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Volume 122, Number 51 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Tuesday, October 29, 2002

MIT UpS Athletic FeesWith Z-Center Opening

YIXlE-THE TECH

Herman Eilts, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt and Professor Emeritus of Inter-national Relations at Boston University, addresses Issues regarding U.S. Invasion and occupationof Iraq at Monday's forum In the Wong Auditorium.

By Kathy Unand Marissa VogtSTAFF REPORTERS

With the opening of the ZesigerSports and Fitness Center, MIT hasdramatically hiked athletic fees,raising the prices by hundreds ofdollars for alumni, families, andMIT staff to access its athletic facil-ities. The price increases bringMIT's athletic fees closer to thoseof area private health clubs.

"It is natural that when any uni-versity opens up a new facility, feesgo up accordingly," said TimMoore, the Zesiger Center's generalmanager. "It takes a significantamount of money to operate such alarge and elaborate facility."

The fee increases for alumni,families and staff come in additionto the newly-instituted mandatory$200-per-year student fee, which

also principally supports theZesiger Center. Students do not payseparately for access to athleticfacilities.

Rates increase for faculty, alumniThe fee for athletic memberships

for families of MIT students is $200this school year, up from $30 lastyear.

MIT alumni must pay $525 toretain athletic access this year, upfrom $300 last year and $20 for the1999-2000 school year. Their fami-lies may receive athletic member-ships for $700, up from $500 lastyear and only $100 in 1999-2000.

And MIT faculty and staff nowpay $375 for access to athletic facil-ities, up from $150 last year.

The new athletic memberships

Athletic Fees, Page 12

Pledges, Page 14

Necco, Page 13

Salemme said that despite Necco's promis-es about workers' job security, one third ofNecco's 24 factory workers were laid off the

All employees have been invited to joinNecco in its move to Revere, Demers said.

"There will be no negative impact," he said."Everyone should be ready, willing, and able togo to the new facility."

NINA KSHETRY-THE TECH

The Necco machinists' .strike ended last month. Plans continue for the relocation of thefactory to a larger facility In Revere.

Strike ends, but worries persistA .month after starting their strike, union

workers reached a settlement with Necco repre-sentatives on Sept. 13, said John Demers,Necco's director of human resources.

Striking worker Kevin Brennan said thatNecco employees had been concerned aboutrising healthcare costs and with their job secu-rity after Necco's move to Revere.

Medical insurance for Necco employees hasbecome "skY-high," hitting $62 a week perfamily, said union representative PaulSalemme.

Brennan said that in the end, the workersresolved job security issues, compromiSed on themedical plan, and receiveda new dental plan.

Tech Losses, Page 15

By Naveen SunkavallySTAFF REPORTER

Credit card losses total $54,000The report attributes about

$54,000 of the loss to abuse of TheTech's credit card machine, whichwas apparently used to issue illicitrefunds directly from The Tech'soutside checking account with Cam-bridge Trust Company.

The refund feature of the creditcard terminal was password-protect-

The Tech lost more than $77,000from fraudulent credit card transac-tions and forged checks over the lasttwo years, according to a reportrecently released to the ManagingBoard, the group consisting of theorganization's editors. The figure issignificantly higher than the previ-ously reported estimate of $50,000.The Tech's annual budget is about$400,000.

MIT has filed a Proof of Losswith its insurers for the amount of$80,000, according to the report,written by The Tech's now-dis-banded investigative committee.Since MIT's insurance policyappears to have a $40,000deductible, the report says, at most$40,060 can be recovered frominsurance.

"I am optimistic that we will geta good portion of the money back,"said Tech Chairman Sandra M.Chung '04. The Tech is currentlyparticipating in an MIT audit of itsfinancial records that may aid theMIT police investigation into TheTech's losses, Chung said.

TechFraud Pledge Numbers, Imbalance Threaten FSILGsOver $~7K, By Ricarose Roque fraternity en masse - has increased Beta Epsilon each have 21 pledges. Historically, the number ofI I STAFF P.EPORTER imbalances among fraternity rush The increasing difficulties for the undergraduates living outside ofFraternity and living group results. This clumping appears to fraternity system, the dramatic dormitories has been between 1,200G.' pledges have approached three hun- have been an unexpected conse- inequities in this year's pledging, and 1,400, more than 30 percent of~ »'WI »'WI ..ttee dred this year, but have tapered off quence of the later rush this year. and the limited term of MIT's three- the undergraduate population. TheV' • III.HI • below the Fraternities and living groups year financial assistance program new residence system places largerAnallJJs~s I eve I s "will have to work harder," said have raised the specter of closure demands on fraternities and livingD~norts ----......"'----required to Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD '75. for fraternities and living groups groups during rush if they are to"ll,t:;y perpetuate the entire fraternity sys- "Rush will have to continue that lose the battle for pledges. sustain the same population with

tern without freshmen. throughout the rest of the year." only three classes eligible to Jive inNarrowing of the male-female Eleven fraternities and living Good numbers still fall short fraternities.

ratio on campus and a later rush peri- groups have fewer than six pledges, "We're really pleased with the "We'll definitely need to increaseod have presented difficultiesfor fra- including Delta Kappa Epsilon and overall numbers," said Interfraterni- the amount of people [in each class]ternities, as the phenomenon of StudentHouse,who have no pledges. ty Council Rush Chair Joshua S. living in fraternities and living"clique pledging"- freshmenpledg- On the other end of the spec- Yardley '04. "In the past, we woulding in groups of friends to a single trum, Phi Sigma Kappa and Phi get from about 300 to 350 pledges."

MITSOwoulddowell to'think insidethe box.'

Page 11

Comics

Page 6

OPINIONAndrew C. Thomas discussesRussia's decision to gas theMoscow theater full of hostages.

Page 5

World & Nation 2Opinion 4Events Calendar 7Arts 9Sports 16

Page 2 THE TECH

WORLD & NATIONOctober 29,2002 -

Unity of Task Force FalteringIn New Phase of Sniper Probe

u.s. Envoy Killed in Jordan,Terrorist Suspected inAttack

Military Releases Four PrisonersFrom Guantanamo Bay

T/If: W.HIII,VGro.v POST

U.S. military authorities have released four prisoners who hadbeen held for months at the Navy detention facility in GuantanamoBay, Cuba and will release others soon, officials said.

The four - three Afghans and a Pakistani - are the first groupto be released from the prison since it began housing detainees cap-tured abroad in January. But even as they were being flown back totheir home countries over the weekend, another group of about 30new captives was flown into the detention facility fromAfghanistan.

"Senior leadership of the Department of Defense, in consultationwith other U.S. government officials, determined that these fourdetainees no longer posed a threat to U.S. security," chief DefenseDepartment spokesman Victoria Clarke said Monday at a Pentagonnews conference. The men were released Saturday.

U.S. officials declined to release the names or nationalities of themen, but sources in Pakistan identified the freed Pakistani detainee asMohammed Sagheer, 60, who is from the North-West FrontierProvince that borders Afghanistan. Pakistani newspapers reportedthat officials there said they will debrief Sagheer before releasing himto his family in the town of Mansehra.

Democrats Despair ChancesOf Wmning Back the House

LOS ANGELES TIMESWASHINGTON

Even though history and economics are on their side, manyDemocrats are despairing of their chances of winning control of theHouse of Representatives this fall - unless something dramaticchanges between now and the Nov. 5 elections.

Democrats' hopes of translating voter anxieties about the econo-my into political gains large enough to win a House majority havebeen stubbornly hard to fulfill, as pocketbook issues have beeneclipsed in the media by the prospect of war with Iraq and the Wash-ington-area sniper killings.

"Things are very close," said Peter Fenn, a Democratic politicalconsultant. "If! had to look at it right now, I'd have trouble doing themath in such a way that the Democrats pick up" the six seats neededto win back the majority they lost in 1994.

Fenn, like other Democrats, still thinks it is possible the party canpull an upset on Election Day - especially if last week's arrests inthe sniper case bring an end to the random shootings, potentiallyclearing the way for more public attention to the Democrats' mes-sage.

APEC Leaders AgreeTo Tighten Anti-Terror Measures

LOS ANGELES TIMES

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO

Calling terrorism a threat to free trade, Pacific Rim leaderspledged Sunday to introduce by 2005 tighter, high-tech monitoring ofcargo and passengers moving across their borders and to reinforcecockpit doors on their airliners by next April.

The commitments, expected to cost tens of millions of dollars,marked an advance in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The Bushadministration pushed for their adoption by the Asia-Pacific Econom-ic Cooperation forum, or APEC, whose 2 I members account for halfof all international trade and contain most of the world's busiest sea-ports and airports.

President Bush left APEC's two-day gathering here with backingfrom its members for a demand that North Korea give up its recentlydisclosed effort to build nuclear weapons.

By Karl VickTilE WASlIINGTON POST

AMMAN. JORDAN

A veteran U.S. diplomat waskilled Monday morning in the drive-way of his Amman home as hewalked from the front door to a car-port, shot at least seven times by amasked gunman who fled on foot,according to Jordanian officials.

The victim was identified as Lau-rence M. "Larry" Foley, 60, execu-tive officer of the U.S. Agency forInternational Development missionin Jordan. No group immediatelyasserted responsibility for his killing,but a Jordanian government ministersaid Monday night it is being inves-tigated as a terrorist attack.

The shooting followed no specif-ic threat against the large U.S.Embassy in Amman, the Jordaniancapital, authorities said. But theslaying fit a pattern of attacks direct-ed against undefended Western tar-gets in recent weeks that have beenblamed on extremists acting with orin sympathy with the al-Qaida net-work of Osama bin Laden.

"We see no evidence that it isattempted robbery or anything else,so we are looking more at the politi-cal motive," said MohammedAdwan, Jordan's minister of state

By Sari Horwitz and Dan EggenTflE IVASlIINGTON POST

As the investigation into a stringof sniper killings enters a new phasethis week, multiple law enforcementagencies have broken away from theregionwide sniper task force and arefocusing solely on their own cases,spurring new tensions over access toinformation, law enforcementsources say.

There is frustration, for example,that the results of any questioning ofthe two suspects, John A. Muham-mad, 41, and John L. Malvo, 17, hasnot been shared with each localjurisdiction involved in the case.

"Everyone is keeping stuff tothemselves," one investigator said.

"A couple of agencies have nothad the opportunity to interrogate,

WEATHER

for political affairs.Jordan, a strong U.S. ally, has

about 5 million inhabitants, at leasthalf of whom are Palestinians whohave become increasingly upset inthe past two years over Israel'streatment of Palestinians in theGaza Strip and West Bank. In addi-tion, Jordan is home to exiles fromneighboring Iraq, including oppo-nents of President Saddam Hussein.

The killing stunned employees atthe embassy. Sunday, Foley hadreceived an award for superior ser-vice at the fortified compound.

Ambassador Edward Gnehm,who struggled for composure at anafternoon news conference,described Foley's career as one ofaltruism, from his service as a PeaceCorps volunteer in India in the mid-1960s to his office job supervisingUSAID programs in Jordan, wherethe agency spends $150 million ayear. As supervising executive offi-cer, Foley monitored efforts to bringmicro-financing and clean water tothe country's poor.

The night before he died, Foley,a Boston native with three children,told his wife, Virginia, "I'm where Iwant to be, doing what I want todo," the ambassador said.

"Larry strove to make the world

nor have they been privy to what'sgoing on," said another law enforce-ment official. "They need a lot moreinformation than they're getting inorder to go forward on prosecu-tions."

As part of their investigation,officials are trying to determinewhether Malvo pulled the trigger inone or more of the killings. One lawenforcement source said investiga-tors have identified latent finger-prints from both Muhammad andMalvo on the Bushmaster assaultrifle.

Some of those involved in thecase believe Malvo may have writ-ten, or helped to write, one or bothof the notes left at two crime scenes.

"We're trying to determine whodid what and who is responsible for

a better place than he found it," saidAndrew Natsios, administrator ofUSAID -in Washington. "No one inUSAID embodied the spirit of com-passion that underpins our effortsmore than Larry Foley. He leavesbehind devoted friends and col-leagues where he served." In addi-tion to Amman, Foley served in LaPaz, Bolivia; Lima, Peru; andHarare, Zimbabwe.

Adwan said Virginia Foleyfound her husband, shot in the faceand body, at about 7:20 a.m. besidethe burgundy Mercedes sedan heroutinely drove to work.

Foley and his wife rented the bot-tom floor of a two-story stone houseon AI-Mawla Mohammed Street,half a block from a busy thorough-fare. Neighbors said they heard noshots and noticed nothing unusualuntil police cars began arriving.

Officials said the assailantappeared to know Foley's routine,and might have escaped with theassistance of others. Foley's wife toldofficials she saw him flee on foot.

"It's very obvious they knewexactly when he's going to go to hiscar," said a Jordanian official whoasked not to be identified. "I'm surethey've been watching for quitesome time."

what," a law enforcement sourcesaid. "Some of the evidence is lead-ing people to speculate that bothwere shooters, but we still have tosee how it shakes out."

Despite some problems withcooperation before the arrests, thevarious jurisdictions shared a com-mon goal: to find the sniper. Butnow, they are working independent-ly to compile sufficient evidence toprosecute shootings in their ownjurisdictions.

District of Columbia PoliceChief Charles H. Ramsey said thatwhile he had about 40 detectives,officials and forensics officersassigned to the task force during thepast' three weeks, that team is nowzeroing in on the one shooting thattook place'in the District.

Rainy HalloweenBy Elren GutierrezS7ilFF ME Tf.DRO/. aGIST

The system that brought heavy rain to the area has moved out into theAtlantic Ocean. A high pressure from Canada is settling in the area bringingcooler temperatures and clear skies. However, do not get too comfortablewith this weather, because a system from the mid-Atlantic will be enteringthe New England area Wednesday overnight, bring with it showers andsnow for the elevated regions. The system will move out of the area by thefollowing day just in time for the weekend.

In other weather-related news, Hurricane Kenna made landfall on thewestern coast of Mexico near Puerto Vallarta. The remnants are currentlymoving into the Gulf of Mexico and will probably merge with another sys-tem that will influence our weather pattern next weekend.

Extended Forecast

Today: Clear skies. High of 45°F (7°C).Tonight: Cool clear skies. Low 29°F (-2°C).Tomorrow: Partly cloudy skies turning to overcast later thought the day.

High in the mid-40s F (6-8°C).Thursday: Showers through most of the day. High in the low 40s F

(4-6°C).

Situation for Noon Eastem Daylight Time, Tuesday, October 29,2002

o~ o~ o~ o~o~o~o~~ ~ ~ ~,~f;::; ,rt' {)."f;::; ,,'f> "f;::; ,f;::;'f> ,~ OJ';; ~ ~ cot$... \

Precipitation SymbolsSnow Rain -H High Pressure _ Trough - Fog- * -Showers \l \l "R..-.. .................. Wann Front ThunderstormL Low Pressure Ughl * CO Hau............ Cold FlOOr

Moderate **~ Hurricane Compiled by MIT..... Staliorwy FIOOI Heavy A . McleOrology Slarr.. and TMT«h

400N

35°N

300N

25°N

October 29,2002 WORLD & NATION THE TECH Page 3

Putin VOWS to Pursue Terrorists,Draws Attention Away From Gas

Blake Attorney Asks to WithdrawMter Actor's TVIntemew

LOS ANGELES TIMESLOS ANGELES

U.S., France Discuss Compromise,Wording of U.N. Iraq Resolution

By Peter Bakerand Susan B. GlasserTHE WASIIlNGTON POST

President Vladimir Putinempowered Russia's military onMonday to wage a broad U.S.-stylewar against terrorists "whatevertheir whereabouts" while remainingsilent about the government's use ofdeadly' gas to end last week'shostage crisis at a Moscow theater.

Taking a hard line after theseizure of the theater by Chechenguerrillas, Putin vowed to pursue notonly "the terrorists themselves," buttheir ideological sponsors and finan-cial backers. While a Chechen leaderMonday sought peace talks withMoscow, Putin said he would "neverniake any deal with terrorists."

By Maggie Fa'rleyand Robin WrightLOS ANGELES TIMES

UNITED NATIONS

As the United Nations enters acrucial week in its lengthy delibera-tions over Iraq, Washington andParis are discussing a' compromisethat could push the Security Councilto agreement.

France and the United Statesagree that there should be "seriousconsequences" if Iraq refuses toprove it has disarmed. But they havebeen deadlocked over 'what thoseconsequences should be, and whohas the authority to decide them. Inthe compromise, France may grantthe United' States its desire to havethe term "material breach" in a reso-

In focusing on the guerrillas whosparked the standoff at the theater insoutheast Moscow, Putin drewattention away from the deploymentby his security agencies of gas thatkilled all but two of the 117hostages who died. More than 400other hostages suffering from themystery gas remained hospitalized,.including 45 in critical condition.Doctors treating them have not been'told what gas was used.

While still refusing to identifythe gas, Russian authorities for thefirst time provided the U.S. Embassypartial information about its effects,and Western doctors who examinedsurviving hostages concluded it wasa morphine-like opiate rather th~m anerve agent. Russian doctors report-

lution .:.-- \\:,hich Washington argueswould justify military action - aslong as the United States concedesthat only the Security Council has

, the power to decide that Iraq hascommitted a breach.

France "will accept 'materialbreach' as long as you~get the wordsaround them right," said a councildiplomat Monday. "It's feasible thatwe could have' an agreement thisweek." ,

The latest compromise is still inits early 'stages, with the .UnitedStates rejecting France's Sundaynight overture and offering a coun-terProposal Monday. But they areedging closer after more than sixweeks of wrangling over langUage,sparking optimism in word-weary

ed treating the hostages with nalox-one, a common post-anesthetic drugoften administered to heroin addictswhen they overdose.

The U.S. Embassy Monday alsoestablished that an Americanhostage apparently died during theRussian operation. U.S. officialsfound- a body believed to be that ofSandy Alan Booker, 49, who wasvisiting Moscow from Oklahoma,although the embassy awaited posi-tive identification.

Recriminations against the gov-ernment poured forth. Someassailed the Kremlin for abandoningnegotiations, killing so many'civil-ians in the rescue effort and thenwithholding information vital totreatment of survivors.

, diplomats."We're doing our best now to

come fo a solution that will produceunanimity by the council," said aFrench envoy. "It's not clear if wewill manage to do it, but there's noreason to think it's impossible."

In the six-week wrangle overlanguage, France's key concern isnot so much Iraq's disarmament askeeping the United States from act-ing without United Nationsapproval, diplomats say. In thesometimes arcane art of diplomacy,these concepts are often boileddown into simple words that areladen with political meaning andprecedent.

"It's dancing on the h~ad of apin," another ,envoy said.

j

Harland W. Braun asked to withdraw as Robert Blake's criminaldefense attorney Monday, saying the actor ignored his legal adviceby agreeing to do an on-camera interview this week from jail.

"No criminal lawyer in his right mind would let a client (be inter-viewed' for television)," Braun said.

Blake, 69, is charged with murder, two counts of soliciting murderand conspiracy in the May 4, 200 I, fatal shooting of his wife, BonnyLe.e Bakley, 44, in Los Angeles.

Braun said Blake's defense could not be adequately summed upduring a 10-minute television interview. He said he expressed thoseconcerns to Blak~ last week but was overruled by his client.

"I just think there is no way I can be a party to this," he said.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash, who is presiding

over the case, must approve the lawyer's withdrawal.Braun said he would continue to represent Blake until another

attorney is retained. But the substitution of attorneys could delay thepreliminary hearing, now set for Dec. II.

Braun faxed a two-page letter to Nash on Monday explaining hisreasons for dropping out of the case.

"The idea that a defendant in a murder case would go on nationaltelevision to discuss any aspect of his relationship with the deceasedor any of the facts surrounding the murder is beyond the comprehen-sion of any criminal lawyer," Braun wrote.

Court Halts Sonic ProjectThat May Have Killed 2 Whales

LOS ANGELES TIMES

A U.S. District Court order Monday temporarily halted a scientificvoyage in the Gulf of California to map the sea floor using soundblasts that may have caused the death of two beaked whales.

U:S. Magistrate Judge James Larson in San Francisco issued a_temporary restraining order against the'National Science Foundation-sponsored project to exa~ine the yawning rift in the sea floor causedby the movement in the Earth's crust.,

"We have turned off the sound. Everything is shut down on theship," said Curt Suplee, a National Science Foundation spokesman.

The research involved firing'powerful air guns into the seabed sothat researchers could'map the area through acoustic signals thatbounce back. The technology has been widely used in other oceans,Suplee said. '

Researchers have found no evidence that the sonic blasts causedthe whale deaths, Suplee said. But they will comply with the federalcourt order, which prematurely ends the expedition scheduled to fin-

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Page 4 THE TECH October 29, 2002

OPINION

Letters TOThe EditorDina Feith '03

or more at MIT."-The article also omitted one TEP board-

er, Margaret V. Stringfellow '03, from alist of women living at the fraternity.

A Friday article ["Four-Week JanitorialStrike Ends"] misstated the name of thesenior senator from Massachusetts. He isEdward M. Kennedy, not Theodore R.Kennedy.

ErrataA Friday article ["Female Residents

Accepted at TEP"] referred incompletelyto Tau Epsilon Phi's policy regardingfemale boarders. Women will be allowedto live at TEP to fill vacant spaces, butpreference in housing will be given tobrothers of the fraternity. TEP has not-guaranteed that "women will be allowed tolive at the house for their entire four' years

respect and propriety are lost on Ms. Smith, blinding prejudice.who, through her actions, has proven full of

1mlNlcttLY

/' CANDIDATE •••

A Proper IntroductionI am appalled by the false and uncon-

scionably hate-filled accusations made byAimee Smith against Benny Elon. To suggestthat asking for her full name indicated a plotby Mr. Elon to send terrorists after her isridiculous and completely unfounded by anybehaviors of the Knesset member. Such state-ments only serve to incite hatred and makereasonable and productive discourse more dif-.ficult. I applaud Mr. Elon for his patience inanswering Ms. Smith's subsequent questionsafter receiving such a brazen insult.

As far as I am aware, it is always appropri-ate to introduce oneself with one's full name,whether when meeting a professor or peer,and most certainly when one is addressing adignitary such as Mr. Elon. Perhaps such

ChairmanSandra M. Chung '04

Editor in ChiefJennifer Krishnan '04

Business ManagerIan Lai G

Managing EditorJoy Forsythe '04

Executive EditorNathan Collins G

SI'OR7S S7AFF

Editors: Helana Kadyszewski '03, Jennifer DeBoer '05; Columnist: O.B. Usmen '03.

ARTS~TIFF

Editors: Jeremy Baskin '04, Daniel S. Robey'04; Associate Editor: Allison C. Lewis '04;Staff: Erik Blankinship G, Lance Nathan G,Bence P. Olveczky G, Sonja Sharpe G, Aman-deep Loomba '02, Amy Meadows '03, SonaliMukherjee '03, Chaitra Chandrasekhar '04,Jed Horne '04, Pey-Hua Hwang '04, lzzatJarudi '04. Devdoot Majumdar '04, Atif Z.Qadir '04, Chad Serrant '04, Eric Chemi '05,Patrick Hereford '05, Jorge Padilla '05, RickyRivera '05, Kevin Der '06, Joseph Graham.

PII07VGRAPIIY STAFF

Editors: Aaron D. Mihalik G, Wendy Gu '03;Associate Editor: Jonathan Wang '05; Staff:Michelle Povinelli G, Dong Wang G. Stanley Hu'00. Kailas Narendran '0 I, Yi Xie '02. Dan R.Bersak '03, Scott Johnston '03. EkaterinaOssikine '03, Pedro L. Arrechea '04, Miguel A.Calles '04, Brian Hemond '04. Matt Yourst '04,Dalton Cheng '05. Annie Ding '05, Roger Li '05,Michael Lin '05. Timothy Suen '05, Amy L. Wong'05. E-won Yoon '05, Victoria Fan '06, MelanieMichalak '06, Edward Platt '06, Francis OmoleyeRoberts '06. Elizabeth Zellner '06, Jean Zheng '06,Jason LaPenta.

Ff.iITURES STAFF

Editor: Eun J. Lee '04; Columnists: AkshayPatil '04, Michael Short '05; Cartoonists:Jason Burns G, Bao- Yi Chang '02, JumaaneJeffries '02, Lara Kirkham '03, Alison Wong'03, Sean Liu '04, Nancy Phan '05, Josie Sung'05; Staff: Ricarose Roque '06.

HUSINf.X\' STAFF

Advertising Manager: Aye Moah '05; Staff:William Li '06.

TECIINOl.OG YSTAFF

Staff: Frank Dabek G, Kevin Atkinson '02,Daniel Leeds 'OS.

PRODU('710N STAFF

Editors: Joel Corbo '04, David Carpenter '05;Associate Editors: Anju Kanumalla '03, NicholasR. Hoff '05; Staff: Eric J. Cholankeril G, GayaniTillekeratne '03, Andrew Mamo '04. Shefali Oza'04, Hangyul Chung '05, Sie Hendrata Dharmawan'05, Jennifer Fang '05, Jean Lu '05, Mandy Yeung'05, Kevin Chen '06, Tiffany Dohzen '06, AlbertLeung '06, Jonathan Reinharth '06.

Ol'/.\'/O.\' STIFF

Editors: Roy Esaki '04, Jyoti R. Tibrewala '04;Columnists: Philip Burrowes '04, Andrew C.Thomas '04; Staff: Basil Enwegbara G, BriceSmith G. Michael Borucke '0 I. Kris Schnee '02,Daniel L. Tortorice '02, Gretchen K. Aleks '04,Ken Nesmith '04, Stephanie W. Wang '04, TaoYue '04, Vivek Rao '05, W. Victoria Lee '06.

NEWS .~7:~FF

News and Features Director: Kevin R. Lang G;News Editors: Keith J. Winstein '03, BrianLoux '04, Christine R. Fry '05; Staff: HaroldFox G, Naveen Sunkavally G, Dan Cho '02,JetTrey Greenbaum '04, Vicky Hsu '04, RichaMaheshwari '04, Flora Amwayi '05, VincentChen '05, Aaron Du '05, Sam Hwang '05, TomKilpatrick '05, Amerson Lin '05, Jing-HelenTang '05, Qian Wang '05, Lauren E. LeBon '06,Kathy Lin '06. Lakshmi Nambiar '06, VeenaRamaswamy '06, Beckett Sterner '06, MarissaVogt '06, Jennifer Wong '06, Jenny Zhang '06;Meteorologists: Robert Lindsay Korty G, GregLawson G. Nikki Prive G, William RamstromG, Michael J. Ring G, Efren Gutierrez '03.

f.'f)/TORS AT l.ARGE

Contributing Editor: Roshan Baliga '03.

.1IWISORr HOARD

Paul E. Schindler, Jr. '74, V. Michael Bove '83,Barry Surman '84, Robert E. Malchman '85,Jonathan Richmond PhD '91, Vladimir V.Zelevinsky '95, Anders Hove '96, Saul Blumen-thal '98, Eric J. Plosky '99, Joel Rosenberg '99,Ryan Ochylski '0 I, B. D. Colen.

I'ROIJUC170N S7AFF rOR nlls ISSUE

Night Editors: Eric J. Cholankeril G, AnjuKanumalla '03, Joel Corbo '04; AssociateNight Editor: Nicholas R. Hoff '05; Staff:Timmy Dohzen '06.

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Do you hove something to soy? VVe can't hear you ..Write" opinion for The Tech!

or ask forJyoti or Roy x3-/541, W20-483

A Difficult. Choice

Philip Burrowes

Box OfficeBigotry?

THE TECH Page 5

Barbershop, a movie seemingly destinedto be just another rap star-vehicle, snuck itsway to the top of the box office in September. •My Big Fat Greek Wedding opened in April in .108 theaters and hasn't looked back. EvenDreamworks' The Ring can claim an uncon-ventional source for an American hit; it wasoriginally a Japanese novel (no, with words)before it became a series of films. Does thismean the U.S. movie markets are finally open-

. 109 themselves up to flicks floating outside themainstream? Has Hollywood taken notice andbegun to produce novel productions? Is thisjust a strawman argument?

(Just in case you can't tell, it's the latter.)Ice Cube's performance in Barbershop

was predictable, as he has a firmly establishedpattern of hit-hit-bomb-bomb going back toFriday. After Ghosts of Mars and A// Aboutthe Benjamins, he was due (this means, fur-thermore, Friday After Next will be a hit,unfortunately). Dreamworks had it coming aswell, just 'considering the sheer number ofmovies they make. Usually, when they takeanother author's concept, whether it beWilliam Steig or G-d, they manage to squeezea fair amount of bucks from it.

Had these films actually been 'harbingers ofa new open-minded spirit among Americanmoviegoers, then we should have seen similarsuccess in similar concepts. Brown Sugar wasthe number one new movie when it opened, butnot with spectacular figures. If Paid in Ful/ doeswell, then we can start talking about what Bar-bershop's success "means." Not much has beenmade of The Ring's origin, perhaps for goodreason given precedent. Disney's dub ofJapan'sall-time number one movie - MiyazakiHayao's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi - hasmerely done moderately well in limited release.

That there are such films that can be com-pared to each other may be a step forward, butis that the product of studios taking chances orsimply realizing what audiences have longbeen clamoring for? Putting Jackie Chan in aspecial-effects-Iaden picture like The Tuxedomay be just what his aging body needs tomake him seem fresh, but then again maybeit's a relic of the interest Americans had inwire-action at the beginning of the decade('member?). Giving Adam Sandler a dramaticturn in Punch-Drunk Love could direct hisconsiderable star wattage away from therepetitive and thereby depreciating slapstickof Ips typical fare, but then again he wasn't faroff from that in The Wedding Singer. More-over, while Chan and Sandler's current pro-jects are doing reasonably well, they don'tcompare to their respective penultimate pic-tures' purses (Rush Hour 2 and Mr. Deeds).We can only wait for their next, slightly moretypical roles and see how those grosses stand.

Sandler's next movie has, him playing him-self (more or less), but drawn on eels, whichmay make for an unfair comparison. Cartoonsare still viewed as a genre unto themselves, andrecent attempts at animation have been hit andmiss at the box office. Where Nickelodeon andCartoon'Network - the two companies thatdominate anirpated television, more so ,thaneven their broadcast-TV corporate siblings -failed, miraculously the overtly religious BigIdea has succeeded. Focusing on those markets.where their Veggie Tales brand name wasstrongest, i.e. not modem-day Babylons 'likeNew York, they opened Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie in the top 10, where it remai~s twoweeks later. Its profit isn't what's impressive,but the notion that a movie should open (in theUnited States) in someplace other than NewYork QrL.A. goes against mass-media logic.

Which brings us back to My Big Fat Greek. Wedding.-Jonah's success seems oddly pop-ulist, but it was predicated on a 90rporatestrategy; someone lias to make the film reels .and decide where to solicit them: Theaters (ortheater chain operators), in turn, don't have topursue them. Individual people contribute tohow long a film will stay at theater by buyingtickets, but in the. end the decision is out oftheir hands. Had nobody turned out to see'" Greek ,Wedding initially, cost-benefit analy-sis would have prevented it fr~m ever. attain-.ing wide release, but at the same time successin a small environment didn't autbmaticallylead to more screenings. Even the slim budgetof five million had to be acquired from else-where. Unless, of course, you're Master P andyou can make movies starring your son in ahip-hop version of Romeo & Juliet (not to beconfuse'd with Romeo Must Die, which wasactually a child of that wire-action fascinationwe mentioned earlier). Scary, huh?

Happy Halloween!

the building, they themselves executed theoccupiers and began to remove the hostages.It was only later discovered how many inno-cent people had died.

If someone handed me a gun and told methat by shooting a person, I would save thelives of ten otpers, I doubt I would have themettle to carry it out, no matter how much Ibelieved it was the right thing to do. TheRussian Special Forces, though, have astronger constitution. Knowing that peoplewere dying, they took an extreme measure in

an attempt tosave lives.Whetherthere was amiscalcula-tion on thepart of scien-tists, causingmore deathsthan neces-'sary, is as yetunknown.

Whi Ie Iloathe theuse of theword because

. , of its abusein the black-and-white War of Bush, this'was an act of terrorism. My pain is for thoseinnocents who died, but we must rememberthat they did not die in vain; their deathsmay have paid for the lives of so many other.people.

It is with deep personal conviction that Ibelieve that the Russian Special Forces tookthe correct action with' the pragmatic solu-tion to the problem, rather than stand idly byand wait for people to die. That over onehundred people had to pay this price,though, saddens me deeply. Many wouldhope that the situation could be ended with":

- out further loss of life, but barring a miracle,such an end in this situation was a foolishhope. This serves as a lesson to all that fur-ther efforts should be taken to prevent suchincidents from occurring - and that thepreservation of life should be our goal as aspecies - but p.art of my hope goes to theRussians who had to make, and now livewith, the difficult choice.

OPINION

!f someone handed me a gunand told me that by shooting a

person, I would save the lives often others, I doubt I would have

the mettle to carry it out, nomatter how much I believed it

was the right thing to do.

Wh~t were the Russians' options? Sub-mitting to the demands of terrorists is a uni-versally loathed alternative, since it wouldstrengthen the position of terrorists every-where, but even for something as large asthe political reorganization of an entireprovince, saving 700 innocent lives is anoble goal. Having a commando team infil-trate the building would be dangerous, ifover 50 people were armed, since I doubt

,that the efficiency of such a team would besufficient enough to neutralize each onebefore a single member coulddetonate every bomb in thebuilding. The other option,having Bruce Willis enter thebuilding from below and pro-ceed to kick terrorist butt, willno doubt be the position Holly-wood will take, should itchoose to resculpt this tragedyin its preferred viewpoint.

So the R~ssians wereforced to confront the attackersin order to bring resolution,but quickly enough that theexplosives would not be deto-nated. Anesthetic gas wouldcertainly be- an e(fectivemeans. But strength' was an issue. If tooweak, the incapacitation might not be suffi-cient to prevent detonation ..

But here is the crux of the problem. Thehostages had been kept for almost three daysunder extremely tense conditions. Their ter-

, ror had weakened them throughout the -entireordeal. While the hostage takers had them-selves been under the same conditions, Iwould imagine they were mentally prepared,and certainly driven by their cause. So what-ever agent they might employ would likelyhave a more adverse effect on the hostages.

The hostage, takers had already begunexecutIng innocent people. As time went onthe odds were increasing that someonewould panic and blow the building up.Something had to be done in order to savelives. And the Russians did something. Theytook a big chance. They apparently used a

,strong enough agent that none of the occu-piers was able to detonate an explosive.

'When Russian Speciai Forces then entered

~alling. Homewe put 'tltis item on the list or do we do it thin with.the distance?without being reminded? It is true that college is a period iii life

After chatting with people about their when we learn to become independent andHves for a while, one soon discovers that the when we' are truly transformed from kids tofreshinan's weekly (if nof daily) routine usu- adults with various responsibilities. It mightally includes calling (or receiving calls seem that what is important is what is rightfrom) parents. This is hardly surprising. For in front of us. Our schoolwork is importa~t.freshmen, this is probably the first time,liv- Our jobs are important. Our outside activi-.ing far away from home. For freshman par- ties are important. Our. friends are important.ents, this is probably'their first time being Sooner or later each of us learns to see MITseparated from their children for a consider- as our home ,and the MIT community as ourably long period of time. Therefore, it is nat:- family. The home we left behind is whereural that the parents will call to ask how we go for Thanksgiving holiday, _for wintereverything is going and that the students will breaks, and, if we are not too busy withcall home to alleviate some homesickness. UROP or internshIps, for two weeks of sum-But this scenario changes rapidly as time mer vacations.

passes. As soon as It is very possible that the generation gapschool work, makes it hard for our parents to "u,nder-ext r a cur r i cui a r stand" .us, and so our relationships with themactivities, and sports might not be as close as the relationships westart to pile up, one have with our' friends. But we still can notfinds less and less forget the times our dads taught us how totime to call home ride a bike, gave us piggy-back rides, orand chat with par- took us to ball games, an~ the times ourents. Parents also moms took out the Christmas -cookies fromgradually learn to the oven, blew on our knees while they putlet go with time. on bandages, and pushed our hair back andAnd as soon as one kissed us good-night. While it is entirelygets used to the col- possible that some of our parents did not dolege life and has- fun' any of these, as parents they must have donewith new friends, something, (most recently, making our col-calling home seems. lege education possible,) that deserves usso.trivial and unnec- calling them more often than we do now.

. essary. Our busy lives pave a future path so wideIndeed, many and bright that sometimes while walking on

upperclassmen. I have talked to say they call it we seem to forget the roads that we havehome way .less often than they should. Of already walked and those who have walkedcourse, there are some who have not had them with us.very close relationships with their parents 'I'm not trying to be che~sy and to pro-and not calling home probably ju~t means mote home-calling with a punch-line or as aless arguments and fights for.them to handle. public service announcement. I guess what IBut for those who have had 'close or even am trying to say is., sparing ten or twentyjust okay relationships with their parents, minutes to call home would not be a badisn't it a great loss to let the connection run idea tonight.

Indeed, many !"pperclassmen saythey call home way less often

than they should. For those whohave had-close or even just okay~elationships with their parents}.

isn't- it "a"greatloss to let. the .connection rnn thin 'with the

distance?

W. Victoria Lee

Andrew C. Thomas

October 29,2002

As busy MIT students, _everyone on cam-pus must have som-e sort of checklist or to-do list. It might be a neatly written out pagein the organizer,'it might be a wrinkled pieceof paper with scribbled notes, or it might bea 'mental list of items that must be donebefore a certain time. What's on the list isnot hard to imagine. Problem sets are by farthe most frequent items to appear on the list(and let's hope the amount is always a finitenumber and the due date is not always the'next day). Studying for exams is probablyanother regular visitor. Labs and UROP~come in next, swallow- :.ing up the rest of thetime devoted to acade-mic exercise. Next tothese three heavy-weights, extracurricularactivities, artisticinvolvements, -andsports occupy most ofthe rest of the space onthe list. Then there aremi'scellaneous itemssuch as doing laundry,cooking, cleaning, fill-ing out applications,and working that fill inthe tiny gaps beh~eenthe big items'on the'list:

N ow that we have'talked about what is on the list, let's thinkabout what is not on the list. I don't knowabout the rest of the student population, but Igenerally don~t put "hang out with friends"or "play computer games" on the list. I alsodon't expect anyone to put eating or sleep-ing on the list. These are the things that wejust do and that we don't need to be remind-ed of. But what about calling home? Should

Until the newspapers hit the stands earlySaturday morning, a rather large number ofpeople were unaware of a terrifying situationdeveloping in Moscow. Chechen freedomfighters had taken over 700 hostages in a the-ater, demanding to President Vladimir Putinthat Russia withdraw all military forces fromthe area. The entrances to the theater weremined, and the hostage takers were them-selves-,Ioaded with explosives. Early Satur-day morning the situation ended as anestheticgas was deployed to the inside of the theater,incapacitating or killing the hostage takers:Saturday's headlines in USA Today and theBoston Globe triumphantly claimed that thehostage situation had ended successfully.

What was not so evident in the Saturdaymorning news was that aD astonishing 117 -hostages also died. Fear had arisen that theyhad been killed by an explosion from one ofthe bombs, .perhaps strapped to one of theChechens. A medical report released the nextday establisbed that with one known excep-.tion; the majority of the- hostages were killedby the gas itself, the agent used by the Rus-sians that was meant to save them.

Let us examine the facts .. Th-ere wereover 50 rebels conducting this operation -at least,- this was the number that RussianSpecial Forces shot while immobilized -enough of which were walking bombs: tomake a conventional raid difficult. They hadalready executed at least two hostages, prov-ing that they were serious about killingmore. A pattern of recent bombings acrossRussia has shown that they are willing tokill innocents in order to accomplish theirgoals. And the ongoing rebellion has proventhat loyal Chechens are more than willing todie for their cause.

All of thes~ factors make the situationextremely difficult to control. If any strongattempt is made to rescue the' hostages, it is'extremely likely that the Chechen freedomfighters will end it all by blowing up the the-ater and killing over 700 people"an outcomethat no one' would prefer. This was the bar-gaining chip that the rebels thought theycould' count on.

"

TheTech

October 29,2002

Page6

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October 29, 2002 The Tech Page 7

Events Calendar

MOM, I'LL GET FIRED ~ WHY DO YOU lAJORK ~THEY TELL ME IT'S

UNLESS YOU DROP "0 BECAUSE I ENJOY; FOR A COMPANYYOUR LAl..J5UIT AGAINST i THAT'S I"\ANAGED 1 THE CHALLENGE.MY COMPANY. ;: BY DESPICABLE I DEI"\AND A~ WEASELS? "- DNA TEST.

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PHOTOGRAPHY CONVEN- .LATION.

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

AFTERDINNER,I'M GOINGBILLY BLANKSON YOUR

BUTT!

THEYSENTME. I'MTHEIRGOON.

by Scott Adams

BRING 'EM ON!I'VE BEEN LJATCHINGMY "TAE BO" VIDEOS!I'LL DISPATCH THEIRGOONS TO HELL!

g'!MOM, YOU HAVE TO "0DROP YOUR LAl..J5UIT UAGAINST MY COMPANY. ITHEY FIGHT DIRTY. I

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Dilbert@

Visit and add events to Events Calendar online at http://events.mit.eduTuesday,October29

12:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Japan's Economic Troubles from a European Perspective. Moreno Bertoldi is the Economicand Rnancial Counselor at the Delegation of the European Commission in the United States. Until 2001 he was headof the political and economic section in the EC Delegation in Japan. free. Room: E38- 7th fl - Conference Room. Spon-sor: MIT Japan Program ..10:00 a.m. - Admissions Information Session. Admissions Office Information Session gathers at the AdmissionsReception Center (10-100). Enter MIT at the main entrance, Lobby 7,77 Massachusetts Ave (domed building with tallpillars). Proceed down the center corridor to Room 10-100 on the right. Following the Admissions Information Sessionis a Student Led Campus Tour which begins in Lobby 7 (main entrance lobby) Groups over 15 people need to makespecial reservations. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: InformationCenter.10:45 a.m. - Campus Tour. Student Led Campus Tours are approximately 90 minutes long and provide a generaloverview of the main campus. Please note that campus tours do not visit laboratories, living groups or buildings underconstruction. Groups over 15 people need to make special reservations. Campus tours start at the conclusion of theAdmissions Informations Session. The Campus Tour begins in Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 MassachusettsAve). free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Information Center.11:55 a.m. -1:00 p.m. - VCPIA Lunch: Entrepreneurs Be VCs. free. Sponsor: MIT Venture Capital and PrincipalInvestment (VCPI) Association, MITEntrepreneurshipCenter.12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - FlleMaker Pro QuiCk Start. This class introduces users to the RleMaker environment andits functions using an existing database as a model. Room: N42 Demo. Sponsor: Information Systems.12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - The Empty Set, the Singleton, and the Ordered Pair. Dibner Institute Lunchtime Colloqui-um. free. Room: E56-100. Sponsor: Dibner Institute.2:00 p.m. - Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100.Sponsor: Information Center.2:30 p.m. - Men's Soccer vs. UMass Boston. free. Room: Steinbrenner Stadium. Sponsor: Department of Athletics.2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - C.llmate change, Ice sheets and anonlalous diffusion: a view from the Inside out. Refresh-ments will be served at 3:30 PM in Room- 2-349: free. Room: -Room 2-338. Sponsor: Physical Mathematics Seminar.2:45 p.m. - Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Informa-tion Center.4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - MTL VLSI Seminar Series. Materials for Molecular Devices. free. Room: 34-101. Sponsor:MTL VLSI Seminar.4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Mech Seminar: Earthquake rupture through complex fault netYiorks:-lnteractions with dam-aged border zones and fault branches. Major earthquakes seldom rupture along a single planar fault. Instead thereexist geometric complexities such as damaged border zones, fault bends, branches and stepovers which affect therupture process, including nucleation and arrest. This presentation focuses first on when and how border zones willbe activated by near-fault stressing, and then addresses a basic problem in fault branching, as follows: A mode II rup-ture encounters an intersection with a branching fault. Will rupture start along the branch? Will it continue? - on theoriginal fault too? Which side is most favored for branching? Room: 1-390. Sponsor: Engineering & EnvironmentalMechanics Group. -

. 4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m: - Flows Over Time - Complexity, Approximation, and Modeling. ORC Fall Seminar Series.Seminar reception immediately following in the Philip M. Morse Reading Room, E40-106. free. Room: E40-298. Spon-sor: Operations Research Center.4:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - GTL Seminar Series. Novel Propulsion and Power Concepts for 21st Century Aviation. free.Room: 31-161. Sponsor: Gas Turbine Laboratory, AeroAstro.4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Asian Entrepreneurship In a Global Economy. Panelists: Paul S. P. Hsu, Executive Director,Epoch Foundation, Bruce C.H. Cheng, Chairman, Delta Electronics Inc.,Kenneth C.M. Lo, Chairman and CEO, Industrial Bank of Taiwan,Sayling Wen, President, Calcomp Corporation. Through brief presentations relating their experiences as entrepreneursin Asia, this panel of leading industrialists and entrepreneurs from' Taiwan will explore the characteristics and quali-ties of successful entrepreneurship in Asia and which of these characteristics are essential to ongoing success intoday's global economy. The session, moderated by MIT Professor Lester Thurow, will last 90 minutes, featuring brief15-minute presentations by each speaker followed by a discussion and Q&A session. free. Room: E51-345. Sponsor:MITEntrepreneurshipCenter, MIT Sloan, MIT Industrial Liaison Program.

4:30 p.m. - "Biotech: Pharmaceutical Research and Development In the Post Genome Era." Technology ExecutivesLecture Series.Sponsored by the Office of Corporate Relations. free. Room: Tang Center, Wong Auditorium, Bldg. E51. Sponsor:Office of Corporate RelationsjlLP, MITEntrepreneurshipCenter.5:00 p.m. - Field Hockey vs. WPI. free. Room: Jack Barry Turf. Sponsor: Department of Athletics.5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Mil Program on Human Rights and Justice Fall Speaker Series. "Judicial Activism and Inac-tivism During Riots in India." free. Room: 6-12'0. Sponsor: Program on Human Rights & Justice.6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - Toastmasters@MIT Evening Meetings. 77 Mass. Avenue, Cambridge, Building 2, Room 2-131. free. Sponsor: Toastmasters.6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Unllever dinner with MBC. Unilever SWIM Dinner with MBC (Sloan Women in Management).free. Sponsor: MITEntrepreneurshipCenter.6:30 p.m. - Architecture Lecture. "Heikkinen-Komonen Architects: Recent Works." Lecture by Markku Komonen,architect, Helsinki. free. Room: Rm 10-250. Sponsor: Department of Architecture.

. Wednesday, October 30

10:00 a.m. - Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave).Sponsor: Information Center.11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. - Optics Be Quantum Electronics Seminar. Dispersion-Cancelled Two-Photon Optical Coher-ence Tomography. free. Room: Grier Room B, 34-401B. Sponsor: Optics.12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Optical Imaging of the Cerebral Metabolic Rate of O:tygen dUring Brain Activation. TheAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, a joint collaboration of Mass General Hospital, MIT, and HarvardMedical School through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, presents this talk at MIT as partof its Biomedical Imaging Seminar series. Today's talk is by Dr. David Boas, who will review his laboratory's work onimaging the hemodynamic response to neuronal activation, as measured with invasive and noninvasive optical meth-ods. Dr. Boas is director of the Diffuse Optical Tomography Lab at the Martinos Center and assistant professor ofradiology at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital. free. Room: 37-252 (Marlar Lounge). Sponsor: HST.12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - PowerPoint Quick Start. PowerPoint makes it easy to jazz up your presentations. Get anintroduction to what PowerPoint can do. Rnd out how to create slide shows. The session includes demonstrations ofhow to use drawing tools, graphics. and create handouts. Room: N42 Demo. Sponsor: Information Systems.1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Rainbow Lounge Open. MIl's resource lounge for lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgenderedmembers of the community offers a place to hang out, various activities, and a lending library during its open hours.free. Room: 50-306. Sponsor: Ibgt@MIT.2:00 p.m. - Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100.Sponsor: Information Center.2:45 p.m. - Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Informa-tion Center.3:00 p.m •• 5:00 p.m. - spousesBcpartners@mlt: Halloween. Learn more about this American holiday and our tradi-tions. Children are welcome to come in costume. Join us for food, fun, games and morel Childcare provided. free.Room: W2D-400. Sponsor: spouses&partners@mit, MIT Medical.3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - "Have A Frighteningly Good Time" wi Alpha Kappa Alpha Be Project HOPE. Join us as we

host a Halloween celebration with the children of Project HOPE. Project HOPE is a shelter for poor and homelesswomen and children.Activities will include reading scary stories, playing games, making masks, and enjoying lots of sweet Halloweentreats with the children of Dorchester's Project HOPE. RSVP to Iizb@mit.edu by October 29. free. Room: Project HOPE,45 Magnolia Street, Dorchester, MA 02125. Sponsor: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - USC, Boalt, Duke, Chicago Law School Panel. free. Room: 4-149. Sponsor: OCSPA.4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Explaining Changes In Gene Expression using Molecular Interaction Networks. This Har-vard-MIT Seminar in Computational Biology is sponsored by HSl's Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Program,and is offered in conjunction with a journal club as part of HST.588 (Special Subjects in Medical Engineering andMedical Physics). free. Room: E25-119. Sponsor: HST.4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - HPCES Seminar. "Variational Methods in Computational Solid Mechanics." free. Room: MITRoom 4-237. Sponsor: Singapore-Mil AlliancejHPCES.4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Academic Careers Panel. Rfth in a Series - Today's topiC is "Transitioning Between Acade-mia and Industry - and Vice Versa," and features Dr. Richard Batycky, VP of Pulmonary R&D at Alkermes; AssistantProfessor Michael Perrott of Mil Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Buckner Creel, Associate DivisionHead at Lincoln Lab; Dr. William Dalzell, Lecturer in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering; and MLK Jr. VisitingProfessor Sekazi Mtingwa. Refreshments provided. free. Room: MIT 10-250. Sponsor: Graduate Student Council,OCSPA, Provost's Office.4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - HPCES Seminar. "Variational Methods in Computational Solid Mechanics." free. Room: 4-237. Sponsor: AeroAstro.4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. - GKM Spaces and Graphs. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in Room 2-349. free.Room: Room 2-338. Sponsor: Combinatorics Seminar. Department of Mathematics.7:00 p.m. - MIT In the Deep Sea: DeepArch's ArchaeolOgy Projectz. MIl's Research Group in Deep Water Archaeolo-gy, known as DeepArch, develops new deep water technologies and methodologies for exploring the human past. Ledby Professor David Mindell of MIl's Program in Science, Technology and Society, DeepArch has performed archaeologi-cal surveys of ancient shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, Agean and Black Sea. Mil Doctoral Candidate Brendan Foleyhas been involved in a wide range of DeepArch projects in the field and will present highlights from DeepArch's recentexpeditions. $7 jAdults. $4jSeniors, Students and MIT Community. Current MIT Students admitted free with MIT ID.Room: MIT Museum Building N52 - Second Roor 265 Massachusetts Avenue. Sponsor: MIT Museum.7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - Buddhist Meditation: Guide to Bodhlsattvas Way of Ute. Meditation, Lecture, and Discus-sion on Shantideva's monumental philosophical treatise. free. Sponsor: Buddhist Community at MIT.7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - MIT $50K Teambullding Dinner - Social/Developmental/Global. The MIT $lKj$50K team-building dinners are excellent opportunities to network, meet other people with similar interests, get inspired, andbrainstorm ideas for new companies. If you plan to enter the MIT $lK or $50K business plan competitions in theSocial/Developmental/Global Markets category, don't miss this networking opportunity! Dinner Served promptly at7:00pm. free. Room: Walker Memorial (Bldg 50). Sponsor: MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, MITEntrepreneur.shipCenter.7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Swing Dancing Lessons. free. Room: 36-156. Sponsor: Lindy Hop Society.8:00 p.m. - Weekly Wednesdays @ the Muddy Charles Pub. Meet your fellow social graduate students at the MuddyCharles Pub located in the Walker Memorial Building. What will be there for you? $1 drafts, a variety of beers, winesand sodas, lots of free wings, Sox on the screen. Bring IDs. free. Room: Muddy Charles Pub. Sponsor: EdgertonHouse Residents' Association, MITEntrepreneurshipCenter. TechLink, Wing It.8:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m. -IRLM Film Seminar. Screening of Rstful of Dollars (West Germany/Spain/ltaly,1964) direct-ed by Sergio Leone. free. Sponsor: International RIm Club.8:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. - Swing Dancing. No partner required. Beginners welcome. free. Room: Student Center 2ndfloor. Sponsor: Lindy Hop Society.

Thursday,October31

10:00 a.m. - Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100. Sponsor: Information Center.10:45 a.m. - Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Informa-tion Center.12:00 p.m. ,- 1:00 p.m. - Surveys and Polls Using cglemail.This course is for moderately experienced web publish-ers who would like to create small surveys and polls on the web. Information Systems has a few tools to make it easi-er to create surveys and gather data electronically. Experience with Athena is not required. but will make the coursemore meaningful. Room: N42 Demo. Sponsor: Information Systems.12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Rainbow Lounge Open. MIl's resource lounge for lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgenderedmembers of the community offers a place to hang out, various activities, and a lending library during its open hours.free. Room: 50-306. Sponsor: Ibgt@MIT.12:05 p.m. - Mil Chapel Concert. Alexey Shabalin, violin. Music for "Vio-ween.". free. Room: MIT Chapel. Sponsor:Music and Theater Arts Section.12:10 p.m. -1:00 p.m. - GABLES Lunch. GABLES is the M.LT. glbt staff & faculty group. The lunch is an opportunityfor us to gather in a social environment to meet and greet one another. It is also a venue for us to talk about issuesof interest to the M.LT. and larger communities. Our colleagues from the wider community are invited to join us. free.Room: Various. Sponsor: GABLES.1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Conversational English Class. Join us for a free conversational English class for intemationalstudents and spouses at MIT. Most attendees are women able to speak freely who desire to increase their Englishskills. Class covers a variety of topics including American culture and holiday descriptions. Free. Room: Wll BoardRoom. Sponsor: Baptist Campus Ministry.2:00 p.m. - Admissions Information Session. free. Room: Admissions Reception Center, Building 10, Room 10-100.Sponsor: Information Center.2:45 p.m. - Campus Tour. free. Room: Lobby 7 (Main Entrance Lobby at 77 Massachusetts Ave). Sponsor: Informa-tion Center.4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. - Physics Colloquium. Title: MTHECASIMIR EFFECT:THEORY AND PRACTICE." free. Room: 10-250. Sponsor: Physics Department.6:30 p.m. - authors@mlt - Steven Pinker - The Blank Slate. THE BLANK SLATE: The Modem Denial of Human Nature.Our conceptions of human nature affect every aspect of our lives, from the way we raise our children to the politicalmovements we embrace. Yet just as science is bringing us into a golden age of understanding human nature, manypeople are hostile to the very idea. They fear that a biological understanding of the mind will be used to justifyinequality, subvert social change, dissolve personal responsibility and strip life of meaning and purpose. In The BlankSlate, Pinker retraces the history that led people to view human nature as dangerous, and unsnarls the moral andpolitical debates that have entangled the idea along the way. free. Room: 10-250. Sponsor: The MIT Press Bookstore.MIT Libraries.7:00 p.m. - "Counting on Democracy": The Film Even PBS Won't Show You. This tale of race, political payback,voter fraud, and justice deferred could have come out of a Hollywood thriller. But no - this is the tale of the 2000Presidential election in Rorida, a disturbing account of just how shallow our nation's commitment to democracy canbe. Weaving together strands of a story ignored since September 11, this investigative report also delves into theunethical, if not unconstitutional, way in which voters were deprived of their votes. Forget the hanging chads and but-terfly ballots: the election was decided by the wholesale disenfranchisement of 180,000 citizens - largely the workingpoor and people of color. Free. Room: MIT Room 3-133. Sponsor: MIT Western Hemisphere Project.8:00 p.m. -10:30 p.m. -IFILM Film Seminar. Screening of "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick, 1980. free. Room: 4-237. Sponsor: International Rim Club.9:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m. - SAVE Meeting. Join us when we discuss environmentalism at MIT in all its aspects, includ-ing: assisting the MIT administration to improve environmental conditions; taking a boat along the Charles to clean it;trips to local nature reserves; and plants for the MIT community. free. Room: 1-246. Sponsor: SAVE.

http://events.mit.edumailto:Iizb@mit.edu

Page 8 THE TECH October 29, 2002

from page 6

Solution toCrossword

MIGUEL CALLES-THE TECH

Alpana Waghmare (left) and Meenakshl Verma perform In a Kathak Dance Concert sponsored byMITHAS. The concert featured Pandit Chitresh Das.

DANIEL BERSAK-THE TECH

Zeta Psi Senior Rahul Sarathy '03 cheers as his team scores a goal against the ChemistryDepartment in Thursday night's 1M match. Zeta Psi eventually fell to Chemistry 4-3 •

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- "".

~

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M IT Department ofFACILITIESCAMPUS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

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Simmons HallWork on the dining areas on the first floor continues. A card swiper hasbeen installed at the front entrance of the building as an interim measureuntil the permanent security system is in place. Remaining construction onthe building continues and noise is being mitigated so disruption toresidents will be as minimal as possible.Vassar St. UtilitiesRelocation of the chilled water line for Building 36 is in progress; nodisruption in service is anticipated. Vassar St. is now one-way headingwest from Main St. to Mass. Ave. until June 2003.Stata CenterConstruction of tunnel connection from Stata Center to Building 26 willbegin shortly. Temporary building enclosures are being installed inpreparation for inclement weather. Installation of the below-grade supportsfor the exterior stairs leading to the raised garden continues.Dreyfus Chemistry BuildingRepair work on the east concrete fa~de is nearing completion. Installa-tion of mechanical systems continues. Installation of exterior metal panelsto roof penthouse is in progress.Amherst Alley Steam RepairsMost of the steam repairs are complete. At two locations on the east andwest end of W4. repair work on a condensate return line will be repaired.Four parking spaces will be left open for excavation and mechanicalvehicles while work is in progress.Building 7 ADA accessible entranceConstruction of an ADA accessible entrance to Building 7 is underway.Shrubs and trees on the north side of the 77 Mass. Ave. steps (behind thebus shelter) have been removed to make room for installation of thisentrance. Shrubs and trees have also been removed from the south side ofthe steps so that both sides can be replanted in balance upon completion

of the project.

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October 29,2002

THE. ARTSTHE TECH Page 9

BOOKREVIEW

CONCERT REVIEW

BSO Delights with ClassicsAndre Previn Leads Performances of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

THEATER REVIEW

Fiona Shaw Stars inAbbey Theatres MedeaBy Bence OlveczkySTAFF WRITER.Abbey Theatre's MedeaWilbur TheatreOct. 23 - Nov. 3

Inthis fearful autumn crowded with seri-al killers and threats of mass murder,Dublin's Abbey Theatre reminds us thatmurderous revenge has been part of thehuman repertoire for a long, long time. TheirMedea, with Fiona Shaw in the title role, is amodem reinterpretation of Euripides' 2500-year-old tragedy that successfully trans-plants this timeless tale into our vain andself-obsessed 21st century.

Medea has it against her for sure. Aftergiving up a secure life back home to followher husband Jason to the land of opportuni-ties (Corinth), she is betrayed by herbeloved, who promptly goes off with thelocal princess. After much despair andagony, and three cold-blooded killings later,Medea reunites with Jason in an awkwardembrace next to a pool filled with the bloodof their children. Medea has had her ruinousrevenge.

Director Deborah Warner wanted tomake the play into a story about modem daycelebrities and their various psychiatricpathologies; it is easy to see Medea as thewife of a rising Hollywood star (think Anto-nio Banderas) who uproots his family inorder to hit the big time. Vanity and thepromise of fame and fortune are what drivesJason to leave his wife for the strategic mar-riage (think Melanie Griffith) that he hopeswill pave his way. As she clings to her ideaof romantic love and self-sacrifice, Medea'sworld quickly disintegrates, and with noth-ing left to lose, she uses her own offspringas a bestial tool with which to punish herunfaithful husband.

What makes this production of Medeastand out is Fiona Shaw, who, unlike theerratic character she plays, is in full controlof her audience. She mixes naIvete and vul-nerability with a devastating and chillingcynicism, pulling off the stunt of portrayingthis seemingly mad and evil woman - aperfect fodder for a Dateline special onwomen serial killers - as a very humanbeing.

Jonathan Cake plays Jason, an arrogantplayboy. His character's lack of complexityand charm makes Medea's obsession withthis one-dimensional bore seem rather tenu-ous and unbelievable, amounting to one ofthe show's few flaws.

The production is much helped bydesigner Tom Pye's beautifully simple setand Deborah Warner's theatrical cunning-ness and experience. The barren and uninvit-ing stage resembles a construction site withpre-molded concrete blocks and windows tobe installed. Clearly, the doomed pair arenew arrivals in the process of creating theirdream home when their relationship isderailed. Children's toys, a plastic gun and afirst-aid kit among them, are strewn aroundthe stage and act as symbolic icons forMedea's mad meanderings.

But the most haunting moment of theshow is the terrible infanticide. Murder, likesex, is notoriously difficult to stage withoutit looking construed, forced, and extremelytheatrical. In this Irish "Medea," however,as Fiona Shaw goes after her children, theaudience is gasping for air, literally cryingout for the madness to end. It doesn't, andwhen the two former lovers sit peacefullyby the bloodied pool in the show's finalscene, there is no redemption or closure,just a pervading sense of helplessness andfutility.

The one-and-a-half-hour show is a dev-astating and gut-wrenching theatricaldescent into the dark sides of human exis-tence, but it is also a reminder that manyhorrific human acts are borne out of desper-ate situations, giving credence to the ideathat there are no bad people but only goodpeople in bad situations.

Medea GoesToHolly-wood

from so many different venues. We hope forBean and Petra's success as much as weyearn for Achilles' death. The theme of par-enting is a driving force in the book, as manycharacters realize that their fundamentalobligation is to their children. In one instance,a character must give loyalty to either hisfamily or his country, and the author perfect-ly captures the anguish in the man's mind ashe makes this decision and lives with the con-sequences. Overall, the story is aptly devel-oped and leaves room for another well-writ-ten sequel.

Yet, as good as Shadow Puppets is, itlacks the vigor of previous books in theseries. There is not as much action andexcitement, and the amazingly detailed char-acters from Battle School seem to have lostsome of their pull. Bean, in particular, doesnot display his extraordinary mind nearly aswell as he did in the past two books. Even thebook's conclusion, however satisfying, doesnot end with the forward momentum thatclosed Ender's Shadow.

Nevertheless, Shadow Puppets is still avery good read. Had Card surpassed his pastbooks, it would have been quite surprising,given how remarkable they are. Perhaps onereason is that the premise of the Battle Schoolis inherently more exciting than that of Earth.At any rate, for those of you who enjoyedCard's prior novels, you will probably likeShadow Puppets. And if you haven't readEnder's Game, do so. Right now.

is difficult to argue with him.The first movement is bold an

Page 10 THE TECH

FILM REVIEW ****THE ARTS

CONCERT REVIEW

October 29,2002

Bowlingfor ColumbineMichael Moore's Documentary with a Bang

Tho Much of a Good ThingThtArwther Anne-Saphie Mutter RecitalBy Andrew WongSTAFF WRITER

Anne-Sophie MutterSymphony HallOct. 16, 8 p.m.

By Dan RobeyARL'l f:D/fOR

Bowlingfor ColumbineWritten and Directed by Michael MooreStarring Michael Moore. Charlton Heston,Marilyn A4anson, Matt StoneRated R

Bowling for Columbine is not yourparents' documentary. Fusing flashynews reports, bizarre si tuations,ironic twists, tense interviews, andSouth Park-style animation, it is a documen-tary for the new generation. Director/starMichael Moore takes to the streets of Ameri-ca and Canada, examining the movie's mainquestion of why America is such a violentcountry, especially when guns are involved.

Bowling for Columbine looks for theanswers which don't always reveal them-selves in Moore's offbeat documentarystyle. He seems to wander from interview tointerview; anywhere gun issues are, Mooreis there. One of his first visits is a bank inMichigan that gives a rifle to anyone thatopens up a new account. The exchange hehas there with the account agent sets thetone of the movie as he asks sardonic ques-tions, such as, "Do you think it's a little dan-gerous handing out guns at a bank?"

In the first half of the movie, Mooreposes several explanations for why Americahas such a high incidence of gun violence,and each time, he refutes the explanationwith a conversation or visual counterexam-ple. Is it because we have such a large num-ber of guns? No, Canada has about the samenumber of guns we do, and they have lessthan a third of the gun-related homicidesthan we do. Is it our violent history? Moorepoints out all of Europe as a counterexam-ple. What is it that drives us to homicide?

The main point of the movie is broughtup by, of all people, Marilyn Manson. Themedia targeted his angry rock music in thewake of Columbine as a cause, but he claimsthat part of the reason behind America's vio-lent crime is the culture of fear in which weimmerse ourselves. From the televisionshow Cops to the nightly news, much ofwhat we see and hear about are the violentcrimes. Moore seems to agree, as he createsa collage of television news headlines thatbarrage viewers with visions of crime aftercrime, each one hammering in his point fur-ther.

In his quest for truth, Moore interviewsDick Clark, South Park creator Matt Stone,James Nichols (brother of Oklahoma Citybomber Terry Nichols), Charlton Heston,

and many non-celebrities involved in theshootings, to varying degrees of success.While Dick Clark completely snubs Moore,after he brings two Columbine victims to theWal-Mart headquarters, complete with bul-lets purchased at Wal-Mart still lodged intheir bodies, the superstore decides to with-draw ammunition from their line of productsin an impromptu press conference with theTV reporters he brings with him.

In the final shootout of the movie, Mooregoes to Hollywood to interview the NationalRifle Association's president, Charlton Hes-ton. The former actor, recently diagnosedwith Alzheimer's, tries to fight back againstMoore's relentless questions about Heston'sviews on guns, the recent school shootings,and the seemingly callous way Heston heldNRA gun rallies in both Littleton and GrandRapids within "a week of the shootings there.Finally, Heston abruptly gets up andannounces the interview is over.

Some of Moore's conclusions are verytenuous, such as when he decides a welfarework program is responsible for a six-year-old shooting another six-year-old, but hisintentions are admirable. He addresses theseconcerns, pointing out that if he was think-ing like the media did when they blamedManson for the Columbine shooting oncehis albums were found in the student's col-lections, he might as well conclude thatbowling was responsible for the shootings,because the two responsible students went toonly bowling class before the massacre start-ed.

Bowling for Columbine is filled withamazing images and conclusions. The scenesstay in memory long after watching it, reap-pearing in conversation, or while watchingthe nightly news. Moore has made a power-ful film which captures a very real issue.The filmmaking is slick, and his interviewspointed. The humor, mostly ironic, helpslighten the film. The style of Bowling staysaway from preaching enough to make thefilm enjoyable, conveying the message inMoore's actions.

His methods may be questionable, but theissues Moore brings up aren't. Americansare fascinated by guns, and leaving the rea-sons behind our fetish open forces us torethink our own views. He doesn't allowviewers to reject or adopt his views, becausehe doesn't present a final thesis with whichwe can take issue. Instead, we must createour own answers. Bowling for Columbine isa controversial, well-put together film whichraises issues on all sides, and it, unlikemovies lately, makes viewers think.

tions somehow detracted from the overall per-formance.

At times, especially in the HungarianRhapsody (which was lacking in the gypsycharacter), Mutter's focus seemed to penetrateso deeply into every bar and even every note,

Itis astonishing that amid the designer per- that the overall structure of the piece failed tofumes, fur coats, chandelier lighting and a come through: Her musicality was highlightednoble crest inscribed with "Beethoven" in in only small intervals at a time, like magnifi-Symphony Hall, a mass of ignorance can cent pearls on a fine string delicately tiedstill rise from the pomp and applaud after the together. And like a frail necklace, these pearlsfirst movement of could snap atFaure's Sonata for any moment.Violin and Piano. Take the first

But with a smirk movement ofand a gentle nod of the Faurethe head, Anne- sonata, forSophie Mutter gra- example: itsciously acknowl- opening linesedged the audience were expressedand continued on in a sleepy,with the opening ghostly mannerpiece to her "Song on- the finger-and Dance" recital board with littlewith pianist Lam- vibrato. As thebert Orkis at Boston d y n ami c sSymphony Hall. increased, life

Ann e - Sop hie began to emergeMutter has come a into the tone andlong way since her a glorious vibra-child-prodigy years to slowly unrav-with mentor Her- eled onto the Ebert von Karajan. string. ThisShe is renowned as beautiful meta-a champion of mod- morphosis hasem music with such become almostaccomplishments as predictable inher Mutter Modern FLEETBOSTONCELEBR/TYSERIES Mutter's play-Album and Pen- Anne-Sophie Mutter is a frequent visitor to ing. It is wonder-derecki's Violin Boston. In addition to performing husband Andre fully gushing inConcerto No. 2 Previn's Violin Concert~ with the 850 on Satur- light and color,"Metamorphosen," day, she gave a solo reCital at Symphony Hall. but it happensa work written specifically for her. Last year, everywhere, from her opening of the Sibelius'sshe finished off her Beethoven sonata cycle, Violin Concerto to Beethoven's Spring Sonata.having extensively toured with OrIas in a full Having been a huge fan of her playing, Iexposition of the ten sonatas. She has even was shocked to find myself leaving the concertmanaged to record. a full-length DVD on the unimpressed and a bit empty. Yes, her tech-subject. nique is truly amazing and she is one of the

In the small recital program, Mutter man- finest violinists of our time, but in a concertaged to display both control and sensuality, situation, the effect is a saturation of style.swiftly moving from the meditative sonata, Andre Previn's Song and Dance for violinthrough the lively arrangement of Brahms' and piano, a piece written for Mutter in 1997,Hungarian Dances, to the soft cooing of was the highlight of the night. Mutter'sGershwin's Porgy and Bess Suite (arranged by emphatic playing was appropriate for the jazzyJascha Heifetz). harmonies and sweet song in the second move-

During each piece, Mutter played with full ment. Overall, her performance and her blackintensity and wit, polarizing all dynamic con- strapless dress were flashy and thrilling, buttrasts to the extremes of her instrument. How- the audience was less than exuberant, allowingever, the seductive glissandos, the ultra-wide her to play only two small encores while thevibrato, and the hollowness of the piano sec- listeners trickled out.

EAT THIS

Offal GoodAn Ode to Organ MeatsBy Winnie YangSTAfF WRITER

While some might recoil at thesight of Brussels sprouts on theirplates and others avoid broccolilike the plague, there are fewfoods as capable of provoking universalsqueamishness (in this country, anyway) asoffal. And that's a damn shame.

Offal is very nearly a whole class of foodin itself, encompassing everything from theheart, liver, lungs, and entrails of an animal,to the tail, feet, and head, each part with itsown unique and yes, delicious, flavors. Theword "offal" actually comes from the OldEnglish "off' and "fall," referring to thepieces that fall from an animal carcass dur-ing butchering. Various dictionaries refer tooffal as "refuse" or "rubbish" or "wasteparts," when in fact they have much to offernutritionally and gustatorially.

In much of the world - France, Italy,and China especially - the tradition ofpreparing organ meats reflects resourceful-ness and economy on the cook's part, asnothing is wasted. Whi Ie offal has neverbeen a big hit in the U.S. (and it certainlydoesn't help that the word is pronounced"awful"), viscera have gained a foothold inrestaurants and kitchens in the past couple

of years (which attests to the broadeningtastes of American diners as well as thesavoriness of the offal dishes themselves).In fact, most of this country's best chefs listoffal as one of their favorite meals to cookand eat.

There are many ways to enjoy offal. And,of the various types available, the liver isperhaps the most widely eaten. The mostcelebrated type of liver, foie gras (pro-nounced "fwah-grah"), or fatty goose orduck liver, is known by many people as aFrench delicacy, but its origins can be tracedback to classical civilizations, and theAshkenazi Jews are credited with dissemi-nating the method of cultivation, as well asappreciation, for this justly venerated liverto Western Europe.

Admittedly, the cultivation process issomewhat less than humane: farmers cramcom through funnels directly into the birds'gullet, overfeeding them to produce thegrossly enlarged livers. If that doesn't botheryou, then you should make haste to eitherRadius, blu, or Clio; all serve versions thatrender me speechless. Since fresh foie grasis both expensive and difficult to procure,you're better off eating it at a restaurant. Iusually prefer a whole lobe if I can get it,but I'm not one to pass up a terrine or pateeither (both are mixtures of foie gras withseasonings and other ingredients). Foie grasgoes especially well with Sauternes, aFrench sweet white wine.

If, however, you'd rather spare the over-stuffed fowl, you can always go with theless controversial chicken liver. After cook-ing a few rashers of bacon, saute some onion

in the residual bacon fat over medium heat.Once those become translucent, add the liv-ers in the oil, taking care not to ov