By Beckett W. SternerNEWS EDITOR

What if MIT had visiting com-mittees for measuring quality of lifeat living groups?

At MIT, fraternities, sororities,i n d e p e n -dent livinggroups, anddormitories

each have their own distinctive cul-tures, but all face some commonchallenges, from finances to goodgovernance. There is often littlecommunication, however, betweenliving groups about successful solu-tions to shared problems, leaving

some struggling while others thrive.The Association for Independent

Living Groups is in the early stagesof examining whether an accredita-tion process could help FSILGsraise their standard of living. TheAILG is an umbrella organizationfor all MIT FSILG alumni.

“The idea is to take some of theaccreditation notion in society atlarge” and apply it to FSILGs, saidDavid Burmaster ’69, a member ofthe AILG Board of Directors.

“Our intention is that [accredita-tion] isn’t an extra hoop to jump

By Kelley Rivoireand Jenny ZhangNEWS EDITORS

The Sloan School of Manage-ment will reject the 32 MBA appli-cants who had hacked into theadmissions system in an attempt toview the status of their admissions,said Dean of the Sloan SchoolRichard Schmalensee ’65.

No information about admissionsdecisions was accessible to these

applicants, said Rob Garcia, Sloandirector of admissions.

In total, about 150 applicants toseveral business schools, includingHarvard, Stanford, and CarnegieMellon, used instructions posted on aBusinessWeek Online bulletin togain unauthorized access to theirapplication information. The onlineadmissions for these schools is run

By Marie Y. ThibaultSTAFF REPORTER

The Undergraduate Associationelections ended Wednesdayevening, with John. M. Cloutier ’06and Jessica H. Lowell ’07 electedUA President and Vice President,respectively.

Cloutier and Lowell received815 final round votes, winning overthe President/Vice President teamCalvin G. Sizer ’06 and Bryan D.Owens ’07, which received 710

final round votes.Cloutier attributed the victory to

the way they “got out and talked tostudents.” He and Lowell will besworn in at the last UA Senatemeeting of this school year, he said.

The race for 2006 Class Presi-dent resulted in a tie betweenNikhil S. Shenoy ’06 and KimberleyW. Wu ’06. Wu’s running mate,Clarence Lee ’06, was elected 2006Vice President.

Melvin C. Makhni ’07 was elect-

ed Class of 2007 President, and AdaLipkin ’08 was elected Class of2008 President. Of the 19 availablepositions, 12 were uncontested.

’06 president not determinedAn online election which started

today and will run until Thursdaywill serve as the tiebreaker for 2006Council president.

Wu said that she was very sur-

By Marissa VogtNEWS EDITOR

MIT has caught the perpetratorof last week’s Athena securitybreach, which compromised over600 passwords.

According to a statementreleased by Jeffrey I. Schiller ’79,network manager for InformationServices and Technology, the per-son was identified last Saturday andhas admitted responsibility in theincident.

“We are not at liberty to discloseadditional information about theincident or this person's identity, norcan we discuss whatever discipli-nary action, if any, will be taken,”the statement said. The statementalso said that the internal investiga-tion is continuing.

Schiller declined to comment onthe identity of the hacker and themeans by which IS&T caught theperpetrator. “You don’t ask the CIAhow they do their work,” Schillersaid.

Schiller said that even the hackeris probably not certain how he orshe was caught and was “probablysurprised.”

An e-mail to the hacker’sYahoo! account requesting com-ment received no reply.

Hacker facing disciplinary actionThough the individual was iden-

tified last weekend, the decision torelease the information was notmade until now because it had to beconfirmed by several layers of man-agement at MIT, not just withinIS&T, Schiller said.

The case is now being handledthrough “MIT’s normal disciplinarymatters,” Schiller said. He declinedto comment on whether lawenforcement was involved with theinvestigation or would be consultedin the disciplinary process.

Schiller said IS&T has not doneanything to restrict the person’saccess to Athena and would only doso in a case where they felt a personposed an “imminent threat.”

“I do not believe this personposes a risk to the community rightnow,” Schiller said.

Private information not abusedSchiller said that IS&T is confi-

dent but “not guaranteeing” that

personal information was notaccessed by the hacker or anyoneelse, since the compromised pass-words were reset very quickly.

“At this point we are confidentthat no one's private informationwas compromised or abused in anyway,” Schiller’s statement said.

“We have no reason to believethe individual compromised them,”Schiller said. “That’s not what thisis about.”

An earlier statement by the hack-er had criticized the current level ofsecurity on Athena, stating a pur-pose of convincing IS&T to changeits security policy.

Though prevention of attacks isdifficult because the root passwordis available, steps will be taken tomake sure that IS&T will be notifiedif someone does something like thisagain, Schiller said.

“We are going to be taking stepsto make this much harder to do,”Schiller said. He said that becauseIS&T will not publicize the methodsfor detecting future hackers, theywill function as silent alarms, where“you don’t know what you did to setit off.”

Volume 125, Number 12 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Friday, March 11, 2005

MIT’sOldest and Largest

Newspaper

The WeatherToday: Light snow, 35°F (2°C)

Tonight: Light rain or snow, 34°F (1°C)Tomorrow: Wet snow, 35°F (2°C)

Details, Page 2

Jazz Ensem-ble performsimpressivelyagain.

Page 5

Comics

Page 6

CAMPUS LIFELooking to date that cute oldergrad student?

Page 10

World & Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Campus Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

TAMAR ENGEL

Othello (Dan Liston, right) demands that Iago (Holly B. Laird’07) show proof for the seeds of suspicion Iago has plantedabout his wife, Desdemona, in the MIT Shakespeare Ensem-ble’s production of Othello. Othello runs through March 12 inLa Sala de Puerto Rico.

Athena Hacker Caught by IS&T

OMARI STEPHENS—THE TECH

Alan Millner ’69 explains ozone generation — crucial to transistor production — to HuiYing Wen ’08.Millner, an engineer for the world’s leading manufacturer of ozone generators, explained the ozonegenerator design process to students of 8.022 in the Experimental Study Group Thursday evening.

Cloutier, Lowell Elected UA P/VP

Elections, Page 14

Sloan Denies AdmissionTo Those Who AttemptedTo Hack Admissions Site

A Challenge in the Making:How to Improve FSILG Life

Sloan, Page 12

AILG, Page 12

Feature

By Robert F. Worth and Edward WongTHE NEW YORK TIMES

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

A suicide bomber walked into aShiite mosque in the northern city ofMosul on Thursday and detonatedexplosives strapped to his body,killing about 40 people and injuringat least 60, officials and witnessessaid.

The attack occurred as seniorShiite and Kurdish officials said ininterviews that they had reached anagreement in principle on forming acoalition government, but were stillnegotiating some sticking points.They have agreed that a transitionalbasic law approved last spring willbe the basis for a new government,and that Sunni Arabs should be

given prominent government posts.The transitional law says, amongother things, that Islam should be asource of legislation rather than thesole source.

The suicide bombing took placein mid-afternoon, as mournerspacked into the Sadaan mosque ineastern Mosul’s al Tamin neighbor-hood for the funeral of a man whohad died two days earlier, said SadiAhmed Pire, the head of the Mosuloffice of the Patriotic Union of Kur-distan, one of the two main Kurdishpolitical parties.

Witnesses said the attacker raninto the mosque and detonated hisbomb almost immediately, sendingup a massive fireball that shook thebuilding and knocked downbystanders outside.

“I was just walking out, and theexplosion was so loud I was thrownonto my car,” said Muqdad Yunis,33, who escaped unhurt.

The bombing was the latest in abloody insurgent campaign to sowcivil conflict here by striking at Shi-ites and Kurds. Last month, about70 people were killed in a series ofsuicide bombing attacks on wor-shippers celebrating the Shiite holi-day of Ashura.

Most of those killed in the bomb-ing on Thursday were Shiite Kurdsand Turkmen, Pire said. Mosul, a cityof 2 million, is a cauldron of ethnicgroups, with the eastern part of thecity mainly controlled by Kurds. Theinsurgency in Mosul is believed to beled by Sunni Arabs, who live mostlyin the city’s western quarters.

WORLD & NATIONPage 2 THE TECH March 11, 2005

Yemeni Sheik and Aide ConvictedIn Terrorism Trial

By William GlabersonTHE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORK

A Yemeni cleric who once said Osama bin Laden had called himhis sheik was convicted of terrorism financing charges Thursday in afederal court in New York City.

The victory for the Justice Department came in one of the govern-ment’s most visible terrorism-financing prosecutions, a case that hadfor a time appeared uncertain after the FBI’s star informer set himselfon fire outside the White House in November.

The sheik, Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, who once held agovernment post in Yemen, was convicted by a jury in U.S. DistrictCourt in Brooklyn of conspiracy to support al-Qaida and Hamas andother charges after a five-week trial. His assistant, MohammedMohsen Yahya Zayed, was also convicted of conspiracy and othercharges. Lawyers for both men said they would appeal.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that the trial provided a view ofa successful campaign in the government’s war on terror and a sam-ple of how traditional law-enforcement methods have been applied tonew targets.

Three Studies Link Variant Gene To Macular Degeneration

By Andrew PollackTHE NEW YORK TIMES

Scientists say they have identified a genetic variation that substan-tially raises the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leadingcause of severe vision loss in the elderly.

The finding, being reported independently by three separateresearch groups, sheds light on the cause of the disease and couldprovide clues to how to develop treatments or strategies to preventthe condition.

The genetic variation “explains a lot of the risk,” said Dr. AlbertO. Edwards, an ophthalmology researcher in Dallas who led of one ofthe studies. “There’s a primary biological explanation for AMD now.It gives you some obvious avenues to start targeting treatments.”

The variation, a change of a single unit of DNA out of the 3 bil-lion units that make up the human genetic blueprint, appears to becommon in the study subjects. So the findings could apply to manypeople.

Having the variant gene raises the risk of macular degenerationtwofold to sevenfold, with the greatest risk for people with twocopies of the variant gene.

Hong Kong Chief Steps Down,Replaced by Longtime Civil ServantBy Keith BradsherTHE NEW YORK TIMES HONG KONG

Tung Chee-hwa submitted his resignation to China’s leaders onThursday after nearly eight years as Hong Kong’s chief executive,beginning the first transfer of power since Britain returned the territo-ry to Chinese rule in 1997.

The second-ranking official here, Donald Tsang, who will takeover at least through this summer and probably well beyond then,now faces the tricky balancing act of assuring China of his loyaltywithout antagonizing the many Hong Kong residents who want aleader willing to stand up to Beijing, especially on democracy andcivil liberties.

Tsang, 60, will stand in after a difficult tenure for Tung duringwhich Hong Kong weathered the Asian financial crisis, a collapse inproperty prices, the SARS epidemic and sharply rising unemploy-ment.

Europe, United States AgreeOn Iran Negotiation MethodsBy David E. Sanger and Steven R. WeismanTHE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON

Europe and the United Stateshave agreed on a joint approach tonegotiating with Iran over itsnuclear program after months ofdispute, with the United Statesagreeing to offer modest economicincentives and the Europeansagreeing to take the issue to theU.N. Security Council if negotia-tions fail, senior U.S. officials said.

The American incentives wouldgo into effect only if Iran agrees tohalt the enrichment of uranium per-manently. The agreement repre-sents a major shift in strategy forboth the Bush administration,which has refused for years to offerIran incentives to give up its pro-gram, and for Europe, which hadbeen reluctant to discuss penalties.

The agreement, which has beenwidely anticipated since PresidentBush returned from Europe late lastmonth, is expected to be announcedon Friday. The United States willagree to support Iran’s entry intothe World Trade Organization, aprocess that usually takes years, aswell as the sale of critical spareparts for the country’s aging com-

mercial airliners.“We’re in support of what the

Europeans are doing, but we had tofind a way to demonstrate it,” asenior U.S. official deeply involvedin the internal debate within theadministration said about the pend-ing announcement. “This is ourway of making clear that we willjoin the Europeans in giving Iranpositive reasons to give up its pro-gram.”

Though Bush will not announcethe change himself, just as he didnot announce a similar offerextended to North Korea last June,he has been closely involved in theadministration’s change of direc-tion. But while the United States isa party to negotiations with NorthKorea, it does not plan to join thetalks with Iran directly, officialssaid, leaving that to the Europeans.

Until now, the president hasinsisted that he would never“reward” Iran for giving up activi-ties that he has insisted are a coverfor a weapons program. That posi-tion hardened after Iran admittedthat it had concealed its facilitiesand enrichment activities frominternational inspectors for 18years.

Iran has voluntarily halted its

enrichment activities while it isengaged in negotiations withBritain, France and Germany. Butits leaders have repeatedlydeclared that it will never give upits right to enrich uranium for whatit insists are peaceful purposes.The Nuclear NonproliferationTreaty, which Iran has ratified,gives all signers the right to enrichuranium as long as the work ispeaceful, declared, and fully moni-tored by the International AtomicEnergy Agency. The monitoring isintended to assure that a country isonly producing low-enriched ura-nium capable of fueling commer-cial nuclear reactors, rather thanhigh-enriched uranium for nuclearweapons.

Iran’s senior negotiator, HassanRowhani, told a conference inTehran last weekend that Iranwould never agree to a permanentcessation of enrichment. But thesenior American official involvedin the administration’s negotiationswith Europe said that, after someheated debate, “the Europeans arenow with us in the view that wecould never monitor their enrich-ment activity reliably enough” toensure that Iran was not producingbomb-grade uranium.

Attack by Suicide Bomber Kills40, Injures 60 in Shiite Mosque

Piling It OnBy Jon MoskaitisSTAFF METEOROLOGIST

Winter continues unabated in southern New England this month despitethe noticeably longer days and more intense sunlight. Over the first 10 daysof March, the temperature has averaged 7°F (-14°C) below the climatologi-cal mean. This chilly pattern will continue for at least the next five days aswe remain mired in persistent flow from the arctic. The cold will be accom-panied by snow this weekend, as yet another powerful storm forms off thecoast. Expect light snow to begin this afternoon and continue into theevening. During the evening and the overnight hours, the snow will mostlikely change to rain, as the storm’s circulation draws in slightly warmer airfrom the east. However, on Saturday, the wind will turn to the northwest,returning the sub-freezing air and allowing the rain to change back to snow.Depending on the timing of this change and the position of the precipitationband on Saturday, we could add upwards of six more inches (15 cm) ofsnow to our already formidable season total!

Weekend Outlook

Today: Light snow, possibly changing to rain in the evening. High: 35°F (2°C)

Tonight: Light rain or snow. Low: 34°F (1°C)Saturday: Rain changing to wet snow. Significant snow accumulation

is possible. High: 35°F (2°C)Sunday: Mostly cloudy and breezy. High: 36°F (2°C)Monday: Continued chilly, but dry. High: 38°F (3°C)

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WEATHERSituation for Noon Eastern Standard Time, Friday, March 11, 2005

March 11, 2005 WORLD & NATION THE TECH Page 3

EPA Plans to Cut Power PlantEmissions in East Half of U.S.By Michael JanofskyTHE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON

The Environmental ProtectionAgency on Thursday announcednew rules to cut air pollution in theeastern half of the United States, inone of the agency’s most ambitiousefforts ever to control soot andground-level ozone. The new regu-lations, known as the Clean AirInterstate Rule, take aim at emis-sions from power plants, whichaccount for much of the nation’s airpollution. The goal, when the regu-lations are fully in effect in 2015, isto reduce emissions of nitrogenoxides, which create ground-levelozone, by more than 60 percentfrom 2003 levels and to reduce sul-

fur dioxide, which forms soot, bymore than 70 percent. Regulationsfor a third pollutant, mercury, arescheduled to be announced nextweek.

With about a fifth of the countrystruggling to comply with the CleanAir Act, the backbone of nationalair-quality policy, the Bush admin-istration has been pursuing parallelefforts to drive down power-plantemissions.

One has been lumbering along inCongress for three years, a measureknown as Clear Skies, an overhaulof the Clean Air Act that failed towin committee approval in the Sen-ate on Wednesday. The other is theinterstate rule, which the EPA hasbeen developing for less than two

years.Both efforts are similar for their

caps on emissions and their project-ed health benefits. In addition, bothset deadlines well beyond those inthe Clean Air Act, which generallyrequires any area that does not meetfederal air quality standards to reachthose goals within five years. Thelegislative deadline of 2016 and theinterstate rule deadline of 2015 werelargely designed to ease the finan-cial burden on operators of powerplants who would be forced undereither approach to spend billions ofdollars on pollution-controlupgrades.

Otherwise, the new rulechanges nothing in the Clean AirAct.

By Douglas JehlTHE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon is seeking toenlist help from the State Depart-ment and other agencies in a plan tocut by more than half the popula-tion at its detention facility inGuantanamo Bay, Cuba, in part bytransferring hundreds of suspectedterrorists to prisons in Saudi Ara-bia, Afghanistan and Yemen,according to senior administrationofficials.

The transfers would be similar tothe renditions, or transfers of cap-tives to other countries, carried outby the CIA, but they are subject tostricter approval within the govern-ment, and face potential opposition

from the CIA as well as the Stateand Justice Departments, the offi-cials said.

Administration officials saythose agencies have resisted someprevious handovers, out of concernthat transferring the prisoners to for-eign governments could harmAmerican security or subject theprisoners to mistreatment.

A Feb. 5 memorandum fromDefense Secretary Donald H.Rumsfeld calls for broader intera-gency support for the plan, startingwith efforts to work out a signifi-cant transfer of prisoners toAfghanistan, the officials said. Theproposal is part of a Pentagoneffort to cut a population at Guan-tanamo that stands at about 540

prisoners by releasing somedetainees outright and by transfer-ring others for continued detentionelsewhere.

The proposal comes as the Bushadministration reviews the future ofthe naval base at Guantanamo as adetention center, after court deci-sions and shifts in public opinionhave raised legal and political ques-tions about the use of the facility.The White House first embracedusing Guantanamo as a holdingplace for terrorism suspects taken inAfghanistan, in part because thebase was seen as beyond the juris-diction of U.S. law. But recent courtrulings have held that prisoners heldthere may challenge their detentionsin federal court.

Clinton in Recovery Room After Undergoing Surgery

By Terence NeilanTHE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORK

Former President Bill Clinton was moved to a recovery roomThursday afternoon after undergoing surgery at a New York Cityhospital to remove a buildup of fluid and scar tissue from his chestsome six months after he underwent a quadruple heart-bypass opera-tion.

The procedure, described by doctors as low-risk and one that isdone on fewer than 1 percent of coronary bypass patients, requiredthe former president to be put under general anesthesia.

Clinton, 58, is expected to be hospitalized for three to 10 days atNew York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, wherehis initial surgery was done in September. Clinton’s wife, Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, was at the hospital. Earlier shesaid she was “very confident about the outcome.”

On Wednesday, Clinton played in a golf charity tournament inFlorida for victims of the Asian tsunami, and on Tuesday, after meet-ing with President Bush at the White House, told reporters, “I feelfine,” adding, “It’s no big deal.”

In a statement announcing the procedure, Clinton’s press officesaid, “The fluid buildup and lung collapse has caused the presidentsome discomfort in recent weeks.” But it went on to say that herecently passed a stress test and “is walking up to four miles a daynear his home in Chappaqua, N.Y.”

House Approves a $284 BillionHighway Bill

By Carl HulseTHE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON

The usually fractious members of the House of Representatives onThursday found something they nearly all shared — an appetite formillions of dollars for home-state road, bridge and transit projects.

On a vote of 417-9, House members approved a $284 billion, six-year measure that would pay for transportation upgrades around thenation, including more than 4,000 projects sought by individual law-makers at a cost of more than $12 billion.

The measure, which stalled last year in a dispute with the WhiteHouse over spending levels, stands a much better chance of becom-ing law this year. The bottom line is in accord with President Bush’sbudget, which does not deal with specific projects, and lawmakers areeager to initiate projects that will create thousands of jobs, ease trafficcongestion and rebuild crumbling roads.

“It’s estimated for every $1 billion we spend on road construc-tion, nearly 48,000 jobs are created,” said Speaker Dennis Hastertof Illinois. “But it’s more than just jobs. We need an adequateinfrastructure to move people and the materials they make effi-ciently.”

Pentagon Will Transfer PrisonersFrom Guantanamo to Afghanistan

Ever played? Ever wanted to play? Ever wondered what on earth it was all about? Come along and find out why rugby is one of the longest

running club sports at MIT, and one of the greatest games in the world. New, old or just frayed around the edges, all players are welcome.

Beginners clinics at practices. Open to all undergraduates, graduates and staff at MIT or Sloan.

Season starts April 2nd

Training starts March 15th

Training every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm on Brigg’s field

www.mitrugby.org mitrugby@mit.edu

OPINIONPage 4 THE TECH March 11, 2005

Opinion PolicyEditorials are the official opinion of The Tech. They are written

by the editorial board, which consists of the chairman, editor inchief, managing editor, opinion editors, a senior editor, and an opin-ion staffer.

Dissents are the opinions of signed members of the editorialboard choosing to publish their disagreement with the editorial.

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The Tech reserves the right to edit or condense letters; shorter letterswill be given higher priority. Once submitted, all letters becomeproperty of The Tech, and will not be returned. The Tech makes nocommitment to publish all the letters received.

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ChairmanJina Kim ’06

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Business ManagerLucy Li ’06

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NEWS STAFF

News Editors: Beckett W. Sterner ’06, KelleyRivoire ’06, Marissa Vogt ’06, Jenny Zhang ’06;Associate Editors: Kathy Dobson G; Staff:Michael E. Rolish G, Waseem S. Daher ’07, RayC. He ’07, Tongyan Lin ’07, Tiffany Chen ’08,Marie Y. Thibault ’08, Jiao Wang ’08; Meteor-ologists: Cegeon Chan G, David Flagg G, RobertLindsay Korty G, Jon Moskaitis G, Nikki PrivéG, Michael J. Ring G, Roberto Rondanelli G,Brian Tang G.

PRODUCTION STAFF

Editors: Austin Chu ’08, Michael McGraw-Herdeg ’08; Staff: Joy Forsythe G, Wanda W.Lau G, Sie Hendrata Dharmawan ’05, JenniferHuang ’07, Sylvia Yang ’07, Evan Chan ’08,James R. Peacock IV ’08.

OPINION STAFF

Editor: Ruth Miller ’07; Staff: Ken Nesmith ’04,Nick Baldasaro ’05, W. Victoria Lee ’06, JoshLevinger ’07, Chen Zhao ’07, Julián Villarreal’07, Ali S. Wyne ’08.

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Editors: Vivek Rao ’05, Brian Chase ’06; Staff:Caitlin Murray ’06, Yong-yi Zhu ’06, TravisJohnson ’08.

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Editor: Brian Hemond G; Staff: Jimmy CheungG, Frank Dabek G, Dmitry Portnyagin G, StanleyHu ’00, Andrew W. Yip ’02, Scott Johnston ’03,John M. Cloutier ’06, Grant Jordan ’06, StephanieLee ’06, Edward Platt ’06, Yun Wu ’06, BatyaFellman ’08, Scot Frank ’08, Tiffany Iaconis ’08,Christina Kang ’08, Nicole Koulisis ’08, Erqi Liu’08, Omari Stephens ’08, Kenneth Yan ’08.

CAMPUS LIFE STAFF

Editor: Zach Ozer ’07; Columnists: KailasNarendran ’01, Emezie Okorafor ’03, BillAndrews ’05, Daniel Corson ’05, Mark Liao ’06;Cartoonists: Jason Burns G, Brian Loux G, JosieSung ’06, Ash Turza ’08, James Biggs.

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Director: Jonathan T. Wang ’05; Staff: LisaWray ’07, Shreyes Seshasai ’08, Connie Yee ’08.

EDITORS AT LARGE

Senior Editors: Satwiksai Seshasai G, Keith J.

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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, Ryan Ochylski ’01, Rima Arnaout ’02, EricJ. Cholankeril ’02, Ian Lai ’02, Nathan CollinsSM ’03, Jyoti Tibrewala ’04, B. D. Colen.

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By Jacqueline O’ConnorSTAFF WRITER

Boston Symphony OrchestraAlfred Brendel, pianoSymphony HallMarch 4, 2005

My mother e-mailed me a few weeks agowith the following message: “Dear Jack, I justgot an announcement saying that Alfred Bren-del will be playing at Symphony Hall soon.He is one of the greatest pianists of all time;it’s the opportunity of a lifetime to go see him.Try to go! Love, Mom.” My mother didn’tneed to try to convince me to go to the con-cert; Alfred Brendel has been a householdname in my family for years. The chance tosee him perform in person was too good topass up.

The concert, directed by James Levine,included Haydn’s Symphony No. 2, “Oxford,”Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor,and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, “Tragic.”Undoubtedly, the highlight of the evening wasBrendel’s performance of the piano concerto.

Alfred Brendel, a wonderful elderly man,happily walked on stage, shaking hands withmusicians along his path to the piano at thefront of the stage. He sat patiently at the pianoas the orchestra played the opening of theexposition. The Boston Symphony Orchestrasounded excellent, obviously excited to beplaying with a pianist like Brendel. He beganto play without any extraneous gesture, seam-lessly slipping into the music. His humilitywas startling. For such a renowned musician,he still seemed humbled by the power of themusic he was playing. Through this air ofgrandfatherly grace, an unmatched musician-ship was palpable. He was relaxed and quietlyenjoying himself throughout the length of thepiece. He ended phrases just as he had startedthem, and with a subtle gesture, finished thenotes and unceremoniously returned his handsto his lap.

Brendel’s playing was unfailingly exactand yet so natural. At first I was disappointedto see that he was not playing a more virtuosicpiece; he’s so talented that I felt it would bemore exciting to see. I was wrong, however,

because he seemed perfectly suited for thesubtlety and delicacy of Mozart. The entirepiece was played beautifully. The first move-ment, a stately yet tragic Allegro, showedamazing balance between the soloist and theorchestra. Brendel showed a softer side duringthe second movement, Romanza. The lastmovement, Rondo: Allegro assai, featured anamazing cadenza, written by Brendel himself.Certainly the highlight of the evening, theRondo showcased a range of talents from vir-tuosic fast passages to singing melodies.

The performance resulted in an instant andresoundingly unanimous standing ovation. AsBrendel stepped towards the front of the stage,a round of cheers grew from the audience. Hehumbly nodded and smiled, truly appreciativeof the warm thanks being offered from theaudience. As he walked off he thanked theLevine and the orchestra. He was called outfour more times, each with the same over-whelming response from the full house. It wasas if we were applauding for his life’s work aswell as this awe-inspiring performance ofMozart.

Despite the obvious excitement of Bren-del’s performance, the rest of the concert wasquite good. It must be difficult for a director toprogram around such a huge star, but Levineand the BSO played excellently. Most notice-able was the interesting subtlety that the per-formers brought to the concert. The more Ihear the BSO, the clearer I see their ability tobring a piece to life through the combinedeffort of every individual in the orchestra.This was especially true during the perfor-mance of the Schubert. Despite the fact thatthe piece is rather simple, it was very enjoy-able to listen to. Solo sections throughout thepiece, especially the violins and the oboe, cre-ated an interesting dialogue.

This concert was one of the best of myconcert-going life. Any chance to see AlfredBrendel play should instantly be accepted. Hehas a talent for the piano unmatched by any-one else I’ve ever heard. It is almost as if heand his instrument are old friends, enjoyingeach other’s company. And on top of that, theBoston Symphony Orchestra never fails togive a wonderful performance.

CLASSICAL REVIEW

Alfred Brendel Shines at Symphony HallBSO Joins Forces with Piano Legend in Concert Featuring Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert

By Tony Hwang

MIT Festival Jazz EnsembleDon Byron QuartetKresge AuditoriumMarch 4, 2005, 8 p.m.

Last Friday evening, the MIT FestivalJazz Ensemble put on yet another impressiveshow in Kresge Auditorium. After startingoff the concert with several jazz classics,Director Frederick Harris stepped aside to letGrammy-nominated artist Don Byron flexhis musical muscle. The audience was thentreated to a combination of poetry and inter-pretative musical accompaniment, and final-ly the gig closed out with a jam session bythe Don Byron Quartet. Indeed, the eveninghad a wide variety of artistic content in storefor a relatively full Kresge auditorium.

The Festival Jazz Ensemble started offthe program with “JP’s De-RegulatedBlues,” a laid-back piece by Neal Finn thatfeatures the entire trombone section. Thebrass did a decent job of harmonizing, but attimes it felt like some soloists had yet towarm up. However, by the next piece,“Chelsea Bridge” by Billy Strayhorn, itseemed as if they were feeling a little morecomfortable. No doubt their spirits wereraised in part by Alex McMath ’07, who in astyle that has become familiar to FSE con-certgoers, belted out a soulful alto saxophonesolo. This trend of the group veterans (suchas Alex Mekelburg ’05 on baritone saxo-phone) helping out the new members by giv-ing it their all during solos seemed to holdsteady through the rest of the concert. In thenext piece, Charles Mingus’s “Ecclusiastics,”the music took a swing toward a lazier,lounge style. Pianist Jay Cameron ’05showed off for music buffs by opening hissolo with a Ray Charles riff.

At this point, Don Byron, clarinet inhand, sauntered onto the stage in his“SHAQ” T-shirt and jeans and replaced Har-ris at the head of the stage. His easygoingdemeanor and sense of humor at the micro-phone helped the audience to a couple laughsand made the jazz ensemble members feelmore relaxed. He proceeded to conduct (andhave solos in) four very distinct pieces, threeof which were his own compositions. Start-ing with his funky “Tilt-a-whirl,” he thenprogressed to a stately “Himm,” and finallyto “Heathcliff Slocum” with its Latinrhythm. The only non-Byron piece, “JubileeStomp” by Duke Ellington featured a 1920’sstyle trumpet solo by Jorge Padilla ’05, whodid well filling that position.

Watching Don Byron play his role as ashouting, clapping, and extremely animatedcharacter on stage made me feel nostalgicabout the great jazz bands of the past even ashe injected his unique flavor into Kresge. Ifensemble members needed encouragement,he would ask the audience for applausethroughout his pieces. His solos wereextremely flowing and virtuosic, playful attimes but also just as poignant at other times.Overall, his presence was a treat not only forspectators, but also for the musicians them-selves. Finally, Don Byron and the FSE fin-ished off the first half of the concert with“Straight No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk, afamous tune that ended with Byron wailingimpressively on his clarinet for perhaps thelast half of the piece.

After receiving some very praising intro-ductory remarks, Paul Auster took the stage.A prominent American novelist, but also apoet, essayist, and movie script writer,Auster still managed to find some time tocollaborate with the Don Byron Quartet. Heread one poem followed by a much longerprose passage accompanied by the quartet.

While he possessed the gruff voice suited tothe role of one who sounds insightful andprogressive simultaneously, it was unfortu-nate that his voice completely overshadowedthe tune, leaving little room for listeners tosynthesize word and music. While the musicwould seem to escort his words, the wordsthemselves would lapse occasionally inphrasing and flow.

After some applause for Auster, DonByron resumed his leading role and played afew more songs, this time with his ownband, including his anti-Bush piece called“War on Terror.” The introduction of thecomical, almost hip-hop composition wasgreeted with a mixture of cheers and uncom-fortable murmuring. To close off the

evening, the Don Byron Quartet had alengthy jamming and improvisation session.Though it was impressive, it became a caseof a group of musicians having a good timeat the expense of the audience. However, itsconclusion was greeted by a rousing ova-tion.

Once again the MIT Festival Jazz Ensem-ble programmed an interesting show, and hadthe skill and talent to pull it off. Cameron,looking back on the performance, remarkedthat “it was fun playing that concert. TheFestival Jazz Ensemble sounded great, DonByron's genius came out with a lot of heart,and Paul Auster's poetry was brilliant.” I willbe interested to see what the next perfor-mance has in store for us.

ARTSMarch 11, 2005 THE TECH Page 5

JAZZ REVIEW

Jazzing With New FlavorMIT Festival Jazz Ensemble Keeps Pace with Don Byron

OMARI STEPHENS—THE TECH

Jorge Padilla ’05 wails on his trumpet during a solo in “Words & Music and otherSonic Collaborations,” held Friday, March 4, in Kresge Auditorium.

ProductionWe make them look goodNews ✦ Photography ✦ Campus Life ✦ Opinion

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Page6

March 11,2005

by Brian Loux

Trio by Emezie Okorafor

March 11, 2005 The Tech Page 7K

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Page 8 THE TECH March 11, 2005

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By Monica Byrne

The names have been changed to protectthe innocent …

During the spring of my senior year atWellesley, I got a yen for men. I’d spent fouryears in the ivory tower, enjoying the luxuryof snuggly sisterhood. But come autumn, I’dbe joining the real world, which — to myamazement — appeared to be coed. Soon I’dbe sharing apartments and classes with men.I figured, “What better way to warm up thanby swapping spit?” Thus I cracked myknuckles and put up a profile on Match.com.

Online dating is like mango shopping.Rather than trying your luck in the wild, youget to drive your cart right up to the pyramidand start feeling up the fruit. You can heftthem, squeeze them, and sniff them.

The same sort of poking ritual occurredwhen I “e-met” someone through an onlinedating service. Here’s how it goes: once con-tact is made, a gawky baboon dance ensues.E-mails and phone calls are exchanged. Redflags like “lemmings turn me on” or “I onlyeat bacon” are noted. If we meet with eachother’s initial approval, a date and time areset.

My f irst date was Jeff. His prof ileshowed a mischievous, flame-haired youngman. I was optimistic that he was one ofthose sexy, self-effacing liberal arts types.But when I met him in Harvard Square on arainy February night, the first thing I noticedwas that he was wearing a fraternity jacket.My heart deflated.

At Tealuxe, we got hot mugs of tea tochase the chill away. While we chatted, hiseyes periodically dipped below my neckline,inexorable as a pendulum. Now, I know that

boob-evaluation is normal in hetero males.After all, hetero women are capable of sur-reptitious bulge-evaluation. But checkingevery minute, as if they might have disap-peared? Come on.

We got to talking about our jobs, and Imentioned my summer stints at NASA. “Oh,dude!” he said. “I turned on the TV thismorning and, like, something blew up orsomething. And I was like, whoa. That’sweird. Huh. Yeah.”

That “something” was the Columbiashuttle. I was amused that God had createdsomeone so gloriously gauche. Nevertheless,I found absolutely no reason not to be politeand congenial for the brief time we’d share.

After catching a folk concert at Club Pas-sim (where, blessedly, we couldn’t talk), wegot Dutch chocolate ice cream down thestreet. Jeff planted his elbows on the table,leaning forward whereupon I leaned back.As I talked about molecular biomarkers, hemade a show of licking his ice cream slowlyand lasciviously, flicking his tongue as if hecould carve it into the Venus De Milo. Dis-tressed at this advance, I just chewed andswallowed my ice cream in big chunks andgracelessly wiped my mouth on my arm. Ihoped this would translate as a rejection inhis language.

The second date, James, went to an IvyLeague law school after having triple-majored at another Ivy League school. Wewent to dinner at a lavish, bustling restau-rant, complete with romantic lighting andlatt iced woodwork. His mind formedthoughts faster that his mouth could talk; hishands trembled from sheer brainpower. Heasked me what my SAT score had been, andlater mentioned that he had scored a perfect

1600. I burst out laughing. Who tells a firstdate his SAT score!? But I gave him the ben-efit of the doubt. After all, he couldn’t haveknown that test scores didn’t impress me.(For the record, what does impress me is theability to execute a perfect Swedish nose-blow.)

Having grown up in Singapore, Jameswas also a man of impeccable etiquette,especially when it came to dining. On theother hand, I grew up in an irreverent familyof seven, where belching Bible verses wasroutine. He distastefully informed me that Icut meat “like a barbarian.” I looked down atmy fist, clamped around the fork like a four-year-old’s. My innocence evaporated, likeEve without her leaves. Ever since then, I’vetried not to cut meat like an early hominid. Iowe that to James, but I didn’t see himagain.

Will, my third date, was an alpha studenttraining for the Senate. We had fantasticintellectual chemistry. He was a couple inch-es shorter than me and wore a black trenchcoat. He had a stride that outpaced hisstature. He strode everywhere, across theearth, the parking lot, even (I imagine) thebathroom. He made fantastic guacamole andidolized feminists. His bookshelf featuredPeople’s History of the United States andGuns, Germs and Steel. “My God,” Ithought. ”I’m dating GeorgeStephanopolous.”

On our second date, we had an impas-sioned abortion rights discussion. For me,intellectual debate is an aphrodisiac (geeky, Iknow). So, my glasses all steamed, I asked ifI could kiss him. “Sure,” he barked, as if Iwere asking him to feed my cat. But thegreater horror was yet to come. With no

warning, he came at me like a lamprey, allradial mouth and endless rows of teeth.

Somehow I survived and lived to go outon two more dates with him. The fourthtime, we sat down to dinner at his favoriteIndian restaurant. I was horrif ied when,mackage imminent, he nevertheless insistedon ordering us a giant plate of garlic naan. Ididn’t have any gum, nor was any toothpasteat hand. The complimentary coriander didn’tmake a dent. We were doomed to BrimstoneBreath for the rest of the night. ThoughAthena had blessed us, Eros was silent.

Over the next four months I saw a meatysix-foot volleyball player who looked like anextra from Top Gun; an Iraqi-Scot who stud-ied dark matter a mile beneath the earth; awealthy young consultant who presented mewith a bouquet of irises; and a blue-eyedAdonis who became “just a friend.” (He wasgrateful when I offered to pimp him atWellesley.)

Come May, I felt reflective. Despite somemisadventures, all the young men I’d datedhad been sweet, well-meaning gentlemenwho’d shown me a good time. But dating hadbecome a part-time job, just another pencil-ing in my Day Minder. When shopping,ennui comes after surveying rows upon rowsof pretty fruit, sprayed by the hour and per-fectly presented. I wanted to take a walk inthe wild again, alone with my thoughts.

Graduation fast approached, and my littlemango season drew to a close. I shut downmy online profile and dreamt of wild kiwigroves at MIT.

Can you think of something weird, alter-native or downright crazy in the Boston areayou’d like me to try? I’m your guinea pig.Send your ideas to mcbyrne@mit.edu.

CAMPUS LIFEMarch 11, 2005 THE TECH Page 9

By Bill AndrewsSTAFF WRITER

With all the recent talk about women inscience and engineering, I couldn’t help butwonder about one particular stereotype of thewomen on campus. I refer, of course, to thestereotype that women@mit.edu aren’t hot.Please note how very careful I am in writingthis, as I do not want to receive hate mail: Iam not personally saying that the youngladies around here aren’t hot or that I thinkthey’re ugly. No! I speak in general termsabout women, broadly on broads so to speak,and it is no secret that the common opinion isthat the girls around here just aren’t verygood looking. I can’t comment on how menare perceived on campus, but I can onlyimagine we don’t fare much better.

However, in recent years, opinions havestarted to shift. It appears that people, or atleast female people, are starting to get hotteraround MIT. Overhearing conversationswalking by me in the Infinite, I’ve started tohear more and more about there being prettygirls here, and less of the “well, she’s onlyMIT-hot” sort of thing. (Yes, I really heardsomeone say that once, don’t hate me for it.)Myself, I thought that maybe people’s per-ceptions were broadening, that to be attrac-tive and hot wasn’t so much about adheringto a certain standard of beauty, but moreabout appreciating the uniqueness in some-one. My girlfriend quickly shot that ideadown.

“No, Bill, my class is totally hotter thanyour class,” she once said to me. (So as toprotect the innocent, no actual class yearswill be revealed in this discussion; suffice itto say, my girlfriend is younger than I am.)“Your class was one of the last to be admittedbased only on your academics, so you’ve gotway smarter, but not as hot, people. My classwas supposed to be ‘more well-rounded:’ notas insanely smart, but much hotter.”

I said, “How do you know?” “Oh, they told us once, I think during ori-

entation.”“Doesn’t it make you feel bad to think

your admissions standards were looser thanmine?”

“Well just because I was talking about myclass as a whole, it doesn’t mean I can’t be ashot and smart as you,” she said smiling. Iknew my cue, and told her I loved her andtook her out to dinner; after all, she wasright. But it made me wonder: could it bethat MIT is admitting hotter people now? Irealized I had to find out right away, espe-cially since there were two problem sets Ididn’t want to do.

My first stop on the “Path of Truth” wasNightline. I am convinced that Nightlinetruly has the answer to everything, and ifthey don’t, they can tell you where to get it. Idescribed my question to them, and was sur-prised to find out someone had heard of thistheory.

“Oh yeah,” the friendly Nightline operator

said, “I’ve heard that, only I heard it wasn’tto make MIT students hotter, but to reducetheir … eccentricities.” Eccentricity is a risk,MIT believes, because it might lead to badthings, such as student suicides. Sure itwould be desirable to have really smart peo-ple here, but not so smart as to be risks.Thus, MIT slightly lowered the academicstandards. The Nightline operator continued,“I think a few years ago they admitted it insome press release, but the students jumpedall over them saying that MIT was becomingstandardized and too normal, so the adminis-tration hushed it up.”

“Any chance anyone over there has a copyof that release?” I asked. I could practicallysmell the Pulitzer.

“We’re looking on Google right now, but Idon’t know, it could take a while. Maybe youcould check back with us in 15 minutes?”

“Sure,” I said. Nothing turned up, butthey suggested I talk to students who work inadmissions; maybe they knew something. Ithanked Nightline for their hard work, andsaid goodnight.

I love Nightline.Unfortunately, my attempts to talk to stu-

dents who work in admissions turned up lit-tle. Most had heard of this theory before —some people from the hotness angle andsome from the suicide prevention angle —but I found no concrete evidence. However,one of them did suggest I do some scientificresearch on the subject, which I couldn’t help

thinking was a great idea. Enlisting the aid of my girlfriend, we set

about performing our hotness experiment.We would walk up and down the Inf initeCorridor and count the number of people wesaw, keeping track of the ‘hot’ ones on ourfingers; she would rate the hotness percent-age of the men, and I the women. After 10trials, we found the average to be 40 percenthotness for girls and 34 percent for men. Wethen compared to back issues of the Tech-nique, where we found the ratios to be 25percent and 30 percent, respectively. Whatother conclusion could there be except thatMIT students have indeed become hotter(especially the girls)?

Again, I want it to be clear that I am notdisparaging anyone. If you are class of ’01don’t write me and tell me off because Icalled you unhot. I didn’t, I just said in gen-eral that the newer classes are hotter than theolder ones. Individually, you’re as likely tobe hot as ever. Besides, what do you care?You’re probably a millionaire by now anyway…

So while it seems the admissions officeloses some points for not bringing the freaky,interesting people here, I can’t help butaward it a few points for improving the viewhere. After all, I sure don’t mind being inclasses with hot girls or doing PE with —Ow! Ow, ow!

I mean, I’m sorry dear. Let’s go out fordinner, my treat.

Breaking the Second LawHot Girls in Hell

Mango SeasonAdventures in Dating

Join The Tech,before the man-eating

pineapples come after you.

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

Page 10 THE TECH CAMPUS LIFE March 11, 2005

By Emily Kagan

Dear Geek Love Sexpert,I’m interested in a grad student, she’s not

my TA and I met her through a common activi-ty, but I’m afraid of rejection. How as ayounger man do I increase my chances oflanding that crucial first date?

Sincerely,Confused Younger Man

Dear Confused Young Man,Everyone is afraid of rejection. It sucks.

But think about the risk/benefit ratio here: Ifyou ask her out and she says no, you risk oneday of feeling like a shmuck plus one awk-ward interaction with her the next time youtwo run into each other. If you ask her out andshe says yes, you get to do the happy dancefor several days (until the night of the date, atwhich point you start doing the “oh, God, I’mso nervous I can’t tell if I have to pee orvomit” dance).

If you don’t ask her out, you relegate your-self to helpless pining and uncontrollabledrooling every time you see her. Then, there’sthe months of waking up in cold sweats at thethought of her out with some other guy, count-less teasing by friends who catch you doo-

dling her initials in the corner of you note-books and ultimately a diminished sense ofself worth because you were too chicken toask her out.

So, to review, you risk one to two days ofawkwardness vs. a lifetime of ridicule andself-loathing (OK, perhaps it just a lifetimeof wondering “what if,” but you get thepoint).

Now that you’ve decided to ask this girlout, you need to make your plan of attack. TheMIT graduate student is a curious creature.Finding itself plucked from its native habitat,the graduate student is simultaneously com-pelled by the need to make friends as well asexplore its surroundings, while still avoidingits natural predators. The graduate student’sprimary defense mechanism is to hide withinits laboratory, beneath large piles of work,curled into the fetal position.

Mind your behavior around these skittishcreatures. The biggest difference you will findbetween a grad student and an undergrad isdirection. Grad students (supposedly) knowwhat direction their career is taking them. Youdon’t want to come off like some kid who has-n’t put any thought into his life after gradua-tion. “Girls only like guys with skills ... likenunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer

hacking skills,” to quote the famous NapoleonDynamite. Be confident when you talk aboutyour interests and what you want to do withyour life. Self-assurance is very sexy (thinkJames Bond, Arnold, Kip).

In order to coax this graduate student outinto the open, you will need to ply her withfree food; it is the only thing graduate studentscannot resist. Start slow. Ask her to have lunchwith you one day. This is a low-pressure wayfor the two of you to hang out and see howthings go. Grad students rarely go out onweeknights, but lunch is an easy way to seeher and get to know her without making it abig Friday or Saturday night outing. If lunchgoes well, try for a second lunch. After that,it’s a pretty safe bet to ask her out for a realdate.

Assuming you’ve gotten this far, you nowhave the problem of planning that crucial firstdate. The first thing to do is gauge the maturi-ty or age difference between you two. Justbecause she’s a graduate student doesn’t meanshe needs sophisticated conversation over alate vintage pinot noir. Her idea of a greatnight might be playing video games and eat-ing junk food.

If you are under 21, picking an eveningactivity is tricky, as graduate students tend to

head to the bars on the weekends. Dinner anda movie is always a good option. If you feellike you may not have a lot to talk about, dothe movie first and dinner second. This willgive you an instant conversation starter. Ifyou want to head to a bar, you do have sever-al options that don’t card at the door (JohnHarvard’s and Middle East come to mind).Just don’t get caught using a fake. This is avery quick way to make you and your datefeel stupid. (And remind her how young youare … )

Remember, grad students are not that dif-ferent than normal people. Working in yourfavor is another ratio: the male to female ratio.In grad school there are about three women toevery seven men. But, as all female grad stu-dents were told during orientation, the oddsare fairly good, but the goods are fairly odd.As a female grad student, I can safely say thata date with a cute undergrad would certainlynot be out of the question. Besides, the Mrs.Robinson complex is a lot more common thanyou would expect. So go ahead, turn on thecharm and ask this lady out. What have yougot to lose?

Questions, curiosities, or troubles? TheGeek Love Sexpert can help … Write to her atgeeklove@mit.edu.

Geek LoveAnd here's to you, Mrs. Robinson …

The Production Department’s Word of the DayOligophagous: eating only a few specific kinds of food

join@tt.mit.edu

made possible by the Council for the Arts at MIT

Free tickets for MIT Students!

Presented by World Music & CRASHarts:

From Senegal

ORCHESTRA BAOBABFriday, March 18, 8:00pm

Somerville Theatre55 Davis Square, Somerville

TICKETS AVAILABLEat the MIT Office of the Arts: E15-205

T, W, and Th from 10am - 4pmOne ticket per valid MIT student ID

Boston Ballet presents:

LA SYLPHIDEFriday March 11, 8:00pm

7:00pm - “Informance”an informal discussion with Boston Ballet principals

The Wang Theater270 Tremont Street, Boston

Music: Herman LøvenskjoldChoreography: Sorella Englund after Auguste Bournonville

Orchestra Baobab exploded onto the Dakar scene in1970 and immediately became famous for their sub-lime Afro-Cuban arrangements. For more than a de-cade, they reigned supreme as the toast of Dakar highsociety and recorded more than 20 hit albums. After a15-year hiatus, fellow compatriot Youssou N'Dour andBuena Vista Social Club's pioneer Nick Gold reunitedthese Senegalese elder statesmen. Last year's fabu-lous sold-out show absolutely confirmed that the bandhas lost none of their magic.

Set in the Scottish highlands with woodland fairies inwhite and men in tartans, La Sylphide weaves the time-less tale of a handsome Scot, his long-anticipated wed-ding, a conniving witch, and a beautiful sylph. Full ofpassion and deceit, Boston Ballet’s La Sylphide is atonce a love story and a drama - brought to life in art-fully danced ensembles and breathtaking pas de deux.It thrills the senses, touches the heart, and promises tolinger in the mind long after the last curtain call.

SOLD OUTSOLDOUT

March 11, 2005 THE TECH Page 11

33rd annual JAMES R. KILLIAN, JR.,

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD LECTURE

by

WOLFGANG KETTERLE John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics

Co-recipient of 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics

“When Freezing Cold Is Not Cold Enough . . .”

Tuesday 15 March

4:30 pm Kirsch Auditorium – Room 32-123

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2005Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2005Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston

A ONE-DAY COURSE IN BOSTONPRESENTING DATA AND INFORMATIONgiven entirely by EDWARD TUFTE, author of three wonderful books on analytical design. Everyone taking the course receives allthree books as well as Tufte’s famous essay on PowerPoint:

The classic book on statisticalcharts, graphs, and tables. “Best100 books of the 20th century.”amazon.com “A visual Strunk andWhite.” The Boston Globe $40 postpaid

Maps of data and evidence.Design strategies for complexdata. High resolution displays.Multiples, layering and hierarchy,color and information.$48 postpaid

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· fundamental strategies of information design

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· statistical data: tables, graphics, semi-graphics

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· effective presentations: on paper and in person

· use of PowerPoint, video, overheads, handouts

· multi-media, internet, and websites

· design of information displays in public spaces

· animation and scientific visualizations

· design of computer interfaces and manuals

THE ONE-DAY COURSE WILL BE OFFERED ON FOUR SEPARATE DATES:

Depicting evidence relevant tocause and effect. Graphics fordecision making and presenta-tions. Interface design. Animation,scientific visualization.$45 postpaid

For information about Edward Tufte’s course, ‘Presenting Data and Information,’or about the books, call 800 822-2454 or visit www.edwardtufte.comGraphics Press LLC Post Office Box 430 Cheshire, Connecticut 06410

The Visual Display

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S E C O N D E D I T I O N

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Solution to Bonus Crosswordfrom page 7

by ApplyYourself Inc. The hole wasfixed within nine hours, according toa March 4 article in The BostonGlobe.

MIT rejects snooping applicantsSchmalensee called the decision

by some applications to take advan-tage of the loophole a “lapse of judg-ment and ethical sense.”

“It was hard for me to distinguishthis from somebody who picked thelock to the office and went in andlooked at the file,” he said. The 32who hacked into the admissionsinformation were identifiable byApplyYourself because access to thesystem required identification by aunique password.

The rejected applicants will beeligible to apply in future years,though their actions will be consid-ered a “mark on their record,” andadmissions will be “mindful of whathappened in the past,” Garcia said.

Of the 32 people who gainedunauthorized access, the handful ofapplicants who had interviews sched-uled with Sloan were informed by e-mail that their interviews were can-celed.

The other applicants, who wouldhave been rejected regardless of their

attempt to hack into the system, willbe notified in their rejection letters onthe normal date that Sloan is awareof their unauthorized access, Garciasaid. The normal date of notificationof admissions decision is April 4.

Some applicants who gainedaccess have stepped forward over thepast few days to admit their actions.As of yesterday, however, fewer thanhalf of the 32 had done so, Garciasaid.

The actions by Sloan were a“moderate response commensurateto what they’d done,” Schmalenseesaid.

ApplyYourself status uncertainThe Sloan admissions system

went online in 1997 and firstrequired all applicants to applyonline in 1998. Sloan began usingthe ApplyYourself system in 1999,Garcia said.

Sloan has not yet decidedwhether they will continue to use theApplyYourself system in the future,Garcia said. ApplyYourself officialsmet with Sloan admissions onWednesday.

ApplyYourself had told MIT thatthose who used the hole may havebroken the law, but legal action is“between ApplyYourself and theindividuals,” not MIT, Garcia said.

Typically, between 2,500 and2,600 individuals apply to the Sloanprogram, Garcia said.

Of these, about 300 are tradition-ally accepted to the MBA program,Schmalensee said.

ApplyYourself believes theyhave identified the party who publi-cized the bug in the system, saidAngel C. Navedo, assistant directorof MBA admissions. ApplyYourselfdid not return a request for com-ment.

Schmalensee said that he hasheard that the person who reportedthe bug, first notifying ApplyYour-self of the flaw, is an applicant to theSloan doctoral program.

A number of other top businessschools across the country were alsoaffected by the bug in ApplyYour-self software. Harvard rejected the119 who gained unauthorized accesson Monday, and Carnegie Mellonrejected its applicants who had triedto gain unauthorized access lastweek, according to an AssociatedPress article. Stanford and Dart-mouth have not yet taken actionagainst applicants, and Duke has notreached a decision on one case,according to the article.

Garcia said MIT’s decision toreject the applicants was reachedindependently of the other schools.

through,” but a benefit to the groupswho participate, said Susan Wood-mansee ’97, also an AILG Board ofDirectors member.

Exactly what would happen withthe results of the process, whetherpositive or negative, is not yet clear.Woodmansee said the full reportwould remain confidential to thehouse, and a summary might bemade available to the MIT adminis-tration to keep track of the housingsystem.

Currently in a pilot round ofdevelopment and evaluation, theaccreditation process seeks “to eval-uate the health of the chapter,including both undergraduate andalumni organizations, in areas ofbehavior, finances, governance,member development, and physicalplant/building,” Woodmansee wrotein a statement.

Both Student House and ThetaDelta Chi are participating in thepilot test, Woodmansee said.

Student House President Julia E.Thrower ’05 said that her house wasparticipating in part because theaccreditation process “may make usaware of some processes orresources” they they aren’t currentlyusing. It “might be a good healthcheck,” she said.

The accreditation process is car-ried out by a committee composedof two or three AILG members, anundergraduate, a faculty member orsenior staff member, and two orthree alumni from the particularhouse, said Burmaster. The inten-tion is to bring in a wide variety ofperspectives and stakeholders in thesystem, as with MIT’s visiting com-mittees for department evaluations.

In this early stage, there’s not agood sense for what requirementsare needed for accreditation yet,Woodmansee said, especially sincethere are too few data points even toestablish an average.

Pilot test starts at Student HouseBeing evaluated by anyone con-

nected to the administration is acontroversial idea for students, andpart of the pilot test’s goal is toclear up misconceptions about theprocess.

In fact, even Student House’sfirst meeting with the committeehad its share of surprises.

“We were under the impression

that this meeting was it,” the entireevaluation at once, Thrower said,and the house had created detailedpresentations for each area beingevaluated. “It turned out that theydidn’t really want any of that yet.”

Instead, the first meeting wasjust an informal introduction, shesaid, and the committee also gave apresentation on what they wereinterested in and were trying to dowith the process.

“One of the fears that pops up athouses … that they wanted toavoid” was the idea that houseswould be punished if they didn’t dothings a certain way, Thrower said.Rather, she said the committee was“trying to offer carrots rather thansticks” and “trying to entice housesto implement certain things” ratherthan saying “shame on you.”

“This is not another way to boilvictims in hot oil,” Burmaster said.“We’re trying to raise the quality ofstudent life here on campus.”

Some of the items included ascriteria for evaluation include ahouse’s process for collecting bills,whether it has a lodging license,and its level of community involve-ment.

The specific items being evalu-ated are still changing, however.

The committee members “werereally looking in the first meetingfor feedback from us,” Throwersaid.

What’s measured and what isn’tThrower said “one thing that

sort of came out of the meeting thatsurprised the group … is how dif-ferent Student House is” from otherFSILGs.

Student House is non-profit, forexample, and was initially estab-lished as “a place for students whomay not be able to afford MIT oth-erwise,” she said.

She said that the current criteriawouldn’t necessarily pick up onthese distinctive features, though.

“They have a lot metrics they’relooking at in terms of the house andhow the house runs,” predominant-ly quantifiable in nature. “I thinkthat’s valid, I think that’s a goodassessment for a house,” she said,but “the biggest reason why I reallylove living here … [is not] becauseof those more tangible concretethings you could put a ruleragainst.”

Burmaster said that the criteriabeing evaluated are still pretty flexi-ble, though, and are “right at thecrossover point between the discus-sion phase” and being tried out inpractice.

Accreditation impact unknownShould accreditation become a

full-scale project, it’s not clear yetwhat meaning being accreditatedmight have.

“It’s premature to guesstimateexactly how that’s going to work,”Burmaster said. The goal is to be“generally supportive,” but itwouldn’t be possible simply toignore dire problems in a house.

Woodmansee said that one ofthe main reasons the accreditationprocess had taken off recently wasnew support from the administra-tion following the FSILG TaskForce report in the fall.

“There’s definitely support fromadministration” for the process, shesaid, and one possibility might befor the committee to provide asummary of their findings to theStudent Life office to help MITkeep better track of the housingsystem.

In addition, she said, accredita-tion could be a venue for people tolook across the system rather thanat specific houses one at a time.

“I think the timing is right” forsome effort to help FSILGsimprove their housing, she said.

As things stand, though, whilethere’s the possibility for futureexpansion, “I’d rather start smalland get it off the ground” than aimfor too much, Woodmansee said.

Page 12 THE TECH March 11, 2005

2005 Student Art Awards

Please send nominating letters by Friday March 18, 2005 to:Susan Cohen, Director, Council for the Arts at MIT- E15-205

cohen@media.mit.edu

LAYA and JEROME B. WIESNERSTUDENT ART AWARDS

LOUIS SUDLERPRIZE IN THE ARTS

Call for Nominations!

The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts is presentedannually to a graduating senior who has demon-strated excellence or the highest standards ofproficiency in music, theater, painting, sculpture,design, architecture or film. The Prize was estab-lished in 1982 by Mr. Sudler, a performer in thearts and an arts patron from Chicago. An en-dowment fund provides a $1,250 award to thehonoree.

The Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student ArtAwards are presented annually to up to three stu-dents (undergraduate or graduate), living groups,organizations or activities for outstandingachievement in and contributions to the arts atMIT. Established in 1979, these awards honorPresident Emeritus Wiesner and Mrs. Wiesner fortheir commitment to the arts at MIT. An endow-ment fund provides a $1,250 honorarium to eachrecipient.http://web.mit.edu/arts/about/awards/wiesner.html http://web.mit.edu/arts/about/awards/sudler.html

Evaluation May LackYardstick for Culture

Rejected 32 Can Apply AgainSloan, from Page 1

DAVID GANDY—THE TECH

Head coach Paul Dill congratulates the men’s volleyball team on their 20th win of the seasonafter Wednesday’s defeat of Mount Ida. This is only the third 20-win season in the program’s his-tory.

Sloan, from Page 1

March 11, 2005 THE TECH Page 13

Room 50-005

Walker Memorial

4 – 6 P.M.

March 17th, 2005

Light refreshments

will be served.

Presented by

the LBGT Issues

Group.

President Susan

Hockfield will join

us as we celebrate

the opening of the

new Rainbow

Lounge space.

Solution toKRT Crossword

from page 7

OMARI STEPHENS—THE TECH

A police-escorted truck pulls a large piece of equipment, likely a heat exchanger, toward Central Square via Massachusetts Avenue around midnight on Tuesday morning.

This space donated by The Tech

Talk wordy to us.

join@the-tech.mit.edu

UA President / Vice PresidentCandidate Pair Iteration 1John M. Cloutier ’06 and 783+32 = 815Jessica H. Lowell ’07Calvin G. Sizer ’06 and 694+16 = 710Bryan D. Owens ’07Write-ins 52+0 = 52

Class of 2006 PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Nikhil S. Shenoy 170+1 = 171Kimberley W. Wu 165+6 = 171Amy R. Lam 148+2 = 150Write-ins 7+0 = 7

Iteration 2Kimberley W. Wu 167+6 = 173Nikhil S. Shenoy 171+1 = 172Amy R. Lam 150+2 = 152

Iteration 3Nikhil S. Shenoy 214+1 = 215Kimberley W. Wu 208+7 = 215(tie)

Class of 2006 Vice PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Clarence Lee 238+9 = 247Bella C. Liang 133+0 = 133Noelle J. Kanaga 102+0 = 102Write-ins 10+0 = 10

Class of 2006 SecretaryCandidate Iteration 1Karen E. Hunter 327+5 = 332Write-ins 31+0 = 31

Class of 2006 TreasurerCandidate Iteration 1Jill L. Konowich 306+6 = 312Write-ins 39+0 = 39

Class of 2006 Publicity ChairCandidate Iteration 1Walter C. Lin and Janet J. Yoo 334+6 = 340Write-ins 26+0 = 26

Class of 2006 Social ChairCandidates Iteration 1Andrea T. Urmanita and 234+5 = 239Deborah A. WatkinsNina L. DeBenedictis and 179+3 = 182Leslie E. KaoWrite-ins 17+0 = 17

Class of 2007 PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Melvin C. Makhni 266+5 = 271Write-ins 49+1 = 50

Class of 2007 Vice PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Ovid C. Amadi 234+6 = 240Write-ins 81+2 = 83Amanda P. Hunter (*) 28+1 = 29

Class of 2007 SecretaryCandidate Iteration 1Shilpa M. Joshi 268+5 = 273Write-ins 27+1 = 28

Class of 2007 TreasurerCandidate Iteration 1Raymond R. Wu 172+6 = 178Dwight M. Chambers 174+3 = 177Write-ins 13+0 = 13

Iteration 2Raymond R. Wu 174+6 = 180Dwight M. Chambers 176+3=179Write-ins 4+0 = 4

Iteration 3Raymond R. Wu 175+6 = 181Dwight M. Chambers 176+3 = 179

Class of 2007 Publicity ChairCandidates Iteration 1Grace C. Lo and Susan J. Shin 278+5 = 283Write-ins 2+0 = 2

Class of 2007 Social ChairCandidates Iteration 1Sarah J. Cha and 277+5=282Jessica J. HuangWrite-ins 2+0 = 2

Class of 2008 PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Ada Lipkin 175+7 = 182Cankut Durgun 156+4 = 160Jack M. Genberg 119+5 = 124Write-ins 27+1 = 28

Iteration 2Ada Lipkin 179+7 = 186Cankut Durgun 158+4 = 162Jack M. Genberg 121+5 = 126Write-ins 14+1 = 15

Iteration 3Ada Lipkin 181+7 = 188Cankut Durgun 160+4 = 164Jack M. Genberg 121+5 = 126Write-ins 8+1 = 9

Iteration 4Ada Lipkin 183+7 = 190Cankut Durgun 161+4 = 165Jack M. Genberg 122+5 = 127

Iteration 5Ada Lipkin 233+8 = 241Cankut Durgun 206+6 = 212

Class of 2008 Vice PresidentCandidate Iteration 1Jonathan A. Birnbaum 145+6 = 151Payal Agrawal 142+6 = 148Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew 126+5 = 131Write-ins 23+0 = 23

Iteration 2Jonathan A. Birnbaum 149+6 = 155Payal Agrawal 144+6 = 150Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew 127+5 = 132Write-ins 4+0 = 4

Iteration 3Jonathan A. Birnbaum 150+6 = 156Payal Agrawal 144+6 = 150Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew 128+5 = 133Write-ins 4+0 = 4

Iteration 4Jonathan A. Birnbaum 198+7 = 205Payal Agrawal 191+7 = 198

Class of 2008 SecretaryCandidate Iteration 1Jiangwei Zhu 349+15 = 364Write-ins 51+1 = 52

Class of 2008 TreasurerCandidate Iteration 1Bo Zhao 298+15 = 313Write-ins 88+4 = 92Nifoghale D. Ovuworie (*) 41+3=44Peter T. Clay (*) 19+1=20

Class of 2008 Publicity ChairCandidate Iteration 1Jenn A. D'Ascoli and 352+15 = 367Estevan M. MartinezWrite-ins 34+0 = 34

Class of 2008 Social ChairCandidate Iteration 1Amrita V. Masurkar and 368+18 = 386Daniel R. StoneWrite-ins 23+0 = 23* write-in with significant number of voteshttp://web.mit.edu/ua/elections/Spring05/results.html

prised about the tie and that it showshow important every vote is. She isoptimistic about next week, shesaid.

Shenoy was also “pretty sur-prised, because a tie is highlyunlikely.” He also said he was dis-appointed because several of hisfriends thought that they could notvote for their class since their yearhad been changed as a result ofsophomore standing.

Tiffany L. Seto ’06, UA Election Commission Chairperson, said thatstudents can vote in the elections fortheir original class year even if theyhad sophomore standing. They canrequest to have their year correctedon the ballot.

Shenoy said if he won, he andLee would definitely be able towork together to “make senior yeara good year for everyone.”

Plans for next yearCloutier said that his biggest

goal this fall is to talk with adminis-trators about the freshmen on cam-pus policy. He ran on the platformthat “the new freshmen housing pol-icy has proven to be quite harmfulto dorms as well as fraternities andstudent life in general.”

Cloutier said he would also liketo look at how the UA is set up andexplore possible improvements. Forexample, he said, the committeesystem needs some streamlining.

Sizer expressed hope that Clouti-er and Lowell would “make stu-dents feel more empowered” andachieve their goals of decreasingcrowding and cost in Stata diningand to allow TechCash to be used atstores such as Star Market andQualitymart.

Williams reflects on presidencyCurrent UA President Harel M.

Williams ’05 said that his presiden-cy has seen committees “gettingthings done” as well as increasingstudent representative accountabilityto the student body and allowingstudent opinions to be heard.

Williams said that the UA hasbecome “very open with evalua-tion,” organizing dinners in resi-dences to receive feedback. The UAhas also built better relationshipswith student organizations, he said.

Williams said he hopes Cloutierand Lowell spend the next twomonths “figuring out how thingswork” before they are sworn in.This way, they will be able to makeconnections and “hit the groundrunning,” he said.

Page 14 THE TECH March 11, 2005

Solution toSuper Bonus Crossword

from page 7

UA Officers Elected, 2006 President UndeterminedElections, from Page 1

Spring 2005 Election Results: Vote Counts and Redistributions

How the Table Worksa + b = c a : online votes, b: paper ballot votes, c: total votes.

Preferential voting for more than two candidatesIteration 1: Voters enter their preferences for candidates for each position. They need not rank all candidates.

For example, they can rank a candidate first and not ranked the others.Iteration 2: The candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated from the race. The votes of those

who picked this candidate as first choice are redistributed to the remaining candidates, if any, that they entered assecond choice on their ballots. The process ends if one candidate has a majority of the total votes and continuesotherwise.

Iteration 3: The candidate with the fewest votes after the second iteration is eliminated, and his/her votes areredistributed to remaining candidates based on next highest preference on the ballots.

This is continued until a candidate has more than half of the total original votes, or there are two remainingand one has more votes.

adapted from http://web.mit.edu/ua/elections/pref.html

join@the-tech.mit.edu

This space donated by The Tech

March 11, 2005 SPORTS THE TECH Page 15

2005 Nationals competitors Laraand Neill Shelton, who competed atthe Novice level, and Tanya Azizand Chad Brennan, who competedat the Junior level. The Sheltonsperformed their competitive shortprogram to Buena Vista SocialClub’s “Strawberry Tango” as wellas a group number with Aziz andBrennan to “Changes” from themovie “Shrek 2.”

2005 Junior National JuvenileBoys pewter medallist Kevin Hanperformed his show program to“Jump.” This is his fifth time per-

forming at MIT’s exhibition.2005 National Senior Men’s

competitor and New EnglandRegional Champion Ian MacAdam,representing Yarmouth Ice Club,performed his solo program as well.

Eastern Sectional competitorKristin Tudisco performed her pro-gram to “Someone Like You.”

On Saturday, March 12, the fig-ure skating club will be hosting aU.S. Figure Skating ice dance testsession for its club members and theannual MIT Intercollegiate FigureSkating Competition, which quali-fies collegiate teams for the Inter-collegiate Team Nationals.

like when Nomar was traded fromthe Red Sox. Some fans cursed hisselfish style of basketball and felt itwas time for him to go. Others wereupset that Ainge had sent him pack-ing, thus dismantling a team thatjust fell short of making the NBAFinals the year before. The love-hate relationship with Antoine wasalways an odd one because itseemed like the city was torn rightdown the middle on its opinion ofhim.

But when the news filtered inthat Antoine was back, tickets to hisfirst home game (March 2 againstthe Lakers) were suddenly muchharder to get. Being the die-hardCeltics fan that I am, I was up to thetask and managed to get my handson a couple of balcony seats.

The atmosphere was electric anda sold out building formerly knownas the FleetCenter was rocking as ifit were the glory days of the BostonGarden. The crowd was all behindAntoine, ready to give him everyounce of support it had. A slew of#8 jerseys could be seen amongst theBoston faithful as they held up signsthat read “Welcome Back Antoine.”

When the announcer began read-ing the starting lineups, the buzz inthe crowd grew increasingly louder,and upon the announcement ofWalker’s name, the whole houseexploded into pandemonium. Not asoul in the stands was rooting forAntoine to fail, and a city that wasonce divided was now willing toforgive and forget. Because some-times you never know what youhave until it’s gone.

Welcome back, Antoine.

Antoine Is WelcomedBack by Celtics FansAntoine, from Page 16

Skating, from Page 16

boston balletM I K K O N I S S I N E N Ar t i s t i c D i r e c t o r

Music: Herman LøvenskjoldChoreography: Sorella Englund after

August BournonvilleScenic Design and Costumes: Peter Cazalet

FALLING ANGELSMarch 17-20

&HOT,BOLD,

PProvocative

For more details and production info, go to

www.bostonballet.orgOr call BOSTON BALLET for information at

617.695.6955, M-F, 9am-5pm

$15 STUDENT TICKETS!Available at The Wang Theatre

LA SYLPHIDEA NEW PRODUCTION

TEN PART SUITE

Lucinda Childs

FALLING ANGELS, SARABANDE

Jirí Kylián

IN THE MIDDLE,

SOMEWHAT ELEVATED

William Forsythe

v

Photos of Larissa Ponomarenko; Romi Beppu and Yury Yanowsky by John Deane

ONLY THRU SUN,

3/13!

Th 3/10 @ 7pm ● Fri 3/11 @ 8 pm ● Sat 3/12 @ 2 & 8pm

Sun 3/13 @ 2 pm ● FREE pre-show lecture w/ ticket Fri @ 7pm

“…a GORGEOUS new production!”

“…deliciously sweet!”—The Boston Globe

OPENSNEXT

WEEK!

Wednesdays and Sundaysmean free food at

The Tech!

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National Level SkatersPerform at Exhibition

By Jessica LeeTEAM MEMBER

The weather may have beengorgeous last weekend, but fewnoticed inside Moseley’s on the

Charles, the ballroomin Dedham where 369dancers gracefullybattled at Harvard’sannual InvitationalBallroom Competi-

tion, with MIT dancers emergingamong the top.

Harvard allows competitors todance at two levels rather than justone, and as a result everyone dancedtwice as much as usual, often inback-to-back rounds. Couples ran offthe floor and right back on again,until events seemed to meld together.

A feisty master of ceremoniesadded to the ambience, along with anexcellent music selection, lightning-speed score calculation, and ruthless-ly efficient turnover from event toevent.

If any MIT dancers were put outby the spirited commotion, they did-n’t let it weaken their performance.The team performed impressively inthe four team matches, placingfourth in Vet Standard, second inRookie American, and first in bothVet American and Rookie Standardteam matches.

MIT once again showed itsoverall strength in the InternationalStandard and American Smoothstyles, placing in the finals in

every single eventexcept the newcomerlevel, for which MIThad no entries. Theteam swept firstthrough third place inSilver American Vien-nese Waltz, and tookfour of the top sixplaces in Bronze Inter-national Foxtrot, withShlomo H. Meislin Gand Olga S. Shevnyuk’08 in first, Dmitri Aba-nine G and Yan Zhao insecond, Perry Shieh andTheresa Vallese infifth, and Eng Sew AwG and Shi Ling Seow’06 in sixth.

Meislin and Shevnyukhave only been dancingsince last fall, whichwould normally placethem at the Bronze level.However, they competedin Silver AmericanWaltz/Tango/Foxtrot andSilver American Vien-nese Waltz, taking firstand second places,respectively. They dancedso well in the RookieAmerican team match that the MITcaptain was summoned by the Har-vard officials to provide confirmationthat they are indeed rookies.

Other blue ribbons from MITincluded Philip Hsu ’87 and Esther

Rheinbay G, who placed first in allGold Latin events; Abanin and Zhaoin Bronze International Quickstep;and Steven Zhang and Esther Ryvk-ina in Silver American VienneseWaltz.

Ballroom Dance Team among the BestAt Harvard’s Invitational Competition

By Diana ChengCLUB MEMBER

Thirty MIT Figure Skating Clubmembers and six guest skaters per-formed in the club’s annual exhibi-

tion at the Johnson IceRink on March 6.

Trish Fleming,who works in the MITEnterprise Forum, andclub Vice President

Delphine Dean PhD ’05 coordinatedand emceed the show. They enter-tained the audience by changingdresses for every performance theyannounced.

Jessica R. Huot ’06 choreo-graphed and directed the openingnumber to music from the HarryPotter movies. Beginners SoonminBae G, Anna Chen ’07, Elaine Lin’08, and Rebecca Xu performed forthe first time alongside veteran clubmembers. The crowd watched insuspense as the skaters joined up

two at a time to form a giant pin-wheel, spinning faster and fasterwith each addition.

An exciting highlight of theshow was the “Vertigo” numberperformed by Joseph P. Lemay G,Devon L. Manz G, and Juha S.Valkama ’06, all of whom are for-mer competitors in pairs or icedance. The men had incrediblespeed and footwork as they ranacross the length of the ice and per-formed double jumps.

Linear Progressions, MIT’s syn-chronized skating team, performedto to Blondie’s “One Way” and“Funky Town.” Team membersincluded Dean, Susan Alpert, JessieI. Chen G, Diana I. Cheng ’04, JohnGonzalez ’04, Erica Gralla G, Lind-say A. Howie ’05, and BonnyKellermann ’77. Howie, whocoached the team this year, compet-ed with the Haydenettes team at the2003 World Synchronized Team

Championships. Kellermann earneda gold medal last weekend at the2005 U.S. Synchronized SkatingNationals with her Masters levelteam, Esprit de Corps.

Cheng and Draper Lab employ-ee Mickey Barry performed theirpairs program to a medley from“Miss Saigon.” Solo club skatersincluded Christina Mills G, HilaryLang, Dean PhD ’05, club PresidentAdriana Tajonar ’06, and Jane Cod-man.

Several U.S. Figure Skatingjudges who are MIT club membersalso performed: Derek BrueningPhD ’04 debuted his program to“Pirates of the Carribean,” BarbCutler PhD ’03 debuted her pro-gram to “Polish Wedding,” and BillRowe skated to Robert Miles’s“Dreamland.”

Guest pairs skaters included

Figure Skating Club Members and GuestsEntertain Audience at Annual Exhibition

By Timothy Ferris

Call Danny Ainge the bestCeltics general manager since RedAuerbach was manning the scene.

Moments before the tradingd e a d l i n etwo weeksago, Ainge

pulled the trigger on a deal thatshocked and confused most of thebasketball nation; he reacquired starpower forward Antoine Walker, thevery same player who he hadshipped out at the start of the 2003-2004 season. In return for Walker,the C’s sent Gary Payton, TomGugliotta, Yogi Stewart, and thelesser of their two first round draftpicks this summer to the AtlantaHawks.

But wait, there’s more. TheHawks immediately waived Payton,at which point he came back hometo Boston. In summary, the Celticsgave up a seldom-used bench player(Gugliotta), a guy who hadn’t suitedup for a game since last April(Stewart), and a mid/low draft pickto get back Paul Pierce’s runningmate. Even the deepest critic ofAinge had to crack a smile at thatone.

During the year and a half thatWalker was gone, Boston lost itsleader, and it was clear that Piercewas struggling to fill the void all byhimself. All that has changed sinceAntoine’s return; the locker roomhas gone from frowns to smiles, thelevel of energy on the court has

increased drastically, and best of all,the weight on Pierce’s shoulders isgone.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith put itbest when he said that Pierce was to“Ying” as Walker was to “Yang.”Well, the two all-stars have beenreunited, and they’re about to inflictsome serious damage. At the begin-ning of the season I wrote that theCeltics didn’t have a chance at win-ning the championship. But withthe current team they have, I’mputting them in the “sleepers” cate-gory.

The dynamic duo of The Truthand Employee #8 has never hadsuch a supporting cast as they havenow, and if opposing teams don’tpay attention then they may get leftin the dust. The starting lineup ofPayton, Pierce, Ricky Davis, Walk-er, and Raef LaFrentz is probablyone of the best in the East. Pierceand Walker average 21.5 and 21.4points per game, respectively, whileDavis (15.4), Payton (12.2) andLaFrentz (11.2) are all capable ofgoing off for over 20 on any givennight. Throw in a bench of TonyAllen, Delonte West, Al Jefferson,and Marcus Banks and you've gotyourself a deep team, one that verywell may be the third best team inthe East behind Detroit and Miami.

When Walker was initially trad-ed away, there was a general feelingof ambivalence in Boston, much

By Caitlin BeverTEAM MEMBER

The MIT Cycling team startedthe spring road season off with abang, placing second in Division II

at Rutgers this pastweekend behind onlyperennial powerhouseDartmouth. Competingagainst 350 racers rep-resenting 35 schools

from all over New England, Pennsyl-vania, New York, and New Jersey,MIT scored two wins and numeroustop ten finishes that combined toyield a superb team performance.

The team participated in twoevents during the weekend: a cri-terium on Saturday and a circuitrace on Sunday. The criterium wasrun on a fast four-corner 0.6 mileloop that tested even the best riders’sprinting and cornering skills.

Jason Sears G showed that hewill not be taking any nonsense thisyear by achieving a dominant victo-

ry in the Men’s B category. Aftermaking an unsuccessful solo breakwith 25 minutes to go, he still hadenough gas to push it to the line forthe finish.

Melanie J. Michalak ’06 alsomade her mark by placing second inthe Women’s B race, while CaitlinBever G sprinted to third inWomen’s A.

Other highlights included NicTham ’06 finishing seventh inMen’s C, and David A. Lafferty ‘06placing ninth in Men’s D.

Sunday’s c i rcui t race tookplace on a two-mile loop on Rut-gers’s Livingston College campusincluding a punishing uphill finalstretch.

Michalak improved on her previ-ous day’s performance to win theWomen’s B race convincingly andcement her upgrade to the A catego-ry, where she will surely continue tobe a strong presence. Also in theWomen’s B race, Sonya Cates G

placed seventh in only her secondcareer race (the first being on Satur-day). Cong Luo ’08, anotherpromising rookie, placed 39th.

In the Men’s B race, veteranrider Dye-Zone A. Chen G demon-strated the race savvy that pro-pelled him to many top placingslast year with a fifth place in thepack sprint.

Lafferty, Nathan A. Pfaff ’07,and Philip J. Ilten ’08 used theirteam tactics to attack the Men’s Dfield, taking 16th, 24th, and 30th atthe finish.

Tham and Julius Kusuma Gplaced 19th and 42nd in a largeMen’s C field.

Carolyn P. Atwood ’08 showedthat two years on the prep schoolcircuit has prepared her well for thecollegiate Women’s A field, takingan impressive tenth place.

The team is looking forward tocontinued success next weekend atraces hosted by Penn State.

SPORTSPage 16 THE TECH March 11, 2005

Cycling Team Season Starts OffWell with Second Place Finish

Celtics Have RenewedHopes after ReunionOf Walker and Pierce

DAVID GANDY—THE TECH

Praveen Pamidimukkala ’08 spikes the ball over a Mount Idadefender during Wednesday’s victory. This win marked the20th for the Engineers this season, a feat that has not beenaccomplished since 1987.

JESSICA LEE

Wei An G and Karolina Netolicka G placed inthe top four in both the Gold and Pre-Champlevel International Standard events.

Skating, Page 15

Saturday, March 12

Collegiate Figure Skating CompetitionJohnson Ice Rink, 8 a.m.

Varsity Men’s GymnasticsduPont Gymnasium, 9 a.m.

Varsity Women’s Lacrosse vs. Plymouth State UniversityJack Barry Field, 12 p.m.

Varsity Men’s Tennis vs. Bowdoin CollegeduPont Tennis Courts/JB Carr Tennis Bubble, 3:30 p.m.

UPCOMING HOME EVENTS

Antoine, Page 15

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