Sunday’s dual match. Thomas H. Dohlman ’07 earned a point for the Engineers at first singles, while the second doubles team of Peden P. Nichols ’09 and Mark D. Egan ’07 recorded the lone doubles win.
Lacrosse Falls in Season Opener To Corsairs’ Second Period Effort
MIT men’s lacrosse could not overcome six consecutive first-half goals by UMass-Dartmouth, falling 9-6 in its season-opener on Saturday at Jack Barry Field.
Water Polo Dominates Bowdoin Tourney
The nationally-ranked No. 5 MIT women’s water polo team crushed the competition this weekend at their first tournament of the season, winning all five of their games.
GDC 2007:
This past week I took a break from <i>Lemmings</i> to travel to the mecca of gaming that is Game Developer’s Conference. Held in San Francisco, GDC is five glorious days of informative lectures, frantic networking, and awesome previews for the members of the gaming industry.
Imminent Collapse
Sometimes, in life, you are faced with a great crisis. The forefathers of our country had to figure out on the fly how to invent a country, and they performed admirably. The greatest generation is famed for their resolve in the face of adversity and Nazis. Of course, these are pretty huge crises that we can’t really compare our own lives to (at least, I certainly hope not), but there are, still, certain events that try our patience and reveal to the world just what we’re made of. This past weekend was one such time for me, as I struggled to adapt to something all of us must endure: Daylight Saving Time.
The Cambridge West Saferide:
On another freezing night in front of 84 Mass Ave, a crowd of exhausted students await the SafeRides, those hypothetical saviors from the long walk home in the extreme cold. Among these peoples, we are interested in the unlucky few waiting for the legendary Cambridge West, the one fated to be the latest, and by far, the most ‘lawful’ of all.
Chicken A La Nuke
A lot of people make bad frozen food choices. I’m just trying to help prevent that.