By Kathy LinNEWS EDITOR

The death of Bhuwan Singh Ghas been ruled a suicide, said EmilyLaGrassa, spokesperson for theMiddlesex District Attorney’s office.Singh was found dead in a storageroom near his Building 13 lab andoffice on May 7.

Seth Horowitz, press officer forthe Middlesex District Attorney, toldThe Tech in May that Singh diedfrom asphyxiation.

The Boston Herald reported thatSingh suffocated himself with ayard-waste trash bag.

Horowitz said this week that hecould not comment on why the sui-

cide ruling was made, except that aruling like this one is “a determina-tion made by the medical examiner’soffice after the medical autopsy isdone.”

“The decision was made basedon information that they had,” saidRobert M. Randolph, senior associ-ate dean for students. He said thathe didn’t know any more specificson the reasons behind the decision.

“Support services are continuingin the residence halls as needed, anda number of us are keeping in touchwith housemasers and students,”Randolph said. MIT will “continueto monitor the situation” and “dowhatever is necessary,” he said.

By Ray C. HeASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Based on current numbers, dor-mitories will be crowded by approx-imately 150 students this fall, saidDenise A. Vallay, assistant directorof undergraduate housing. Part ofthe problem can be attributed toover-enrollment in the class of 2008,she said.

These numbers do not take intoaccount students who cancel hous-ing over the summer, she said.

“The number that will be crowd-ed depends on what we do betweenhere and” the fall, said ChancellorPhillip L. Clay PhD ’75. “Quitefrankly, I don’t know what we’re

going to do yet, but we’re going towork on it because we don’t wantthat level of crowding,” he said.

A feasibility study for a new dor-mitory as a long-term solution, andan examination of immediate solu-tions to the crowding issue, areunderway, Clay said.

Crowding to change over summer“We have just over 150 anticipat-

ed crowds now, but there’s a lot ofthings that can change between nowand September. I expect there’ll besome people who are conf irmednow who’ll cancel for the fall,”

Volume 124, Number 27 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, June 4, 2004

MIT’sOldest and Largest

Newspaper

The WeatherToday: Partly sunny, 70°F (21°C)

Tonight: Partly cloudy, 53°F (12°C)Tomorrow: Cloudy, 64°F (18°C)

Details, Page 2

The Tech will publish on June 11,July 7, and August 4. We willresume regular publication onAugust 31.

MIT alumnigather atSymphonyHall.

Page 13

Check out The Tech’s Web site onFriday evening to see photos ofcommencement!

http://the-tech.mit.edu

World & Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Congratulations, Graduates!

FRANK DABEK—THE TECH

Emmett J. Witchel G receives his doctoral hood from Barbara K. Liskov (right), professor of com-puter science, and chancellor Phillip L. Clay at yesterday’s hooding ceremony. Witchel graduatedwith a PhD in computer science.

Thirsty Ear Closes Down; PubMay Reopen for Fall Semester

By Jennifer KrishnanSENIOR EDITOR

The Thirsty Ear, the on-campuspub in Ashdown House’s basement,closed its doors Monday with stu-dents unsure if it would ever openagain.

But yesterday, some were opti-mistic that the pub would reopen inthe fall.

“At least on a temporary basis,

[the Thirsty is] going to be closed,”said Dean for Graduate StudentsIsaac M. Colbert. “It may in fact bepossible that the pub will reopenunder a different structure,” but it“will not be under the [GraduateStudents Office],” he said.

“There’s a possibility of reopen-ing in the fall,” said Gregory S.Pollock G, student manager of theThirsty Ear. “But honestly, I’m

skeptical. I feel like [administratorsare] throwing out the prospect.”

Dean for Student Life Larry G.Benedict expressed more optimism,saying the pub would probablyreopen sometime soon “under someauspices of student life,” his divi-sion.

After a meeting Thursday,

Dorms to Be CrowdedBecause of 2008 Yield

DA Rules MIT GraduateStudent Death a Suicide

Thirsty Ear, Page 20

Graduates Receive Degrees,Zerhouni Speaks in KillianBy Kathy Lin and Tongyan LinNEWS EDITORS

Approximately 2,205 MIT stu-dents will receive their degreestoday, at MIT’s 138th commence-ment ceremony. The keynote speak-er will be Elias A. Zerhouni, thedirector of the National Institute ofHealth.

Administrators will distribute1,114 bachelor’s degrees, 1,161master’s degrees, 211 doctoratedegrees, and 10 Engineer degrees,according to an MIT press release.

“It’s so anticlimatic,” said RyanL. Pettit G, who will receive an SMtoday. “I’m taking this summer offto relax” and “try to forget every-thing I learned.”

“I don’t think it’s really hit me,”said Michael Ho ’04.

Grads off to grad school, careers Based on preliminary results

from the graduating student survey,the “rough data is that about 63 per-

cent of graduating students are say-ing that they’ll be working, and 31percent are saying that they’ll begoing to graduate school,” said JohnNonnamaker of the MIT Careersoffice, who is in charge of the sur-vey. The remaining students chose“other,” he said.

This data, which is based on theresponses of the approximately1,200 graduates who have filled outthe survey so far, is just “tentative,”Nonnamaker said. He will “continueto reach out to graduates throughoutthe summer” to get “as accurate andcomplete of a picture as possible,”he said.

“I’m sticking around for gradschool,” said Courtney A. Browne’04. “I’m excited,” she said, because“I like MIT.”

Chloe J. Tergiman ’04 will begina PhD program in economics at NewYork University in the fall. “I’m pret-ty happy about leaving,” she said. “I

Crowding, Page 18

DANIEL BERSAK—THE TECH

Bartender Kristin E. Landino G pours a pitcher at the Thirsty Ear Pub Monday, May 10. The Thirsty EarPub closed its doors on June 1. Students and administrators are currently discussing the possibility ofreopening the pub next fall under a different managerial structure.

Commencement, Page 20

By Greg MyreTHE NEW YORK TIMES

JERUSALEM

Prime Minister Ariel Sharonappeared set to fire two conservativeCabinet ministers to create a narrowmajority for himself when theremaining ministers vote on the planto withdraw fully from the GazaStrip, an aide to Sharon said Thursdaynight.

Sharon is expected to dismiss thetwo ministers, from the far-rightNational Union Party, on Fridaymorning, and the Cabinet plans tovote on the withdrawal plan at a ses-sion on Sunday, according to the aide.

However, the firings are likely tocreate new headaches for the primeminister, whose right-wing coalitionfaces the possibility of a rapid col-

lapse over the issue.Late Thursday night, Sharon sum-

moned the two ministers, AvigdorLieberman and Benyamin Elon, tothe prime minister’s office on Fridaymorning, the aide said. The two areconsidered the most right-wing mem-bers of the Cabinet and have stronglyopposed the Gaza pullout.

At last Sunday’s Cabinet meeting,Sharon threatened to fire ministersopposed to the Gaza withdrawal,though he did not mention names.But ever since, Lieberman, the trans-portation minister, and Elon, thetourism minister, both of whom havebeen strident supporters of toughsecurity measures againstPalestinians, have been cited as theministers most likely to go.

At present, Sharon’s ministers

oppose his Gaza plan by a count of12-11, according to political analysts.But if the two ministers are dis-missed, Sharon could presumably ekeout an 11-10 victory. He could alsoreplace the ministers with supportersof his plan to further strengthen hismajority.

Sharon’s withdrawal plan calls forIsrael to evacuate all 21 Jewish settle-ments in Gaza, along with four smallsettlements in the West Bank by theend of 2005. Most Israeli soldierswould also leave Gaza, though Israelwould continue, at least temporarily,to patrol a buffer zone along Gaza’sborder with Egypt. Sharon says he isacting unilaterally because he doesnot believe that Israel can negotiate adeal with the current Palestinian lead-ership, headed by Yasser Arafat.

WORLD & NATIONPage 2 THE TECH June 4, 2004

OPEC to Increase Oil Production By 2 Million Barrels a Day

By Neela BanerjeeTHE NEW YORK TIMES BEIRUT, LEBANON

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreedThursday to increase its production quotas by 2 million barrels a day,or 8.5 percent, effective July 1.

Industry experts gathered here for the cartel’s meeting said thedecision sent a tepid message to oil markets about OPEC’s commit-ment to lowering oil prices, which have been bobbing around $40 abarrel for the last month.

Traders responded to the news by bidding oil up more than 80cents a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but prices fellagain later in the day when new Department of Energy statisticsshowed growing stockpiles of oil, gasoline and other distilled fuels inthe United States. Crude oil for July delivery closed at $39.28 a bar-rel, down 1.7 percent from Wednesday’s close.

The problem with OPEC’s move, analysts said, is that it does notadd any new oil to the market; raising quotas merely legitimizes whatis already happening, analysts said.

Gov’t Witness Complicate Enron CaseBy Kurt EichenwaldTHE NEW YORK TIMES

The defendants in the first criminal fraud trial stemming from thecollapse of the Enron Corp. may have found an unlikely witness ontheir behalf: Andrew S. Fastow, the former executive who is the gov-ernment’s star cooperator.

Even before the start of the trial, scheduled for Monday, the prosecu-tion’s case against four former executives of Merrill Lynch & Co. andtwo former officials of Enron ran into complications when a letter pro-vided by prosecutors to the defense revealed that Fastow had made state-ments in government interviews that could prove favorable to them.

Fastow’s statements, as described in a government document, donot exonerate the defendants. But they contain sufficient equivocationabout the events surrounding the questionable financial deal betweenEnron and Merrill that is at the center of the case that defense lawyerscould use his comments to cast doubt on whether their clients enteredinto the deal with the intent to commit a crime.

Harvard Overpays MoneyManagers, Alumni Group Says

By Stephanie StromTHE NEW YORK TIMES

Last year, Jack R. Meyer, who oversees Harvard University’smighty endowment, the biggest university endowment in the country,was paid $6.9 million.

His counterpart at the University of Texas, Bob L. Boldt, was paid$743,316 for managing the second-largest university endowment,while David F. Swenson, who manages the third-largest, at YaleUniversity, was paid $1,027,685.

The disparity is even larger when looking at the five highest paidmanagers at the Harvard Management Co., one of whom made morethan $35 million last year. This has angered Dr. Terry M. Bennett,who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1964 and later got adegree from its School of Public Health. “The managers of theendowment took home enough money last year to send more than4,000 students to Harvard for a year,” he said.

Bennett, who gave some $4 million in proceeds from an antiquecar auction to Harvard in 1991, at the time the largest gift ever to themedical school, has sent e-mail messages to class members inadvance of their reunion next week asking them to withhold dona-tions until the university agrees to put management of the $19.3 bil-lion endowment up for competitive bid. He also wants a promise ofgreater accountability in management of the endowment.

Director of CIA Tenet LeavesAgency for Personal Reasons By David E. SangerTHE NEW YORK TIMES

George J. Tenet’s surprise depar-ture as director of central intelligenceremoves from President Bush’s innercircle one of the lightning rods for thecriticism that America went to warbased on faulty intelligence. But italso keeps Bush exposed to the elec-tion-year charge that his White Housepoliticized the work of the intelli-gence agencies, stretching the data tojustify its decision to topple SaddamHussein and perhaps paying insuffi-cient attention to other threats.

Bush now enters the crucial monthleading to the handover of sovereigntyin Iraq — and an election year whenfear of a terror strike is already height-ened — without the director of centralintelligence with whom he clearlybonded, despite clear tensions. Bush’sdecision to elevate Tenet’s deputy forthe remainder of the year also meansthat the big issues of how to reorga-nize America’s intelligence operationsand diagnose what went wrong in thepast few years will not be seriouslyaddressed until next year, either byBush or his successor.

In some ways there was no othersolution: White House off icialsacknowledged Thursday that they didnot want a confirmation fight over a

new director in such a charged politi-cal atmosphere.

But even though the presidentmay be spared the spectacle of morecontentious hearings, Thursday’s res-ignation is unlikely to remove theissue from the campaign, or from vot-ers’ assessments of whether theadministration twisted and squeezedimperfect intelligence to sell the warin Iraq as a immediate necessity.

Bush’s presumed opponent, JohnKerry, has begun to make that atheme of his campaign, and he calledfor Tenet’s resignation months ago,along with that of Defense SecretaryDonald H. Rumsfeld. The calls for awider purge are unlikely to be abated.The widespread assumption inWashington was that Bush had per-suaded Tenet to stay around until theelection. But regardless of whetherhis reasons for leaving were truly per-sonal, there was little doubt that thenext few months were going to beugly ones for the intelligence director.Three reports are in the pipeline thatare expected to be highly critical ofthe agency’s work before Sept. 11 andbefore the war in Iraq.

David Boren, an old friend ofTenet’s, said that while Tenet left forpersonal reasons, “I don’t think hehad any desire to see the agency be a

political football, either.”In part that is because Tenet, while

well-respected and certainly well-liked, is being increasingly judged asa man who was ultimately over-whelmed by the task of remaking theoperations and the culture of theintelligence community. EvenRepublicans who have backed Bushand his Iraq strategy say that bigchanges are needed.

“What happened to the weaponsof mass destruction is a mystery,” saidGeorge Shultz, the former secretary ofstate and a veteran of past Washingtonbattles over intelligence and how itshould be used. “Something hap-pened. Something was missed. And ithappened in an agency that clearly hasa lot of deep problems.”

At the core of the criticism ofTenet — and by extension Bush —are two central arguments. One is thatTenet failed to exercise the properskepticism about what capabilitiesSaddam had in hand. But the second,perhaps more damaging one, is thathe acquiesced to a White House thatwanted a certain type of evidenceabout Iraq and was surprisingly lessconcerned about evidence that NorthKorea and Iran were making far moreprogress toward nuclear weaponsthan Saddam was.

Sharon to Fire Ministers WhoOppose Withdrawal From Gaza

2,205 Degrees in Killian CourtBy Michael J. RingSTAFF METEOROLOGIST

After the stormy weather of the past few days, sunshine should favor thegraduates in Killian Court today, as we squeeze in a beautiful day before thereturn of cloudy, showery weather for the weekend.

A high pressure system moving east from the Great Lakes will suppress theinstability we have seen over the past few days. The sunshine and northwestwinds should provide perfect temperatures, with highs near 70°F (21°C) —just a few degrees shy of our normal early June high.

Unfortunately, today’s weather will not last long, as a low pressure system isexpected to form over the Ohio Valley, bringing more rainy weather to the EastCoast. While the Mid-Atlantic will feel the brunt of this system, we will seemore bouts of intermittent rain, with Saturday night being the best chance forsteady precipitation.

Weekend OutlookToday: Partly sunny. High near 70°F (21°C). Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low near 53°F (12°C). Saturday: Cloudy with scattered showers. High near 64°F (18°C). Saturday night: Showers continue. Low near 55°F (13°C). Sunday: Scattered showers possible during the day; clearing late in the

evening. High near 68°F (20°C); low near 53°F (12°C). Monday: Partly cloudy with highs near 70°F (21°C).

WEATHERSituation for Noon Eastern Daylight Time, Friday, June 4, 2004

June 4, 2004 WORLD & NATION THE TECH Page 3

Pentagon Proposes SignificantChanges to Its European ForcesBy Michael R. GordonTHE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon has proposed aplan to withdraw its two Army divi-sions from Germany and undertakean array of other changes in itsEuropean-based forces, in the mostsignif icant rearrangement of theU.S. military around the world sincethe beginning of the Cold War,according to U.S. and allied offi-cials.

Pentagon policy-makers said theaim is to afford maximum flexibilityin sending forces to the MiddleEast, Central Asia, and other poten-tial battlegrounds. But some expertsand allied officials are concernedthat the shift will reduce

Washington’s influence in NATOand weaken its diplomatic links withits allies, all at a time of rising anti-American sentiment around theworld.

The proposal to withdraw thedivisions comes at a time when theArmy is stretched thin by deploy-ments in Iraq and Afghanistan. ButPentagon officials said the move,which has been under considerationfor some time and involves forces inAsia as well as in Europe, is unrelat-ed to the current fighting.

Under the Pentagon plan, theGermany-based 1st ArmoredDivision and 1st Infantry Divisionwould be returned to the UnitedStates. A brigade equipped withStryker light armored vehicles

would be deployed in Germany. Atypical division consists of threebrigades and can number 20,000troops if logistical units are includ-ed, though these two divisions haveonly two brigades each in Germany,with the other brigade in the UnitedStates.

In addition, a wing of F-16 fight-ers may be shifted from their base inSpangdahlem, Germany, to theIncirlik base in Turkey, which wouldmove the aircraft closer to thevolatile Middle East; a wing gener-ally consists of 72 aircraft. Underthe Pentagon plan, the shift wouldbe carried out only if the Turks givethe United States broad latitude forusing them, something that someofficials see as unlikely.

By Jim YardleyTHE NEW YORK TIMES

BEIJING

Human rights groups and familymembers said on Thursday that sever-al Beijing dissidents had disappearedor been placed under house arrest aspart of a government sweep to preventany protests on the politically sensi-tive 15th anniversary of theTiananmen Square crackdown.

Among them is Jiang Yanyong,who in March wrote a letter calling onthe government to admit it was wrongin ordering the military assault againstdemonstrators in Tiananmen Squarethat killed hundreds and woundedthousands on June 4, 1989. The letterwas widely circulated on the Internet.

Jiang and his wife, their daughter

says, have been missing sinceWednesday morning, when they lefttheir Beijing apartment with officialsfrom the government hospital wherehe works.

Jiang, 72, a semiretired militarysurgeon, became a national hero lastyear after he helped expose the gov-ernment’s initial cover-up of theSARS outbreak in Beijing. In a state-ment released on Thursday, his daugh-ter, Jiang Rui, said hospital officialshad been evasive when asked abouther parents’ whereabouts and had cau-tioned against publicizing their disap-pearance.

“They are safe,” officials told thefamily, according to the statement.“You should not go beyond theauthority to whom you report.”

A Foreign Ministry spokesman,asked about Jiang during a regularbriefing, said he had no information.On Thursday the telephone to Jiang’sapartment had been cut off.

Other dissidents have also report-edly been placed under house arrest ortaken to locations outside Beijinguntil the anniversary of the crackdownhas passed, according to human rightsgroups.

At the center of the square, twoyoung businessmen from southernChina, ages 20 and 18, posed fortourist photographs. They were inBeijing trying to sell gems. Askedabout the events of 1989, both menwere quizzical. The news media rarelydiscusses the crackdown, and the mensaid they had never heard of it.

Iraqi Ayatollah CautiouslyAcknowledges New Government

By Edward WongTHE NEW YORK TIMES BAGHDAD, IRAQ

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s most powerful Shiiteleader, acknowledged the new Iraqi government in a cautious statementThursday in which he said he hoped it would prove its “competence anddecency” but noted that the body had not been formed through legiti-mate elections.

Sistani also urged the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution thatgranted Iraqis full sovereignty and did not compromise the government’spower in political, military and security matters.

In addition, he insisted that the new government “seek the elimina-tion of traces of occupation completely.”

In comments on Wednesday, the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, LakhdarBrahimi, said he had “kept in touch with” the ayatollah through theprocess of selecting the new Iraqi government but said he did not seekhis approval for the new government.

One of the country’s Shiite parties, the Supreme Council of theIslamic Revolution in Iraq, released a statement on Wednesday in whichparty leaders expressed “reservations” about the way in which it said theselection process for the new government had ended with the “marginal-ization and exclusion” of what it called popular Islamic leaders.

The American-led occupation authority plans to transfer sovereigntyon June 30 to the Iraqi interim government, which took shape earlier thisweek. American officials have warned that violence in Iraq may wellincrease with the approach of the transfer.

NASA Weighs Robot Mission For Repairing Telescope

By Kenneth ChangTHE NEW YORK TIMES DENVER

Four months after he seemed to doom the Hubble Space Telescopeby ending maintenance missions by the space shuttle, NASA’s admin-istrator, Sean O’Keefe, brought brighter news to astronomers onTuesday by announcing that NASA was seeking proposals for arobotic mission to extend Hubble’s life.

The statement is a compromise between Hubble supporters whowould like O’Keefe to reinstate the mission and the initial prospectthat an otherwise still useful telescope would be left to die for want ofa few parts. Left alone, the telescope will be able to operate for aboutthree more years before the failure of gyroscopes would render itunable to point at the stars.

In a speech to scientists at a meeting here of the AmericanAstronomical Society, O’Keefe stood firm in his decision to cancelthe shuttle mission, but said: “Fortunately, there may be other optionsfor extending Hubble’s useful work. Good options that are lookingmore promising as we’ve examined them more closely. Our confi-dence is growing that robots can do the job.”

China Cracks Down on Dissidents15 Years After Tiananmen Square

Letter To The EditorMean-Spirited Review

UnprofessionalI take extreme exception to the incredibly

sour-grapes review (“No Booty in the Pants,”May 11) of the Dancetroupe performance. Infact, I found its tone of mean-spiritednessshocking. In fact, Devdoot Majumdar claimsof “creative diarrhea” and “far beyond bad”apply more to his boorish article, which wouldnot belong comfortably on a typical bitterhigh-schooler’s weblog, not to speak of TheTech.

As a f irst time spectator this year (onSunday), I actually found the spring showvastly exceeded my expectations. The per-formers were highly creative, the coordinationand moves original and entertaining, thegestalt of light, sound, and movement surpris-ingly professional — especially consideringthese are MIT students doing this on their freetime for the enjoyment of their colleagues.Problem sets or no problem sets. I was enter-tained for almost two hours — a six dollarbargain in my book, particularly considering I

just paid ten dollars to see “Envy.” I imaginefrom the crowd response almost everyone inattendance felt similarly.

The author gives no insightful critique, juststreams of insensitive, unperceptive, andfrankly rude diatribes. I learned nothing orgained no insight from his words, but they didleave me with a very bitter taste in my mouth.

One can only speculate on the motivationof the author’s malicious tone, but clearly hehad some sort of personal axe to grind. Maybehe is “memorably awful” on the dance floor?Maybe one of the dancers rejected a come onat a “lame frat party”? From my read of hisreview, he has little ground to stand on in cri-tiquing other’s creative performances — any“dance reviewer” whose only technical con-tent is the counting of “elbow flaps” has littleto offer his readers in helping them interpretand analyze a creative effort ex post.

Thank goodness that this is “the last of[Majumdar’s] reviews.” He really does bringto mind that old saying (modified for MIT, ofcourse), “it takes a beaver to build a dam, butany jackass can knock it down.”

Please, future editors of The Tech, do not

replace this jackass with another. I hope youcan raise your standards somewhat with somemore interesting writers that have a modicumof talent. So-called writers such as Majumdarjust reinforce the stereotype of MIT being a“quantitative” school generally lacking in thehumanities. Clearly, Majumdar in his article islacking some humanity (and humility).

One last note. In my letter I use big wordssuch as “gestalt” and “diatribe” to match theauthor (who uses “big” words like atavisticand lumberous, when much clearer, simplerwords could be used). Note to Devdoot: usingbig words with a mean spirit does not equal aninsightful, New Yorker-esque review. It justmakes you look like a hack. But you areyoung. If you want a future in this field, I sug-gest you read a critic with real talent, likeLester Bangs (the famous rock critic ofCream), who can mix insight with both posi-tive elements, straightforward language, andhonesty. That approach would have made amuch better review.

Michael Brylawski G

OPINIONPage 4 THE TECH June 4, 2004

ChairmanHangyul Chung ’05

Editor in ChiefBeckett W. Sterner ’06

Business ManagerRoy K. Esaki ’04

Managing EditorTiffany Dohzen ’06

NEWS STAFF

News Editors: Kathy Lin ’06, Jenny Zhang ’06,Waseem S. Daher ’07, Tongyan Lin ’07; AssociateEditors: Ray C. He ’07, Gireeja V. Ranade ’07,Julián E. Villarreal ’07; Staff: Kathy Dobson G,Eun J. Lee ’04, Michael E. Rolish ’04, Jay K.Cameron ’05, Issel Anne L. Lim ’05, Kelley Rivoire’06; Meteorologists: Cegeon Chan G, David FlaggG, Samantha L. H. Hess G, Vikram Khade G,Robert Lindsay Korty G, Greg Lawson G, NikkiPrivé G, William Ramstrom G, Michael J. Ring G.

PRODUCTION STAFF

Editors: Andrew Mamo ’04, Sie HendrataDharmawan ’05, Tiffany Dohzen ’06; AssociateEditor: Nicholas R. Hoff ’05; Staff: Joel C. Corbo’04, Joy Forsythe ’04, Kevin Chen ’05, AlbertLeung ’06, Jolinta Lin ’06, Jonathan Reinharth ’06,Jennifer Huang ’07, Yaser M. Khan ’07, Y. GraceLin ’07, EunMee Yang ’07, Sylvia Yang ’07.

OPINION STAFF

Editors: Vivek Rao ’05, Ruth Miller ’07;Columnist: Andrew C. Thomas ’04; Staff: BasilEnwegbara SM ’01, Gretchen K. Aleks ’04, KenNesmith ’04, Atif Z. Qadir ’04, W. Victoria Lee ’06,Daniel Barclay ’07, Chen Zhao ’07.

SPORTS STAFF

Editors: Phil Janowicz ’05, Brian Chase ’06;Staff: Yong-yi Zhu ’06, Alisha R. Scher ’07.

ARTS STAFF

Editors: Christine R. Fry ’05, Amy Lee ’06;Associate Editor: Kevin G. Der ’06; Staff:Bogdan Fedeles G, Xian Ke G, Ruby Lam G,Sonja Sharpe G, Fred Choi ’02, Chikako Sassa’02, Jed Horne ’04, Pey-Hua Hwang ’04, JosiahQ. Seale ’04, Petar Simich ’04.

PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF

Editors: Peter R. Russo ’02, Brian Hemond ’04, JinaKim ’06;Associate Editor: Daniel Bersak ’02; Staff:Frank Dabek G, Marcus Dahlem G, Wendy Gu G,Stanley Hu ’00, Scott Johnston ’03, Miguel A. Calles’04, Jimmy Cheung ’04, Ben Gallup ’04, DmitryPortnyagin ’04, Hassen Abdu ’06, Matt D. Brown ’06,John M. Cloutier ’06, Grant Jordan ’06, Stephanie Lee’06, Edward Platt ’06, Omoleye Roberts ’06, ReneChen ’07.

FEATURES STAFF

Editor: Akshay Patil ’04; Associate Editor:Tiffany Kosolcharoen ’06; Columnists: Bruce WuG, Kailas Narendran ’01, Ian Ybarra ’04, MarkLiao ’06, Rose Grabowski ’05, DanchaiMekadenaumporn ’05, Alex Nelson ’06, Zach Ozer’07, Dan Scolnic ’07; Cartoonists: Jason Burns G,Jumaane Jeffries ’02, Sergei R. Guma ’04, Sean Liu’04, Brian Loux ’04, Jennifer Peng ’05, Nancy Phan’05, Qian Wang ’05.

BUSINESS STAFF

Advertising Manager: Chris Ruggiero ’07;Operations Manager: Lauren W. Leung ’07; Staff:Jyoti R. Tibrewala ’04, Lynn K. Kamimoto ’05.

TECHNOLOGY STAFF

Director: Jonathan T. Wang ’05; Staff: Daniel Leeds’05, Lisa Wray ’07.

EDITORS AT LARGE

Senior Editors: Satwiksai Seshasai G, Keith J.Winstein G, Jennifer Krishnan ’04; ContributingEditors: Jeremy Baskin ’04, Devdoot Majumdar’04, Marissa Vogt ’06.

ADVISORY BOARD

Peter Peckarsky ’72, Paul E. Schindler, Jr. ’74, V.Michael Bove ’83, Barry Surman ’84, Robert E.Malchman ’85, Deborah A. Levinson ’91,Jonathan Richmond PhD ’91, Saul Blumenthal’98, Joseph Dieckhans ’00, Ryan Ochylski ’01,Rima Arnaout ’02, Eric J. Cholankeril ’02, Ian Lai’02, Nathan Collins SM ’03, B. D. Colen.

PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Editors: Satwiksai Seshasai G, HangyulChung ‘05. Staff: Saul Blumenthal ’98, RebeccaA. Kurnik ’03, Sylvia Yang ’07.

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Ken Nesmith

In the last few weeks before graduation,the pats on the back begin. The “no praise”zone of MIT is violated. Seniors are con-soled for their hard work, and promisedmore respect and an easier time of things inthe real world, after MIT. After years of toil-some problem sets and tests with averageson the order of 50 percent, this is a new tack.The kind words feelforeign.

I’m not sure thepraise is called for. Inthe same way thatgrade inflation andhonorary degreesdon’t happen at MIT,I don’t think loads ofnascent praise shouldemerge either. MITstudents understandthe need for excel-lence and rigor. Weunderstand thatthere’s no excuse forconsidering a prob-lem on a test, and notsolving it — after all, why shouldn’t wesolve it? What silly probability questionshould truly stump us? Why shouldn’t we beable to draw out an organic chemistry mech-anism, or solve a set of differential equa-tions? We’re better than that, and know thatthere is very rarely a good excuse for beingwrong.

We should take no comfort in the easiergo other college students have of their fouryears, no more than a professional runnershould be proud of outrunning all thosewussy amateur runners. There’s an infamousT-shirt slogan reading, “MIT: We’re not thatsmart, you’re just that dumb.” While it’sprobably impolite to wear in public, it makesthe point nicely that we should take no com-fort because others make a lot of mistakes.Our mistakes are the ones that matter, as doour ability to solve problems, analyze infor-mation, and so forth. We should make fewermistakes, and should not fail at solving theproblems given us.

In the real world, that’s what will matter— how well we are able to overcome thosechallenges. They will be diff icult, trickyproblems. There will not be the comfort of a

low class average to let us know we’re doingokay, nor will subpar performance frompeers and competitors get us anywhere.Reality, in fact, will be the ultimate metricof our performance. Our ability to engineera faster algorithm, a more efficient engine, abetter drug; to discover a new astronomicalmass, identify an unknown protein, or freezean atom near absolute zero will not dependon the approval of our peers, but on howwell we’ve understood challenging condi-

t ions and workedthrough them. Themaladroit averagegives no license to reston laurels — we knowwe’re more able thanmost; that’s not anexcuse not to do bet-ter. What sets MITgraduates apart is thatwe understand thatthere are no suchexcuses.

The spirit of indi-vidual ability, drive,and excellence shinesthrough MIT’s history.It’s visible in recent

times in the tremendous entrepreneurialforces that emerge from MIT students andgraduates. They forego corporate and politi-cal realms of elitist privilege and entitle-ment, and instead take on the challenge ofsuccess themselves, working to offer innova-tive products and servicesthat solve problems clev-erly and quickly.

The drive towardachievement is powerfulhere, and a roommatewho graduated in 2002told a story that reflects itwell. In dark and wintryFebruary, he sat on thecouch and lamented hisexhaustion in a pleasantRussian accent, wishingto be in the mountainsinstead. “I just want tolive in the mountains,near a nice clear stream,out in beautiful nature”— so far, so normal — “maybe have somevodka” — he’s Russian after all — “andwrite code,” he added, without the slightest

hint of irony or sarcasm. MIT students don’twant to spend their lives on the beach relax-ing. We want to do well, and we know thatreality, not kind words, will reflect our suc-cess.

MIT excellence is historical. As weseniors become alumni/ae over this year (ornext, or later — props to super-seniors), wejoin hallowed company. Throughout the cen-tury, MIT has led advances in geology, min-ing, x-ray and radar, artificial intelligence,computer science, biotechnology, and forthat matter, any other area of science andengineering. The Institute has carried on theworld’s best scientif ic traditions. Scads ofNobel laureates did their work here. Thework of graduates has enabled numeroustechnological revolutions, in the truest senseof the word. The MIT name inspires respectaround the world. Thomas Edison wasstraightforward when in 1911 he said,“There is no question but that theMassachusetts Institute of Technology is thebest technical school in the country. I havefound [MIT grads] to have a better, morepractical, more usable knowledge, as a class,than the graduates of any other school in thecountry. The salvation of America lies in theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.”

“The salvation of America” — strongwords. The great challenge for us, though,will be one of setting aside praise andrespect. The challenge is not to be proud thatwe came from MIT, but to make MIT proudto say we went here — so that MIT takes as

much pride incounting us asalumni as we do incar rying ourdegrees. We needto enter the ranksof our prestigiousalumni not asspectators in aweof our company,but as peers readyto join them inexcellence. Havingwitnessed just asmall fraction ofthe hard work ofpeers in labs andclasses throughout

the Institute (and having taken a crack atsome of that hard work myself), I’m confi-dent that we will. Best of luck to all.

Don’t Violate the No Praise ZoneMake MIT Proud to Know You

June 4, 2004 OPINION THE TECH Page 5

Allan S. Bufferd

It was with some surprise that my associatesand I read the comments by William J. HartnettPhD ’96 [“The Endowment Effect at MIT,” May

11]. It was with sur-prise because neitherdid Dr. Hartnett make

any attempt to engage in a discussion with ouroffice or inquire as to facts before he preparedhis comments, nor was there any contact fromthe editors of The Tech as to the comments pre-sented. A better approach might have been forDr. Hartnett to contact us and discuss his thesiswith a longer term perspective than the four tofive years he selected. Similarly, the editors ofThe Tech could have assisted its readers by somefact checking and background informationwithout a rush to print.

An immediate thought under the circum-stances presented was to merely ignore the arti-cle already published, as well as the articlescheduled to appear in the June 5thCommencement issue. However, Dr. Hartnettsuggested that transparency promotes a betterunderstanding of the issues. We agree on thatpoint and therefore have prepared the followingcomments.

The most obvious error in Dr. Hartnett’sargument in The Tech is where he claims:

“If combinations of more return and lessvolatility ‘dominate,’ then over five years MITendowment performance has been ex-post dom-inated by a simple bond portfolio.”

The diagram he presents shows four-yearfigures (1999-2003), not five-year. The LehmanAggregate did outperform the endowment forthe four years noted, while the endowment out-performed the Lehman Aggregate for the fiveyears 1998-2003.

1999-2003: MIT returned 8.12%, LehmanAggregate returned 8.67%

1998-2003: MIT returned 10.13%, LehmanAggregate returned 7.54%

Dr. Hartnett bases his thesis on the worstfour-year period for the equity markets since the1970s and one of the best for the bond markets.Armed with this 20/20 hindsight he concludes,

“we have been overexposed to the volatile stockmarket.”

This approach is somewhat unfair andbiased. We could take a similar misleadingapproach by considering the 1995-1999 or1995-2000 periods when the equity marketssubstantially outperformed the bond markets.Instead we shall first focus on the type of bondstrategy proposed, first with an actual, ratherthan a theoretical, view.

The long-term investment experience ofNYU with a bond-focused investment policy iswell known in endowment circles. From the late1970s until the late 1990s, NYU adopted a strat-egy similar to the one Dr. Hartnett seems toespouse. David Swensen, my counterpart at Yale,describes the consequences of NYU’s policies inhis book, “Pioneering Portfolio Management”:

“Even the most well-meaning fiduciaries,motivated by altruistic intentions, sometimespursue out-of-the-mainstream policies whichcause substantial economic and reputationaldamage. The story of NYU’s endowment man-agement over the past two decades vividly illus-trates the dangers of implementing poorlyfounded investment strategies.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, motivat-ed by concerns regarding the fragility of the uni-versity’s finances and the riskiness of the stockmarket, NYU allocated an average of 66% tobonds, 30% to stocks, and 4% to other assets.NYU differed materially from its sister institu-tions by holding roughly double the averageproportion of bonds and roughly half the aver-age proportion of stocks.

Unfortunately, the bond-dominated portfolioleft NYU on the sidelines during one of thegreatest bull markets in history. From 1978 to1998, stock returns exceeded bond returns insixteen of twenty years, with stocks enjoying a 6percent per annum advantage over bonds. Onlyin the aftermath of the 1987 crash did the fixedincome strategy appear sensible, causing NYUboard chairman Larry Tisch to receive a stand-ing ovation at a NYU investment committeemeeting. Market activity supported only a briefhuzzah as the S&P 500 ended the 1987 calen-

Another Look at the Endowment

Andrew C. Thomas

Graduating seniors are supposed to writesentimental pieces for this issue, but they usu-ally come off as being as original as sitcomwriters. So, in 400 words or less, here are mylast gasps of ink.

Please, somebody, save the Thirsty Ear.The campus isn’t exactly Harvard Square, andwe could do with a little cheap night life. It’snot like the place loses money, anyway. Plus,it’s the home of the best Trivia Night in town.

On May 17, this city gave birth to thegreatest social experiment of our time. Wewon’t know how it turns out for a few years atleast, but I sure haven’t seen the rivers turn toblood, and as a firstborn child I seem remark-ably alive. One way or another, this city, hometo more technological discoveries than I cancount, will be a crucible within which we canfinally study the real, unimagined effects ofsame-sex marriage, whatever they may be.

We all learned something last October.There is a curse, and the Yankees do, in fact,suck.

Is a fetus a person under the law? TerryNichols, the second perpetrator of theOklahoma City bombing in 1995, was recent-ly found guilty in a state court of 161 countsof capital murder for that crime — 1 of whomwas the unborn child of a pregnant mother.Now, no one is disputing that this was amongthe most heinous of deeds by an unbalancedman. But doesn’t it set a very dangerousprecedent when one of the first instances offetal protection prosecution is being usedagainst a man who has already been foundhideously guilty in the eyes of the people?

Then again, what difference should it makewhether the victim was an unborn child or a90-year-old man? No one deserves to have theflame of their existence snuffed prematurely.Death is far too irrevocable to be consideredin any humane society. I would find it a farworse punishment to hide that light from sightand have it burn itself out.

Well, those are my final thoughts, or rather,those fragments I didn’t have time to expandinto columns. As you read this — heck, itmight even be now, in the middle of a longcommencement ceremony — allow those bub-bles of thought to come to the surface andbreathe the air of consciousness.

See you in the promised land.

The spirit of individual ability,drive, and excellence shines

through MIT history. It’s visiblein recent times in the

tremendous entrepreneurial forcesthat emerge from MIT students

and graduates.

William J. Hartnett

What is the purpose of the endowment?Most people answer: to smooth out fluctuationsin the budget and be a source of funding. In theprevious issue, I discussed the high volatility ofour investment strategy over the last five years,investment swings dwarfing distributions, and adistribution strategy that transmitted some ofthose fluctuations to the budget, resulting inpainful cuts in budget and staff — in otherwords exacerbating rather than smoothing fluc-tuations in the budget [“The Endowment Effectat MIT,” May 11]. My suggestion was a conser-vative investment strategy with a target for port-folio volatility only modestly above low riskbonds, coupled with a distribution strategywhose first priority is to avoid cutbacks in pro-grammed budget outlays. Finally, I emphasizedthe need to view the endowment strategy as thedevelopment, investment, and distributionstrategies taken together.

In this article, I would like to discuss theendowment as a source of funding, and outlinea direction for our integrated endowment strate-gy that I believe could more effectively advanceMIT’s mission of socially beneficial educationand research.

MIT is recognized as a world leader in edu-cation and research, where an extraordinarycombination of talent and hard work producessorely needed human capital, which in turngrows over time. Is there good reason to believethat investing our resources in a portfolio ofcommercial companies would outperforminvesting in MIT’s own mission? There is actu-ally a cost to sequestering financial capital in theendowment — the opportunity cost of foregoneresearch projects and educational programs. Ifwe could afford to lose more than a billion dol-lars in the stock market from 2001 to 2003,might we be able to afford an extra investmentin MIT’s own mission of at least that muchbetween 2005 and 2010?

To characterize how high I think the oppor-tunity cost is, I would like to list some thingsworthy of aggressive new funding programsabove current levels: global climate change (for

example, is climate chaotic?) and the extinctioncrisis from a policy perspective; the issue ofextreme and increasing inequality; managementof non-profit organizations; the harmoniousinterplay between globalization and localiza-tion; linguistics and public discourse; fasterAthena workstations; more support to reducethe fund-raising burden on principal investiga-tors; and addressing the sensitive issue of possi-ble research moratoria (e.g., in some areas ofnanotechnology or biotechnology).

But even assuming very high returns oninvestments in MIT’s own mission, how bigshould the endowment be kept? One part of theanswer lies in the option value of being able tofund exceptional future projects. In other words,current candidates for funding compete not onlyamongst themselves, but also against prospec-tive future projects.

The other part of the answer lies in theimportance of smoothing out unwanted budgetfluctuations, both for program efficiency and topreserve morale. Even a distribution policy thatprioritizes smoothing out budget fluctuationsleaves room for redeploying part of the endow-ment from the stock market to MIT’s own agen-da of research and education.

What about the longer view? MIT’s contri-bution to education and research representshuman capital that grows over time, in my opin-ion more than replacing the growth fromsequestering that financial capital in the endow-ment. The fact that endowment returns arerecorded in a financial ledger while returns tohuman capital are not quantified is immaterial— MIT is a non-profit institution whose mis-sion is precisely socially beneficial educationand research. The accompanying figure (seepage 6) illustrates this perspective, including thecase where the period of augmented financialsupport generates additional valuable results,which subsequently induce additional researchfunding and donor support.

MIT is deeply reliant on the donor commu-nity to financially support the hard work of itstalented students, faculty, and staff. From my

The Endowment Effect

The great challenge for wegraduates, though,will be one ofsetting aside praise and respect.The challenge is not to be proudthat we came from MIT, but tomake MIT proud to say we

went here.

OpinionBriefs

Letter

Hartnett, Page 6 Bufferd, Page 6

dar year 5.2 percent above the level recorded atthe beginning of the year. Even when viewedfrom the perspective of a time frame as short astwelve calendar months, NYU’s strategy failedto make sense.

As the bull market continued apace, Tischturned away questions regarding the lack ofequity exposure by responding that the ‘trainhas left the station.’ Meanwhile, the opportunitycosts for the NYU endowment mounted. From1982 to 1998, an endowment wealth index forcolleges and universities increased nearlyeightfold, while NYU's endowment grew 4.6times. Had the institution’s results simply mir-rored college and university medians, NYU’sendowment in 1998 would have been nearly $1billion larger than the actual level of $1.3 bil-lion. By failing to understand the relationshipbetween the permanent nature of endowmentfunds and equity investments, NYU’s endow-ment sustained long lasting, if not permanentdamage.”

We compared the actual performance of theMIT endowment to a portfolio composedentirely of bonds, using the Lehman AggregateBond Index as the proxy, with its 3.7% annual-ized volatility of returns over the ten-year peri-od of fiscal 1994 through fiscal 2003. Theresult would have been a 7.2% annual returnand a market value for the endowment of $2.9billion at the end of the period.

Alternatively we could have developed abroadly diversified portfolio with bond-likerisk. We examined the risk-adjusted returns oftwenty different asset classes for the same tenyear period. Using mean variance optimizationand perfect foresight about the performance ofeach asset class, we tested several hypotheticalportfolios that would have exhibited a level ofvolatility similar to that of the bond market. Inall cases, the asset mix of the resulting portfo-lios would have been unacceptable without per-fect foresight. The reason we conclude thatsuch portfolios would have been unacceptablewithout perfect foresight is that they were com-prised solely of bonds, hedge funds, emergingmarket debt and real estate investment trusts. Inaddition, the investment returns and the valueof the endowment would have been substantial-

ly lower than they actually were. Endowments, as perpetual entities, are that

class of institutional investors with the capacityto truly take a longer-term perspective in for-mulating investment policy objectives. For thesame ten-year period, the 14.2% annual returnof the MIT endowment exceeded every assetclass except Emerging Market Debt, whichexhibited much higher volatility. The endow-ment also exhibited lower volatility than all ofthe equity markets. The Institute’s investmentreturn ranks among the highest of all collegesand universities. To set another reference point,the median performance of all institutionalfunds greater than $1 billion in assets (endow-ments, foundations and pensions) for the sameperiod was 8.7%, and the first quartile was at9.3%.

Dr. Hartnett asserts that the endowmentwould be better managed with a portfolio thattargets a level of volatility “modestly abovelow-risk bonds” and that such a portfolio wouldbe sufficient to cover both inflation and anappropriate level of spending for the Institute.We would assert that the above-described opti-mization studies and the actual NYU experi-ence, as described by David Swenson, are notappropriate strategies for the longer term.

Notwithstanding our comments about thelimitations of the asset allocation proffered byDr. Hartnett, he raises important issues aboutfinding an appropriate balance between long-term investment returns and short-term stabilityin the support for the operating budget from theendowment. What he has not considered, butmay be considering in his future article, is themanner by which the distribution rate from theendowment is determined.

Over the twenty-eight year period, 1970through 1998, the annual distribution from theendowment grew 6% annually with nodecrease year to year. That annual rate ofchange was significantly increased during theperiod 1998 through 2005 (projected) to over10% annually, directly reflecting the very sharpincrease in market value of the endowment.While the purposes for which the increased rateof change in the distribution was effected wereappropriate and directed to important initia-tives, the longer-term outlook suggested by thehistory is that a 6% annual rate of growth in the

distribution may be a more appropriate distrib-ution model with the investment policy we havebeen following. History also demonstrates thatsuch a rate of growth in the distribution wouldsubstantially cover the inflationary pressureswithin the college and university environment(where annual inflation rates typically run 1 to1.5% higher than the CPI, as described by theHigher Education Price Index, “HEPI”).

The issue then is not about limiting invest-ments to the lowest-volatility assets. It is aboutthe correct balance between the investment anddistribution policies. Simply stated, as one canlearn from biblical history, putting somethingaway in the grain silos in the unusually goodyears and taking from the silos in the weakyears is the better approach. In financial terms,place a “collar” around the annual change inthe distribution rate, limiting the upside in thegood years and limiting the downside in theweaker years. Acceptance of some volatility,especially for the long-term investor, which iswhat an endowment is supposed to be, wouldresult in enhanced endowment values over thelonger term, thereby benefiting both currentand future beneficiaries.

In taking such an approach, the endowmentinvestments must be comprised of assets whoseprice movements have a low correlation witheach other, not assets which inherently havelow volatility. Through this approach, theapproach followed by MIT and all major insti-tutional investors, the results over the long termhave been a growth in assets that has far sur-passed that of more risk-averse investors — notover the short term but over the long term.

The approach followed by MIT and by othermajor endowments and foundations has result-ed in substantial growth of assets and meaning-ful distributions to current and future genera-tions. MIT investment results over the longterm rank among the very best. It is through amore careful balance of investment return andthe rate of distribution increase on a short-termbasis that a more favorable balance betweencurrent and future generations can be main-tained. That result cannot be attained by takingthe low-volatility approach.

We would be pleased to discuss these issueswith any who want to visit in our offices.

Allan S. Bufferd ’59 is the treasurer of MIT.

Page 6 THE TECH OPINION June 4, 2004

Vivek Rao

As a result of security fears, poor plan-ning, and unrealistic expectations, this July’sDemocratic National Convention will saddleBoston with a traffic mess of epic propor-tions. With Interstate 93 and a number ofother key roads closing during the late after-noon, more than 200,000 vehicles may bererouted on each of the convention’s fourdays. Some experts suggest that gridlockcould extend as far as New Hampshire andRhode Island.

Yet as chaotic as the week of the conven-tion promises to be, it remains a mere anom-aly that should not detract from the majorprogress continuing to occur in the GreaterBoston area. A number of fundamentalimprovements in the local transportationinfrastructure should leave the city in bettershape than ever to tackle the future, withless congested traffic, more green space, andlower pollution levels among the mostimportant results of ongoing efforts.

A number of the most useful improve-ments have involved Logan Airport. Whilethe Ted Williams Tunnel has been an unques-tionably beautiful and functional connectorto the airport ever since its construction wascompleted on time and within budget in1995, it was underused for years, frequentlyrestricted to commercial traff ic while theCallahan and Sumner tunnels experiencedtheir typically nightmarish backups. SinceJanuary 2003, however, with the extensionof Interstate 90 in place, the tunnel hasserved as the final connection between thePike and the airport, and more importantly,it has been open to all traff ic. The resultshave been profound. Commuting time to theairport has decreased by over half fromsome parts of Greater Boston, while conges-tion in the other airport tunnels has been sig-nif icantly alleviated. For longtimeBostonians, such successful infrastructureimprovements seem as unbelievable as theyare useful.

Still, as dramatically as access to Loganhas improved over the last year or so,progress within the airport may be evenmore rapid. Massport, the organization thatruns the airport, has initiated an extensive$4.4 billion improvement project calledLogan Modernization. Already a two-tieredroadway system has been established withinthe airport, allowing smoother traffic flowand less curbside congestion. In addition,elevated walkways and additional parkingfacilities have addressed areas of need atLogan, while signif icant renovations andimprovements inside Terminal E, the maininternational terminal, are underway. Thework at Logan provides another example oflocal planners’ creative and functionalapproaches to infrastructure, approaches thathave been all too rare in Boston in the past.

Arguably the most significant example ofinfrastructure improvement in Boston overthe last few years has been the submersionof Interstate 93. For far too long, Boston’sGreen Monster could have just as easilydescribed the steel eyesore that carried I-93through the hear t of Boston as FenwayPark’s famed wall. Recently, though, themajor commuter highway was reroutedunderground. While this project may notsolve the problem of intense traffic conges-tion that occurs every day on I-93, one couldargue that nothing short of building anentirely new parallel highway would providesuch a solution. What the submersion of I-93does do, however, is open up a large amountof space that will allow for the creation ofthe Rose Kennedy Greenway, which willconsist of three major parks centered in theNor th End, the Wharf District , andChinatown, respectively. The establishmentof this large green space will have numerousconsequences, including improved aesthet-ics, lowered pollution, and a chance for com-munity building. The potential benefits ofthe Greenway should have anyone staying inBoston drooling with anticipation.

At the end of the day, the Greenway isjust one example of why perceptions of atangled and incomprehensibly chaotic webof roadways and construction projects inBoston should give way to an appreciationof the fundamental improvement that hasoccurred within the last few years and thatshould continue in the foreseeable future.When those massive traffic jams arrive laterthis summer along with the convention,remember that while you may experiencefour days of hell, Boston could very well bein for four decades of bliss thanks to a seriesof well-designed, creative, and functionalinfrastructure improvements.

Headache onthe Horizon

Bufferd’s Response

point of view, a leaner financial profile wherepart of the endowment is redeployed intoresearch and education accelerates growth inhuman capital, and for that reason is likely to becomparatively attractive to prospective donors.Also, prudently investing a major part of theendowment in bonds and notes maturing overthe upcoming interval (e.g., up to five to tenyears), designed to meet programmed support

levels, can provide an interesting alternative fordonors to pick a specific year to support. And,of course, where a donor’s preference is to con-tribute to a perpetual capital fund, their wishshould be absolutely respected in both form andspirit.

Perhaps systems that are running mostsmoothly go unnoticed, while the conversesometimes signals an opportunity for construc-tive adjustments. In these two articles, I havetried to motivate and formulate a direction for a

more effective endowment strategy, which Ibelieve could advance MIT’s mission of sociallybeneficial research and education at a timewhen it’s never been more needed.

Editor’s Note: A reply to Hartnett’s previouscolumn from MIT Treasurer Allan S. Bufferd canbe found on page 5.

William J. Hartnett PhD ’96 is a former vis-iting scholar at the Sloan School ofManagement’s Finance Group, and can bereached at hartnett@mit.edu.

Endowment Suggestions

Note: This illustration compares alternative trajectories. It is specifically not intended to imply that human capital is quantifi-able or can be quantitatively modeled, or to prescribe a specific amount of redeployment over a specific period.

Annual Research and Education: Alternative Trajectories

Redeploying part of endowment over a period, generatingvaluable additional research and education, and subsequentlyinducing greater research funding and donor support.

Redeploying par t ofendowment over a peri-od, not followed bygreater research fundingor donor support.

Benchmark rate of edu-cation and research.

2005 2010 2015

Hartnett, from Page 5

←← Capita l Redeployment →→

Bufferd, from Page 5

ARTSJune 4, 2004 THE TECH Page 7

By Kevin DerASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanWritten by Steve KlovesBased on the novel by J.K. RowlingDirected by Alfonso CuaronStarring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis

In “Prisoner of Azkaban,” Harry Potterlearns a spell called Lumos, which causeshis wand to emit light, and Nox, whichextinguishes it. Unlike Harry’s wand,

which is either light or dark, nothing else inthis film is so binary. Few characters are pure-ly good or purely evil. No frames of thismovie are completely bright or dark visually.And even the quality of the film itself is notpurely flawless.

To begin with, Harry’s world is a muchmore dangerous place during third year. Soonafter the movie opens, Harry (Daniel Rad-cliffe) runs away from home, learns that aconvicted murderer named Sirius Black hasescaped wizard prison in order to kill him, andhas visions of an enormous black dog, anomen of death. Then he encounters thedementors, gliding soul-sucking creatureswhose black cloaks resemble shards of glassand whose presence induces a frightening arc-tic chill. Harry’s confrontations with thedementors cause him to faint and hear thescreams of his dead parents. Matters are nothelped when Harry discovers that Black (GaryOldman) brought about his parents’ deaths,turning his feelings to anger and rage, fairlytypical emotions for a now-teenage wizard.

There are numerous lights at the end of thetunnel for Harry, though. The new DefenseAgainst the Dark Arts teacher, ProfessorLupin (David Thewlis), quickly becomes amentor for Harry. He teaches Harry thePatronus charm, a spell that creates a physicalmanifestation of light and happiness thatrepels dementors. Lupin also reveals that hewas a friend of Harry’s parents, and shares hismemories of them.

This narrative backdrop paves the way forsome truly breathtaking scenes in this movie.The dementors were masterfully created, andtheir essence was captured exactly as I hadimagined them from the books. Their firstappearance on the Hogwarts Express turnedrainwater on the train’s windows to ice andsent chills into the roots of my hair. Likewise,Buckbeak the hippogriff, a half-horse, half-bird pet of Hagrid’s, was visually splendid.The first time we see this creature, Harry fliesBuckbeak over the Hogwarts grounds, a sub-lime and beautiful scene that had my heartcompletely pounding.

Probably the best part of this movie isDavid Thewlis’s performance as Lupin — asfriend, mentor, and teacher, his character wassupremely convincing and a joy to watch onscreen. Alan Rickman’s Snape was once againgloriously malevolent, and the introduction ofEmma Thompson’s take on ProfessorTrelawney, divination teacher, was quirky anddelightful. In fact, acting all around wasremarkable, and improvement was especiallyevident in the kids. A couple moments thathinted at an attraction between Ron (RupertGrint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) werehilarious and fun. Unlike the past two films,there were no unwatchable moments thatmade me cringe, like the terrible ending of“Chamber of Secrets” or every time RupertGrint spoke in “Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Alfonso Cuaron sat in the director’s chairthis time, replacing Chris Columbus, whoseapproach to the last two Potter movies lackedmaturity and a willingness to deviate from

canon. Cuaron favored any technique thatadded to the dark look and feel that Azkabanrequired, for instance using wide shots whencharacters moved around in dark environ-ments to create an overwhelming sense ofgloom. A huge portion of scenes take place atnight, in the rain or snow, in dark corridors orforests.

Despite these wonderful things about thefilm, it was not flawless by any means. Tomake a long story short, I felt the movie wasessentially a bunch of well-acted, excitingscenes strung together into one movie. Thefact that the film is barely more than twohours long means that scenes were cut or con-densed, leaving a skeleton of canon. Becausethe plot is so complex, any tidbits of detailthat make it into the film are guaranteed to besignificant, making the movie seem thin.There didn’t seem to be a superior cohesive-ness of the whole story, as a result.

I wish Cuaron had elaborated on Lupin’spast relationship with Sirius Black andHarry’s parents, or the circumstances sur-rounding their deaths, or the reason whyHarry’s Patronus takes the form that it does.These details were some of the coolest partsof the book, and I feel that they easily couldhave been filmed without making the movietoo long. These additions would have tied thewhole movie together cohesively and ulti-mately allowed for a more powerful conclu-sion of the story.

I really do not object to most of the thingsCuaron changed or omitted, and this evenincludes intentional errors of continuityregarding Hogwarts and its grounds, from thepast two movies. I think everyone will bestunned by some of the truly glorious scenesin Azkaban — Buckbeak’s flight and thedementors, in particular, are simply wonder-ful. When the second movie came out, I pos-tulated that every movie would be better thanthe previous ones, and that remains true.However, this was not a flawless picture —but I’m trying to believe that it is. Lumos.

FILM REVIEW ★★★1/2

‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ Fails to Capture StoryEven With Improvements in Acting, Third Harry Potter Film Far From Flawless

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe star in “Harry Potter and the Prison-er of Azkaban.”

By Rose GrabowskiSTAFF WRITER

Tapeo, Restaurant & Tapas Bar266 Newbury St. Boston, MA 02116(617) 267-4799Hours: Mon.–Wed., 5:30–10 p.m.;Thurs.–Fri., 5:30–11 p.m.; Sat., 12–11 p.m.;Sun., 12–10 p.m.

W alking down Newbury Street, oneis constantly bombarded byupscale extravagant culturalimages — women in stilettos

worth more than my mother’s engagementring, men in jeans with the brand name print-ed superfluously over the entire fabric surface,dogs with haircuts so unnatural I wonder ifthey are actually still canine.

And yet the eateries tend to be contradicto-rily low-key at first glance — no large plasticbacklit signs announcing their presence, butinstead small wood carved placards that youwould only notice if carefully inspecting thestreet side. No exception to this dining atmos-phere, Tapeo is an understated but ethnicallyhip tapas restaurant residing in the center ofNewbury.

Tapas are small Spanish dishes — oftenlikened to appetizers — that are meant to givethe diner a variety of tastes while beinginvolved in the social scene. In Spain, tapasare served between meal times to keep peoplegoing while talking, joking, and flirting withold and new friends. They are served withwine and sangria and generally part of a funexperience, although not usually replacing afull meal.

In the U.S., tapas have become a fad forlunch and dinner. They are less part of thesocial “bar scene” than the classy-but-hip din-ner scene. As we came upon Tapeo, weseemed to be surrounded by 30-somethingcouples waiting for tables. The outside had a

pleasant dining patio with black iron fencesand tables, with only one small sign seemingto educate the crowd as to the name of theestablishment. If I were to give points for eachfeature of the restaurant, not on any particularscale or measure, then +2 for the outdoorscene.

Inside, we were ushered downstairs into asmall, dark room where the hostess greetedus. The downstairs had the feel of an oldSpanish wine-cellar, with large bunches ofdried peppers and garlic hanging from abovethe bar, next to a large, plastic (I’m assuming)boar’s head — the head deserves a +4. Theentire area was paneled with old wood andauthentic Spanish tiles. We were led upstairsto our table, where the room was much lighterand there was copper plating matching thetiles and décor all around the walls. Theclincher was the consistent European accentof all the wait-staff we encountered — over-all, the atmosphere was consistently Europeanand festive (+2).

Shortly after we were seated, the waiterbrought around bread and a tannish spreadwhich he described as “garbanzo beans withgarlic, onion, paprika, and oil, pureed to a finepaste.” Alas, apparently this description ismore dazzling than what most of us common-ly know this dish as: hummus. Minus four forthe pretentious description. The hummus wasslightly bland, but my friends agreed that itwould probably serve well this way as apalette-cleanser between tapas. The bread wasexcellent and rustic, with a dark thick crustand spongy sour flesh.

Sangria is one of the highlights of a Span-ish meal, and Tapeo’s version was appropri-ately fruity and light. Plus one for the firstglass, +2 for the second, and +5 for the third.The Spanish Cappuccino we ordered, howev-er, seemed to be just an espresso shot — per-haps the Spanish like their Cappuccino with-

out the classic foamed milk, I’m not quitesure. Minus two for the size, about as large asa shot glass.

For the first round of tapas, we ordered avariety of cold and hot dishes, each about fiveto eight dollars, from “Pork Sausage withFigs” to “Rabbit in Red Wine” to “WhiteAsparagus with Two Sauces.” Plus two for thevariety, although that’s a requisite for tapasrestaurants anyway. The vegetables wereextremely tender, and the rabbit had awesomeflavor. A mysterious “Meat Turnover” weordered, however, lacked a specific meat tasteand was wrapped in a pastry crust all too simi-lar to Pillsbury. A theme emerged, with thedish itself tending to be unimpressive butalways covered in one or two excellent anddelectable sauces that we inevitably would dipbread into later in the evening.

The first round of six tapas was notenough, so we ordered five more. For threepeople this meant that the average sum ofmoney we had each consumed, not countingthe previous beverages or future desserts, wasaround $28. Undeterred by this, some of ourfavorite dishes were in this second round,including the “Roasted Red Pepper andSalmon Balls,” which seemed to have the bestsauce all night. Be careful about the “Lobsterand Crab Ravioli,” as it seems only likecheese ravioli with the slightest seafood after-taste, and causes me to mark a –3.

Dessert was my personal favorite, espe-cially “Strawberries Wrapped in Sherry Bat-ter,” with two sauces. Imagine giant fruitsfried in a sweet batter and doused in cream.Absolutely delicious. Plus ten. As our waiterwas clearing away the last round of plates, hesuggested a few dishes to us for the first timethat night. Minus five for the absolute worsttiming to tell us what would be good to order.

Overall, Tapeo has excellent food and afun atmosphere, although not necessarily for

those who want a traditional Spanish TapasBar experience. The prices were really toohigh for what you receive — as one friendsaid, this would be a good place to come witha romantic partner after you’ve made yourfirst million with your MIT degree. However,the average college student would be hardpressed to feel gastronomically fulfilled afterspending a reasonable amount of money here.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the totalcame to +20 points, although it was in that“Whose Line is it, Anyway?” style, where thepoints just don’t matter.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Tapeo: Not Made With UROP Salary in MindIntriguing Tapas Restaurant Not Quite Worth Emptying Pockets

MITRA LOHRASBPOUR

Fresh berries generously spill out ofTapeo’s Filloa al Licor, a dessert crepepaired with chocolate sauce and orangeliquor.

By Philip Burrowes

Justice League: StarcrossedWritten by Rich Fogel and Dwaine McDuffieDirected by Butch Lukie, John Ridley, andDan Riba Produced by Bruce Timm, James Tucker, andRich Fogel Voices by Kevin Conroy, Carl Lumbly, EframZimblast, Jr., and Elizabeth Pena 90 minutes, Cartoon Network

C hances are you’ve seen some variantof “Superfriends.” It’s the umbrellaterm for the multiple cartoons whichfeatured a team of DC Comics — that

stands for Detective Comics Comics, for therecord — superheroes (Superman, Batman,Wonder Woman, et al). Although now they’regenerally regarded as somewhere betweenkitschy and substandard in quality, they stillloom large in the public consciousness (cf.Seanbaby).

When Cartoon Network effectively resur-rected the franchise with its “Justice League”series nearly three years ago, it tried its best toavoid campy conception its predecessors hadachieved. Moreover, it had to balance thedemands of the small but vocal comic bookfandom with the younger, larger audienceunfamiliar with such characters as J’onnJ’onnz. The mixed success of those effortswere evident in the season finale.

Entitled “Starcrossed,” the finale broughtto the fore a few issues that fanboys wantedaddressed. For starters, it answers the ques-

tion, “Where is Hawkman?” Hawkgirl is oneof the seven members of the Justice League, agroup dedicated to defending the world fromanything and everything. In comic continuity,Hawkgirl is one half of a duo along withHawkman. While maintaining a semblance ofsex-balance on the team was a noble goal(Wonder Woman is the only other femalemember), comic geeks still wanted Hawkman.

Turns out that he had sent Hawkgirl as aspy to earth five years ago, and his name isactually “Hro Talak.” At the beginning of thestory, Talak comes to Earth with a fleet, warn-ing of the imminent approach of an interstellarthreat. Being the hero he is, his people offerthe Earth protection. After much deliberation,the globe’s governments accept, and the Jus-tice League begins construction on a forcefield to keep the supposed invaders out. Mean-while, League member Green Lantern (yes,the guy Superman hates in the Amex ads with“Seinfeld”) has to come to terms with the factthat although he had been romanticallyinvolved with Hawkgirl, she is engaged toTalak. See, they’re “star-crossed lovers.”

Of course, we can’t have an entire showabout a bunch of people in costumes in love;even “Smallville” knows better than that.Nobody wears a costume on “Smallville”(although Lex and Clark do have unique colorschemes), but everyone on “Justice League” isdressed in something garish. Solution? Takethem out of uniform. It’s another issue comicreaders had wanted addressed, for the showhad shied away from secret identity subplots

until that point, aside from a couple of ClarkKent and Bruce Wayne appearances.

Nor can we have an entire show aboutalter egos, however. The final third of theepisode consists of an all-out battle betweenthe League and Talak’s forces, who arerevealed as far from benevolent. As an entirerace of superpowered, technologically-enhanced beings, Talak’s people seem likean excellent foil for the League. Eventually,however, you realize they’re just a bunch ofpeople who fly. How, exactly, are they sup-posed to stop Superman? (Answer: Theyhave a ray that “feels” like Kryptonite.)Although fun to watch — from a comicalbrawl in the Batcave to the physical resolu-tion of the Lantern/Hawkgirl/Talak love tri-angle — it’s still an empty form of entertain-

ment that falls apart upon the slightestinspection.

Where, for example, are the other super-powered individuals that have been featuredon the show? Considering his xenophobia,Lex Luther should bring his team of supervil-lains to battle these flying aliens, just as hehad against Superman. Aquaman should feelhis authority as king of the seas impinged bythe avian invaders, and his armada has beendepicted previously as comparable to Talak’sbattalions. How could Green Lantern’s com-patriots in the Lantern Corp not warn him ofTalak’s intentions or come to his aid when theCorp was created to counter just such a threat?Granted, this would have made the League’stask even easier, but it would have been a nicebit of fan service.

Maybe there was too much fan service,however. Did we really need to know that TheFlash was named Wally West? Sure, it willmake a few fanboys happy (since he’s notBarry Allen, that means it’s posited on post-Crisis which means blah blah blah), but itmeans nothing to the general public; theybarely know who the “The Flash” is. Consid-ering that after the apocalyptic events of“Starcrossed,” the format of the show willdrastically change next season to include evenmore lower-tier DC characters, it’s hard to saythe situation will get better. As a source formindless action, Justice League is serviceable,and maybe that’s all we’ve come to expectfrom comic-cartoons, but that doesn’t meanthey can’t do better.

Page 8 THE TECH ARTS June 4, 2004

TELEVISION REVIEW

‘Starcrossed’ Proves Terrestrial Justice League Finale Just More Mindless Action

SUPERMANHOMEPAGE.COM

Hawkgirl and the other six members ofthe Justice League reveal secrets in theseason finale, “Starcrossed.”

By Fred ChoiSTAFF WRITER

It’s that time of year again, when theaterbuffs all over the world tune into the TonyAwards, Broadway’s yearly salute to NewYork City’s most expensive, if not highest

quality, theater. It’s no surprise that the indus-try that has become a glut of commercialisttwaddle has reached new levels of “compro-mise” in its attempts to attract an audience.

Thus the televised ceremony this Sundayat 8 p.m. on CBS will be hosted by that genialbut bland Broadway-newcomer-with-the-Hol-lywood-visibility-and-100-watt-smile HughJackman for the second year in a row and fea-ture such entertainers as wholly unconnectedwith Broadway as Mary J. Blige or as tenu-ously as Nicole Kidman.

Still, the show, the culmination of a year’sworth of anticipation, will no doubt providemusical fans and fanatics a more or less satis-factory evening of glitz and a glimpse or twoof their favorite shows and theater artists. Asis the case with most high-profile awards, thepeople who will win and those who shouldwin are not always the same, especially in thecase of the Tonys, where the majority of thevoters are producers. Still, unlike some inrecent memory, this year offers up more thana few unpredictable races that will have morethan a few theater-philes biting their nails forseveral weeks.

So, it’s time to break out the pencils andstart setting up those office betting pools.Here’s The Tech’s guide to the 2004 Tonys tohelp you figure out the odds.

Best Musical and Best Revival of a MusicalFirst off, there are some clear Tony win-

ners. “Wicked,” the sellout hit that focuses onthe lives of the Wicked Witch of the West andGlinda the Good Witch of Oz, is a shoo-in towin the award for Best Musical. Other con-tenders are “Avenue Q,” a Sesame Street-likemusical with an adult twist, featuring alco-holic and depressed puppets and puppeteers;“The Boy From Oz,” the biographical musicalon the life of some Australian entertainernamed Peter Allen that your parents mightremember; and “Caroline, or Change,” amusical about a black maid and the whitefamily she works for in the South in the 1960sand written by no less than Tony Kushner of“Angels in America” fame. Although a clearcommercial success, “Wicked” is certainly notShakespeare. It will win because the onlymusical among its competitors that has anyweight is “Caroline, or Change,” and thatshow is too uneven to stand up against thebubbly and fun “Wicked.”

The award for Best Revival of a Musicalwill undoubtedly go to Sondheim and Weid-

man’s “Assassins,” the musical about the menand women who have attempted to assassinatethe American President. The show was, as isSondheim’s habit, years ahead of its timewhen first presented Off-Broadway in 1991during the time of the Persian Gulf War, but ithas found a much more attentive audience thisseason. The show is without a doubt certainlythe most deserving of the award in recentyears, and towers over its competitors “BigRiver” (based on Mark Twain’s “Adventuresof Huckleberry Finn”), “Fiddler on the Roof,”and Leonard Bernstein’s “Wonderful Town.”

Creative Team and Best Direction of aMusical Awards

Although this year’s Best Musical Awardwill go to “Wicked,” it is not certain whether itis as likely to sweep all of the creative team anddesign awards. Winnie Holzman’s adaptationfor “Wicked” faces the biggest competition forBest Book of a Musical from Tony Kushner’sbook for “Caroline, or Change.” Likewise,Stephen Schwartz of “Wicked” could easily getousted by Jeanine Tesori’s score for “Caroline,”despite its derivative nature. It should be notedthat had Sondheim’s superlative score or Weid-man’s book for “Assassins” been eligible, theywould have easily outshone all of the competi-tion. However the Tony committee ruled thatthe show was considered “classic” and not“new,” since it was written in 1991 and sincethen has been performed in non-Broadway the-aters worldwide.

The award for Best Direction of a Musicalwill be between Joe Mantello for “Assassins”(who was noticeably not nominated for“Wicked,” which he also directed), andGeorge C. Wolfe for “Caroline, or Change.”The award for Best Choreography will likelygo to director-choreographer Kathleen Mar-shall’s work for the revival of “WonderfulTown,” despite being very straightforward.

Design AwardsThe other design awards (Orchestrations,

Scenic, Costume, and Lighting, all of whichare going to be presented before the actualbroadcast) are as usual more unpredictablethan most. Michael Starobin should win BestOrchestrations for his masterful evocation ofAmericana in “Assassins.” Long-time theaterveteran Eugene Lee has a good chance of win-ning Best Scenic Design for his work on“Wicked” (although Robert Brill’s design for“Assassins” is competitive). Likewise, SusanHilferty is likely to win Best Costume Designfor “Wicked,” and Jules Fisher and PeggyEishenhauer may win Best Lighting Designfor “Assassins.”

There is some difficulty in predicting thecreative team and design winners, but it’s

probable that, as with the other categories, theyawn-inducing revival of “Fiddler on theRoof” and the ill-conceived and short-livedmusical about the life of Boy George entitled“Taboo” will be completely shut out of theTonys. “Bombay Dreams,” the splashy butfluffy Bollywood-style import from London,and “Henry IV” may be competitive for someof the design categories (“Bombay Dreams” isa longshot to win for Best Choreography), but“Wicked” should have enough momentum topick up more than a few of them.

Play AwardsThe awards for plays often get overlooked

in favor of their splashier cousins, the musi-cals, but there are some interesting races.Although Nilo Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics,”a play centered on a cigar factory in Florida in1929, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, it is notlikely to win the Tony for Best Play. Thebiggest competitors for the award are the 2004Pulitzer Prize-winner, “I Am My Own Wife”by Doug Wright, and “Frozen” by BryonyLavery.

“I Am My Own Wife,” a gripping story ofa German transvestite’s life from World WarII on, is a favorite to win, but it may be slight-ly hurt by the fact that it is a one-man show.“Frozen,” a three-person psychological dramathat focuses on a serial killer, the mother ofone of his victims, and an American criminol-ogist/psychiatrist, opened late in the season torave reviews. The fourth nominee, “TheRetreat From Moscow” by William Nichol-son, was yet another play about a failing mar-riage that opened and closed without much ofa ripple despite its starry cast (John Lithgow,Eileen Atkins, and Ben Chaplin).

The award for Best Revival of a Play andBest Direction of a Play will likely go to“Henry IV” and its director Jack O’Brien,more out of default than for any real sparks.The revival was competent, but at least it wasmore interesting than “King Lear,” Tom Stop-pard’s dull and far too wordy “Jumpers,” andLorraine Hansberry’s by now familiar “ARaisin in the Sun.” (The latter has proven tobe surprisingly popular, no doubt in part dueto the addition of P. Diddy to the cast who,unsurprisingly, was the only one in the four-person cast not nominated for an actingaward).

Best Performance in a Play AwardsThree time Tony Award-winner Audra

McDonald, the queen of Best FeaturedActress Tonys and a magnetic presence in anyart form, is a favorite to win the award forFeatured Actress in a Play for “A Raisin in theSun.” Ned Beatty from “Cat on a Hot TinRoof” would have been the easy pick for Fea-

tured Actor in a Play but he was unjustlysnubbed for his candid remarks slighting hisamateurish co-stars Ashley Judd and JasonPatric. Instead, the award may go to AidanGillen for “The Caretaker” or Brian F.O’Byrne for “Frozen.”

Jefferson Mays’ star-making turn in theone-man show “I Am My Own Wife” is afavorite for Leading Actor in a Play, althoughhe may face some competition from the morefamous Kevin Kline, whose fatsuit-clad per-formance as Falstaff in “Henry IV” was muchlauded. It is a real shame that ChristopherPlummer is not likely to win for his widely-praised take on one of the world’s greatesttragic roles, Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”

The award for Leading Actress in a Play isa complete toss-up. Phylicia Rashad, of “TheCosby Show” fame, may win for “A Raisin inthe Sun,” as may Eileen Atkins for “TheRetreat From Moscow.” Likewise, ViolaDavis may win for her role as a black seam-stress in “Intimate Apparel,” or SwoosieKurtz for her role in “Frozen.”

Best Performance in a Musical AwardsWithout a doubt, the award for Leading

Actor in a Musical will go to Hugh Jackmanwho single-handedly saves the otherwiseworthless musical “The Boy From Oz.” Theaward for Leading Actress in a Musical ismuch more debatable. Like Jackman, the two-time Tony award winner radiant Donna Mur-phy single-handedly saves the entertaining butslight revival of “Wonderful Town,” but shefaces stiff competition from the two stars of“Wicked,” the bubbly, blonde, and somewhatshrill Broadway darling Kristin Chenowethand the “Rent” alumna Idina Menzel. TonyaPinkins is the dark horse nominee for “Caro-line, or Change.”

The Featured Actor Awards take a bit ofguesswork as well. Michael Cerver may winfor his performance as John Wilkes Booth in“Assassins.” Beth Fowler may win for herrole as Peter Allen’s mother in “The BoyFrom Oz,” as may long-time not-quite-a-divaKaren Ziemba in the short-lived Fred Astaireand Ginger Rogers’ wannabe musical “NeverGonna Dance.”

Phew! Whether or not you’re familiar withthe shows, the Tonys are always fun to watch,as it features excerpts from the Best Musicaland Best Revival of a Musical nominees, andno doubt will include some surprise wins,some funny speeches, and some hideous andeye-popping award-show fashion. Whetheranything will top the kiss shared between theexcited Best Book of a Musical winners, part-ners Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan for“Hairspray” (from last year’s Tonys), well,you’ll just have to tune in to see.

AWARDS PREVIEW

Glitter and Glitz: The 2004 Tony AwardsA Guide to Who Will Win and Who Should Win

By Katherine S. RyanSTAFF WRITER

B oston is no coffee connoisseur. Itsbeer samplings are lame. It has paltryseafood for a harbor-town, and no onehere has bumped the culinary choices

much up from the label “Beantown.” Icecream, though, is where Boston truly shines.This fatty, sugary treat abounds in the city,from hyper-chocolate scoops to the subtletiesof a vanilla bean.

As someone who will gulp milk in anyguise and who thrills at consuming sugarpackets at diners, I had trouble putting on therobes of an ice cream snob. But, lately, I havelearned to tell the cream from the crud. Hereare the choicest of the choices:

Emack and Bolio’s 290 Newbury Street, BostonPrice of a scoop: $3.15Closest T: Hynes (Green Line)Other locations: 1663 Beacon Street, Brook-line

Emack and Bolio’s is a store draped in aswirl of bright colors, with visions of the cos-mic 1970s oozing across the walls. The shop,with the best ice cream collection in town,offers flavors like “I Want You to Want Me:Passion Fruit Sorbet.” The tastes sail in, trueto their glowing names, and the ice cream isthick, perfectly flavored, and surely stockedwith copious amounts of milkfat and sugar.The choices aren’t huge: there are only 16kinds of ice cream. What is lacking in sheernumbers of flavors, though, is made up for increativity. There is “Lucuma,” the fruit of theIncas, and “Monster Mash,” complete withcaramel, M & M’s, Whoppers, Oreos, andpeanuts. The best of all is “Chocolate Addic-tion” — a rich chocolate dessert swirled withperfectly sized chocolate chunks and browniebits. The only unfortunate part of Emack &Bolio’s is that there is nowhere to sit exceptin an awkwardly placed bench outside thestore.

Christina’s1255 Cambridge Street, CambridgePrice of a scoop: $2.70

Closest T: Central or Kendall (Red Line)A cozy, wood-paneled establishment in

Inman Square, Christina’s is well-aware of itsreputation: magazine covers from a slew oflocal and national publications cloak the wallbehind the counter, each lauding the icecream made on-site. The product, after all, isgood: not too thick and not too thin, with anappropriate balance of cream and sugar. Thebest choices here are the Japanese-inspiredscoops: “Green Tea,” “Adzuki Bean,” or“Ginger.” On a quiet afternoon, the widetables are a perfect spot for contemplating thecurrent art show; on busy evenings, patronslinger outside the orange-painted storefront,savoring each bite of this quietly delectabletreat.

Salumeria Toscana272 Hanover Street, BostonPrice of two scoops: $3.50Closest T: Haymarket (Orange Line)

Gelato — the Italian version of ice cream,made with skim milk — is a healthy sort oftreat compared to the cannolis and tiramisusdoled out in the North End. On a little standjutting out from a quaint Italian grocery storeis the unassuming blue sign: “Bindi World’sBest Gelato.” Here, in an array of pastels, arethe simple choices of fragola, limone,vaniglia, and more. The gelato is subtle andpure, a light dance across the taste buds, andthere is no stinginess: two scoops for the priceof one, complete with a delicately crispycookie. There is nowhere to sit, but HanoverStreet is a lively few blocks devoted to food,food, and more food. The street is also fun towander along, savoring the scents of this tinyItaly.

Toscanini’s899 Main Street, CambridgePrice of a scoop: $3.10Closest T: Central (Red Line)Other locations: 1310 Massachusetts Avenue,Cambridge

Everyone remembers Toscanini’s. In theMidwest, where there is not ice cream somuch as custard (that is, a heart attack on acone), former Cambridge dwellers will glow

when they recall the homemade delight ofToscanini’s: the mouth-watering concoctionsof eclectic flavors served within the calmambiance of the Main Street shop. The icecream at Tosci’s is, after all, rich but not over-whelming, and the tastes capture their titles(“Ginger Snap Molasses” or “Cake Batter” or“Khalfee,” which is cardamom and nuts)without blasting away the senses. But Iarrived here too eager after all the hype. Tome, Toscanini’s serves just ice cream, thestore is just a pleasant refuge from the land oftechnology, and the flavors are just a little tooquiet — I crave the ostentatious bursts that aname like “Belgian Chocolate” implies. Theprices, too, offend my strip-mall roots.Toscanini’s, though, is not to be missed, ifonly for the cultural literacy of Massachusetts’favorite ice cream.

Herrell’s Renaissance Café155 Brighton Avenue, AllstonPrice of a scoop: $2.40Closest T: Harvard Avenue (Green Line B)Other locations: 15 Dunster Street, Cam-bridge

Herrell’s Allston outlet dishes out plentyof choices with its vintage-style ambiance.From cheap breakfasts to chocolate-dippedice cream balls, from the non-fat, low-carb,de-lactosed “Wow Cow” to exotic teas, Her-rell’s rightly calls itself a café, not an exclu-sive vendor of frozen dairy treats. The icecream, though, has all the necessary features,and the hosts are willing to please: “We have30 flavors of ice cream and 30 different top-pings, and whatever you want we can do,”said one worker. Herrell’s is a good place tosettle in, a pleasant café for an afternoon chator a chance to play with the magnetic poetryon the wall. But don’t cross the river expect-ing to be blasted away by taste-bud explodingbutterfat.

J.P. Licks352 Newbury Street, BostonPrice of a scoop: $3.10Closest T: Hynes (Green Line)Other locations: 674 Center Street, JamaicaPlain; 311 Harvard Street, Brookline

J.P. Licks is an ice cream shop set out inhonor of the sacred beast of the industry: theentire counter at the Newbury outpost is craft-ed to resemble a huge cow, and a neon pinklight in the shape of an udder shines downfrom the wall. The theme here is milk-fat,richly employed to produce an overwhelmingtreat. The flavors absolutely holler: “WhiteCoffee” pounds forth in an espresso-poweredexperience and “Chocolate” ice cream pul-sates with theobromine. It is an all-encom-passing consumption: too much, too hard, toobusy. Luckily, they will sell their kiddie cupto adults, which provide the total experienceand allow for a quick escape from this shrineto the dairy world.

Slugger’s Dugout254 Quincy Market, BostonPrice of a scoop: $3.95Closest T: State Street (Blue/Orange Line)

Slugger’s Dugout, a hideout in the midst ofthe tourist-infested Quincy market, is perfect-ly epitomized by its cotton candy flavored icecream, with its syrupy, sugar-chunked taste, itis a hard portion to finish. Everything at Slug-ger’s is unsurprisingly devoted to baseball andits associated artificially-flavored treats. Thereare bats, gloves, and autographed photographsdraping the interior, and kids slurping downmelting ice cream on cones. The experiencehere is the sugar; far better, though, would beto save the money for an equally high-pricedtreat at an actual Sox game.

Other spots to fix your ice cream urgeBen & Jerry’s: 36 J.F.K. Street, Cam-

bridge; 100 Cambridgeside Place, Cambridge;174 Newbury Street, Boston; 20 Park Plaza,Boston; Prudential Center, Boston

JB Scoops: 2 South Station, BostonSteve’s Ice Cream: 120 Faneuil Hall Mar-

ket Place, BostonTemptations on Devonshire: 295 Devon-

shire Street, BostonBaskin Robbins: 1 Bow Street, Cam-

bridge; 616 Massachusetts Avenue, Cam-bridge; 244 Elm Street, Somerville; 1020Commonwealth Avenue, Boston; 1 Broad-way, Cambridge

RESTAURANT GUIDE

The (Ice) Cream of the CropThe Tech’s Guide to the Best of Boston’s Premium Ice Cream

June 4, 2004 ARTS THE TECH Page 9

By Jessica O. Young

I Used to Miss Him… But My Aim Is Improv-ing: Not Your Ordinary Breakup SurvivalGuideBy Allison James241 pages, Adams Media Corporation, $12.95

Y ou can only be called a diva so manytimes before you want to throw up.Let’s go with three times. “I Used toMiss Him” accomplishes this amaz-

ing feat — by the end of page ix: Table ofContents. The 241 pages that follow don’texactly break the pattern, either. Yes, I knowthat I’m a “Goddess of Divadom,” and yes, Iam the leader of my “glam posse,” but to seephrases like these in a book marketed to adultsis just, well, embarrassing.

Allison James has it right; “I Used toMiss Him” is certainly not your ordinarybreakup survival guide. It’s bad. Downrightbad. Just. Really. Bad. Unlike movie classicssuch as “The Attack of The Killer Toma-toes,” and even some from the “Godzilla”series, “I Used to Miss Him” does not knowit’s bad, and it certainly doesn’t revel in itsgrade B status. James takes herself — aswell as the offensive, sometimes illegaladvice she doles out — so seriously that thebook becomes less a guide and moretragedy.

“Chapter One: Face the End withCourage” seeks to pave the road. The prob-lem is that the road doesn’t go anywhere.James offers her readers the list, “End-of-the-Line Signs,” which she suggests we“copy and hang it on [our] refrigerators.Commit it to memory. Pass it out to all of[our] girlfriends.” The signs, much like therest of the book, are so stereotypical thatthey are useless. “He says things like, ‘Whydo girls care about weddings? Do they justwant some stupid piece of crap on their fin-ger?’”

My guess is that no one has ever utteredthis phrase. Why? Because it’s ridiculous, andanyone who would say that is in no position to

do so. Thus the barrage of unhelpful advicecontinues, as the reader learns “The SassyRules,” how to get through “The EmotionalStorm,” and the finer points of “NavigatingExtreme Schmuckdum.” If not for this review,I would have set down the book, and put it togood use as a coaster. It would be the secondbook ever that I have put down and the firstbook that I vehemently dislike.

Unfortunately, I had to continue reading.For a brief moment, I hoped that the bookwould pick up, and that the first chapter hadbeen some literary form of survival of thefittest — that only thoseworthy enough to knowthe priceless secrets con-tained in chapters twothrough ten would makeit there.

So I pressed on andbegan “Chapter Two:Lose The Guy, Keep TheJewelry.” I barely madeit through this chapterbut managed somehow. Igave the book the benefitof the doubt, and started“Chapter Three: Grieve-aLike a Diva.” Needless tosay, my hope of Jamesredeeming herself wasfutile.

By the time I got tothe end of the book, Istarted thinking thatmaybe it was all a joke.“Chapter Eight: DéjàVu,” seemed too aptlytitled to be a coincidence.I swore that I’d read theadvice only a hundredpages earlier — in thesame exact words. Usual-ly reusing your ownmaterial is a sign to stop.Yet James just kept ongoing.

To be fair, “I Used to Miss Him” is notentirely bad. The title alone deserves anaward, and the blurbs are laugh-out-loudfunny. The author’s boyfriend states: “I reallywish I wasn’t dating her. I’m probably goingto marry her just because I’m afraid of whatmight happen if I call it off.” Moreover, thebook is filled with humorous quotations (thinkMark Twain’s “Clothes make the man. Nakedpeople have little or no influence on soci-ety.”).

Sadly, the book is also filled with “SassyScoops” (think “Always pay debts to your ex

in full in shiny pennies. Borrow a large truck,load up that $1,000 you owe him, and dump iton his lawn.”) and perky little tips to make hislife a living hell (“Serve him a prune cakewith a cup of coffee, a chocolate-laxativemuffin, or any variation of these two stomach-churning treats.”). Whoa.

James certainly has good intentions withthis book. She wants to help the millions ofwomen going through painfully cinematicbreak-ups get over the men that ruined theirlives. She encourages women to band togetherand make “that bastard” sorry for every movehe’s ever made in his life. She gives advice ondestroying his property, self-confidence, andfamily relations. Unfortunately, James’ mes-sage of “you can make it through this, you’reamazing,” is lost in a sea of cliched tips givenevery way, several times, in nauseating lan-guage.

You’ve been warned.

BOOK REVIEW

Warning: Divas AheadAllison James’ Relationship Guide Filled with Nonsensical Advice

SYLVIA YANG—THE TECH

Chris L. Follett ’07 sings a verseof the “Engineer’s Drinking Song” during the Chorallaries’ springconcert Saturday, May 15, in 10-250.

Page 10 THE TECH ARTS June 4, 2004

By Kevin DerASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR

“Hooray for Hollywood” Film NightBoston PopsJohn Williams, conductorSymphony HallMay 18, 19, and 21, 8 p.m.

W hen I found myself at SymphonyHall on a night during finals week,I was giddy with anticipationabout the concert I was about to

experience. It is the opportunity of a lifetimeto play audience to a man whose music isamong the most beautiful in the world. In thewords of Steven Spielberg, “He can take amoment and just uplift it. He can take a tearthat’s just forming in your eye and he cancause it to drip.” He speaks, of course, of noneother than the master of film music, JohnWilliams.

Williams typically conducts several filmmusic concerts annually in late May with theBoston Pops. For instance, I was able toattend a concert two years ago that celebratedhis 70th birthday. This year, the concerts weremainly designed as tributes to other film com-posers, specifically Bernard Hermann andHenry Mancini.

My exposure to Hermann’s music has been

limited, having seen very few of the films hehas scored, one of which is “Citizen Kane.”The only others I’ve heard are all results ofHermann’s collaboration with Alfred Hitch-cock, most notably “Psycho” and “North byNorthwest.” It was a pleasure then to hear forthe first time music by Hermann performedlive.

The first third of the program was com-prised of Hermann’s music. “The DeathHunt,” from “On Dangerous Ground,” is aforeboding, intense piece featuring horns,which are required to play rapid-fire notesfrom start to finish. This is one of the mostdifficult brass parts I’ve ever heard, and thePops orchestra hit it. I also got to hear “TheInquirer” from “Citzen Kane” next — afavorite of mine. The music from this filmwas apparently Hermann’s first film score.

This first part of the concert gave me aglimpse of Williams’ conducting style. Inter-estingly, I got the sense that for an action-packed piece like “The Death Hunt,” he likesto command the orchestra with the slightestmovements of his baton, whereas for a slower,quieter piece, he is a much more physical andvisibly involved conductor.

Music from Williams’ scores for “HarryPotter” followed, which I was most looking

forward to. “Fawkes’s Theme” is one of hismost beautiful themes, and it was amazing tohear it played live — I was completely sweptaway by it. A woodwind arrangement of“Nimbus 2000” was well played, but, follow-ing “Fawkes,” it was rather a letdown. I alsowould have preferred a full orchestral version.“Harry’s Wondrous World” brought me back,and it was nothing short of spectacular.

Concertmistress Tamara Smirnova thendazzled with violin solos in a number ofpieces, such as the theme from Williams’ “Farand Away” — which I’d never heard before— along with outstanding excerpts from “Fid-dler on the Roof.” I didn’t realize the “Tango”that was to be played was actually the Tango— you know, the famous one heard in themovie “True Lies.” (It’s actually from “Scentof a Woman.”) Lively and dance inducing, it’snow become one of my favorite violin pieces.

Most notably, Smirnova performed thetheme from “Schindler’s List,” which isincredibly haunting and beautiful. While itwas wonderful to hear it, I have to say that Ireally prefer Itzhak Perlman’s performanceof this piece. Smirnova took excessiveritards, which, although they were supposedto be for expressive purposes, seemed a bitexcessive and detracted from the flow in sev-

eral places.The Mancini tribute followed, putting me

back into a lively mood with themes from“Pink Panther” and “Peter Gunn,” the latter ofwhich I was hearing for the first time. The titlepiece from “Days of Wine and Roses” —again completely unknown to me — was aquiet, incredibly gorgeous piece with a hint ofjazz. One of Mancini’s most beloved pieces,“Moon River” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,”was a joy to hear. I never realized how beauti-ful it was until I heard it used in a “Sex andthe City” episode. It also is now one of myfavorites.

Even though I went to this concert to seeWilliams and hear his music performed, a nicebyproduct was hearing a number of outstand-ing film music pieces I never knew existed. Atthe end, I was tempted to shout out and begfor new music from “Harry Potter and thePrisoner of Azkaban,” but chickened out.Apparently, rumor has it that one man onceshouted to Williams at the end of a concert,“For the love of God, play Superman!”Instead, the maestro ended up treating us tothe “Raider’s March” from “Indiana Jones”and the flying theme from “E.T.” Not a badway to end a concert, or a semester, for thatmatter.

CONCERT REVIEW

Boston Pops Dazzles With Hollywood Music NightJohn Williams Conducts an Eclectic Tribute to Henry Mancini and Bernard Hermann

By Chikako SassaSTAFF WRITER

The Elephant, Your MajestyWritten by Sa'dallah WannousTranslated by Hessah Munif and Basel Y. Al-Naffouri GDirected by James Dai GBuildings 7 and 10May 24 and 25, 6:30 p.m.

Q uestion: How do you put an elephantin the Infinite Corridor in threesteps? Answer: The director andproducer plan for two months, the

cast and crew rehearse for four days andnights, and you amble along the corridorbetween Lobbies 7 and 10 and watch for 30minutes as members of MIT FIN, a newgroup devoted to bringing art with Islamicorigins to campus, draw you into a worldwhere a tyrannical king’s pampered pachy-derm threatens to come crush you like an eggat any minute.

The workshop production of “The Ele-phant, Your Majesty” carved out a creativespace for itself from the humdrum architec-ture of everyday life, instilling newfoundwonder and appreciation for the marbledchambers of MIT. I felt like a member of oneof those truckloads of innocuous Asiantourists. For the roughly 30 to 40 audiencemembers each evening, the colossal columnsin Lobby 7 took on an uncanny resemblanceto elephant feet, with wailing women hidingbehind porticos. Orange confetti-bearing ele-phants and blasts of elephantine trumpetingheralded the event to unsuspecting passers-bys.

A plot too intricately contrived wouldhave easily succumbed to the unheedingchaos of life. Luckily the open-endedness ofthe script — rough-hewn by design — andthe spontaneous blocking it encouraged nego-tiated well the boundary between performa-tive and public domains. The play produced asomewhat edgy attitude of self-defense as theactors and audience members alike struggledto define our boundaries and dispel confu-sion.

The first few minutes of “The Elephant,Your Majesty” was mired in confusion, part-ly because the acoustics along the InfiniteCorridor muddled dialogues and partlybecause the text faithfully replicated thefrustrating sluggishness with which real-to-life human interactions occur. Blood anddestruction abounded in exalted exchangesbetween discombobulated townspeople —the pious, fearful, and risk-averse everymenand everywomen were referred to by num-bers in the script. They spat out the word“elephant” like poison because one such ani-

mal — the king’s malicious pet — has justcrushed a child to death. Just as often, theword “God” is invoked to rationalize thistragedy as a twist of fate. Disturbingdescriptions of spilled guts and shatteredhuman remains echoed too graphically thefatalities of war and despotic regimes in ourworld today.

As our mental image of elephants asbenign giants is warped into that of a raging,injurious behemoth, we learn that the true ele-phant in the room is the king. The plot crawlswith excruciating languidity until Zakaria(Aaron P. Moronez ’04) — the only man witha name and the strength to speak up — climbsonto a pedestal in Lobby 7 and declares thatthey go and beg their king to restrain his ele-phant. After much quibbling and rehearsing oftheir complaint, the people appear at thePalace Gates and are led into Lobby 10 wherethe king “appears” as a sonic terror, rainingdown on the crestfallen heads of his helplesssubjects with contempt and patronization.Michael Ouellette’s bitter interpretation of adeep-seated royal, jaded by luxurious crapu-lence and his power to flog, brought about aquick and merciless climax. The desperatenegotiation ends an utter defeat as the kingproclaims royal decrees to bring about moreelephants.

Through its inaugural production, MIT FINhas sought to raise awareness among the MITcommunity of creative works rooted in Islamicand Arabic traditions. “The Elephant, YourMajesty” was cherry-picked from notable con-temporary Arab plays. It was translated fromArabic into English by Basel Al-Naffouri G —with the help of his mother — and tailoredaccording to the particular constraints andopportunities of MIT by Al-Naffouri andJames Dai G. The resulting script, unique tothis production, proved somewhat lacklusterand verbose at times, but the producer’s intentto question tyranny in the face of ongoingstrife in Iraq could not have been more timely.

The directorial vision, which outfitted akingdom inside the lobbies and hallways ofBuilding 7 and 10, deserves equal praise, aswell as the group’s successful effort to meldthe use of digital media with decidedly moretime-tested histrionics — confetti, procession-al theatre, and emphasis on the use of theactors’ bodies as a way to convey emotionsand thoughts.

Woe to you if you missed “The Ele-phant.” But considering the apocalyptic con-clusion of the play and the emergence ofMIT FIN as a new assemblage of creativeminds, we just might be accosted by manymore elephants to come. “Our tale is just thebeginning.”

THEATRE REVIEW

‘Elephant’ Invades Boththe Infinite and SocietyInaugural Production Mirrors Ongoing World Events

Write reviews over the summer! arts@tt.mit.edu

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Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez plays with the crowd during an off day as his team plays the SeattleMariners on Sunday, May 30. The Red Sox went on to win the game 9-7.

2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry greets fans at Fenway Park after a Red Sox gameSunday, May 23. Kerry watched his hometown Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis makes contact with the ball during a game against theSeattle Mariners at Fenway Park, Saturday, May 29. The Red Sox went on to lose the game 4-5.

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek is congratulated as he rounds third base after hitting a three-run homer dur-ing the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, May 26. The Red Sox beat the A’s 9-6.

Boston left fielder Manny Ramirez loses his bat as he backs out of the way of an inside pitch during agame against the Baltimore Orioles Monday, May 31. The Orioles won the game 13-4.

Red Sox right fielder Gabe Kaplerchases a foul ball into the standsduring a game against the OaklandA’s Thursday, May 27. The A’sbeat the Sox 15-2, ending theSox’s five-game winning streak.

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JONATHAN WANG—THE TECH

Clockwise from top left:

Page 12 THE TECH June 4, 2004

June 4, 2004 THE TECH Page 13

Clockwise from top left:

Keith Lockhart conducts boththe orchestra and the audiencein a performance of MIT’s almamater, “In Praise of MIT.”

Former MIT President Paul E.Gray ’54 celebrates his 50threunion by visiting with friendsduring the intermission.

Red-jacketed alumni mingle dur-ing the intermission.

Images by Norman Rockwell areprojected onto a screen as thePops per form “The FourFreedoms Symphony” byBennett.

Symphony Hall is a sea of redjackets during Tech Night at thePops last night.

Photography by Daniel Bersak.

Tech Nightat the ...

MIT takes overSymphony Hall

The Tech

Trio by Emezie Okorafor

COM CSJune 4, 2004

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19

I’ve Told You,There Is No Title by Brian Loux

By Devdoot MajumdarCONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Over the last four years, life has beenrelentless in shoving lessons down my throat.But by a certain age, it must be time to stoplearning life’s lessons — they get hardwired,right? I’m just waiting for that day when mymistakes won’t be mistakes, but instead be theoutcome of someone else’s inability to deal.

But regrets are a luxury of speaking in thepast tense. The past four years at MIT havetaken me from believing that everyone has astory to believing in boring people. I havegone from being dependably genuine to beingnotoriously insincere. But that’s okay — I’vestill salvaged a few friends in all this time whomanage to find something redeeming in me.

In four years, I’ve had to e-mail countlessapologies to people in my life. Someonerecently told me that my apology e-mails weremore hackneyed than the annual Chuck Vestghetto party e-mail. But at this terminal stageof my MIT career,there’s no more historyto be written, no morehateration to be deliv-ered, no more apologiesto be sent, and no morea cappella concerts to bereviewed. It’s all blankslate from here on out.

So, to those of youwho occasionally despise my existence, I wantto apologize to you. Here’s to you MTG, UA,RingComm, Logs, Dancetroupe, men of theToons, Thetas, PBE, and all minions thereof.So, when that day comes that I’ll be sitting inyour office interviewing for a job, rememberthis last attempt at sincerity.

I came to Massachusetts for the first timefour years ago as an insecure but hopeful 17-year-old. At 21, I’ve turned into the woodenIndian statue from the set of “Cheers,” lookingout over the wasteland of newly-deliveredhopeful and insecure personalities. I figureanyone could use a good, clean break fromanother year of Campus Preview Weekend,Fraternity Rush, and wholesale junk food atorganized “study breaks.”

And yet, I have to wonder: would life herehave been any better if we had “Finals Clubs”or “Dining Clubs” or secret societies? Would Ihave liked this place any more if there wereindeed school spirit and MIT sweatshirts andhats were more popular here than the“CBGB’s” shirt from Urban Outfitters? WouldI relish the prospect of Division I teams andan annual MIT vs. Yale game? It seems that,in hoping for a normal college education and

normal people, I’ve misled myself.This month, other graduating seniors will

be hearing from the likes of Samuel L.Jackson and Bill Cosby, Condi and Kof i,Trump and Nader. But there is somethingoddly appropriate about our choice of the NIHdirector, an academic. Part of it is that we’reall scientists or engineers. But the other partof it, difficult as it is to admit, is that a saccha-rine and pithy speech from a Trump or Cosbyis just not compatible with our education andour experiences. A big name speaker with afew canned one-liners is just too ostentatiousand gaudy to be the official farewell fromMIT. It just kind of makes sense that we’rehearing from a lesser-known academic —we’ve been conditioned to distill the world ofits artifice and ostentation.

And frankly, I’ll take vintage MIT insecurityover Ivy League arrogance any day, and I’ll eventake frats over secret societies. So, as vitriolic asI sometimes get about this Institute, I’ll miss it.

I’ll miss the hand-ful of professors whomade time for me. I’llmiss hearing the soli-tary echo of thecrosswalk chirp lateat night. I’ll miss thedaily tumult of hav-ing friends who pickat my core. I’ll even

miss my contrived sense of authority as asenior here. But the fourth lap ended twoweeks ago, and frankly, this place makes forbetter memories than present tense.

So, I’ll take what I’ve learned about bio-chemistry and fashion and social techniquesand cohabitation, and move on with my life.The years of treading recklessly and carryingno stick at all have come to an end, and it’stime to be a little less Ted Kennedy and a littlemore John McCain. That way, the only asskickings the future will bring me will be in thefigurative sense.

As for life, I hope it treats everyone well anddischarges everyone honorably, six or sevendecades from today. It’s not “have a good sum-mer” anymore, it’s just “have a good life.” Sobuckle down everyone, it’s time to make some-thing of yourselves so you can donate soon andget your name on some MIT real estate. Happysalaries to all, and to all a good flight.

This column is dedicated Eric, Anne, Paul,Mimi, Jeremy, Rachana, and Carrie Bradshawfor being the best friends life has afforded methus far. Devdoot Majumdar is a member ofthe class of 2004 and may be reached at dev-doot@alum.mit.edu.

Death by ZeitgeistEulogizing Four Years of the Institute

FEATURESPage 16 THE TECH June 4, 2004

By Ian YbarraFEATURES COLUMNIST

What’s your major? (This one’s not a prob-lem.)

So what are you gonna do with that? (Ah,there it is.)

I wish we could stomach it as a necessaryevil of graduating, but we’d be lying to our-selves. Truthfully, we’ve been dealing withthese question for four years. However, thereare two differences now: one, the exchange isinitiated with a smile and a“Congratulations!” (not so bad) and two, thequestion we hate is now laced with moreurgency, prejudice, and I-told-you-so’s thanever before (not so good).

Our gators — short for interrogators, ofcourse — come from all sorts of swamps andwalks of life. They taunt us with threats aboutthe “real world” and incessantly ask whatwe’re gonna do with these degrees of ours.

Gators talk like the purpose of higher edu-cation is to spend four years crafting a physi-cal key to unlock some magic box full ofmoney and security (as if that’s what they did).Wrong. We came to college to learn aboutourselves and others, to debate ideas of oldand new, and to draw inspiration from the artand science of it all. In the process, westrengthened ourselves for the future, whenwe will have to constantly reinvent ourselvesand create things to fulfill our desires andimprove the lives of others.

Gators imply that the majors we chose asfreshmen define our work forever. They say itlike we don’t have choice, but we chose toattend MIT rather than a trade school forexactly that reason — choice.

Still, gators frown and advise us to “berealistic.” How’s that for hypocrisy? For solong they’ve labeled us the “best and bright-est,” who could do anything we put our mindsto. Shouldn’t we be the most unrealisticdreamers of all? If we don’t dream up thereally cool stuff and make it happen, whowill?

Unfortunately, however ridiculous thequestion, we must answer. What’s my major?Materials Science and Engineering. What am Igonna do with that? I’m tempted to say,“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” or “I’m goingto become a clown. You know, polymers havedone wondrous things for clown shoes, make-up, and tricycle horns.” But I usually play itstraight. I say I want to be an author andspeaker when I grow up. What about? Amongother things, helping young people gain confi-dence enough to truthfully answer punk ques-tions like these.

Now, if you’re like me and your careerplans don’t match your majors in a way thatyour gators are used to, how do you get themoff your back? Tell them about your friendswho did things completely unrelated to theirmajors, or take your pick of executives orpoliticians who studied art history as under-grads.

Or tell them about Mitch Tyson ’75, whobecame former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas’sscience adviser, CEO of PRI Automation, andmost recently, chairman of AmberWaveSystems. To top it off, he really is one of the“nicest guys you’ll ever meet.” Swell, butthere were points when even Tyson was vul-nerable to gators.

After one and one-half years as an under-graduate physics major, Tyson decided he did-n’t want to be a physicist (uh, oh). Then he seta new goal of impacting science and publicpolicy. After earning his S.B. in Physics, heearned S.M. degrees in Nuclear Engineeringand Political Science on his way to work forTsongas.

Years later, he made another switch thatgators wouldn’t like. He ventured into the pri-vate sector. Tyson said he made the difficulttransition by emphasizing his skills that weretransferable and hoping someone would say,“He’s a smart kid. He’ll pick it up.”Transferable skills and intelligence. The for-mula may sound simple, but it’s one that we,too, can use to land the jobs we really want.That is, if we have the guts.

Perhaps your fear of gators has causedyou to say that, for now, you’ll take a safetyjob and then, in a few years, you’ll do whatyou really want to do. Tyson’s thoughts:“You’d be surprised by how many peoplestart in jobs they hate and stay in jobs theyhate.”

Please, don’t let your desire to appease thegators cause you to upset yourself. We’vedealt with them for years. Their teeth just looka bit sharper this time around.

And remember, when you’re talking to anundergraduate in the future, don’t ask thegators’ favorite question. Instead, ask “Whatdo you want to do with that brilliant mind ofyours?” Better yet, don’t ask anything. Offersomething. Offer her a job. Wouldn’t that bean awesome graduation gift! Worst-case sce-nario: she’ll turn you down. Then you willhave given her the gift of conf idence —something she could use to fend off the realgators.

Ian Ybarra is a member of the class of2004 and may be reached atianybarra@alum.mit.edu.

What’s Next?Answering the Question We Hate

By Rose GrabowskiFEATURES COLUMNIST

Living in the age of electronic appliancesfor the kitchen, very few people make breadcompletely by hand anymore. Most homemak-ers are intimidated by all the stages and com-plexities, and therefore proxy a bread machinefor good old-fashioned elbow grease. That, orthey resort to supermarket loafs that wouldmake any Frenchman scoff.

The average college student, having nei-ther funds nor space for such a domesticdevice and neither time nor experienceenough to learn about other methods, is rarelywilling to try making bread himself. Makingbread actually isn’t that confusing if you justknow what is going on with the molecules —once you know what is happening inside thebread, all of the steps make sense and aremuch more clear to follow.

The first step in bread creation is simply tomix together the yeast, flour, and water. Asthese are blended, gluten proteins begin tounfold and form a water-protein complex.Damaged starch grains absorb some water andswell a small amount. Starch enzymes breakdown a portion of the damaged starch intosugars, and yeast feeds on that sugar, multi-plying and expelling both carbon dioxide andalcohol.

Before there were small packets of “ActiveDry” yeast you could buy in the grocery store,people would just combine the flour and waterand let the concoction sit in a dark place fordays. The natural yeasts in the air would getinto the mixture and replicate themselves, butsince the level and types of yeasts in the airare varied from day to day and place to place,that scheme gives unpredictable results. Youcan try this at home if you like, but be pre-pared for some false starts; i.e. slightly foulbaked goods that you wouldn’t even subjectyour roommate to. If you’d rather stick tomodernized home bread, get the packets orjars of yeast at the market.

After these f irst basic ingredients haveintermingled, the dough becomes too thick tostir with a spoon and so it should be dumpedout onto a surface to be kneaded. Kneadingaerates the dough, critical to having a fluffyand light loaf, and further develops gluten.Gluten is both plastic, changing shape underpressure, and elastic, returning to its originalshape after that pressure has been eliminated.This balance means that bread dough canexpand as carbon dioxide is produced andexpanding, but will also resist stretchingenough to keep the loaf from bursting orstretching too thin. So gluten is what makesbread spongy and chewy — qualities general-

ly valued in bread products.The aeration of the dough is critical because

the yeast itself does not create new air pockets,only contributes carbon dioxide to existingpockets. So kneading, folding the dough overand over again, drastically increases the num-ber of air pockets. Kneading also encouragescross linkages of the gluten network, strength-ening the dough and improving the elasticity.The extended molecules form sheets of alignedstrings, leading to a smoother, finer texture.This step can take up to 15 minutes and seemtedious, but is extremely important and a goodway to get buff forearms.

The third step in bread making is the ris-ing, where the dough is set aside and covered,preventing water loss and contamination. Thegluten continues to develop and the yeast fer-ments, multiplying cells, expanding the gaspockets with carbon dioxide, and releasingminor compounds that give bread that“yeasty” flavor. The dough doubles in size atabout the time when the gluten is stretched toits maximum elasticity, and so you punch itdown (yes, literally punch down) and let it risefor a short time more. This relieves stress onthe gluten, divides the gas pockets, and redis-tributes the yeast for a more consistent dough.

Finally, the dough is placed into a pan orshaped into a loaf and let to rise one final

short time, then put into a hot oven for bak-ing. In the f irst stage of baking, the yeastquickly produces a lot more carbon dioxide,which expands the air pockets and thereforethe bread loaf. In the second stage, the yeastis killed as the dough reaches 140°F inside,the gluten coagulates, and starch gels to formthe final semi-solid foam state of the loaf.

In the last quarter of baking, browningreactions occur on the bread surface, improv-ing color, flavor, and texture. The breads youbuy at Star Market in cheap plastic bags tendto have very weak crusts, but a good heartyItalian or French loaf usually has a nice thickbrown, chewy outside. This brown crust is val-ued by bread artisans, but is too often shunnedby our Wonder Bread-ized American culture.

The critical steps of making bread are real-ly just the initial mixing, the kneading ofdough until firm and tough, rising, and thenbaking. It’s that simple, and since you knowwhat is happening inside the loaf you canproperly judge the product of each stage asyou are doing it. And if your first few triesaren’t a huge success, just remember that afew cups of generic flour, a pack of yeast, andsome tap water weren’t that expensive anyway.

Rose Grabowski is a member of the classof 2005 and may be reached atroseg@mit.edu.

Gourmet GeekLet Them Eat Bread

In hoping for a normal col-lege education and normalpeople, I’ve misled myself.

DEF-TUV-TUV-OPER-OPER

June 4, 2004 FEATURES THE TECH Page 17

By Danchai MekadenaumpornFEATURES COLUMNIST

I think that I’ve been confused about femi-nism and its relationship to masculinity.

I used to think that feminism was in directopposition to men. It seemed if you were afeminist you were automatically labeled anti-male and you thought women would be muchbetter off if men had never existed. While Iwon’t deny there are probably women outthere who think like that, I haven’t yet met awoman like that who called herself a feminist.

After looking feminism up in the dictio-nary, I found two definitions:

1: the theory of the political, economic,and social equality of the sexes

2: organized activity on behalf of women’srights and interests

I’ve met many men who thought feminismwas what I described earlier. In fact, I thinkmost men I know would steer clear of anyself-avowed feminist for worry of beingattacked for being a man.

I don’t know why men are so scared. Afterattending events like the Vagina Monologuesin February and Take Back the Night a coupleof weeks ago, I’ve realized society is set up sowomen should be scared. One in four womenwho attend college will be raped, the vastmajority of women who are raped know whotheir attacker is, and one in four women areabused or assaulted by an intimate partner.

We live in a society that is not only danger-ous outside of the home for women, but dan-gerous inside it as well. In this world, we needsomething like feminism to bring these issuesto light. Although women are steadily climbingthe social ladder, men still do things to hindertheir mobility. We hurt them, we abuse them,and we rape them. Then we blame them for it.

The traditional view of masculinity is of astrong (physically and emotionally), indepen-dent, proud, and self-assured man. That does-n’t sound too bad. However, it does come withsome caveats: we assumed the role of protec-tor, we assumed women were of lesser stature,and we assumed that any sign of weaknesswas seen as feminine.

As men, we need to drop the negativeaspects of manhood and focus on the positives:confidence, self-assurance, and independence.We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be threatenedby women’s upward mobility, but realize that it’s

about time they take their place as our equals.We shouldn’t define weakness as feminine. Weshould start to see women not as objects, but aspeople. It makes it too easy to take advantage ofsomeone when you see them as something less.We need to start taking responsibility for someof our actions, but we needn’t be apologetic orguilt-ridden. What men need to focus on is howto change things; apologizing while being com-placent gets nothing done.

We need to start changing the traditionalviews of masculinity to fit the changing times.A little can go a long way in this case. The firstthing men can do is be aware of their use of lan-guage and to talk to others about the implica-tions of language as well. Words like “bitch,”“whore,” and “slut” are dehumanizing and makeit easier to look at women as objects. Also, don’tsay a test “raped” you. There are people whohave been through that experience who mightbe very sensitive about the use of that word.

We need to be confident enough to speakup when we see an injustice. Many men willonly seriously consider the words of othermen. Let’s get away from a culture that blamesthe victim of sexual assault or violence andfocusing on what we can do to support them.They did not ask to be assaulted.

We need to start realizing that the womenbeing hurt are people you know. Chances areyou’ve met a rape survivor. Chances are some-one you care deeply about has been affected insome way by sexual violence. Men need torealize these women are our mothers, our sis-ters, our daughters, our friends, and ourlovers. We need to realize if one of our lovedones is violated, so are we.

One of the biggest things we can do to rede-fine masculinity is to start talking. The biggestbarriers are built by misunderstandings. Maybeif we make the effort to listen to each other, wecan learn to bridge the gaps that inspire femi-nism and this discussion of masculinity. Maybeif we make the effort to listen to each other, wewon’t have to worry about rape.

Now I know feminism isn’t about beinganti-male and being masculine isn’t aboutbeing anti-female. They are both about thesame things: equality and mutual respect. It’sabout time we start changing.

Danchai Mekadenaumporn is a member ofthe class of 2005 and may be reached at dan-chai@mit.edu.

Sex and the SafeRideReclaiming Masculinity

By Akshay PatilFEATURES EDITOR

The real world is a scary place. Ifyou’re feeling lazy and don’t do an assign-ment, they don’t flunk you, they fire you.If it’s 4 a.m. and there’s no way you canget something done in time, you can’t justwalk down the hall and bug that girl inyour class to just maybe peak at her solu-tions. Size twelve Courier font with extralarge margins is no longer going to cut itand a large number of us are going toreport to the office dressed “business casu-al” after four or more years of taking class-es in a place where some people don’teven bother with shoes.

If you, like me, spent four years in adormitory, frat, sorority, or independentliving group, weekend boredom will nolonger be resolv-able by steppingout into your hallto go visit some-one else. Heat,electricity, andhigh-bandwidthinternet are nolonger free and a static IP address will behard to come by (because I needs my staticIP). If you’re lucky, you might have in-house laundry machines, but there’s a dis-tinct possibility you’ll be hauling yourdirty career-fair t-shirts around to the locallaundromat in a career-fair laundry bag.

The time has come to actually learnsocial skills. The giant penguin suit has tostay in the closet and you’ll need to learnhow to dress and talk in ways that areinteresting and attractive to members ofthe opposite sex who probably haven’tconsumed as many beers as you’re used to.No longer will you be able to go to clubsand use casual pick up lines like “Hey, didyou get #17 on the problem set?” or “Sohow’d you do on the test?”

The bathrooms no longer clean them-selves, your iTunes shared list will soon beempty, you can’t use L.A.M.P. (not thatyou could anyways), and free food nolonger grows on trees. Well, ok, fine, foodwill grow on trees, but not with free warmrolls on the side. The Z-Center is no longerfree (not that it really was to begin with),

you’ll have to buy things with real money(no parent-fueled TechCash), and you can’tsteal furniture from abandoned rooms.

There’s no such thing as summer vaca-tion or winter and spring breaks. Asstrange as it may seem, the rest of theworld doesn’t celebrate Patriot’s Day, andthey certainly don’t take the day off to bar-becue and watch people run around. Alltoo soon, you might actually find yourselfworking for a Sloanie or (even worse) aHarvard graduate.

On the other hand, you might moveaway to a place where the weather isn’t aserratic as a pseudorandom generator. Workwill usually stay at work instead of follow-ing you home and throwing pebbles atyour window at night. Depending on whatyou set off to do in life, you might actually

be earning money— and not just thechump change youget for sittingbehind your dorm’sdesk sorting mailand pushing a but-ton every four min-

utes — real money.When somebody asks you to do some-

thing, you no longer have to say “What’sthe point?” Architects will design buildingsthat will actually be built. Computer scien-tists will write software that will be impos-sible to use and loaded with “features.”Aero-astro-ists will colonize Mars andcrash space stations into large bodies ofwater. Pre-meds will… stay in school for areally long time but might one day discoverthe thrill of throwing away their coloredpens and actually saving someone’s life.

There’s a big, crazy, scary world outthere. It’s populated by people who’venever heard of MIT, don’t care what class-es you took there, or what you got on theSAT. It’s full of places to discover, thingsto build, people to help. It’s all a bit intimi-dating, but for once in our lives it’s reallyours for the taking. Finally.

So don’t mess up. No pressure or any-thing.

Akshay Patil is a member of the class of2004 and may be reached atpatil@mit.edu.

Positive SinkingJust Boil to Make Syrup

The time has come to actually learn social skills.

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A family of hawks has taken up residence in a tree on Massachusetts Avenue outside Building 9.The birds have been a minor sensation on campus, and have at times attracted crowds of onlook-ers, a live Web cast, and a police guard.

Above: A baby hawk stretches its wingsBelow: The baby sits on a branch in a tree near its nest.Photography by Grant Jordan.

Vallay said. “The number changesevery day” because of incomingfreshmen declining enrollment andupperclassmen canceling housing,she said.

The housing cancellations aresomewhat balanced by studentswho decide that they need housing.“We also have some studentsreturning from leaves of absencethat we need to house,” Vallay said.Additionally, “we have studentscoming from England who are par-ticipating in” the Cambridge-MITExchange.

While the f inal number ofcrowded spaces should be lowerthan it is now, “it is going to causean issue with housing,” she said.

Overcrowding usually not an issueThe admissions office’s target of

1,030 students would have overfilledthe dormitories by approximately 90students. Because of the cancella-tions in housing, this would haveresulted in little or less actualcrowding, Vallay said.

“You always want to open withover 100 percent capacity becauseyou’re never as full in the dorms asyou are on opening day,” Vallaysaid. “There will be people whohave confirmed and then cancel it.People will leave, move off cam-

pus, move into an FSILG, or gradu-ate at the end of fall term,” shesaid.

While “there’s a degree of over-fullness that’s comfortable,” thisyear’s class size of nearly 1,100 stu-dents is expected to exceed thehousing capacity even after thewaves of cancellations, she said.

Committee to find solutionFor the past several months, a

feasibility group under Larry G.Benedict, the dean for student life,has been working to determinewhether a new dormitory should bebuilt, Clay said. “A dorm would stillbe some years away,” he said.“There’s no way to get a dorm up inshort order.”

“The process of getting a newdorm would be a plan presented thatwould have to be approved by theBuilding Committee and theCorporation and you have to comeup with the money and so on and soforth,” Clay said. “We’re talkingyears before we’ll be able to turn onnew housing,” he said.

The admissions office will nottarget smaller class sizes to allevi-ate crowding, Clay said. “That’snot an immediate solution any-ways. We already have, in thepipeline, a class size of 1,100 andwe’re above what we projected forthis year.”

“It’s not wise policy to drag classsizes up and down. That makes forodd configurations,” Clay said. “Idon’t think dropping the class size isa reasonable solution. I think thelong-term solution is to get morehousing,” he said.

An immediate solution has notbeen found, but Clay says that hewill help the crowding problem.

“We are going to do somethingabout it,” Clay said. “I don’t knowquite we’re going to do so I can’t tellyou what that's going to be, but Idon’t anticipate that level of crowd-ing in September,” he said.

FSILG vacancies not to be usedWhile allowing freshmen to live

in fraternities, sororities, and inde-pendent living groups would helpalleviate crowding, given the pro-jected 340 empty beds in FSILGsnext year, a return to this system isnot under consideration.

“That’s not going to happen,freshmen off-campus,” Clay said. “Ittook us several years to switch and Idon’t think we want to, in the nextseveral weeks or months, changeback,” he said.

“The aim of the policy was toprovide an academic orientation andintroduction for freshmen under thesupervision of the housemasters,”Clay said.

Financial burdens on FSILGs

continue to worsen as the numberof empty beds increase. MIT willcontinue to support FSILGs finan-cially in the last year of the three-year transition plan, Clay said.“We’re not giving up on transi-tion.”

The financial troubles will notend with the funding and nothinghad been decided about further sup-port. “We’re working on that,” Claysaid. “That’s a separate problem”from overcrowding, he said. ManyFSILGs “had problems even whenfreshmen lived in them.”

“I admit that freshmen on cam-pus exacerbated the problem, but itcertainly didn’t cause it,” he said.

Dorms not as full as in 2001–2002Currently, with 919 new vacan-

cies in undergraduate housing (456from the class of 2004, 215 fromthe classes of 2005 and 2006, and248 from the Class of 2007), nocrowding at all this year, and anincoming class size of approximate-ly 1,090, the number of freshmenwill exceed the number of freespaces by 171.

Assuming that some roomswould be created from loungespaces, some doubles would becrowded into triples, and some sin-gles into doubles, more than twicethat many students will live incrowded rooms, given current num-

bers.Crowding this year should not be

as significant as in previous years,Vallay said. For 2001–2002, thenumber of freshmen over the capac-ity of the housing system was 200,even after the summer, she said.

“That was the year we had toturn New House doubles to quads. Itwas very tight,” Vallay said. But “itis safe to say that it won’t be likethat” this year.

Where to crowd chosen by chart“For many years now, there has

been a chart of crowding,” Vallaysaid. “If we need to crowd, we knowwhich buildings have the bathroomcapacity.”

Some considerations for spaceand bathroom availability must betaken into account. For example, “ifthere’s one bathroom on the hall, wedon’t want to stick an extra five peo-ple in there,” she said.

In “Simmons, for example, youcan’t fit an extra set of furniture intoa room,” Random Hall does nothave enough bathrooms per floor toaccommodate extra students, and in“Senior House, the rooms aresmall,” Vallay said.

“Typically the buildings that canbe crowded are Baker, Burton-Conner, East Campus, McCormick,New, Next, and MacGregor,” Vallaysaid.

Page 18 THE TECH June 4, 2004

Admins Don’t Have Immediate Solution for CrowdingCrowding, from Page 1

LGC HasElections,SuccessfulRush

By Ray C. HeASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

A total of 55 people joined thefive independent living groups thisyear. In addition, the Living GroupCouncil has elected new officers.

Epsilon Theta received ninepledges, Fenway House receivedf ive pledges, pika received 16pledges, Student House received 12pledges, and The Women’sIndependent Living Group received13 pledges, according to a pressrelease from the LGC.

Compared to the InterfraternityCouncil average of 9.8 initiates perfraternity, the ILGs averagedapproximately the same with anaverage of 11 new members perILG.

Some new members in the ILGsare part of the Cambridge-MITExchange or are study-abroad stu-dents, including one in ET, three inpika, four in Student House, and onein WILG.

Newly-elected LGC off icersinclude Claudia E. Steadman ’05 forspeaker, Trevor D. McKee G formoderator, Robert H. Speer ’06 forsecretary, Andrew J. Morten ’05 fortreasurer, and Susannah M.Dorfman ‘05 and David S. Glasser‘06 as rush chairs.

The LGC has not met with itsnew officers since the election, soplans for the coming year will notbe decided until it meets in the fall,Steadman said.

This space donated by The Tech

By Keith J. WinsteinSENIOR EDITOR

MIT sued ImClone Systems onMay 4, alleging that the company’srecently-approved cancer drug wasthe product of a line of genetically-engineered cells that infringed anMIT patent. The lawsuit was filed atthe request of Repligen Corp., aWaltham, Mass. pharmaceuticalcompany that licensed MIT’s patentand will be paying for the lawsuit.

On the same day, MIT also suedDispozo Products Inc. of FountainInn, SC, a manufacturer of dispos-able plastic plates and cutlery. Thatlawsuit — filed at the request of anMIT spinoff, Trexel Inc. of Woburn,Mass. — seeks to halt sales of a lineof plastic school lunch trays that,MIT and Trexel allege, infringe fourMIT patents licensed to Trexel.

The two cases bring the totalnumber of patent lawsuits theInstitute is now pursuing to seven. Inaddition to the ImClone and Dispozosuits, MIT is suing Hewlett-Packard,Microsoft, hard drive manufacturerSeagate Technology, British telecom-munications giant Cable & Wireless,the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly,and several other companies.

All seven lawsuits were initiatedby companies that have licensed thedisputed patents from MIT. TheInstitute generally gives its licenseesthe right to force MIT to sue allegedinfringers, as long as the licenseecoordinates and pays for the suit.

MIT: ImClone drug comes from usImClone, the New York pharma-

ceutical company whose 2001 insid-er-trading scandal was at the centerof Martha Stewart’s criminal convic-tion, received approval from theFood and Drug Administration inFebruary to sell an artificial anti-body, Erbitux. The drug is a lastresort to extend the lives of sufferersof late-stage colon or rectal cancer.

Erbitux, which had essentiallybeen in development since the early1980s, was shown to slow tumorgrowth in a 2003 study. ImClonehopes the drug can be used to delay,if only by a few months, what isgenerally an inevitable death forlate-stage colorectal cancer patients.

MIT and Repligen attack notwhat Erbitux does, but rather howthe plaintiffs believe ImClone ismanufacturing it: with a cell linecreated in 1990 for the governmentby a former MIT post-doc, whoused his own patented technique.

In 1983, John Mendelsohn andGorton Sato of the University ofCalifornia at San Diego developedan antibody, known as “225,” thatthey believed might slow or stoptumor growth, said Mendelsohn,now the president of the M.D.Anderson Cancer Center in

Houston, in an interview.The government’s National

Cancer Institute later became inter-ested in testing the antibody on can-cer in humans, Mendelsohn said.But the antibody — engineered tobe produced by mouse cells — wasonly appropriate for use on mice. Tobe tested on humans, it first had tobe converted to a “chimera” — acombination of a human and amouse antibody.

“That was a more innovative chal-lenge in 1990,” Mendelsohn said. TheNational Cancer Institute subcontract-ed the work to a Massachusetts firm,Damon Biotech, he said. The compa-ny completed the task, returning asample of the new “chimera” 225 —today known as Erbitux — and a lineof cells genetically engineered to donothing but spit out more Erbitux,according to the lawsuit.

In the early 1990s, ImClonebecame interested in runningErbitux through the Food and DrugAdministration approval process,and licensed the patent on “225”from the University of California,said Mendelsohn, who has servedon the board of ImClone and is gen-erally credited as the inventor ofErbitux. Around 1993, MIT’s law-suit says, the National CancerInstitute gave ImClone a sample ofthe cell line Damon had producedthree years earlier. Eventually, inFebruary 2004, the FDA approvedthe use of Erbitux in combinationwith traditional chemotherapy, andImClone received hundreds of mil-lions of dollars of payments from itspartners who distribute the drug.

However, MIT and Repligen saythat the cell line that Damon pro-duced for the government — themouse cells that spit out Erbitux —is patented. The researcher who per-formed the work at Damon Biotech,Stephen Gillies, used patented DNAsequences that he discovered as apostdoc at MIT, along with ProfessorSusumu Tonegawa, a Nobel laureate,the lawsuit says. Although Damongave the government permission touse the cell line, it absolutely didn’tgive ImClone or anybody else per-mission to use it, and the plaintiffshave been trying to get ImClone topay for a license since 1996, they say.

The patent, number 4,663,281,covers the use of a kind of“enhancer” — a sequence of DNAthat can cause a cell line to spit outmuch more of an antibody than itotherwise would. In particular, itcovers the use of “enhancers” thatcome from the tissue of mammals,instead of from viruses.

Gillies is now the head of a sub-sidiary of the pharmaceutical giantMerck, an ImClone ally that paid forthe 2003 study that won Erbitux’sapproval from the FDA. But in an

interview, he confirmed MIT’s alle-gations against ImClone. “I basical-ly was responsible for making thecell line” in 1990, he said. He diduse a mammalian enhancer — the“immunoglobulin enhancer” — tospeed up the cell line’s productionof Erbitux, he said.

“I would like to see MIT getsomething for this technology, aslong as Merck doesn’t have to payfor it,” Gillies said, with a bit of alaugh. “A lot of people avoided thispatent,” he said. “They developedtheir own technology around it.” Butas for ImClone, “I’m quite surethey’re using what we developed.”

There may be some snags forMIT and Repligen, however. Forone, Gillies and Tonegawa’s patentexpired on May 5, 2004, seventeenyears after it was first granted. SoMIT and Repligen, even if they winthe lawsuit, may only be entitled toroyalties from February, whenImClone started selling Erbitux,until May, when the patent expired.

On April 9, 2004, the Instituteasked the United States Patent andTrademark Office to extend the life ofthe patent beyond its normal 17 years,arguing that the long time requiredfor the government to approveErbitux for sale should entitle MIT tomore time on a patent that, MIT says,covers the sale of Erbitux. But thepatent off ice effectively rejectedMIT’s application in a letter on May3, saying that only ImClone, and notan ImClone adversary like MIT, isentitled to benefit from ImClone’sseveral years of work at pursuingapproval for Erbitux. MIT lawyerssay they are considering their options.

Also, nobody other than MIT andRepligen is clear exactly whatarrangement the National CancerInstitute had with Damon Biotech, itssubcontractor who produced Erbituxout of the original “225” antibody.Did the NCI have permission to giveErbitux to other companies, such asImClone? MIT and Repligen say no,

absolutely not. A spokeswoman forthe NCI declined to discuss the mat-ter, citing the ongoing litigation.

Additionally, nobody reallyknows — except for ImClone —whether the company actually uses,today, the cell line that Gillies pro-duced for the NCI back in 1990, andthe company isn’t talking, except toassert its innocence. “It’s the compa-ny’s position that our manufacturingprocess in no way infringes upon thepatent in question,” an ImClonespokesman, David Pitts, toldBloomberg News.

MIT sues over school lunch traysIn a deal gone bad, MIT and a

spinoff company, Trexel, are suingDispozo Products for patentinfringement, fraud, breach of con-tract, and allegedly stealing Trexel’strade secrets.

The lawsuit centers around a lineof plastic school lunch trays madeout of a foam material known as“Envirofoam,” which Dispozoannounced in November 2003.

The dispute dates back toSeptember 2000, when Dispozolicensed Trexel’s “MuCell” manu-facturing technology for use at itsfactory. Dispozo complained in2001 that Trexel’s equipment did notlive up to Trexel’s claims, accordingto the lawsuit.

The companies mediated theirdispute, and in June 2002, Trexelagreed to refund $280,000 ofDispozo’s money and pay Dispozoan extra $500,000 to settle the mat-ter. Dispozo was to promptly returnTrexel’s equipment, the lawsuit says.

Instead, MIT and Trexel allege,Dispozo held on to Trexel’s equip-ment for six more months — untilDecember 2002. During that time,Dispozo reverse-engineered Trexel’sequipment and illegally extractedTrexel’s trade secrets, the lawsuitsays.

In November 2003, Dispozoannounced a new line of

“Envirofoam” plates and trays. MITand Trexel allege that “Envirofoam”infringes four MIT patents onfoamed materials.

The patents — numbers5,158,986; 5,866,053; 6,051,174;and RE 37,932 — are credited toProfessor of MechanicalEngineering Nam P. Suh ’59, DanielF. Baldwin PhD ’94, Chul B. ParkPhD ’93, and Sung W. Cha PhD ’94.

“They’re clearly infringing thepatents,” said David P. Bernstein,Trexel’s the president and chiefexecutive, in an interview. An attor-ney for Dispozo, Greg Morton, saidthe company is still investigating thematter.

Joshua C. Mandel ’05 contributedto the reporting of this story.

June 4, 2004 THE TECH Page 19

MIT Sues ImClone, Dispozo Over Patent Infringement

Solution to Crossword

from page 15

Page 20 THE TECH June 4, 2004

Ashdown House executive commit-tee chair Albert Chin-Hoa Chow Gwas also optimistic, saying, “Itlooks like the Thirsty may be able toopen again” in the fall.

Meanwhile, some students andadministrators blame each other forthe Thirsty’s closing. While Colbertsaid Pollock and other students“didn’t act in … what I consider tobe a rational manner,” Pollockargued that he had “not seen enoughgoodwill on the part of the adminis-tration.”

MIT wants employee as managerColbert said it was necessary to

have an MIT employee “who willhave responsibility for the pub,someone who will be responsible tothe Institute. … We cannot just havea student-run operation.”

But “no one has wanted to take itup,” said Colbert, who agreed tooversee the Thirsty through June 1.

William J. McKinney, the man-ager of the Muddy Charles pub inWalker Memorial, “is a staff per-son,” Colbert said. “He reports tome. The Thirsty needs to have some-one analogous … who is on some-one’s payroll at MIT.”

The Thirsty Ear has “not been aproblem,” Colbert said. There hasbeen “no underage drinking” and“no untoward behavior,” but it has“been outside the bounds of what’slegal.”

Colbert said he and other admin-istrators were hesitant to take on theThirsty because of the scarcity ofhiring resources. He said he lost theallocation for half of a full-timeposition this year, “and if I hadanother [allocation], … I wouldn’tgive it up for [another] pub.”

Richard D. Berlin III, the direc-tor of campus dining, said he couldnot hire a manager for the Thirstybecause his office only makes con-tracts with third-party vendors. “Idon’t have internally-operated busi-nesses with MIT employees,” hesaid, and that “basic inconsistency”is preventing the Thirsty fromfalling under Berlin’s office.

Pollock, administrators, andmembers of the Ashdown Houseexecutive committee are currentlyconsidering a solution that “wouldinvolve the Ashdown desk captain,”

under Benedict’s off ice, Pollocksaid.

“I don’t want to run a bar,”Benedict said, but it appears “theywill eventually be under my opera-tion somehow, … much to my cha-grin.”

The Ashdown House ExecutiveCommittee “is stepping up to thechallenge of finding a home” for theThirsty,” Chow said.

Specif ically, “Ashdown Houseplans on playing more of a role interms of the management of theThirsty Ear,” he said.

“I’m an optimist. I think it willopen up probably fairly soon,”Benedict said. But “we have to workout a system for supervision.”

“We’re hoping for next fall,”Chow said.

Students, admins point fingersEarlier this fall, when adminis-

trators realized the pub did not havean MIT-employed manager, Colbertarranged to have McKinney tem-porarily oversee the Thirsty.

This arrangement was “for thespring term only,” Colbert said, to“give them a chance to figure [out]options for the future.”

“In that time, nothing happened,”Colbert said. “As far as I’m con-cerned, they wasted the opportuni-ty.”

However, while Colbertdescribed the arrangement as a“very explicit deal” with a f irmdeadline of June 1, Pollock said thedeadline was originally more “amor-phous.”

Pollock also said that after meet-ing with the pub oversight commit-tee, he and Colbert agreed to waitfor the committee’s recommenda-tions.

“The pub oversight committeewas going to make recommenda-tions, [but] any wise person know-ing that his operation was in troublewould have beat the bushes on hisown,” Colbert said. “They just did-n’t do that.”

“I was really, really disappointedthat the Thirsty became so endan-gered,” said John P. Lock, theGraduate Student Council’s repre-sentative to the pub oversight com-mittee. “I thought it was unfair thateverything lay in Greg [Pollock]’shands. … I don’t think that anyonegave him the tools” he needed tosolve the Thirsty’s problem,” Locksaid.

“The solution is obvious,” Locksaid. “You have to have the adminis-tration hiring a manager.”

“I thought it was a huge disser-vice of the administration to studentlife to let the Thirsty close,” Locksaid. “I hope it reopens as soon aspossible.”

Chow said Colbert and Benedict“have been very helpful, … almost tothe point of bending over backwards.”

“I’ve tried to be the good guy,”but “I’ve been painted as the badguy,” Colbert said. “I could have letit close back in February. I steppedin to try to give them a chance atsurvival, [and] they just waited until11:59.”

Over 1,800 sign petitionLast month, supporters of the

Thirsty Ear organized an onlinepetition. Addressed to Colbert andBenedict, the petition said that “theThirsty Ear Pub is a vital resource tothe campus, and it must be pre-served,” and asked the deans togrant it “an administrative home.”

As of last night, 1,854 membersof the MIT community had signedthe petition, which is available athttp://web.mit.edu/thirsty-ear.

On Monday, the last night theThirsty was open, partons in thepacked pub expressed dismay at theits closure.

“I love the Thirsty,” said RyanJazayeri G. “It’s a shame. … We’veall had many great memories here.”

“I’ll be really sad to see it go,”said Nicoli M. Ames G.

Thirsty Needs AdminSupervision to Open

STEPHANIE LEE—THE TECH

Killian Court sits empty Wednesday afternoon. Friday’s commencement exercises will bring over10,000 people to campus.

don’t think I could have stayedanother year … it’s time to meet newpeople and try different things.”

“I’m going to be working in NewYork,” Ho said. It will be a “lot offun” and at a “very different pace,”he said.

“I am going to be an analyst at aconsulting firm in Cambridge,” saidJeanette C. Fershtman ’04.

Zerhouni to give keynote addressZerhouni, the 15th director of

NIH, was chosen by MIT PresidentCharles M. Vest from a list of candi-dates compiled by members of theClass of 2004, The Tech reported inMarch.

“Arriving on these shores as ayoung student and now a distin-guished scientist leading our largestresearch establishment, he exempli-f ies the benef its of an open andaccessible research community,”

Vest said in March.Before becoming the director of

NIH, Zerhouni was a professor ofbiomedical engineering and theexecutive vice dean of the JohnsHopkins University School ofMedicine.

Zerhouni is also a member of theInstitute of Medicine and served onthe National Cancer Institute’sBoard of Scientific Advisors from1998-2002.

Graduates reflect“Looking back, it was definitely

worth all the pain and anguish” and“all the hard work,” Ho said.Graduating is “very rewarding,” hesaid. “Even if you are in the middletier here … you’re in the top” else-where.

“I’m continuing on for a PhDhere” so “graduation is kind ofmeaningless,” but “my wife wantedme to walk” because “there was somuch pain involved in getting my

degree,” said Steven K. Charles G.Graduation is a “mixed bag,”

said Nirupama S. Rao ’04. She is“really happy to get out of here,”but “you have to face reality” afteryou leave, she said. “MIT hasdeveloped the way I think aboutthings.”

“I’m sad to leave the Institute,but I’m not really leaving campus”because “I’m going to be living oncampus with my fiance,” Fershtmansaid.

Commencement in KillianCommencement exercises will

begin at 10 a.m. in Killian Court,and ticketed guests can enter begin-ning at 7:30 a.m.

The commencement ceremoniescan also be viewed via closed-cir-cuit television viewing on campusor live Web cast. More informationabout commencement can be foundat the commencement Web site:http://web.mit.edu/commencement.

Thirsty Ear, from Page 1

MIT Graduates Reflect as TheyMove on to Careers, Grad SchoolCommencement, from Page 1

June 4, 2004 THE TECH Page 21

Szuminski Returned to ChicagoAfter Brief Stint in the MajorsBy Brian LouxSTAFF REPORTER

After a disappointing run withthe San Diego Padres, pitcher JasonE. Szuminski ’01 was taken off thestarting roster on May 11 andreplaced by infielder Jeff Cirillo.Szuminski made national mediaheadlines earlier in the year forbeing the first MIT graduate to playon a major league baseball team.

Padres manager Bruce Bochysaid that the Padres needed extrainfielders at the time, and experi-enced pitchers Rob Beck andSterling Hamilton will soon beready to play, making Szuminskiexpendable. “We could just see thatit was tough to keep Szuminski,”Bochy said in an interview withMLB.com. “We tried to work outsomething now, but we couldn’t.”

In accordance with the Rule 5draft regulations, Szuminskireturned to the Iowa Cubs, thetriple-A farm team for the ChicagoCubs. Szuminski trained prior tothis season. According to IowaCubs’ Director of Media RelationsJeff Lantz, Szuminski has been usedas one of the team’s primary closersin the last week. To date, Szuminskihas earned three saves in eightgames for the Cubs and has allowedonly five hits and no runs.

Szuminski plans to play, improveShortly after the May 11

announcement, Szuminski sent aletter to the Yahoo Groups site“TeamJasonSzuminski,” a discus-sion group that has followed hismajor league career. In the letter, heexpressed his gratitude for the fansupport along with a mixture of dis-appointment and optimism. Thenote was forwarded to the MITalumni blog that kept tabs onSzuminski’s progress, which is athttp://alum.mit.edu/ne/noteworthy/szuminski-blog.html.

“With Cirillo, Hitchcock, andBeck all returning soon, I knew itwas very unlikely I’d remain in SanDiego,” Szuminski wrote.Szuminski went on to say that hewas hoping that the Padres wouldeither trade him or f ind a way tokeep him, but that the Cubs were

eager to have him return. Lantz con-firmed that the Cubs organizationdid indeed look to have him return.“He’s a good guy that’s big, strong,and can throw in the mid-nineties,”he said. “If you can get him back,you can certainly take him.”

While frustrated with leaving,Szuminski said that he was hopefulthat he would improve as he playedmore. “It’s disappointing to be leav-ing. Hopefully it will be better forme in the long run. Staying here andnot pitching much was only makingme worse,” Szuminski wrote.

“There weren’t as many opportu-nities for him to pitch [on thePadres],” Lantz said. “He got him-self into shape for spring training,then sat on the bench for the firstmonth.” Lantz said that during hislast month with the Cubs,Szuminski has returned to the shapehe was in before the season began.

Lackluster run with PadresSzuminski’s major league debut

run was far from stellar. In justseven relief attempts and ten inningspitched, Szuminski’s earned runaverage climbed to 7.20; the currentaverage E.R.A. for active San DiegoPadres pitchers is 3.51. Additionally,Szuminski gave up three home runsand walked 11 batters.

On top of Szuminski’s strugglescame the superb performance of theteam as a whole. The Padres are cur-rently 29-24, battling the LosAngeles Dodgers for first place inthe National League West division.With the team in no position to riskgames on an unproven reliever,Szuminski would only get intogames where the Padres had alreadylost the lead, and only for an inningor two at a time.

“If I had been outstanding,maybe it would have been hard toget rid of me,” Szuminski toldMLB.com, “But it’s hard to be partof a winning team when you’re thenew guy and you’re struggling.”Nevertheless, Szuminski is confi-dent that he will once again returnto the majors. He closed his letter bytelling his fans, “I know what ittastes like now and will be backsoon enough. You can count on it.”

Rule 5 sends Szuminski to Cubs

Szuminski was acquired by thePadres in a trade with the KansasCity Royals, who originallyacquired him from the ChicagoCubs farm team in the Rule 5 draft.

Along with the trade went thetechnicalities surrounding Rule 5draft picks. While most majorleague teams field a 40-person ros-ter by the deadline of Nov. 20 withreturning players and farm clubstandouts, those who do not are ableto acquire additional players fromthe minors during the winter withthe draft.

The rule originated as a methodfor deterring teams from hoardingtalented players in their minorleague clubs. Thus, if a star player isnot brought up from a club’s minorleagues, any major league team thatis not at the 40-player cap may pur-chase a player from any minorleague club for the price of $50,000.However, in order to prevent thepurchasing teams from simplyhoarding players for themselves, theteam must keep the player on themajor league roster for the entirefollowing season or offer the playerback to his original farm club for$25,000, half the original price.

As a result, the draft is some-thing of a gamble. Most teamsspend a comparatively small amountof money in the hope that their Rule5 draft picks will succeed in the bigleagues. However, major leagueteams have not been as risk-averseas one might think. In 2002, theMilwaukee Brewers took 28 playersin that season’s Rule 5 draft.

The likelihood of Szuminskimaking the Chicago Cubs roster aredecent. The Cubs are currently infourth place in the National LeagueCentral Division, and Szuminski’s7.20 ERA with the Padres wouldplace him 10th of 12 among theactive Cub pitchers.

“He’s got as good a shot as any-body,” said Lantz on Szuminski’schances on moving up from thefarm team later this year. “It’s allbased on [the Chicago Cubs’] need.”

Szuminski did not return repeat-ed requests for comment.

Relatives of WantedAlum Request HelpBy Mac DanielTHE BOSTON GLOBE

JUNE 2, 2004

The family of Aafia Siddiqui ’95,an MIT and Brandeis-trained behav-ioral neurologist who is one of 12suspects being sought for question-ing by the FBI for alleged ties to ter-rorism, appealed to the mediaTuesday to help locate the 33-year-old Pakistani citizen, who they sug-gest may be a victim of domesticabuse, not a suspected terrorist inhiding.

Last week, Siddiqui was the onlywoman among the list of suspectswanted by the FBI for questioning aspart of the agency’s war on terrorism.

According to the lawyer repre-senting Siddiqui’s family, ElaineWhitfield Sharp, Siddiqui was lastseen in March 2003 getting into acab in Islamabad with her three chil-dren to visit a relative. Her familyhas not seen or heard from hersince, Sharp said.

A 1995 graduate ofMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology, where she organizedMuslim students and raised funds todistribute the Koran in prisons,Siddiqui has been sought byPakistan and U.S. authorities sinceMarch 2003, when alleged Sept. 11mastermind Khalid SheikMohammed reportedly told U.S.interrogators that she was a key AlQaeda figure.

“If Aafia Siddiqui is dead, thefamily wants to know it,” Sharp saidat a press conference yesterday atthe Omni Parker House. “If Aafia

Siddiqui is alive, they want to knowwho’s got her and they want to knowwhy, and they want to get to the bot-tom of this because the family …does not believe that Aafia Siddiquiwas involved in any nefarious orsinister activity connected to AlQaeda or any other sadistic terroristgroup.”

When her name and face wereposted by the FBI last week, FBIDirector Robert S. Mueller IIIdescribed Siddiqui as an “Al Qaedaoperative and facilitator.”

She has been linked to opening apost office box in Maryland laterused by terrorism operatives in theUnited States, Sharp said. But therewas no evidence that Siddiquiopened the post office box “with theintent of aiding any terrorist activi-ties,” Sharp said.

Siddiqui's love of the UnitedStates was so strong, according toSharp, that her husband, formerBrigham and Women’s Hospitalanesthesiologist Mohammed Khan,divorced her over their differencesabout how their three childrenwould be raised.

“She wanted them to grow uphere,” said Sharp. “She wanted themto embrace a Western way of lifewithin the Islamic context.”

Gail Marcinkiewicz, spokes-woman for the FBI’s Boston office,said yesterday she could not confirmthat the agency had spoken withSiddiqui. The agency has spokenwith her former husband, who hasbeen marked as “located” on theFBI’s Web site.

The Dawn of Same-Sex Marriages in the U.S.

(above) Marcia Hams (L) and SusanShepherd fill out forms at midnightat Cambridge City Hall, Monday,May 17, becoming the first same-sex couple to legally apply for amarriage license in the UnitedStates.

A couple receives a numbered ticketto reserve their spot in line uponentering City Hall at 10:30 p.m.

A couple walks up the stairs to thesecond floor of City Hall to attend areception featuring a keynoteaddress by Cambridge MayorMichael Sullivan.

This space donated by The Tech

PETER R. RUSSO—THE TECH

PETER R. RUSSO—THE TECHPETER R. RUSSO—THE TECH

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June 4, 2004 THE TECH Page 23

Athletes Have ‘Last Chance’ to Qualify for Nat’l MeetMIT Hosts Last Chance Qualifier

Clockwise from top left:

Chinwe P. Nyenke ’04competes in the longjump at the Last ChanceQualifier on May 22.

Catherine A. Tweedie Gclears the bar during thewomen’s pole vault.

Sara Lewicke of SmithCollege clears the barrier of the 3000m steeple chase en routeto winning the race in 11:25.00.

Julia C. Espel ’05 runs through the water hazard of thewomen’s 3000m steeple chase. Espel finished with a time of11:35.10.

Uzoma A. Orji ’06 competes in the shot put during the meet.Orji placed 2nd in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championshipson May 28.

Chinwe P. Nyenke ’04 competes in the triple jump. Nyenke’sjump of 37’8” qualified her for the ECAC Championships.

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CongratulationsClass of 2004