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Volume 122, Number 55 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, November 12, 2002 

Armed Thief Wakes 

Next House Student 

By Brian Loux 

NEWS EDITOR 

A Next House resident was the 

victim of an armed burglary on Sunday, 

when a middle-aged man armed 

with a knife entered an unlocked 

room to steal from a sleeping student. 

The burglar remains at large. 

The man had stolen cash from the 

room at about 3:30 p.m., but the resident 

awoke and proceeded to give 

chase, said Goodwin V. Chen ’04, a 

friend who was familiar with the victim’s 

account of the incident. 

The victim, who requested 

anonymity, was able to grab the 

thief’s maroon MIT varsity jacket, 

Chen said, but the man escaped and 

ran outside Next House, where he 

drew a large knife and continued to 

run from the student, who apparently 

continued to chase after him. 

Near Tang Hall, the man, holding 

the knife, paused and proposed to 

end the chase by exchanging the student’s 

stolen money for the thief’s 

jacket, which the student had carried 

with him, Chen said. The student 

agreed to the exchange and the thief 

then ran away, Chen said. 

Jacket worn to fit in, police think 

In a widely-distributed e-mail, 

Steven R.L. Millman, who is the victim’s 

graduate resident tutor in the 

Fourth West wing of Next House, 

described the perpetrator as a man in 

his forties, approximately 5 feet and 

6 inches tall, with a medium build 

and blond hair. 

The thief wore the maroon MIT 

varsity jacket that police believe was 

used to blend in as he moved through 

the dormitory, along with a black 

baseball cap, white pants, and a pair 

Chris Vu Advances 

In Idol Auditions 

By Jennifer L. Wong 

STAFF REPORTER 

Christopher D. Vu ’04 is one step closer to realizing 

his dream of music superstardom, having 

advanced to the second round of auditions for Fox’s 

American Idol talent show. 

A San Jose, Calif. native, Vu is a tenor in the Logarhythms, 

MIT’s all-male a capella group. 

Hopeful ‘idol’ begins journey 

Vu originally traveled to New York City to audition 

for American Idol on Oct. 24. Because of the size 

of the crowd, he was unable to audition before the 

judges. Vu then flew to Austin, Tex., for a Nov. 6 

audition. It was in Austin that he beat out the competition 

to qualify for the second round of auditions in Los 

Angeles, Calif., said fellow members of the Logarhythms. 

Logs call Vu ‘one of the most talented in nation’ 

Mark A. Sellmyer ’04, a fellow member of the 

Logs, called Vu “an amazing performer.” 

“The Logs love Chris,” he said. 

“Not only is he one of the most talented a capella 

singers in the nation, but I believe he can make it his 

Alison Krauss and Union Station 

give country a good name. 

of sneakers, Millman wrote. 

The victim’s report with the MIT 

Police was not immediately available 

because of the Veteran’s Day holiday. 

Residents express loss of security 

Residents of the wing and the 

dormitory were visibly upset about 

the incident. 

“This was a crime against the 

community,” said Yufei Wang ’04. 

“We have all been robbed of our 

trust,” he said, adding that he was 

considering the idea of brandishing a 

weapon himself in the coming days. 

Others have voiced similar concerns. 

“We should not have to fear 

armed robbery in our dorm. That’s 

just ridiculous,” said Elizabeth L. 

Greenwood ’05 in an e-mail to the 

house. 

While many residents were 

shocked by the incident, Millman 

said he was not exceptionally surprised. 

“About once a year, someone 

who really doesn’t belong here will 

find his way into the dorm,” he said. 

Some blame lax door policy 

Though it is still unclear how the 

perpetrator entered Next House, 

much of the blame from residents 

has been pointed at the dormitory’s 

lax door policy. “The Next House 

desk workers are generally very 

erratic regarding their door policy,” 

said Paul A. Wanda ’04. “Some 

workers just buzz you in without 

looking up when you knock.” 

“It makes life easier for me,” 

Wanda said, “but I don’t like the fact 

that anybody can come into Next 

Page 8 

Vu, Page 14 

Next House, Page 10 

By Kevin R. Lang 

NEWS AND FEATURES DIRECTOR 

If things get a little slow in Congress 

next year, perhaps John E. 

Sununu ’87, New Hampshire’s new 

junior sena- 

JONATHAN WANG—THE TECH 

Christopher D. Vu ’04 performs “Billie Jean” 

with the Logarhythms in the Campus Preview 

Weekend a capella concert last April. Vu will 

now advance to a second round of auditions to 

appear on Fox’s American Idol. 

Comics 

Page 6 

tor, could 

lead Trent 

Lott, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, 

and John McCain in a bipartisan chorus 

of “The Engineers’ Drinking 

Song.” 

Sununu defeated three-term New 

Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, 

a Democrat, 51–47 percent for 

the U.S. Senate seat in last week’s 

elections, replacing incumbent Senator 

Bob Smith, whom Sununu beat in 

the Republican primary. 

Sununu is currently the U.S. representative 

from New Hamphire’s 

first district. 

MIT education fits in politics 

How does an MIT education fit 

in with the political science majors 

and lawyers on Capitol Hill? “I 

think it was very helpful to have a 

technical background and an engineering 

background,” Sununu said, 

By Marissa Vogt 


Former MIT student Mark L. 

Strauss ’02 has pleaded guilty to 

one charge of mail fraud in federal 

district court in Boston. 

Strauss, a former member of the 

Zeta Psi fraternity, was arrested in 

March, when police seized between 

$30,000 and $40,000 worth of 

computer-related equipment from 

his room. Some of the items, which 

included computers, furniture, and 

lab equipment, were stolen from 

the Department of Chemistry over 

an 18-month period. 

After selling the stolen items 

online, Strauss would then send 

them to buyers using the U.S. 

Postal Service. 

Sentencing set for January 

Strauss will appear again before 

Chief Judge William G. Young in 

January 2003 for sentencing. 

“The judge, at the time of the 

plea, said that the defendant, under 

the guidelines, might be looking at 

six to twelve months, but that’s not 

OPINION 

Vivek Rao advocates a preferential 

voting system. 

Page 5 

The Weather 

Today: Showers, 53°F (12°C) 

Tonight: Rain, 45°F (7°C) 

Tomorrow: Cloudy, rain, 50°F (10°C) 

Details, Page 2 

MATT T. YOURST—THE TECH 

Infamous computer cracker Kevin Mitnick signs copies of his new book, The Art of Deception, 

after his lecture last Wednesday at Quantum Books. Mitnick has become a popular security consultant 

after having served a prison sentence for breaking into numerous corporations’ computers 

in the early ’90s. 

New U.S. Senator is MIT Graduate 

Feature 

particularly when dealing with environmental 

and technological issues. 

“It’s been an asset for me in the 

House.” 

Sununu earned his SB and SM 

degrees in Course II (Mechanical 

Engineering) in 1987, completing his 

master’s thesis, entitled “Wear in 

check valves due to flow induced 

motion,” with Professor Emeritus 

Peter Griffith. He lived in the Sigma 

Alpha Epsilon fraternity, which was 

disbanded in 1999 after repeated 

Sununu, Page 11 

Strauss, Former Student 

At MIT, Admits to Fraud 

determinative because there are 

still issues to be resolved,” said 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanne M. 

Kempthorne. 

Neither Strauss nor his attorney, 

Jeffrey A. Denner, could be 

reached for comment. 

Stolen items were sold on eBay 

Strauss was charged with 

engaging in a scheme to “obtain 

property and money by means of 

false pretenses and fraud by stealing, 

on divers occasions, computers, 

furniture, laboratory equipment, 

and other items from 

laboratories and offices at MIT and 

then selling then at auction on 

eBay.” 

According to the charges, 

Strauss had been selling the stolen 

items on eBay. Strauss would then 

“utilize the U.S. mails and other 

interstate mail delivery carriers to 

deliver the stolen goods,” prosecutors 

charged. The items were 

stolen between January 2001 and 

Strauss, Page 13 

World & Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 

Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Page 2 THE TECH November 12, 2002 

Officials Fear FBI Unprepared 

To Thwart Terrorist Strikes in U.S. 

THE WASHINGTON POST 

WORLD & NATION 

WASHINGTON 

With intelligence agencies predicting that Iraq and sympathetic 

Islamic extremists will attempt to launch terrorist attacks against the 

United States in the event of war, many government officials are 

growing concerned that the FBI is dangerously unprepared to thwart 

strikes on U.S. soil. 

Fourteen months after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, 

the FBI does not have a detailed understanding of domestic 

terrorists who could fund, prepare and launch revenge attacks, said 

administration and Congressional officials and outside experts. 

The FBI’s assessment of the domestic threat includes a much 

more narrow cast of characters that focuses on a small number of 

Iraqi agents, including intelligence officers, and militants identified in 

ongoing investigations. 

“They still don’t know where the terrorists are, how many are 

here, what their intentions are, what kind of support network they 

have,” said Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate intelligence 

committee. 

Homeland Security Top Issue 

As Congress Reconvenes 


WASHINGTON 

The “lame duck” 107th Congress returns Tuesday under firm 

marching orders from President Bush to create a Department of 

Homeland Security, prompting new negotiations and expressions of 

optimism from leaders of both parties that the legislation will be 

passed this year. 

A possible compromise on the critical issue of civil service protections 

and collective bargaining rights was under review by key 

lawmakers Monday, although it was not apparent whether it would 

clear all the hurdles that have tripped up the legislation . 

The post-election Congress will return with the Senate still under 

Democratic control, although probably only for a week or so. A 

spokesman for interim Minnesota Sen. Dean Barkley said Barkley 

will remain an independent, unaligned with either party, enabling 

Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to keep his post when the 

Senate reconvenes. 

THE BALTIMORE SUN 

Bush Uses Veterans Day 

Ceremonies to Warn Iraq 

WASHINGTON 

President Bush used Veterans Day ceremonies Monday to send 

fresh warnings to Iraq, vowing to use “the full force and might of the 

United States military” against that country unless Saddam Hussein 

agrees to disarm. 

Bush spoke as Saddam faced a Friday deadline for accepting the 

conditions of a U.N. resolution mandating the return of weapons 

inspectors. Approved by the Security Council last week, it states that 

Iraq must destroy its weapons of mass destruction or face “serious 

consequences.” 

The president has made clear that he would consider resistance by 

Saddam a justification for war. “And we will prevail,” he said at the 

White House, before attending a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington 

National Cemetery. 

At both events, Bush reflected on patriotism, military service, 

and the courage of war veterans — including those gathered in his 

audience — and then made a case for expanding the war on terrorism 

into Iraq to confront what he called a “uniquely dangerous 

regime.” 

Deadliest Storms, Tornadoes 

Since 1999 Blow Across U.S. 

By Robert E. Pierre 


Violent storms, including more 

than 70 tornadoes, blew across the 

nation early Monday, slicing through 

small towns, splintering buildings 

and trees, twirling semi-trucks and 

cars and killing at least 35 people in 

a swath that stretched from the Gulf 

of Mexico to the Great Lakes. 

Starting late Saturday, the 

storms’ fury mounted and swept 

from Louisiana, through Mississippi, 

Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio 

into Pennsylvania. By early Monday 

morning, the winds had demolished 

more than half of the two dozen 

houses that made up Mossy Grove, 

Tenn., a hamlet 40 miles west of 

Knoxville. Officials estimated more 

than a third of the structures were 

destroyed in Carbon Hill, Ala., a 

town of 2,071 people northwest of 

Birmingham. 

The deaths were most numerous 

in Tennessee, where 16 people died, 

including seven in Mossy Grove. 

Another 12 were killed in Alabama, 

including seven in Carbon Hill. Five 

died in Ohio and one each in Mississippi 

and Pennsylvania. More 

than 200 people were injured. 

It was the deadliest swarm of 

tornadoes the nation has suffered 

By Janet Hook and Faye Fiore 

LOS ANGELES TIMES 

WASHINGTON 

Dean Barkley, the third-party 

activist appointed interim senator 

from Minnesota, announced Monday 

he will not side with either 

party during his short stay in 

office, allowing Democrats to keep 

control of the Senate during the 

lame-duck session — at least for 

now. 

That means Democrat Tom 

Daschle of South Dakota will 

remain Senate majority leader 

another week or so — giving his 

party a last gasp of power and visibility 

in the wake of its losses in the 

Nov. 5 elections. 

Barkley’s decision ends a bizarre 

interlude in which the leadership of 

since 1999, when at least 70 twisters 

killed more than 45 people over two 

days in Kansas and Oklahoma. 

Some places had only a few minutes 

notice before the tornadoes 

swirled into town. In Van Wert, 

Ohio, that was just enough time to 

save dozens of people at the local 

movie theater. A manager heard a 

weather report on the radio as showings 

of “The Santa Clause 2” and 

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” were 

ending and herded customers into 

hallways and restrooms — three cars 

blew into the theater and the roof collapsed 

on the blue-cushioned seats. 

“It wiped out three factories,” 

said Larry Blakeley, 53, who lives 

about two miles from the where the 

tornado touched down in Van Wert. 

“We had high winds and lightning. 

There are police cars and national 

guard and you can’t get close to 

where it happened.” 

The hardest hit section in Tennessee 

included a five-mile stretch 

of Morgan County, which includes 

Mossy Grove. Rescuers spent Monday 

combing through the wreckage. 

As the day ended, dozens of people 

were still missing. Local radio 

stations read the names of the missing 

over the airways and asked them 

to contact authorities if they heard 

the Senate could have been changed 

single-handedly by a man who, until 

his Nov. 4 appointment by Minnesota 

Gov. Jesse Ventura, was a 

little-known former carwash operator. 

His choice may have little practical 

impact on the course of the postelection 

session, which begins Tuesday. 

But it adds to the sense of 

uncertainty and transition that has 

engulfed the Capitol following the 

elections in which Republicans 

expanded their House majority and 

seized control of the Senate in next 

year’s Congress. 

Republicans stood to take over 

the Senate immediately if Barkley 

had agreed to side with them on 

leadership questions in the lameduck 

session. Such a move would 

their names. In some areas, phone 

calls on the lines that were working 

were so jammed that calls were not 

going through. Authorities were 

confident that most people had fled 

their homes to safety and would be 

accounted for soon. Still, the search 

was complicated by the devastation. 

“Emergency crews are out 

searching for people,” said Amy 

Smith, a police dispatcher in nearby 

Oliver Springs. But she added, “The 

phone lines are down. They’re without 

electric. It’s going to be that 

way for a while.” 

Officials from the Red Cross and 

emergency management teams 

spread out to assess the damage, and 

to provide those left homeless with 

food and shelter. 

In Alabama, Gov. Don Siegelman 

said it would take residents a 

long time to recover. 

“It’s like somebody wrapped up 

sticks of dynamite and just blew 

these homes into little tiny pieces,” 

Siegelman told reporters as he toured 

affected areas. “Clearly we’ve got to 

get money to these communities. But 

it’s not so much the financial help at 

this point but the but the spiritual 

help that they need. We’re going to 

do everything we can to get their 

lives, their homes back together.” 

Nonpartisan Barkley Preserves 

Democratic Control of Senate 

have installed Sen. Trent Lott (R- 

Miss.) as majority leader. But 

Barkley declined to join forces with 

either the Democrats or the Republicans. 

“I am an independent, the governor 

who appointed me is an independent, 

and I believe the best way 

to serve the people of Minnesota is 

to remain independent,” Barkley 

said in a statement Monday. 

“Rather than adding to the partisanship 

that so often characterizes 

Congress, I would like to focus on 

bridging differences and helping to 

move important legislation forward.” 

Barkley, 52, is an improbable 

kingmaker, thrust into the limelight 

when, on an hour’s notice, Ventura 

tapped him for the Senate. 

WEATHER 

Situation for Noon Eastern Daylight Time, Tuesday, November 12, 2002 

Severe Weather Takes Its Toll 

By Greg Lawson 

STAFF METEOROLOGIST 

This year has seen anomalously few tornadoes in the United States, with 

about 670 having been reported through October, compared to an average of 

about 1,100. Thankfully, there have concomitantly been many fewer deaths than 

average. However, in an uncharacteristically violent and widespread outbreak 

for November, yesterday saw at least thirty-five deaths and many more injuries 

as an estimated sixty tornadoes struck along various squall lines stretching from 

Mississippi to Ohio. The conditions were set by a strong cold front running into 

an anomalously warm and moist Gulf of Mexico air mass over the southeast. 

This same air mass, set up by a persistent high over the Southern Atlantic, delivered 

us our unseasonably warm temps for the past two days. 

The cold front which spawned the storms brought us their remnants yesterday 

as it passed through, though greatly dissipated from their earlier fury. However, 

the cold front has now stalled in its eastward progression and is more of a 

stationary front off the coast. This front will now serve as a conduit through 

which shortwaves will pass up the east coast. These shortwaves will form 

coastally off of Georgia and the Carolinas and will move rather quickly up the 

coast. Unfortunately, their precise strengths and timing are difficult to predict. 

Expect to see mostly cloudy to overcast skies with periods of rain and showers 

through Thursday afternoon. High pressure will eventually push the front off 

the coast and restore clearer skies and chillier temps. 

Today: Showers and overcast skies. Light northerly winds. High of 53°F 

(12°C). 

Tonight: Rain, heavy at times. Low of 45°F (7°C). 

Wednesday: Cloudy with rain off and on throughout the day. High of 

50°F (10°C). Low of 41°F (5°C). 

Thursday: Chance of rain through early afternoon, then clouds dissipating. 

High in the upper 40s F (8-10°C). Low in the upper 30s F (3-5°C).

November 12, 2002 WORLD & NATION THE TECH Page 3 

Iraq Denounces U.N. Demands 

But Expected to Accept Terms 

By David Lamb 

LOS ANGELES TIMES 

CAIRO, EGYPT 

Iraqi lawmakers convened in 

emergency session Monday night to 

consider a response to a U.N. resolution 

that the speaker of parliament 

called a “preamble to war” but other 

Arab governments view as the only 

hope of avoiding war. 

The resolution, passed unanimously 

by the Security Council on 

Friday and endorsed by the Arab 

League on Sunday, demands that 

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 

allow the return of U.N. arms 

inspectors and that he account for 

any chemical, biological or nuclear 

weapons. If he doesn’t accept the 

resolution by Friday he risks “seri- 

By Christopher Stern 


Michael Capellas announced 

Monday he is resigning as president 

of Hewlett-Packard Co., stepping 

down just as he becomes the frontrunner 

in WorldCom Inc.’s search 

for a new chief executive. 

Capellas is the former chairman 

of Compaq Computer and he 

helped lead the effort to merge his 

company with Hewlett-Packard. 

Sources cautioned that while Capellas 

is the leading candidate of 

WorldCom’s executive search committee, 

he has yet to meet three 

members of the board of directors 

that must approve hiring him. 

WorldCom filed for bankruptcy in 

July after revealing a massive 

ous consequences,” which is understood 

to mean an attack by the United 

States and Britain. 

Despite scathing denunciations 

of the resolution during the nationally 

televised parliamentary debate 

and in the Baghdad media, Arab 

League sources said they believe 

Saddam would accept its terms, 

although the process could drag on 

for several days. The resolution, 

based on an Anglo-U.S. draft, is so 

tough in its “zero tolerance” language 

that no one in Iraq could be 

happy with it and Saddam would 

lose face if he didn’t put up some 

kind of resistance, the sources said. 

His decision to go to parliament 

surprised many Arab governments. 

But Saddam, who opposed drafts of 

accounting scandal. 

The troubled telecommunications 

company has been searching 

for a new leader since September, 

when the current chief executive 

John Sidgmore agreed to step down 

under pressure from the company’s 

creditors. Five major creditors, 

which effectively own WorldCom 

as long as it is in bankruptcy, sit on 

the search committee that targeted 

Capellas for chief executive. 

Sources say some creditors favored 

finding an executive from outside 

the telecommunications industry to 

send a signal that the nation’s second-largest 

long distance company 

is taking steps to make a clean break 

with its tainted past. 

Brad Burns, a WorldCom 

the resolution, may want to use parliament 

as a cover to reverse his 

position: If the assembly votes for 

compliance, he could say he is 

accepting U.N. demands because he 

is responding to the will of the 

“elected” legislators, political analysts 

said. Debate on the resolution 

is expected to resume Tuesday. 

The 250-member parliament is 

considered a rubber stamp for Saddam. 

If the resolution is accepted, 

the decision then would go to Iraq’s 

most powerful group, the Revolutionary 

Command Council, for final 

approval. Saddam, who recently 

proclaimed that he received 100 

percent of the vote in a referendum 

endorsing his presidency, is head of 

the council. 

HP President Resigns, Expected 

To Become Leader in WorldCom 

spokesman ,declined to comment 

Monday morning. Hewlett-Packard 

issued a statement saying that 

Capellas is leaving the company to 

pursue other opportunities. “We’ve 

reached a natural transition point. 

Michael made a commitment to see 

the merger through, and now thanks 

to the hard work of the entire team, 

we are meeting or exceeding all of 

our integration targets,” said Carly 

Fiorina, HP chairman and chief 

executive, in the statement 

“I am proud to have been associated 

with this company and believe 

— as I have from the beginning — 

that HP is redefining the information 

technology landscape,” Capellas 

said as part of the same statement. 

Another Suspect Detained 

In Bali Bombing 


TENGGULUN, INDONESIA 

Indonesian police Monday detained a man they suspect of storing 

weapons and explosives for Amrozi, the chief suspect in the 

Oct.12 bombing of two Bali nightclubs. 

After questioning Komarudin, a friend of Amrozi and a forest 

ranger in this East Java village, police here recovered two explosive 

devices in the forest about three miles away, deputy national 

police spokesman Edward Aritonang said. Local bomb squad officers 

were on their way to analyze the devices, police said. 

The police are making rapid advances in their investigation following 

the arrest last Tuesday of Amrozi and raids over the weekend 

at properties in Tenggulun, a village in the Lamongan district, 

and in Bali. Amrozi and Komarudin, like most Indonesians, use 

one name. 

On Sunday night, police detained another villager, Tafsir, 38, 

who they said drove Amrozi in his Mitsubishi L-300 van to Bali 

before the two nearly simultaneous explosions, which killed almost 

200 people, most of them foreign tourists. Police have traced the 

largest explosion, at the Sari Club, to the van owned by Amrozi. 

New Surveillance System To Aid 

Counter-Terrorism Efforts 


A new Pentagon research office has started designing a global 

computer surveillance system to give U.S. counter-terrorism officials 

access to personal government and commercial databases 

around the world. 

The Information Awareness Office, run by former national 

security adviser John Poindexter, aims to develop new technologies 

to sift through “ultra-large” data warehouses and networked 

computers in search of threatening patterns among everyday transactions, 

such as credit card purchases and travel reservations, 

according to interviews and documents. 

Authorities already have access to a wealth of information 

about individual terrorists, but they typically have to obtain court 

approval in the United States or make laborious diplomatic and 

intelligence efforts overseas. The system proposed by Poindexter 

and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

(DARPA) at about $200 million a year, would be able to sweep up 

and analyze data in a much more systematic way. It would provide 

a more detailed look at data than the super-secret National Security 

Agency now has, Poindexter said. 

“How are we going to find terrorists and pre-empt them, except 

by following their trail,” said Poindexter, who brought the idea to 

the Pentagon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and now is 

beginning to award contracts to high-technology vendors.


Chairman 

Sandra M. Chung ’04 

Editor in Chief 

Jennifer Krishnan ’04 

Business Manager 

Ian Lai G 

Managing Editor 

Joy Forsythe ’04 

Executive Editor 

Nathan Collins G 

NEWS STAFF 

News and Features Director: Kevin R. Lang G; 

News Editors: Keith J. Winstein ’03, Brian 

Loux ’04, Christine R. Fry ’05; Staff: Harold 

Fox G, Naveen Sunkavally G, Dan Cho ’02, 

Jeffrey Greenbaum ’04, Vicky Hsu ’04, Richa 

Maheshwari ’04, Flora Amwayi ’05, Vincent 

Chen ’05, Aaron Du ’05, Sam Hwang ’05, Tom 

Kilpatrick ’05, Amerson Lin ’05, Jing-Helen 

Tang ’05, Qian Wang ’05, Lauren E. LeBon ’06, 

Kathy Lin ’06, Lakshmi Nambiar ’06, Veena 

Ramaswamy ’06, Beckett Sterner ’06, Marissa 

Vogt ’06, Jennifer Wong ’06, Jenny Zhang ’06; 

Meteorologists: Robert Lindsay Korty G, Greg 

Lawson G, Nikki Privé G, William Ramstrom 

G, Michael J. Ring G, Efren Gutierrez ’03. 

PRODUCTION STAFF 

Editors: Joel Corbo ’04, David Carpenter ’05; 

Associate Editors: Anju Kanumalla ’03, Nicholas 

R. Hoff ’05; Staff: Eric J. Cholankeril G, Gayani 

Tillekeratne ’03, Andrew Mamo ’04, Shefali Oza 

’04, Hangyul Chung ’05, Sie Hendrata Dharmawan 

’05, Mandy Yeung ’05, Kevin Chen ’06, Tiffany 

Dohzen ’06, Albert Leung ’06, Jolinta Lin ’06, 

Jonathan Reinharth ’06. 

OPINION STAFF 

Editors: Roy Esaki ’04, Jyoti R. Tibrewala ’04; 

Columnists: Philip Burrowes ’04, Andrew C. 

Thomas ’04; Staff: Basil Enwegbara G, Brice 

Smith G, Michael Borucke ’01, Kris Schnee ’02, 

Daniel L. Tortorice ’02, Gretchen K. Aleks ’04, 

Ken Nesmith ’04, Stephanie W. Wang ’04, Tao 

Yue ’04, Vivek Rao ’05, W. Victoria Lee ’06. 

SPORTS STAFF 

Editors: Helana Kadyszewski ’03, Jennifer De 

Boer ’05; Columnist: O.B. Usmen ’03. 

ARTS STAFF 

Editors: Jeremy Baskin ’04, Daniel S. Robey 

’04; Associate Editor: Allison C. Lewis ’04; 

Staff: Erik Blankinship G, Lance Nathan G, 

Bence P. Olveczky G, Sonja Sharpe G, Amandeep 

Loomba ’02, Amy Meadows ’03, Sonali 

Mukherjee ’03, Chaitra Chandrasekhar ’04, 

Jed Horne ’04, Pey-Hua Hwang ’04, Izzat 

Jarudi ’04, Devdoot Majumdar ’04, Atif Z. 

Qadir ’04, Chad Serrant ’04, Eric Chemi ’05, 

Patrick Hereford ’05, Jorge Padilla ’05, Ricky 

Rivera ’05, Kevin Der ’06, Joseph Graham. 

PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF 

Editors: Aaron D. Mihalik G, Wendy Gu ’03; 

Associate Editor: Jonathan Wang ’05; Staff: 

Michelle Povinelli G, Dong Wang G, Stanley Hu 

’00, Kailas Narendran ’01, Yi Xie ’02, Dan 

Bersak ’03, Scott Johnston ’03, Ekaterina 

Ossikine ’03, Pedro L. Arrechea ’04, Miguel A. 

Calles ’04, Brian Hemond ’04, Matt Yourst ’04, 

Dalton Cheng ’05, Annie Ding ’05, Roger Li ’05, 

Michael Lin ’05, Timothy Suen ’05, Amy L. Wong 

’05, E-won Yoon ’05, Victoria Fan ’06, Melanie 

Michalak ’06, Edward Platt ’06, Francis Omoleye 

Roberts ’06, Sandra Yu ’06, Elizabeth Zellner ’06, 

Jean Zheng ’06, Jason LaPenta. 

FEATURES STAFF 

Editor: Eun J. Lee ’04; Columnists: Akshay 

Patil ’04, Michael Short ’05; Cartoonists: 

Jason Burns G, Bao-Yi Chang ’02, Jumaane 

Jeffries ’02, Lara Kirkham ’03, Alison Wong 

’03, Sean Liu ’04, Nancy Phan ’05, Josie Sung 

’05; Staff: Ricarose Roque ’06. 

BUSINESS STAFF 

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November 12, 2002 OPINION THE TECH Page 5 

Vivek Rao 

In the end, none of it mattered. Election 

Day arrived, and Republican Mitt Romney 

wound up pasting Democrat Shannon 

O’Brien at the polls in his bid for the governorship 

of Massachusetts. The margin of victory 

was not enormous, but at five percent, it 

was at least big enough that I did not feel 

guilty for voting for Green Party candidate 

Jill Stein. So when all was said and done, 

everything worked out. 

Or did it? 

Rewind to three days before the election. 

Having just received my Massachusetts 

absentee ballot in the mail — apparently, the 

five or six miles I would have to traverse to 

get to a physical polling location were far too 

strenuous — I broke down the choice for 

governor. In recent months, Romney and 

O’Brien had engaged in a bitter and intense 

campaign, determined to take the State House 

by any means necessary. While the Commonwealth 

is usually considered a thoroughly liberal 

state, its voters have recently turned to 

Republicans for state leadership, and these 

two contrasting trends seemed to be tugging 

on the race at even strength. As late as a few 

days before the election, local media released 

a poll showing 41% support for O’Brien and 

40% for Romney. This seemed to be one of 

those tight races in which the old cliché of 

“Every vote counts” applies more than usual. 

My choice, then, should have been quite 

obvious. On a political ideology scale, I am 

about as liberal as there is, so it probably 

would have made sense for me to vote for 

O’Brien, the only liberal with any shot of 

winning. Unfortunately, a bit of an obstacle 

arose in the form of my principles. 

Tucked away beneath the booming headlines 

of The Boston Globe and Boston Herald 

was relatively unknown Green Party candidate 

named Jill Stein. To me, Stein was a revelation. 

For the first time in a while, I found a 

candidate who I could completely agree with 

on nearly every critical issue; to double-check 

Guest Column 

Aimee L. Smith 

If you are like me, you would rather not 

vote at all than feel responsible for selecting a 

candidate of one of the two main corporatefunded 

parties. I did not hesitate to vote for Jill 

Stein of the Green Party for governor because 

even as “Mitt” has serious issues when it 

comes to respecting the rights of homosexuals 

and low-income people, Shannon O’Brien has 

a hard time respecting democracy and, oh yeah, 

low-income people. So while I don’t consider 

the outcome of the Massachusetts gubernatorial 

race to be particularly monumental, I think the 

way in which Romney was able to sway so 

many independent and suburban voters is very 

telling about where our society is heading. 

I used to live in California, and I was there 

when the famous Proposition 187 was passed. 

This ballot initiative essentially called for all 

health-care providers and educators to become 

de facto INS workers, as they would be legally 

responsible to turn in anyone suspected of 

being an illegal alien. The reason for this major 

shift towards a full police state in terms of 

immigration status was billed as an effort to 

save the State of California the resources that 

were supposedly being drawn down by these 

“illegal” people. The initiative was championed 

by a candidate for governor, Pete Wilson, as a 

way to aid the ailing California economy. 

Never mind that the main impact to the economy 

was a restructuring of the airline and 

defense industries. Never mind that Pete Wilson’s 

number one campaign contributor was 

the California agri-industry, which is the 

largest employer and exploiter of the sub-minimum-wage 

labor of “illegal” aliens in California. 

Never mind that if these “illegal” aliens 

were really the main problem with the economy, 

there would be a much more efficient and 

effective way to go after them: through their 

employers in the agriculture industry. In fact, 

no new laws or propositions would be required, 

as it is already illegal to hire undocumented 

immigrants as workers. 

Clearly, Prop 187 was about much more 

Filling Out the Ballot 

this point, I took a quiz at a public radio Web 

site, which confirmed that I favored Stein’s 

views over those of the other candidates on 

ten out of ten issues ranging from education 

to abortion, the death penalty to taxes. Perhaps 

more importantly, she exuded a genuine 

desire for reform and change, something most 

Democrats and Republicans seem to be shying 

away from these days, as they seem more 

concerned with gaining and maintaining 

power than actually using it. 

There was only one catch. Like most independent 

candidates in 

this country, Stein, 

barring some Florida-worthy 

miscount 

debacle, had 

absolutely no chance 

of winning. Preliminary 

polls suggested 

she would garner no 

more than five percent 

of the votes. 

Largely because of 

media hype, or the 

lack thereof, and the 

utter dominance of 

the two-party system 

in the current American 

political landscape, 

Stein’s campaign 

was essentially one of principles and 

not practicalities. 

Now that you have the background, join 

me as I sit down to fill out my absentee ballot. 

There are no butterflies on this one, and 

my choices are quite clearly delineated in 

front of me. Do I opt for pragmatism and 

O’Brien, in the mindset that anything would 

be better than the conservative Romney? Or 

do I instead side with my beliefs and Stein, 

choosing to promote a candidate and party in 

whom I believe, and possibly paving the way 

for future independent candidates to gain 

more prominence? Admittedly, for many of 

you, the choice is clear-cut, and you have no 

doubt in your mind about which candidate 

Do I opt for pragmatism and 

O’Brien, in the mindset that 

anything would be better than 

the conservative Romney? Or 

do I side with my beliefs and 

Stein, possibly paving the way 

for future independent candidates 

to gain more prominence? 

than saving the state of California a little bit of 

cash. It was about a classic phenomenon in politics 

that arises when the politician has no real 

substantive proposals to offer a disappointed 

and apprehensive electorate: scapegoating. At 

that time, just as now, there were many deep 

problems in California, such as job insecurity, 

corporate-driven cut-backs on the social safety 

net, and all-out urban crises evidenced by 

events such as the 1992 Los Angeles uprising 

in response to the acquittal of white police officers 

for beating Rodney King, a man of 

African descent. Pete Wilson’s job was easy. 

All he had to do was find enough people stupid 

enough or ill-informed enough to believe both 

that the problems of the state arose from the 

large illegal immigrant 

population and that in 

spite of the industry 

that was funding his 

campaign, he was serious 

about solving this 

“problem.” 

This sickening 

strategy is neither new 

or since out of use. It 

worked to bring the 

Nazis to power, with 

truly devastating consequences.Subsequently, 

it has worked 

in Rwanda with devastating 

consequences. It 

has worked on less 

drastic scales in many 

corners of the world. So why not try it in California? 

Well, it did work for Pete Wilson. I 

have since left California, but have seen a slew 

of racist and xenophobic initiatives carried 

through since. And lest there be any doubt, I 

have met many Latina/o and Asian immigrants 

in Southern California who work incredibly 

hard for very low wages and in unhealthful 

conditions. Undocumented immigrants work in 

the worst conditions of all because they have 

absolutely no voice and no recourse in society. 

On balance, California benefitted from their 

undocumented immigrants far better than the 

other way around. 

you would elect. I would imagine, though, 

that I am not alone in the group of people disturbed 

by such a choice, a fact that suggests 

the need for preferential voting. 

In a preferential voting system, voters 

must pick a “first choice,” and beyond that, 

they may rank as many candidates as they 

wish. For example, I might rank Stein first and 

O’Brien second, leaving the others unranked. 

The first-choice votes are then tallied up, and 

the candidates ranked depending on how 

many they receive. Presumably, in our primitive 

three-candidate 

model, Romney would 

finish first, O’Brien second, 

and Stein third. At 

this stage, every vote for 

Stein that was accompanied 

by a second-choice 

would be transferred to 

that second-choice candidate. 

My vote, thus, 

would be taken from 

Stein and given to 

O’Brien. 

Most elections are 

not close enough for the 

preferential voting system 

to make a difference, 

and it would generally 

produce the same 

results as the more standard system currently 

in place in most of the country. However, in 

some close elections, it would allow citizens 

to vote for independent candidates without 

feeling that their vote would be wasted. 

Under the standard system, many voters who 

would rather side with independents choose 

not to because they are convinced those candidates 

have no chance of winning. The 

result is that we rarely get a true sense of 

what kind of support these less-known candidates 

truly have. The preferential voting system 

would resolve this problem by letting 

people vote for the candidates in whom they 

believe while helping to expand voter choice 

beyond the current two-party limits. 

Xenophobia: the Real Winner 

Of the Midterm Elections 

Here in ‘liberal’ Massachusetts, 

most people treasure things such 

as diversity and freedom. 

How could scapegoating ever 

work here? Just ask Mitt 

Romney and his millionaire 

booster of ballot question 2, 

the so-called ‘Unz’-initiative. 

But fortunately, we are here in “liberal” 

Massachusetts, where most people treasure 

nice things such as diversity and freedom. 

How could scapegoating ever work here? Just 

ask Mitt Romney and his millionaire booster 

of ballot question 2, the so-called “Unz”-initiative. 

If people are really so concerned 

about educating newcomers in English language 

skills, do they honestly think that 

threatening teachers with lawsuits is the way? 

Do they think it is even legal to do so? It is 

likely that Question 2 will follow the same 

career path as Prop 187: after successfully 

energizing a xenophobic segment of the population 

to bring a Republican governor to 

power, it will languish in the courts and never 

be enacted. 

Meanwhile, it is this 

same current of hatred 

and fear of foreigners 

that is allowing the INS 

and FBI to feel emboldened 

enough to raid the 

home of and incarcerate 

local Palestinian 

activist Amer Jubran. 

Having Amer in custody 

will not make any 

of us safer. Amer is a 

gregarious and wellknown 

public figure in 

this community, hardly 

your sleeper-cell terrorist. 

In fact, as we allow 

a climate of fear and 

scapegoating to take over our state and local 

community, we run the risk of losing all of the 

freedoms we supposedly cherish in this society. 

A poem by Martin Niemöller goes, “First they 

came for the trade unionists, and I said nothing 

because I was not a trade unionist. Then they 

came for the Jews, and I said nothing because I 

was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and 

there was no one left to speak for me.” Are you 

standing up for freedom? Or are simply siding 

with fear? 

Aimee L. Smith PhD ’02 is a postdoctoral 

researcher in the Department of Materials Science 

and Engineering. 

It’s not too late to join The Tech’s Opinion department! 

Email for more information. 

Leading 

America 

Guest Column 

Elizabeth C. Laws 

Behold a nation shaken from its carefree era 

of a raging bull economy and left in a vulnerable, 

confused heap at Ground Zero. Of course 

the American people turned to our president 

and our congressmen to tell us we would never 

be so vulnerable again. From tighter airport 

security to a Department of Homeland 

Defense, we would make sure no one could 

ever hurt us like that again. 

This is impossible. Thomas Hobbes calls 

equality the ability we have to kill one another. 

Our country is showing signs of realization that 

we can never be perfectly secure. President 

Bush’s all-inclusive “axis of evil” and “War on 

Terrorism” have receded to the wisdom of 

Colin Powell in search of a multilateral effort 

through the United Nations resolution. As public 

opinion has boomeranged and the country 

has realized the Democrats in Congress sold 

out to give Bush free reign over our country’s 

war-torn fate, our president has not, as many 

feared, brashly attacked Iraq on his own. 

As time has elapsed, the vulnerability that 

makes us yearn for something to be fixed has 

subsided, and perhaps the people, and maybe 

even the president, have realized what we really 

need: a plan. This does not involve rhetoric of 

evil tyrants or secrecy. Do we need to worry 

about Iraq, who has at least a few years before 

they could complete a nuclear bomb, or al- 

Qaida first? What about Pakistan? North Korea? 

In her lecture here last week, Helen Thomas 

Leaders should not keep 

their followers ignorant of their 

path.Tell us why we need 

to go to war. 

complained about the lack of information coming 

from the White House, pointing out the 

scarcity of presidential press conferences and 

Iraq’s closed roof to reporters. Why hasn’t 

George W. Bush told us why Iraq is our target 

now, instead of the other U.S. adversaries who 

are just as determined to secure a nuclear 

bomb? For instance, last month North Korea 

admitted to a having secret uranium facilities to 

manufacture nuclear bombs; furthermore, their 

ambassador issued a statement saying, “our 

government will resolve all United States security 

concerns through the talks, if your government 

has a will to end its hostile policy.” The 

statement sounds friendly enough, until you 

realize the United States will not even entertain 

talks with the North Koreans until they have 

disarmed. 

In a Center for International Studies (CIS) 

forum, Professor Van Evera pointed out that 

President Bush has not “used his words.” This 

is not just a poor political tactic; he is failing us 

as our representative. Leaders do not lead well 

by stringing along their bound followers, keeping 

them ignorant of the path. Tell us why we 

need to go to war; show us what it means to be 

America. This is a democracy and therefore the 

public has a right to know and to form an opinion. 

Give us the facts so our opinions are 

worthwhile, and maybe you will gain wisdom 

from the bulk of the American people. 

Tell us what Saddam Hussein might do 

with a nuclear bomb if he gets one. If he would 

bomb Washington, D.C., then I would support 

going to war against Iraq before they can 

obtain one. If not, why must we fight them, and 

why would our President, our entire Congress, 

and fifteen major countries (via the U.N. vote 

on its Resolution) support potential action if 

they do not comply with inspectors? 

When someone asks if you support war 

against Iraq, don’t answer quickly. Remember 

there is a lot here to protect, and there are a lot 

of people who would like to make that difficult. 

And hopefully, our President will remember 

that there are millions of logical American voters 

who dream idealistically but reason realistically. 

May President Bush stop hiding behind 

the sensitivity of the topic and show us how 

America might approach our present foreign 

policy pragmatically, but so logically and sincerely 

that we will not unleash doubt that 

America stands for what is right for everyone, 

not just expedient for us. If we act justly, the 

world will see us as the good guys again, and 

we will have fewer multi-national terrorist 

groups plotting our demise. 

Elizabeth C. Laws is a member of the Class 

of 2005.

Recycled Clip Art 

By Katie, Kailas, Karen and Jason 

Page 

6 

November 12, 

2002 

Crossword Puzzle 

Solution, page 13

November 12, 2002 The Tech Page 7 

Events Calendar 

Tuesday, November 12 

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Childrens’ Skating Registration. Skating instruction is available for 6-12 year old children of the MIT community. 

A series of eight lessons for both beginner and intermediate level skaters will begin Saturday, December 7. Class sizes are 

limited, and registration is available on a first-come basis. Deadline for enrollment is Dec. 7, 2002. Course will be held on Saturdays: 

12n -Beginners; 1p - Intermediates. Adult lessons are also available providing there is sufficient interest by parents. Students 

registered prior to Nov. 26 will receive a $5 reduction in fee. $65 with MIT Athletics Card; 75 w/o. Room: W35-297X. Sponsor: 

Physical Education. 

10:00 a.m. – Admissions Information Session. Admissions Office Information Session gathers at the Admissions Reception Center 

(10-100). Enter MIT at the main entrance, Lobby 7, 77 Massachusetts Ave (domed building with tall pillars). Proceed down the center 

corridor to Room 10-100 on the right. Following the Admissions Information Session is a Student Led Campus Tour which 

begins in Lobby 7 (main entrance lobby) Groups over 15 people need to make special reservations. free. Room: Admissions Reception 

Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: Information Center. 

10:45 a.m. – Campus Tour. Student Led Campus Tours are approximately 90 minutes long and provide a general overview of the 

main campus. Please note that campus tours do not visit laboratories, living groups or buildings under construction. Groups over 

15 people need to make special reservations. Campus tours start at the conclusion of the Admissions Informations Session. The 

Campus Tour begins in Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 

Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Information Center. 

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. – “The Left in France and Italy”. Marc Lazar is Professor of politics at the University of Paris X and at the 

Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). free - Lunch will be provided. Room: E38-714 (CIS 7th Floor Conf. Room) - 

PLEASE NOTE ROOM CHANGE. Sponsor: MIT France Program. 

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. – Mathematical Structure and Physical Interpretation in the Emergence of Modern Physics. Dibner Institute 

Lunchtime Colloquium. free. Room: E56-100. Sponsor: Dibner Institute. 

2:00 p.m. – Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: 

Information Center. 

2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. – Wave-Generated Transport. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in Room 2-349. free. Room: Room 2- 

338. Sponsor: Physical Mathematics Seminar. 

2:45 p.m. – Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Information Center. 

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Public Lecture. “Wonders of Planet Water: Complexity and Order in Earth Systems.” A reception will precede 

the lecture at 3:00 p.m. free. Room: MIT 68-181. Sponsor: President’s Office, Provost’s Office. 

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. – MechSeminar: Ice mechanics and offshore structures in the arctic. The talk describes recent work on ice, 

starting with large-scale field measurements that show that there is a distinct size effect, that models based on the notion of 

‘strength’ are grossly misleading, and the growing acceptance that fracture mechanics leads us towards at least a partial understanding 

of what is observed. free. Room: 1-350. Sponsor: Engineering & Environmental Mechanics Group. 

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. – A Framework for High Dimensional Data Ruduction, Selectivity Estimation and NM Search. ORC Fall 

Seminar Series. Seminar reception immediately following in the Philip M. Morse Reading Room, E40-106. free. Room: E40-298. 

Sponsor: Operations Research Center. 

4:30 p.m. – Dynamic Analyses of Spatial Information Representations in the Rat Hippocampus. Using the question of spatial 

information encoding by ensemble firing patterns of hippocampal pyramidal (place) cells recorded from rats foraging in linear and 

circular environments, Dr. Brown and his colleagues have developed a signal-processing paradigm to study neural information representations. 

free. Room: E25-117. Sponsor: HST, Brain and Cognitive Sciences. 

6:30 p.m. – “Architecture without Buildings.” Architecture Lecture by John Habraken, Professor emeritus, MIT. free. Room: Rm 

10-250. Sponsor: Department of Architecture. 

7:00 p.m. – Western Hemisphere Project: Open Meeting. We hold informal meetings throughout the year to discuss events in 

the news and to work on Project activities. This month we begin to organize our IAP activities: a feature-film series on Latin 

America and a seminar series on US foreign policy and the new Congress. Free. Room: MIT 1-150. Sponsor: MIT Western 

Hemisphere Project. 

Wednesday, November 13 

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Childrens’ Skating Registration. Room: W35-297X. Sponsor: Physical Education. 

10:00 a.m. – Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: 


10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Free plants for America Recycles Day. Come celebrate America Recycles Day by taking back a plant for 

your home or office. We’ll also have mugs and header page notebooks on sale. free. Room: Lobby 10. Sponsor: SAVE. 

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. – Medical Department 3rd Annual Craft Fair. Crafts, homemade gifts from $1-$80. Ornaments, handmade 

dolls, angels, snowmen, more angels, scarfs, hats, mittens, decorative (Tole) painting and more. Proceeds of raffle to be donated 

to an organization that supports woman with drug and alcohol problems and their children. free. Room: E23-E25 Atrium. Sponsor: 

Working Group on Support Staff Issues. 

10:45 a.m. – Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Information Center. 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. – Artists Behind the Desk Fall Concert. Soprano Lynn Steele, administrative assistant, Sloan School of 

Management. With accompanist Steven Sussman. free. Room: Killian Hall (Rm 14W-111). Sponsor: Working Group on Support 

Staff Issues. 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. – Massachusetts Tech Trek Info Meeting. Are you interested in visiting the hottest technology companies 

in Massachusetts? Meeting leading CEOs and technology visionaries? Networking your way to a great job or summer internship? 

Then you need to go on the Massachusetts Tech Trek from January 15 to January 17. free. Room: E51-315. Sponsor: MITEntrepreneurshipCenter. 

Media Tech. 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. – Web Accessibility: Making Web Sites and Software Accessible to Persons with Disabilities. Room: N42 

Demo. Sponsor: Information Systems. 

12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. – Freshmen and Sophomore Health Professions Information Session. free. Room: Student Center-491. 

Sponsor: OCSPA. 

1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. – Rainbow Lounge Open. MIT’s resource lounge for lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgendered members of 

the community offers a place to hang out, various activities, and a lending library during its open hours. free. Room: 50-306. Sponsor: 

lbgt@MIT. 




3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. – spouses&partners@mit: Thanksgiving Dinner. Celebrate the American way with a turkey and all of the side 

dishes. Recipes will be provided. free. Room: West Dining Room, Ashdown House. Sponsor: spouses&partners@mit, MIT Medical. 

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. – Source and Function of Noise at the Level of Transcription and Translation of a Single Gene. free. Room: 

E25-119. Sponsor: HST. 

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. – “Plan Colombia and the Andean Initiative: Anti-terrorist or state terrorism?”. MIT Program on Human 

Rights and Justice Fall Speaker Series. free. Room: E38-615 (292 Main St., 6th floor conference room). Sponsor: MIT Western 

Hemisphere Project, Program on Human Rights & Justice. 

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. – Industry Leaders in Technology and Management Lecture Series. The Technology Imperative: Realizing 

Dilbert ® by Scott Adams 

Events Calendar appears in each issue of The Tech and features events for members of the MIT community. The 

Tech makes no guarantees as to the accuracy of this information, and The Tech shall not be held liable for any losses, 

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 Events Calendar online at http://events.mit.edu 

the Potential for Innovation in Meeting Global Energy Challenges. free. Room: Wong Auditorium, Tang Center E-51. Sponsor: Office 

of Corporate Relations/ILP, Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development (CTPID). 

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. – Gallery Talk by Guest Artist John Maeda. John Maeda, MIT Media Lab professor and visual artist speaks 

about the exhibition, “After the Beginning and Before the End,” October 17 through January 5, 2003. free. Room: E15, List Visual 

Arts Center. Sponsor: List Visual Arts Center. 

6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. – Turnaround/Corporate Renewal. Keynote Speaker: Alan Trefler, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 

Pegasystems. Registration begins at 5:30 at the door. For more information visit our website: www.mitforumcambridge.org or call 

617-253-8240. Students Free with ID. $20 for Forum Members and $25 for Non Members. Room: Building 10 Room 250 (10-25). 

Sponsor: MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, Inc. 

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. – Buddhist Meditation: Guide to Bodhisattvas Way of Life. Meditation, Lecture, and Discussion on Shantideva’s 

monumental philosophical treatise. free. Sponsor: Buddhist Community at MIT. 

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. – Women Graduate Students and Alumnae Reception. Celebrating the Women of MIT: Past and Present! 

Women graduate students and alumnae are invited to join the Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA) and TechLink for an elegant but 

informal evening of hors d’oeuvres, fine refreshments, and live jazz. free. Room: West Dining Room, Ashdown (MIT Bldg #W1). 

Sponsor: Association of MIT Alumni & Alumnae, MIT TechLink. 

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. – Pills, Rings and Patches: New contraceptive technology. Several innovative contraceptive devices have 

hit the market in the past year -- and they are now available at MIT Medical. Come talk to a member of Medical’s OB/GYN service 

and learn more about new contraceptive options and how they compare to what you or your partner may currently be using. free. 

Room: E25-401. Sponsor: MIT Medical. 

7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. – Swing Dancing Lessons. free. Room: 36-156. Sponsor: Lindy Hop Society. 

8:00 p.m. – Weekly Wednesdays @ the Muddy Charles Pub. Meet your fellow social graduate students at the Muddy Charles Pub 

located in the Walker Memorial Building. What will be there for you? $1 drafts, a variety of beers, wines and sodas, lots of free 

wings, Sox on the screen. Bring IDs. free. Room: Muddy Charles Pub. Sponsor: Edgerton House Residents’ Association, MITEntrepreneurshipCenter. 

TechLink, Wing It. 

8:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. – Swing Dancing. No partner required. Beginners welcome. free. Room: Student Center 2nd floor. Sponsor: 

Lindy Hop Society. 

9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. – LIVEmusic@theEar: Kelly Buchanan. Pub Hours:Monday: 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Tuesday - Thursday: 7 p.m. - 1 

a.m. Friday: 4 p.m. - 1 a.m. The Thirsty Ear Pub is located in the basement of Ashdown House. Enter through the courtyard. Must be 

over 21. Proper ID required. Free. Room: The Thirsty Ear Pub. Sponsor: The Thirsty Ear Pub. 

Thursday, November 14 

8:00 a.m. – “The Future of Light”: 6th Annual Executive Symposium on Emerging Business Opportunities in Photonics. Executives 

from the nations leading photonics companies will present their perspectives on how the photonics industry will impact our 

society and economy in the 21st Century. Sponsor: MITEntrepreneurshipCenter. 

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Childrens’ Skating Registration. Room: W35-297X. Sponsor: Physical Education. 

10:00 a.m. – Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: 


10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Free plants for America Recycles Day. free. Room: Lobby 10. Sponsor: SAVE. 

10:45 a.m. – Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Information Center. 

11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. – Working Group on Support Staff Issues meeting. Monthly meeting of Working Group on Support Staff 

Issues (WG), featuring presentation by Barbara Peacock-Coady and Ken Mattsson of the MIT HR Career Planning Center and WG 

Task Group updates. free. Room: 34-401A Grier Room. Sponsor: Working Group on Support Staff Issues. 

11:50 a.m. - 12:55 p.m. – Greg Schmergel, CEO of Nantero. free. Room: E51-335. Sponsor: MITEntrepreneurshipCenter, MediaTech 

Club. 

12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. – Rainbow Lounge Open. free. Room: 50-306. Sponsor: lbgt@MIT. 

12:05 p.m. – MIT Chapel Concert. Synergy Quintet: Robert L. Thorp, trumpet; Chris O’Hara, trumpet; Barbara Shepherd, horn; 

Colleen, Riordan, trombone; Takasugu Hagiwara, tuba. Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,” T. Tallis’ “If Ye Love Me,” W. 

Byrd’s “Rennaissance Suite, Earl of Oxford’s Marche,” Alman’s “Pavane,” T. Morley’s “Galliarda,” W. Lutoslawski’s “Mini Overture,” 

R. L. Thorp’s “Evensong,” A. Plog’s “Four Sketches for Brass Quintet.”. free. Room: MIT Chapel. Sponsor: Music and Theater 

Arts Section. 




3:30 p.m. – Building Resilient Infrastructure to Combat Terrorism: Lessons from September 11th. free. Room: E51-315. Sponsor: 

Engineering Systems Division. Technology and Policy Program. 

4:00 p.m. – “Is There Democracy in the Balkans?”. free. Room: E38-615. Sponsor: Center for International Studies, MIT Organization 

of Serbian Students (MOST). 

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. – Physics Colloquium: The David & Edith Harris Distinguished Lecture. Title: “Solar Neutrinos: An 

Overview”. free. Room: 10-250. Sponsor: Physics Department. 

4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. – Making Babies: Should there be an Open Market and Anonymous Donation of Human Eggs and Sperm?. 

Part of the Politics and Technology of Motherhood Lecture Series. free. Room: E51-345. Sponsor: Women’s Studies Program. MIT 

Medical, Workplace Center, Technology and Culture Forum. 

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. – Opening Reception -- Carol D. Blackwell: Object Lessons. Box constructions and mixed media collages 

combine objects from daily life that are reassembled to create metaphors which evoke a sense of a larger world.free. Room: 

Dean’s Gallery, Sloan School of Management, Rm E52-466. Sponsor: Sloan School of Management. 

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. – MIT Communications Forum: Culture Talk on Public Radio. free. Room: Bartos Theater. Sponsor: Communications 

Forum. 

7:00 p.m. – “Broken Rainbow”: The Forced Relocation of the Navajo in Northern Arizona. It’s Thanksgiving season. We bear in 

mind what Native Americans have experienced and what the current hopes and challenges are. This week we discuss a film 

about the campaign that forced the traditional Navajo from their ancestral lands on Black Mesa. Next week (11/21) we explore 

new opportunities for sustainable development in the region. Please join us. Free. Room: MIT 3-133. Sponsor: MIT Western 

Hemisphere Project. American Indian Science and Engineering Society; Women’s Studies Program; Program in Writing and 

Humanistic Studies. 

8:00 p.m. – “An Evening of One Acts”. Dramashop production of student-written and directed plays. “Satellite” by senior Whitney 

Erin Boesel (directed by freshman David Roe), “One Down” by senior Dan Katz (directed by graduate student Adam Glassman), 

“Spring” by graduate student Chen-Hsiang Yeang (directed by sophomore Masha Kamenetska). $8, $6 students w/ID and senior 

citizens (?). Room: Kresge Little Theater. Sponsor: Dramashop. 

8:00 p.m. – High Society. MIT Musical Theatre Guild’s production of the musical retelling of “The Philadelphia Story” with words 

and music by Cole Porter. $9, $8 MIT faculty/staff, sr citizens, other students, $6 MIT/Wellesley students. Room: Sala de Puerto 

Rico. Sponsor: Musical Theatre Guild, MIT. 

11:59 p.m. – Campus Disc Golf. Do you like tossing a disc? Do you enjoy friendly competition? Or if you’re just up for midnight 

antics, then come on out! Meet outside the Student Center on the front steps, and don’t forget to bring a disc! Don’t hesitate to 

come out, newcomers are always welcomed. We meet every Thursday at midnight. bring your own disc!. Room: Student Center 

steps. Sponsor: Campus Disc Golf.


CD REVIEW 

Good Ol’ Country Music 

Call It Bluegrass If You Must 

By Allison Lewis 

ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR 

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live 

Alison Krauss, Union Station 

Rounder 

Nov. 15 

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live is 

a prime example of some of the most 

amazing country music made today. 

If you think you don’t like country 

music, listen to this band. They play real 

country music. Real good country music. 

Their new album is an appealing blend of traditional 

country and popular music. 

Alison Krauss and Union Station are a 

unique music group that break the boundary 

between popular music and bluegrass. The 

band is Alison Krauss on fiddle and violin, 

Ron Block on guitar and banjo, Dan Tyminski 

on guitar and mandolin, Jerry Douglas on 

dobro, and Barry Bales on bass. When they 

all play together, they make bluegrass — 

jumpy, rollicking, happy music that sounds 

like a wheelbarrow rolling through tall, 

grassy fields. When Krauss takes the lead, the 

entire sound transforms. It’s tender, smooth, 

and beautiful, like the entire band calms itself 

to fit behind Alison Krauss’ voice. Call it 

popular if you want — I suppose it is. Still, 

it’s amazing. 

The album was recorded live at the 

Louisville Palace in Louisville, KY. They 

play many songs from their recently recorded 

album New Favorite. I fell in love with the 

first song off that album, “Let Me Touch You 

By Chad Serrant 

STAFF WRITER 

Mario Party 4 

Published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 

GameCube 

Rated E for Everyone 

$49.95 

Gamers are highly skilled. I will 

never forget how it took me six 

months to throw a fireball in Street 

Fighter II, or how long it took to 

find the boss of the fourth crystal dungeon 

in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. 

Mario Party 4’s simple controls and gameplay 

makes it a great game for those who 

aren’t gods of gaming. 

Mario Party 4 is basically a board game 

with minigames. Four players spend each 

turn rolling dice, moving along the board, 

buying items, 

stealing coins 

from other players, 

and trying 

oh-so-desperately 

to get stars. 

The one who 

has the most 

stars at the end 

is the winner. 

If the game 

were nothing 

more than die 

rolls, it would 

get boring very 

quickly. Luckily 

the boards have 

many ways to 

add strategy to 

the game. 

Mega mushrooms help players get 

around the board faster and attack other 

opponents. Mini mushrooms give smaller 

but more precise movement and access some 

“free gift” spots on the board. The warp pipe 

forces the user to trade his position with a 

randomly chosen opponent. Boo can steal 

coins and stars from other players, provided 

he’s bribed well enough. Also, each board 

has a unique gimmick like a roulette wheel, 

a path blockade, or a money sink. While the 

die rolls are random, item usage gives Mario 

Party 4 a huge syringe of strategy. 

The daily supplement of skill comes in 

the form of minigames. After everyone 

moves, a minigame starts. The minigames 

vary in quality and in controls. The most 

for Awhile,” then I heard Alison Krauss and 

Union Station perform live and they were so 

good I wanted to cry. Their new live album 

has all the power that concert had for me. 

Union Station’s music is meant to be played 

live, making this album more valuable, more 

musical than their previous studio albums. 

They follow the routine they always follow: 

Alison sings a song, a simple, lovely 

tune, with the band behind her. Then the next 

song is some good ol’ country fun with that 

key bluegrass sound. Sometimes Dan Tyminski 

or Ron Block takes the lead, singing with 

a yippy Southern drawl. You’ve heard them 

both before. They’re the real singers of “I Am 

a Man of Constant Sorrow,” the theme song 

of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?. If you 

know that song (which is on this live album), 

you know some of the sound of Union Station. 

The group did a lot to make that movie so 

popular. Much of the music of Oh Brother 

was recorded by Alison Krauss and Union 

Station. She performs another key song from 

the movie, “Down to the River to Pray,” on 

this live album, her lovely voice exposed and 

shown off by the acoustics of Louisville 

Palace. 

She is truly a Siren with a crystal voice. 

She is tiny, but her voice is large, clear, and 

clean on this album. It has a magical, trancelike 

quality. It’s pure and untouched, unpolluted. 

With it, she bends notes, never truly 

jumping from one note to the next, but 

instead, touching all the notes between 

smoothly. Yet she doesn’t dress the melody, 

GAME REVIEW 

Not Quite a Full Meal 

Mario Party 4: A Light Snack for Heavy Gamers 

complicated ones involve a team navigating 

its way through a dungeon, while the simplest 

ones involve tapping the A button for 

ten seconds. Each minigame gives controls 

and a hint, and even lets players practice the 

game before starting the real thing. 

But some games are just too simple. Do I 

really need a hint for the tap-the-A-buttonfor-ten-seconds 

game? Then there are games 

where you press the A button only once. 

Meanwhile, there are some good games, 

such as “Cliffhangers,” which is my personal 

favorite, since the team must work together 

and react quickly. Dungeon Duos is also a 

great cooperative game. Some of the riskier 

games are also fun. There is nothing like 

playing Russian roulette with bombs. Bowser 

Games are riskiest of them all, and yet 

they are the most fun. 

The graphics for Mario Party 4 follow 

the game’s central 

mantra: 

simple but 

effective. The 

character models 

are less 

detailed than 

their Super 

Smash Brothers 

Melee counterparts, 

but they 

don’t look too 

simple. The 

boards also get 

the job done, 

although the 

polygons on the 

water waves 

can be counted. 

Meanwhile, the 

lamp’s genie has a very poor shadow, which 

is made more apparent when you have to see 

him appear every time the lamp is used. 

The audio is also simple. Each board gets 

a song that fits with the stage. The problem 

is that the board songs are stereotypical (the 

casino board in particular). The voices work 

well, with the exception of Daisy’s. For a 

tomboy, Daisy sounds unenthusiastic. 

In the end, Mario Party 4 still rewards 

good gamers, but novices can play, too, and 

have a fair chance of winning. While hardcore 

fans won’t enjoy having a pinball 

machine suddenly dropping them into last 

place, they can simply join the next game. 

They can think of Mario Party 4 as the 

appetizer for the main course. 

THE ARTS 

like a jazz 

singer, or 

belt it out 

like enthusiastic,bigb 

o n e d 

country 

singers. 

She’s more 

refined and 

sophisticated, 

her 

voice beautifullyharnessed, 

stunning, 

like Jackie 

O, elegant 

in a simple 

black dress 

and pearls. 

A n d 

when she 

plays the fiddle with the band, she’s gives it 

that same Jackie O touch. She plays that fiddle 

like the pro she is, but with the band, 

never in front. Never with a “look at me” attitude. 

On the other hand, Ron Block on banjo 

refuses to be ignored. When he takes a solo, 

he makes a statement — look what was missing 

before, this is the banjo, this is real bluegrass 

now. 

Equally wonderful is Jerry Douglas on the 

the dobro. He pokes away at this stringed 

instrument, like playing a sideways guitar, 

By Dinu Albeanu 

The Boston Trio 

Irina Muresanu, violin 

Allison Eldrege, cello 

Heng-Jin Park Ellsworth, piano 

with Marcus Thompson, viola 

Kresge Auditorium 

Nov. 10, 8 p.m. 

In their Saturday night performance, the 

Boston Trio explored a diverse repertoire. 

Haydn’s Trio No. 39 in G major 

opened the way to an exotic piece by 

Bright Sheng, followed by Brahms’ Piano 

Quartet in G minor, Op. 25. 

The G Major Trio, often subtitled 

“Gypsy,” is not your typical Haydn 

piece. The distinct personalities of the 

three performers gave the Andante great 

balance. Muresanu’s calm approach resonated 

with the wilder piano accords and 

the inexorably agitated cello echoes. A 

very lyrical piano theme, subsequently 

reinforced by the suave violin, filled the 

Poco Adagio. 

The folk music sequence in the final 

movement, Presto, attacked with fire by 

Eldrege’s cello and alternated with the 

discrete, yet lightly flowing, tones of the 

piano and the violin, resulted in an excellent 

dynamic contrast which underscored 

Haydn’s classical wit. Overall, the rendition 

of Haydn’s Trio primed the audience 

for a cheerful countryside party, simple 

and charming. 

Chinese-American composer Bright 

Sheng’s Four Movements for Piano Trio 

followed the Haydn Trio. Written in 

1990, the work constituted a climactic 

peak for the concert. Through its 

unorthodox harmonies and a faithful rendition 

by the ensemble, this piece succeeded 

in transcending auditory boundaries 

and in painting for the audience a 

tumultuous fresco. 

The violin and the cello, masterfully 

handled by Muresanu and Eldrege, perfectly 

mimicked the characteristic glissandos 

of Erhu and Zhong-Hu, traditional 

Chinese two-stringed instruments of 

the Huqin family. A soft, eerie, Buddhisttemple 

atmosphere emerged from Park 

Ellsworth’s bell-like piano chords, close- 

parallelling Krauss’ voice with a pure and 

powerful sound. 

My only criticism is that listening to this 

album makes me ache to see them live. This 

album captures the live quality of the music, 

untouched and genuine, the way it’s meant to 

be performed. Still, I would much rather be 

sitting in the audience. 

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live is 

hypnotic and powerful music: laughing bluegrass 

and Alison Krauss’ crystal voice. Alison 

Krauss and Union Station give country 

music a good name. 

CONCERT REVIEW 

Gypsy Themes Galore 

Boston Trio Excels in Brahms, Haydn, Sheng 

ly followed by expressive glissandos on 

high harmonics from the strings. 

Through the fast, agitated pace of the 

string players’ pizzicatos, doubled by a 

precise playing from the piano, the second 

movement plunged the public into 

the crowded streets of a city. A minimalist 

approach brought the syncopated 

developments of the scherzo to the 

resounding thrill of a film noir. Bewilderingly 

rapid string jumps forced a firm 

piano gallop that collapsed the third 

movement into a hopeless rolling fall. 

The fourth movement nicely wrapped 

up the story. By returning to the contemplative 

beginning, yet metamorphosing 

its alienating accents into a dreamlike 

mysterious fantasia to suggest a neverending 

journey towards the absolute, the 

piece graciously faded away. 

The concert concluded with the 

Brahms G Minor Piano Quartet, which 

featured MIT faculty member Marcus A. 

Thompson on viola. The longest of the 

three pieces, it at times was not quite as 

convincing as the previous two. The first 

movement featured precise piano playing 

and a good dynamic range, but the 

ensemble’s sonority took a while to reach 

the gist of Brahms’ music splendor. 

The Intermezzo displayed repeated 

notes on the cello while the other strings 

subtly hinted a melodic line. The contrasting 

Trio came out flowing and 

elvish. A disappointing first note marked 

the opening of the intensely lyrical 

Andante con moto. The movement picked 

up momentum, however, due to Thompson’s 

smooth viola playing and delivered 

a typical fiery Brahmsian episode in the 

march-like middle section. 

Finally, the playing of Rondo alla 

Zingarese made up for the previous 

inconsistencies. The movement received 

a splendid rendition full of nerve, passion 

and dedication. Park Ellsworth’s exquisitely 

technical piano blended naturally 

with the strings’ rapid and syncopated 

accompaniment reminiscent of gypsy 

folk music. 

Overall, the Boston Trio gave a wonderful 

performance, warming a cool 

November evening and leaving the audience 

with beautiful memories.

November 12, 2002 THE ARTS THE TECH Page 9 

EVENT REVIEW 

WWE RAW: Can You Dig It… Sucka? 

Not Necrophilia, But Raw Comedy 

By Brian Loux 

NEWS EDITOR 

World Wrestling Entertainment RAW 

Nov. 4 

Fleet Center 

$30 - 50 

For the past few weeks, World Wrestling 

Entertainment (WWE) has tried to throw 

out edgy storyline after edgy storyline in 

an attempt to duplicate the national 

attention they drew for a gay wedding a few 

months ago. It has caused an already unattached 

audience to further drift away. 

If anything, last week’s episode of RAW, 

which came live from the Fleet Center in 

Boston, showed a lot of promise. The wrestling 

was mediocre, as I expected, but the dialogue 

was funny enough that edginess was only an 

afterthought. For me, it was a satisfying 

evening. Wrestling fans know this: the RAW 

and Smackdown! rosters are separate and far 

from equal. Wrestlers are dazzling crowds 

weekly on Smackdown! while RAW’s talent 

(when used properly) lies mostly in talk. So I 

came in hoping for some good wrestler-crowd 

interaction, and I was not disappointed. 

Attending a WWE event live has some 

drawbacks. The ring is far away for most of us 

fans, you aren’t privy to the commentary by 

Jerry “The King” Lawler or Jim Ross, and the 

acting that goes on backstage isn’t as potentially 

captivating when you aren’t seeing it on a home 

television. But in-ring speeches are much more 

entertaining and aerial maneuvers are that much 

more spectacular live. 

Another odd thing is that they have yet to 

find a way to entertain the crowd during commercial 

breaks. Sometimes shirts are chucked 

into the audience, sometimes a music video is 

shown, sometimes commercials for products are 

shown, but otherwise we must sit on our hands. 

During one of these promotional videos, the 

video froze and I had a grand time yelling 

“LSC… SUCKS!” all by myself. 

The show first started off with “dark” 

matches, meaning matches not shown on TV. 

These matches are more or less used to give 

some upcoming wrestlers a chance to practice 

in front of a large crowd. I actually got to see 

some great ones. The brightest spot was Nathan 

Jones, a guy who looked like a very ripped 

Stone Cold Steve Austin, manhandling his 

opponent Mike Kincade. His power moves 

were just as impressive as (if not more than) 

those of the big guys seen on TV today. 

Next came some matches set to air on Sun- 

day Night Heat, which actually included some 

horrible matches. Most of the crowd chanted 

“boring” until somebody got a pinfall. This is 

more or less WWE’s goal, as both the Sunday 

Night Heat and Velocity programs serve for the 

TV announcers to talk about how good the payper-views 

will be. 

Finally it was time for RAW. From the opening 

moments, it was obvious that RAW was 

going to try and get back to what it’s known for 

— great acting and great humor. Instead we had 

Eric Bischoff apparently contemplating what to 

do about his escapades with Smackdown! General 

Manager Stephanie McMahon; Triple H 

and Bischoff trying to out-intimidate one another; 

and bumbling Randy Orton switching the 

video feed in the middle of a good catfight. 

The greatest act was when Triple H, Booker 

T, and Jehrico were all in the ring insulting each 

other. These three are possibly the most comfortable 

speaking to the crowd, aside from The 

Rock (who is sadly out making movies). The 

spat between Booker T and Triple H was some 

of the best I’ve seen in a while and Booker didn’t 

even need to use his famous “Can u dig it, 

sucka?” line. Good or evil, Jehrico has always 

been able to work a crowd, getting under 

another wrestler’s skin and then pandering to 

the audience. Apologizing for interrupting 

Booker’s umpteenth catchphrase, he told the 

crowd that he was not a “Suck-ERRRRR,” 

causing the crowd to reply with “suckaaaaaaaaaa!” 

I couldn’t help but have fun. 

The second greatest act was Chris Nowinski, 

a wrestler who also happens to be a member 

of the Harvard Class of 2000, describing how 

much Boston has degenerated since he left, 

explaining how the town’s “collective neural 

activity couldn’t generate enough heat to melt 

Ted Williams.” Grinning at the screaming 

crowd, he asked, “Oh, did I strike a nerve?” For 

my money, it was the best part of the night, as I 

got my section going in a chant of “MIT.” I 

hope we see more of him later. 

The necrophilia angle, which I will graciously 

not explain, was thankfully thrown 

away from the script. They even made it funny. 

Booker, trying to calm his partner Kane down, 

told him, “we all know it’s a lie. Who would on 

earth would have had sex with a dead person?” 

Behind him, Goldust, known for being a freak, 

cautiously raised his hand, responding “I was 

young… and confused!” The skit did what the 

entire bit failed to do for the last three weeks: 

made the audience break out in peels of laughter. 

Kane even got in on the humor too, mimicking 

Booker T’s “suckaaaaaaaa!” While a seven- 

CD REVIEW 

Fighting Foo One By One 

Grohl’s Got Nothing to Lose… This Time 

By Ravi Kapoor 

Foo Fighters 

One by One 

Oct. 22, 2002 

RCA Records 

Dave Grohl is Foo Fighters. Anyone who 

says differently will have to answer to 

me. Dissatisfied not with talent, but 

searching for a certain quality that 

meshed with his own, Grohl spent three albums 

finding a lead guitarist, bassist, and drummer to 

fill out his band. On the self-titled album, Grohl 

played every instrument on the record – guitar, 

bass, and drums. The Colour and the Shape, 

the Fighters’ second album, lacked cohesiveness 

as well. While still popular and a good 

effort, There Is Nothing Left to Lose startled 

me. Looking at Nirvana’s Bleach and Nevermind 

then the Foo Fighters third album, one 

wonders, “where did it all go wrong? How did 

a once hard-rocker end up playing pansy, conservative 

rock?” 

My faith in Grohl and the evolution of rock 

has been restored with One by One. It is the 

first album to feature a solid line-up, and the 

first of Grohl’s albums to be recorded twice. 

The first recording session of One by One lasted 

four months, at which time drummer Taylor 

Hawkins came dangerously close to overdosing. 

Grohl decided to take some time off from 

the Foo Fighters and ended up drumming on 

the Queens of the Stone Age album Songs for 

the Deaf, settling legal issues with Courtney 

Love for the newly arrived best-of Nirvana 

disc, and materializing the death-metal band 

Probot. The time off gave Hawkins some 

recovery time and revitalized the Foo Fighters 

genuine, aggressive sound. The result is an 

album that explains everything Grohl has been 

working towards with the first track, “All My 

Life,” which dawns with an anxious chord 

exploding into a distorted, fuzzed, head-banging 

chorus. 

“All My Life” kicks off the album with 

Grohl whispering, “All my life I’ve been 

searching for something/ Something never 

comes never leads to nothing/ Nothing satisfies 

but I’m getting close.” Grohl’s eager lyrics are 

complemented by eager, primitive guitar. One 

repetitive chord explains Grohl’s lyrics, “Done, 

done, on to the next one,” as he screams with 

abandon his inevitable fate. This is also their 

first single, which shows Grohl wanted to give 

a different impression of the Foo Fighters in 

this album than the last. Fans of the last album 

will probably be disappointed when they hear 

“All My Life” on the radio, which might be 

what Grohl intended. 

The next track is immediately volatile. 

Drummer Hawkins keeps a fast pace, as Grohl 

and lead guitarist Shiflett alternate guitar power 

chords with distortion and fuzz. “Low” epitomizes 

Grohl’s romantic-rock side. As he sweetly 

sings, “You be my passerby/ I’ll be your one 

to pass through/ Screws inside/ Turn so tight/ 

Turning on you/ I’m hanging on you,” Grohl 

explores his inability to cope. I can envision 

him clenching his jaw in between lines and his 

head falling heavily as the screws tighten in his 

head. He repeats the chorus, “Taking you as 

low as you go/ As low as you go,” a confession 

articulating a dark intimacy. “Low” is close to 

what Grohl is actually sensing; a more honest 

and raw expression of his thoughts. 

The third track, “Have It All,” touches on 

the same subjects of love and commitment as 

he starts with, “You’re my size, I need to try 

you on/ Someone in between the right and 

wrong.” The chorus skips the bullshit and gets 

right to the point as he admits, “She drains me 

foot man mimicking other wrestlers’ bits is 

funny, I’m guessing the novelty of it will die 

out sooner or later. 

We were also privy to Test’s ongoing transformation 

from heel to babyface (bad guy to 

good guy) as a storyline. Last week it was getting 

an attractive valet and giving his fans the 

nickname “Test-icles.” This week he cut his 

hair to become a Nick Carter look-alike and 

premiered his new finishing move. I find it 

funny that WWE is practically admitting every 

last trick it has used in the business, and using 

non-technical wrestling talent such as Test to do 

so. He’s even beating up all the wrestlers fans 

have grown to love. But I will admit, it was fun 

to hear Test say, “I love my testicles!” 

The only problem was the main storyline for 

the night, in which Shawn Micheals was 

expected to announce whether he would participate 

in the main event for the next pay-per-view 

(oh, like somebody wouldn’t). This did nothing 

for the crowd. There was no drama, and it was 

more or less a static event that could not evolve. 

How was this supposed to keep us riveted for 

two hours? Was he supposed to come out and 

say “maybe I will” every so often? 

This is not to say that all the wrestling was 

without note. The first match was exemplary of 

what fans pay to see: high-risk maneuvers from 

the top rope (courtesy of Jeff Hardy) and devastating 

power moves (thanks to Rosie & Jamal 

and Hardy’s partner Bubba Ray Dudley). Later 

we saw Rob Van Dam do his own in-ring acrobatics 

minus his Five Star Frog Splash. Newcomer 

Batista used his amazing power to dominate 

Justin Credible, and I can only hope he will 

come into the limelight soon. 

The best match had to be a 10-man tag team 

match that took place after the show ended. 

Why this match wasn’t televised, I don’t know. 

And how did the wrestlers who were supposedly 

exhausted after their matches on RAW have 

the ability to come back and fight again? (I 

know, I know). But here were the strongest performers 

on the show performing all of their 

moves at once. The Five Star Frog Splash, 

Bubba Bomb, Swanton Bomb, Lionsault — all 

were present. All that was missing was a guy 

going through a table. 

WWE should really continue to push the 

comical acting of the RAW wrestlers and let 

some of the newer and technically strong 

wrestlers come to the forefront. The sad part is 

last week on Smackdown!, we saw an 80-yearold 

man propose to a 20-year-old prostitute. I 

only wish the managerial staff will one day dig 

my message, sucka. 

when I’m empty/She helps herself/She takes it 

all.” Compared to Grohl’s previous albums, 

One by One approaches each song with aggressive 

attitude, despite the personal lyrics. His 

mindset is evident as he screams the chorus on 

a song entitled “Disenchanted Lullaby.” 

Grohl tackles several deep-set traits in 

“Tired,” my favorite track, and the most 

earnest, in which he takes a more sarcastic than 

candid approach. As he barely gets out, “I can 

be your liar/ I can be your bearer of bad news/ 

Sick and uninspired by the diamonds in your 

fire/ Burning like a flame inside of you,” he follows 

up that honesty with the sardonic chorus, 

“I won’t go getting tired of you/ I’m not getting 

tired.” 

Unfortunately, the ensuing tracks on the 

album feel a bit forced. I think the Foo Fighters 

could have finished the album with seven or 

eight songs, rather than eleven. However, the 

final track saves the album as the restlessness 

from the first song returns, this time in drum 

form. “Come Back” sounds as if it was written 

while the Foo Fighters were simply jamming, 

not trying to write a song that turned out as 

brilliantly as it did. Opening with dark, dirty 

guitar and Grohl leading into “Dead on the 

inside I’ve got nothing to prove/ Keep me alive 

and give me something to lose.” Most of the 

song seems to be Grohl screaming “I will come 

back… for you,” but as much as I thought I 

would get annoyed with this, it gets better with 

each playing. The song digresses into three 

minutes of acoustic guitar, only to return with 

heavy guitar which eventually fades out. 

It seems the best albums are those that can’t 

be stopped. Tracks that just flow out of a musician’s 

head into his fingers are the most authentic. 

Nirvana’s Bleach was recorded in six days. 

The Foo Fighters new album One by One was 

rerecorded in two weeks. What more can I say? 

FILM REVIEW ★★ 

Rapper 

Movie 

8 Miles Away 

From an Oscar 

By Brian Loux 

NEWS EDITOR 

8 Mile 

Written by Scott Silver 

Directed by Curtis Hanson 

Starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany 

Murphy 

Rated R 

Idon’t know why all these magazines are 

touting 8 Mile as one of the greatest cinematic 

works they’ve seen this year. If 

they want to appeal to a younger demographic, 

there are countless better ways to go 

about it than hyping a youth cultural icon out 

of his element. 

Some mentioned that the movie showed 

new insight into Eminem’s persona as a caring, 

father-like figure and a tolerant individual. 

Obviously these people haven’t heard 

The Eminem Show or seen the last Grammy 

awards, where fans have been aware of these 

traits for months. Others have said that the 

movie provides great insight into inner city 

life. Let me rephrase that — people who are 

as far away from the inner city as a person 

can be said it does. This movie is as much 

about the struggles of inner-city life as Bill 

Clinton’s impeachment trial was about allegations 

of his obstruction of justice. You 

could have changed this story into about a 

star trying to make it in Hollywood and suffering 

the lows of not making it without losing 

the live-for-the-moment theme implied in 

the movie. 

If anything, this movie should have been 

called What Eminem Wished His Earlier Life 

Was. The same topics that you’ve heard in 

his CDs — his women cheating on him and 

lying to him, an irresponsible mother, a love 

for a little girl, his hatred of people in the rap 

industry only for fortune and fame, his suffering 

at the hands of a sinister conglomerate 

of black rappers who don’t look highly on 

whites — are all here in urban Detroit. Of 

course, he vanquishes all of his foes by the 

end of the movie and his mother changes for 

the better. (Apparently winning at bingo is a 

catalyst for a lifelong transformation to 

responsible motherhood. I can’t wait to win 

the Powerball jackpot and subsequently get 

the Nobel Peace Prize.) Even more interesting 

is Eminem’s knack for having just the 

right lines to end arguments. I think it’s 

because he’s always right. 

Aside from that, the movie is about rap. 

“Rabbit” (Eminem) is always reluctant to 

showcase his skills on stage, often walking 

off when it is his turn, but is brought back by 

the encouragement of his friends. The great 

message is it’s all about the music and not 

the recognition from the crowd, which is 

why Rabbit walks away from the scene after 

a set. 

The rap duels are great; they make the 

movie. But why not just grab the movie 

soundtrack instead? Furthermore, rap is 

reduced from its broad background and condensed 

into a 45-seconds-per-person rhyming 

insult fight. I couldn’t help but notice how the 

contests felt a lot like the “walk-off” scene in 

Zoolander. The rap contests are certainly 

entertaining and funny as hell, but for most 

part they can be treated as a slap in the face to 

all that independent groups like The Roots 

have tried to accomplish. 

I’ll admit that Eminem and the rest of the 

cast are decent actors at times. The dialogue 

feels very natural when Rabbit is driving 

around with his friends discussing life and 

music. If these scenes were left alone and not 

ended in some way that either advanced the 

intricate plot or resulted in random humor 

(this could have been a comedy if it tried), 

the movie would be much better. His care for 

his sister and hatred of his enemies are wonderfully 

believable, though I believe this 

stems from the fact that he is playing himself. 

Plus, the cinematographer does a wonderful 

job reminding us how fragile inner 

city life is, gently drawing our attention to 

how often Rabbit’s life is in danger but 

remains alive because of his cool head and 

dumb luck. 

On a loose level, the movie can be a 

metaphor for trying to escape the inner city. 

But this, like many of the other messages, 

becomes so clouded as the movie progresses 

that not even a troupe of talented actors and 

actresses can save it from pointlessness.


House without question.” 

Others were not as harsh on the 

workers. “I blame no one,” Chen 

said. “This stuff was bound to happen 

sooner or later.” 

President aims for reform 

“I have been pretty disappointed 

in desk policy for a while,” said Next 

House President Vikram Maheshri 

’03. 

“Tightening desk up is a big 

issue,” he said. “I aim to do whatever 

is possible through [Next House’s 

executive committee] to tighten up 

desk procedures.” 

The door policy is not as stringent 

as that of many of the other dormitories 

around campus. Simmons Hall, 

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JONATHAN WANG—THE TECH 

Hansraj C. Palacios ’04 plays a video game while working at the Next House desk. Next House will tighten 

its entry policies in the wake of Sunday’s armed burglary. 

Residents Debate Desk Policies 

Next House, from Page 1 

along with others, has a strict guest 

sign in list. 

“I think it could happen anywhere,” 

Maheshri said. “Dorms are 

hardly airtight facilities, and for all 

we know, this intruder could have 

come in through a different 

entrance.” 

Next House to tighten security 

Presently, Next House management 

staff is seeking ways to 

improve long term security. “[House 

manager Julie Mills, desk co-captain 

Peter A. Jameson ’03], and I are 

working to find the best way possible 

to monitor who comes in and keep 

the social aspect of the dorms,” said 

desk co-captain Hansraj C. Palacios 

’04. “Right now, it’s just a matter of 

making sure that only people who 

have MIT cards come in.” 

For the time being, Next House 

will instruct desk workers to implement 

its written policy more conscientiously. 

Students will be required 

to use their cards when entering the 

dorm unless recognized by desk 

By Cathy Yao 

In the second monthly forum on 

“Conversations about Race and 

Diversity,” held by Advocates for 

Awareness on Nov. 7, members of 

the MIT community discussed segregation 

and its effects on campus. 

Students and faculty gathered to 

discuss and address race relations at 

MIT. 

The question posed — “Is MIT 

segregated from the dorm room to 

the classroom? — was broken 

down, with students discussion the 

definition of segregation and their 

thoughts on whether segregation 

was a positive or negative part of 

life art MIT. 

Students generally agreed that 

MIT is segregated, but described it 

as ‘self-segregated.’ Because students 

are able to choose their own 

housing, many of the dormitories 

and living groups end up having 

certain stereotypes, several participants 

said. 

“People in general migrate to 

where they feel comfortable,” said 

Patrick C. DeSuza ’05, who lives in 

Chocolate City. 

“It’s not a conscious decision of ‘I 

don’t want to live with this type of 

people or that type of people,’” he 

said, “but that I just choose to live 

with friends, the people I know well, 

who happen to be African American.” 

Some participants felt that the 

homelike atmosphere that comes 

with a living group one has chosen, 

rather than been randomly 

thrown into, offers a support sys- 

workers. Those who lack cards and 

are not members of MIT facilities, 

dining, or construction will have to 

fill out a log. Deliverypeople will 

rely on the intercom system in the 

dorm. 

However, some are still being 

allowed in without proper identification. 

“I think as a whole, we need to 

find a way to work it out,” Palacios 

said. 

Jameson said that the new policies 

would put desk workers in a 

bind. “We are obligated to open 

doors during dining hours. Now that 

it is open past 8 [p.m.], it is hard to 

regulate.” 

“It’s more than a policy change,” 

Millman said. “Students themselves 

will have to stop letting people into 

the dorm.” 

The Next House executive committee 

met last night to discuss further 

changes. A stricter policy, requiring 

all those who enter to use their ID 

cards or sign their names in a guest 

book, was discussed in the spring of 

2001 but never implemented. 

Students Discuss Race 

At Forum on Diversity 

tem essential to survival in the 

stress of MIT. 

But another participant asserted 

that students should rid themselves 

of “the false assumption that a comfort 

zone is associated with what 

you look like.” 

Teri L. Ijeoma ’06 argued that 

although randomly assigned housing 

may not be what students want, 

students should be more mature and 

recognize that it would force them 

to meet other people, promoting an 

increase in familiarity with different 

groups. 

She stressed that segregation and 

comfort are not synonymous; 

knowledge of different cultures 

needs to be a greater part of daily 

life, not just in the classroom, and 

everybody needs to make the effort 

to bring about the change they want 

to see, she said. 

Students discuss faculty diversity 

Students also discussed the 

effects of MIT’s low racial diversity 

among the faculty. 

One group expressed the opinion 

that spending time in a classroom 

where one is the only representative 

of a particular minority 

gives extra impetus toward spending 

time with a more familiar culture. 

Though the discussion could 

have gone on much longer, the night 

ended with a call to action from 

forum leader Terrence R. Strader 

’04: “I’d like to see groups who are 

serious about changing the situation 

get organized to formulate and act 

on proposals.”

November 12, 2002 THE TECH Page 11 

Sununu Seeks More Funding for Science Foundation 

Sununu, from Page 1 

alcohol violations. 

Sununu maintains MIT ties 

Sununu was a midfielder for the 

varsity men’s lacrosse team, and 

Coach Walter A. Alessi said he still 

keeps in touch with him. “He’s a 

good guy,” Alessi said. “I saw him 

on TV during one of the debates 

with Shaheen, and I gave him a call 

and he called me back a few days 

later.” 

Alessi joked about considering 

Sununu a future Senator while he 

was a student. “Him? You’ve gotta 

be kidding me!” Alessi laughed. 

“He was a fun-loving guy. He 

always got along well with everyone 

on the team,” Alessi said. “A little 

bit mischievous at times, but all in 

good fun.” 

In fact, he said that Sununu 

would frequently talk politics with 

alumni while on spring training trips 

to Florida and California. “He was 

interested in politics even as an 

undergrad,” Alessi said. 

Sununu said he was not involved 

in MIT student government while he 

was here, but that he remained politically 

active back home in New 

Hampshire. Sununu’s father, John 

H. Sununu ’61, was governor of 

Solution to Crossword 

from page 6 

New Hampshire during his son’s 

time at MIT, after which he was 

White House chief of staff for President 

George H.W. Bush. 

“I’m sure he’ll serve the citizens 

of New Hampshire very well,” 

Alessi said. 

Prof. meets Sununu in Congress 

Professor Gilbert Strang taught 

Sununu in Mathematical Methods 

for Engineers I (18.085), but said he 

did not know him well as a student. 

They crossed paths years later when 

Strang was president of the Society 

for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 

and Sununu was on the 

House appropriations committee. 

Strang testified to the committee 

about National Science Foundation 

funding, and he and Sununu started 

talking. 

“That was pretty neat,” Strang 

said. “I didn’t expect to see anybody 

I knew at all.” 

Strang called Sununu “a strong 

supporter of the NSF and science 

and engineering,” and said he 

thought Sununu’s MIT education 

distinguished him in Congress, since 

“he has a different background from 

all those lawyers.” 

“He understands mathematics 

and engineering,” Strang said. “I’m 

delighted that he was an excellent 

Congressman and will be a distinguished 

Senator.” 

“Gil comes down every year and 

we work on NSF funding,” Sununu 

said. “It’s always great to see Gil 

come by.” He said there was not 

enough funding of basic research in 

areas such as applied math and other 

“fundamental areas of inquiry.” 

In addition to his ties to MIT 

through the lacrosse team and his 

interest in research funding, Sununu 

has been an active supporter of the 

MIT Washington Summer Internship 

Program. Rodney Jonace ’03, 

who is majoring in Course XXII 

(Nuclear Engineering), worked in 

Sununu’s office over the summer. 

Jonace worked on a joint project 

between MIT, the federal government, 

and corporate partners to 

implement hydroelectric generators 

for rebuilding Afghanistan’s infrastructure. 

Sununu first elected in 1996 

Sununu grew up in Salem, N.H, 

as one of eight children. After his 

education at MIT, he earned an 

MBA from Harvard Business 

School. He was first elected to the 

House of Representatives in 1996. 

Sununu has voted as a solid conservative 

in the House, voting 

against the Shays-Meehan campaign 

finance bill, against background 

checks at gun shows, and in favor of 

banning a late-term procedure that 

opponents call partial-birth abortion. 

In Congress, he has served on the 

House appropriations committee and 

as vice chairman of the budget committee. 

With the GOP in control of both 

houses of Congress and the White 

House, Sununu said he hopes to 

make substantial progress on some 

legislative initiatives that have 

stalled recently. “Some of the first 

legislative priorities will be to make 

the tax cuts permanent, the Department 

of Homeland Security, and the 

prescription drug benefit,” Sununu 

said. He said he also supports Social 

Security reform and allowing people 

to invest their own retirement funds. 

In addition, Sununu said he 

wants to “strengthen funding for the 

National Science Foundation” and 

encourage the use of scientific principles 

in establishing policy.

Page 12 THE TECH November 12, 2002

November 12, 2002 THE TECH Page 13 

In Ugliness Contest: 

New Dorm, Old Milk 

By Kathy Lin 


The Ugliest Manifestation on 

Campus competition, one of Alpha 

Phi Omega’s annual charity 

fundraising drives, starts today. 

Donations to determine the ugliest 

thing at MIT will be accepted in 

Lobby 10 until Friday. 

Each candidate chooses a charity 

at the beginning of the competition, 

and at the end, “all the money goes 

to whichever charity was designated 

by the candidate that gets the most 

votes,” said Michael J. Salib ’03, 

the competition’s coordinator. Each 

cent donated signifies one vote. 

Students may compete themselves 

or “run on behalf of particularly 

ugly manifestations,” according 

to APO’s Web site. 

Manifestations anticipated to 

compete this year include Simmons 

Hall, construction on Vassar Street, 

Random Hall’s eight-year-old milk, 

and the “Transparent Horizons” 

sculpture at East Campus, Salib said. 

“We’re doing a charity fundraiser 

and trying to raise money while 

bringing attention to some of the 

horrific heinousness at MIT,” Salib 

said. “There’s so much to choose 

from.” 

APO hopes to earn several hundred 

dollars for charity through the 

competition, Salib said. 

Dorm’s ugliness threatens milk 

Random Hall will again enter its 

nearly decade-old milk, which has 

won several times in past years and 

is what Salib calls “the proverbial 

favorite.” The milk will celebrate its 

eighth birthday next week. 

“We’ll take the milk out and 

campaign one of these days, and 

I’m sure whoever’s campaigning 

will have a good time harassing 

people with the milk,” said Joel C. 

Corbo ’04, who will be representing 

the milk this year. 

Although they have won the 

ugliness competition for the past 

two years, milk supporters fear they 

may be upstaged by MIT’s new dormitory, 

Simmons Hall. 

“Now that Simmons is built,” 

Corbo said, “that’s pretty hideous, 

so maybe our chances won’t be as 

good as last year.” 

“The first thing that comes to 

mind is obviously Simmons,” said 

Yongyu Zhu ’06. “I think it’s a 

blemish to the rest of campus, 

which I think looks quite 

respectable.” 

Lewei Lin ’05 said she believes 

Simmons stands a good chance 

against Random Hall’s milk, 

because Simmons is “a lot bigger 

and makes more of a statement.” 

“I live in a cement room with 15 

windows and a big hump that juts 

out,” Lim said of her home at Simmons. 

Corbo said he thinks the milk 

still has a good chance of winning. 

Strauss 

Stole PCs 

From MIT 

Strauss, from Page 1 

March 2002. 

Strauss now at ASU 

The arrest came last March, after 

a chemistry graduate student alerted 

the MIT Police that a computer 

being sold on eBay matched the 

description of a stolen computer. 

A police team, led by Patrol 

Officer Mark R. Kelleher, made a 

deal to purchase the stolen computer. 

Kelleher, dressed in plain 

clothes, met Strauss outside Zeta 

Psi, where Strauss was arrested. The 

charges were filed in September, 

and Strauss was arraigned a month 

later, when he pleaded guilty. 

Zeta Psi responded to the arrest 

by asking Strauss to leave the house. 

“After Mark Strauss was accused 

of the felonies, he was asked to 

move out of Zeta Psi,” said Zeta Psi 

president Matthew D. Aichele ’03. 

“He didn’t have to, at that point, 

because he hadn’t been found guilty 

yet. He voluntarily did so. He moved 

out and returned home to Arizona.” 

Strauss is now attending Arizona 

State University.


Vu’s Voice May Make Him Next Superstar 

Vu, from Page 1 

professional career and actually be a 

star,” Sellmyer said. “No one 

deserves this opportunity more than 

Chris.” 

Benjamin W. Su ’05, a member of 

the Logs and Vu’s fraternity, Phi 

Kappa Theta, said, “in addition to his 

incredible voice, Chris has one of the 

most engaging and caring personali- 

ties that I have ever had the privilege 

of encountering.” 

Fox searches for next superstar 

Fox set audition dates in seven 

cities for the second ‘Idol’ talent 

search, including New York, N.Y.; 

Los Angeles, Calif; Nashville, Tenn.; 

Detroit, Mich.; Atlanta, Ga.; Miami, 

Fla.; and Austin, Tex. 

As with the first competition, 

competitors must be between the ages 

of 16 and 24 as of Oct. 19, 2002. 

Anyone who has an agent or was one 

of the top 30 contestants on the first 

show is ineligible. 

Those selected are invited to continue 

in the competition in Los Angeles. 

During this block of three days, 

the judges will select thirty contestants 

to progress to the next stage. 

During the final auditions, the 

tired of screaming at your computer? 

come scream at ours instead. 

techno@the-tech.mit.edu 

final 30 will be separated into three 

groups of 10 singers, who must stay 

in Hollywood for the remainder of 

the show. 

The public then will vote for three 

favorite contestants each week for 

three weeks. Ultimately, the nine performers 

and one ‘wildcard’ contestant 

will compete over the course of 

several weeks in order to determine 

the next American Idol superstar. 

WANTED: 

A tenured professor with 

publication history to 

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November 12, 2002 SPORTS THE TECH Page 15 

Fencers Place In Top 

Spots Across Board 

Fencing, from Page 16 

fifth place medal, and Matthew R. 

Levy ’04 placed eighth. Newcomers 

Mike N. Beregovsky ’06 and Robert 

Figueredo ’05 also fenced remarkably 

at their first meet Saturday, and 

both finished in the top 30. 

In men’s foil, new squad members 

Sam H. Kendig ’05, David Lee 

’06, and Luis Loja ’05 all performed 

well. Squad leader Vincent Chen ’05 

brought home a seventh place medal, 

with third-year member Douglas J. 

Quattrochi ’04 finishing 10th. This 

was a great improvement for Chen 

and Quattrochi, who were both eliminated 

at last year’s Big One in the 

round of 32. 

In saber, men’s team captain 

Anthony P. Reinen ’03 repeated his 

previous year’s performance, going 

undefeated in pools and finishing fifth 

overall. Returning teammates Jason 

M. Levine ’03 and Michael P. Pihulic 

’04 took seventh and twelfth place 

respectively. 

Women boast six of top 15 

MIT’s women foilists dominated, 

with Christine A. Yee ’03 finishing 

in fifth place, Gemma L. Mendel ’06 

to warmed up as the day progressed, 

defeating West Point with a 13–5 

performance by Petjisto and NYU 

with a 7–0 shutout by Ren. The twoman 

team continued to advance past 

Yale B1 before they were stopped in 

in fourth, and Suki Dorfman ’05 taking 

first place. Dorfman’s amazing 

performance marked her second consecutive 

year as the Big One’s 

women’s foil champion. Dianne L. 

Christoforo ’05 and Cassie Huang 

’06 fenced well but were eliminated 

early in the direct elimination 

rounds. 

Mirroring the strong performance 

by men’s epee, the women’s epee 

squad dominated the competition, 

with all seven fencers finishing in 

the top 30. Freshman Lucy R. 

Mendel ’06 came in second place 

after an intense bout against the 

champion from Brown. Mika A. 

Tomczak ’06 also performed very 

well, bringing home a fourth place 

medal for MIT, and Rim Lue ’03 

and Lele Yu ’06 placed tenth and 

sixteenth respectively. In addition, 

Sarah E. Kolitz ’03, Crystal Shih 

’03, and Michelle Naderman ’03 all 

had high finishes. 

In women’s saber, team captain 

Pricilla del Castillo ’04 and Sasha R. 

Manoosingh ’03 led their squad by 

placing fifth and sixteenth respectively. 

MIT’s first team competition will 

be at home on Nov. 16. 

Petjisto, Ren Lead Men 

Past West Point, NYU 

Taekwondo, from Page 16 

the finals to finish in second place. 

The overall first place win was a 

major milestone for the Sport Taekwondo 

Club, as one of the newer 

clubs in the INCTL. This tournament 

marks the beginning of a successful 

season for the Sport Taekwondo 

Club.


SPORTS 

Taekwondo Takes Top Honors 

By Christina S. Park 

TEAM CAPTAIN 

The MIT Sport Taekwondo Club 

at secured first-place honors overall 

at the first official Ivy/Northeast 

Collegiate Taekwondo League 

(INCTL) tournament of the fall 

semester, hosted by 

New York University 

on Oct. 2. 

With over 10 

schools in attendance, 

the tournament kicked 

off the new season with electronic 

scoring and matted rings. The day 

began with forms competition, 

where each student performed a choereographed 

set of techniques to be 

judged on merits such as grace, balance, 

power, and agility. The newest 

members of the Sport Taekwondo 

Club, Michael A. Faerber G and 

Delphine Dean G, placed second and 

third, respectively, in the men’s and 

women’s white/yellow belt divisions. 

Joshua R. Neubert ’03 caught 

the momentum, placing third in the 

men’s blue belt division, and George 

C. Whitfield ’03 followed with a 

strong performance, placing third in 

the men’s red belt division. 

Continuing their streak from last 

year, Margaret H. Cho ’04 and 

Baochi T. Nguyen G placed first and 

third, respectively, in the women’s 

red belt division. Cho and Nguyen 

have medaled at every tournament 

they have attended with the Sport 

Taekwondo Club. 

Women sparrers take third 

After a brief break, sparring 

began with the advanced (A) divisions. 

The women’s A1 team 

(Nguyen, Alice S. Chau ’04, and 

Cho) received a bye in the first 

round, then faced Cornell A2 in the 

second round. Nguyen saw an experienced 

black belt, to whom she had 

lost at her last tournament. With 

composure, she fought a very tough 

match, winning a 1–1 tie decision 

for aggressive ring management. 

Chau and Cho followed that performance 

by dominating the middle 

and heavyweights, and the team 

defeated Cornell 3–0 and advanced 

to the semi-finals against the University 

of Pennsylvania. Though Penn 

lacked a heavyweight, Nguyen lost a 

hard-fought match against a former 

national medalist, and Chau was out- 

CHRISTINA PARK 

George C. Whitfield ’03 (right) scores a point against Cornell with a 

back kick in the men’s Taekwondo A team finals. 

sized and overpowered in the middleweight 

division, leaving the team 

in third place. 

Sinn, Osuji lead men to second 

The men’s A1 team (Richard 

Sinn ’06, Chinedum Osuji G, and 

Whitfield) was the strongest in the 

brackets, and advanced easily 

through Adelphi College, Temple 

University, and West Point Military 

Academy before meeting Cornell 

A1 in the finals. 

Sinn faced a one-man team in his 

first round, and lost a very close 

match against a former national 

medalist, but the team advanced, as 

Adelphi lacked a light and heavyweight. 

With new resolve, Sinn dominated 

his opponents in his next three 

matches, and was hardly scored 

upon for the rest of the tournament. 

As always, Osuji anchored the team 

and remains undefeated for this year. 

Despite forfeiting the lightweight 

spot in all of their matches, the A1 

team was the dominant team to beat 

in the advanced division, with Sinn 

and Osuji both having made the 

INCTL All-Star team for this year. 

In the semi-final match, MIT shut 

out West Point A1, with Sinn (5–0) 

and Osuji victorious (7–0.) Sinn 

defeated Cornell’s middleweight in 

the finals, but the All-Star heavyweight 

was too experienced for 

alternate Whitfield, and the men’s A 

team finished in second place. 

Color belts earn honors 

Picking up the momentum from 

the black belts, the men’s and 

women’s color belt teams advanced 

the medal count as well. The 

women’s B1 team (Nguyen, Karolina 

Corin ’03, and Cho) came away 

with third place, having defeated 

NYU B2 and NYU B1 before losing 

to Temple University in the semifinals. 

Nguyen withdrew because of 

an injury, and Corin and Cho both 

lost their matches. 

The men’s B2 team (Bobby Ren 

05 and Antti Petajisto G) finished 

the day successfully for the team, 

advancing through the brackets until 

the finals against UPenn. Despite the 

fact that they had lost earlier in the 

Wellesley Takes Title 

Engineers Head to NCAAs on At-Large Bid 

By Paul Dill 

TEAM COACH 

The women’s varsity volleyball team reached the finals of the NEW- 

MAC Conference Tournament this weekend, but ultimately fell to 

Wellesley College. 

However, the Engineers 33–4 record was good enough 

to earn them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

In the semi-final match, the Engineers faced the US 

Coast Guard Academy. The first game saw MIT start very 

slowly. Finding themselves down 20–9, the Engineers 

clawed their way back to close the gap, but came up just short, 30–28. 

Another slow start in the second game put MIT in an early 12–0 

deficit before they started yet another comeback. Again though, it was 

too little too late as Coast Guard won the second game 30–22 to take a 

commanding 2–0 lead in the match. 

MIT then staged one of the greatest comebacks in the program’s 

recent history. Behind the hitting of Joy N. Hart ’06 and Nydia M. Clayton 

’04 who combined for 35 kills, the team came alive to win the next 

three games 30–19, 30–28, 15–11 and take the match 3–2. The win 

would put MIT into the conference finals against Wellesley College, with 

whom they had split two games during the regular season. 

MIT meets Wellesley in final 

The third meeting between MIT and Wellesley was for the conference 

championship and an automatic bid into the Divisi on III National 

Championship Tournament. It did not disappoint. 

The Engineers came out of the gates hard and won the first game 

30–24. Wellesley, however, playing on their home court and having won 

the tournament the last six years, were not going to give up easily. They 

took the next two games 30–26 and 30–17 to put the match at 2–1 in 

their favor. 

With their backs against the wall, the Engineers fought for command 

of the match and took the fourth game 30–17. 

In the fifth game, the Engineers got out to an early lead. The score 

went back and forth as the two teams wrestled for the conference title. 

MIT then found themselves with “match point.” Wellesley did not blink 

though, and came up with a tremendous shot to tie the game at 14 a 

piece. They then scored the final two points to put the proverbial dagger 

into the hearts of the Engineers. 

Engineers win at-large bid 

MIT’s attack was more balanced in this match as Arlis A. Reynolds 

’06 and Clayton both had 15 kills, and Hart and Kelly A. Martens ’03 

had 12 and 10 kills respectively. Hart led the team’s defensive effort with 

20 digs while Austin Zimmerman ’06 provided 14 of her own. 

Wellesley walked away with the conference title and the automatic 

bid to the NCAA tournament in what was the closest NEWMAC final in 

the history of the conference. 

Nevertheless, MIT’s 33–4 earned them an at-large bid to NCAAs, 

where they are seeded third. They will face Johnson & Wales Thursday 

evening at Wellesley College. 

UPCOMING HOME EVENTS 

beginner divisions, Ren and Petajis- Wednesday, Nov. 13 Men’s Ice Hockey vs. WPI, 7 p.m. 

Taekwondo, Page 15 

Friday, Nov. 15 Women’s Basketball vs. Harvard JV, 7 p.m. 

MIT Wins 

‘Big One,’ 

12 Medals 

By Lynn Wang and Shauna Jin 

TEAM MEMBERS 

The MIT fencers launched a brutal 

assault against twelve other New 

England colleges last week at the 

“Big One,” held at Smith College. 

This was the culmination 

of several days of 

intense anticipation. 

MIT fencers won a 

total of 12 medals, 

once again proving 

themselves to be the strongest fencing 

team in New England. 

The day began with a series of 

five-touch pool bouts in women’s 

epee, women’s foil, and men’s sabre, 

followed by men’s epee, men’s foil, 

and women’s sabre. These pool bouts 

determined each fencer’s seeding for 

the fifteen-touch direct elimination 

rounds. 

Men’s epee did not disappoint; 

they won across the board with excellent 

bouting. Galen E. Pickard ’05 

had the strongest finish for the men’s 

team, defeating opponent after opponent 

with his calm, defensive style. 

After the exciting final match of the 

day, Pickard took second place. 

Samuel N. Korb ’05 brought home a 

Fencing, Page 15

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