Timeline of events in volume 111: 2: 19
__
/__
____22Professor Joel Moses PhD '67, former head of the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is appointed dean of the
School of Engineering.
__/__
____1Sigma Alpha Epsilon is placed on probation for one semester by James
R. Tewhey, associate dean for residence and campus activities, for allowing
minors to consume alcohol at a party in December.
____1South African President F. W. de Klerk announces his intent to repeal
laws segregating most of South African society. President George Bush calls
the proposals "historic measures," and the European Community promises to
lift economic sanctions once the laws are repealed.
____4Faculty members in the Department of Mechanical Engineering vote to
limit the length of time graduate students can take to complete a master's
degree. The motion says, "A typical master's degree in mechanical
engineering should not take longer than one and a half years."
____4Israel promises to consult with the United States before retaliating
against Iraq for Scud missile attacks against Tel Aviv and Haifa.
____4The board of directors for baseball's Hall of Fame votes unanimously
to deny Pete Rose membership while he is banished from Major League
baseball.
____5The Committee on Discipline completes its review of 78 students
accused of cheating while enrolled in Computers and Engineering Problem
Solving (1.00). Most students are placed on internal or informal probation,
but a number of others are suspended or put on formal external
probation.
__/__
____6Salvador E. Luria, Institute professor and professor emeritus of
biology, dies at the age of 78. The Nobel Prize winner had researched the
replication and genetic structure of viruses, and was the first to discover
virus host restriction in bacteria.
____7Secretary of State James A. Baker III proposes a bank to rebuild the
Middle East once the Persian Gulf war ends. The bank would help expand free
trade and investment in the region.
____7The Irish Republican Army claims responsibility for mortar shells
fired at British Prime Minister John Major. The shells, which landed next
to the prime minister's residence on 10 Downing St., forced Major to move a
war cabinet meeting to another room but did not cause any harm.
____7The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Roman Catholic priest, becomes the
first democratically elected president of Haiti.
____10Kappa Alpha Theta is formally installed as the fourth sorority on
campus.
____11A member of the Supreme Soviet denies Moscow had anything to do with
crackdowns in the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in
January.
____13Steven H. Baden '92 pleads innocent to charges of burning a dwelling
and five counts of armed assault with intent to murder. The charges came
after a fire in the "kosher suite" in Burton-Conner House on Jan. 18.
____14Arthur C. Smith, professor of electrical engineering and computer
science and acting dean for student affairs since July 1, 1990, is
appointed dean effective July 1.
____14The Committee on Academic Performance issues twice the usual number
of academic warnings to freshmen. The increase is attributed to a change in
grading policy which raised the passing grade for freshmen from a D letter
grade to a C.
____18Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev proposes a peace plan for the
Persian Gulf war, under which Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would not be
punished in exchange for a complete withdrawal from Kuwait.
__/__
____20The Undergraduate Association recommends moving an information center
sponsored by the MIT Initiative for Peace in the Middle East to the first
floor of the Student Center.
____20The Committee on Discipline recommends that Andrew W. Howitt G, a
former Senior House entry tutor, be expelled because of his December 1990
conviction on drug charges. Howitt had been the focus of scrutiny following
the death of David M. Moore '91, a resident of Howitt's entry.
____20Paul L. Antico '91, former president of the Undergraduate Association
and chairman of the UA Food Service Committee, presents a new meal plan to
the UA Council. The plan would not require any student to buy a meal
plan.
____22China Altman, director of arts communications for the Office of the
Arts, says personal conflicts between her and Associate Provost for the
Arts Ellen T. Harris led to Altman's dismissal. Harris refuses to comment,
saying that "Personnel matters are personal."
____23The last phase of the Persian Gulf war begins as allied forces wage a
ground war against Iraq.
____25Foreign ministers of the Warsaw Pact nations sign an agreement to
scrap the military aspects of the alliance by the end of the month.
____25An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American barracks in Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia, killing 27 soldiers. US Central Command claims a Patriot missile
had been fired to intercept the Scud.
____27Antiwar activists begin fasting in Lobby 7 in remembrance of the
casualties resulting from Operation Desert Storm.
____28Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister, tells UN Secretary-General
Javier Perez de Cuellar that Iraq will comply with all 12 UN Security
Council resolutions.
____29The United States claims victory in the Persian Gulf war, and calls
for a cease-fire.
__/__
____1The Corporation's Executive Committee votes to increase tuition by 8.3
percent, to $16,900. In addition, the self-help level for financial aid is
increased by $400, or 7 percent, to $6100.
____1A Middlesex County Superior Court judge rules in favor of MIT in its
suit against the Cambridge Rent Control Board. Under pressure from tenants,
the board had delayed approving the removal of two three-story houses on
Blanche Street, inside MIT's proposed University Park complex.
____3Los Angeles police look on as other officers kick, club and stomp on
Rodney King, an apparently innocent bystander. The incident is videotaped
by a witness who accuses the police of brutality.
____4Two women in Washington state die after taking cyanide-laced Sudafed
capsules. Officials say this may be a case of attempted murder.
____4The Soviet parliament approves the October unification of East and
West Germany, and offers a plan to withdraw Soviet troops from the
country.
____5A four-year lawsuit brought by David F. Noble, a former associate
professor in the Science, Technology and Society program, against MIT is
dismissed in Middlesex Superior Court. Both MIT and Noble, who had accused
MIT of having denied him tenure because of his political views, claim
victory. Provost Mark S. Wrighton says he will to form a committee to
review MIT's tenure procedures.
____5A Boston Municipal Court clerk decides not to issue a criminal
complaint against Thomas M. Fahy '91. A sophomore had accused Fahy of rape
after a party at Sigma Alpha Epsilon on Dec. 9.
__>/__
____7Thousands of would-be refugees stream to the port city of Durres,
Albania, to escape the country's hard-line government. Authorities declare
martial law in an attempt to stem the flow.
____9Recycling begins in all campus dormitories.
____11The State Department cancels its terrorism warning for Americans
traveling abroad, on the same day as an Army announcement releasing 7300
National Guard and Army Reserve units. A spokesman for the Navy says
American ships are returning to their home ports. Gen. H. Norman
Schwarzkopf, who led Allied forces in the Persian Gulf, says he will not
"slam the door" on a political career.
____13Stacy E. McGeever '93 and J. Paul Kirby '92 are elected Undergraduate
Association president and vice president, respectively. Only 33 percent of
eligible students vote in the election. A referendum on the ballot
indicates that most students would be willing to pay to keep Project Athena
on campus.
____14Members of the Overlap Group, an organization of colleges and
universities that includes MIT and the Ivy League schools, announce that
they will not meet to exchange financial aid information about prospective
students.
____14The "Birmingham Six," wrongly convicted of murder in 1975 by a
British court, are released from prison. Prime Minister John Major promises
a thorough study of the British courts as a result.
____18Israel says it will not speak with representatives of the Palestine
Liberation Organization, even after PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat tells a
French magazine that Israeli acceptance of an eventual Palestinian state
would not be a precondition. Meanwhile, Israeli newspapers call for an
investigation of reports that up to 25 percent of gas masks distributed to
civilians during the war were defective.
____18The crown prince of Kuwait tells a US congressional delegation that
his country will implement democratic reforms, but remains vague on the
timetable.
__<March>/__
____22A preliminary report by the National Institutes of Health concludes
that a former MIT researcher, Thereza Imanishi-Kari, fabricated crucial
data in a 1986 scientific paper. Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore '61,
former director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and
president of Rockefeller University in New York, is not accused of fraud,
but the NIH report calls his defense of the article "difficult to
comprehend." Three weeks later, MIT forms the Committee on Values to
examine attitudes and policies regarding academic misconduct.
____28The Association of Student Activities votes to allow only one poster
per group per bulletin board, and authorizes MIT to remove posters for
events not affiliated with MIT.
____29Lee Atwater, former chairman of the Republican Party, dies at the age
of 40 from a brain tumor.
____30Two men unaffiliated with MIT are stabbed at a party in the Student
Center, one in Lobdell Court and the other in the Wiesner Gallery. The
party was registered under the name of the Black Student Union, but the BSU
denies any connection with the gathering.
__/__
____1The minimum hourly wage is increased by 45 cents, to $4.25 an hour.
____1A Florida woman says she was sexually assaulted at the Kennedy family
compound over the weekend. Senator Edward Kennedy's office says the
Massachusetts Democrat has "absolutely no involvement in the alleged
incident."
____2The 2009 students admitted to the Class of 1995 are statistically
similar to the Class of 1994. Thirty-six percent of the admittees are
women, up 1 percent from the previous year.
__/__
____3The InterFraternity Council votes 23-4 not to recognize the
reorganized chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi. The vote comes one year after the
disbanding of the Mu Tau chapter and the formation of a new fraternity,
Delta Pi, by many of the former AEPi members. David E. Borison '91,
president of the new chapter, says the vote will only hurt incoming
freshmen.
____3James H. Williams '67, a professor of mechanical engineering, stages
the first of four fasts to protest against MIT's minority hiring and
education policies. Williams fasts outside the President's and Provost's
offices every Wednesday in April.
____4The United States urges Turkey to open its border with Iraq. Over
100,000 Kurdish refugees had fleed from Iraq into Turkey since the end of
the Persian Gulf war. Many are reported to have died from exposure and
starvation.
____4Sen. John Heinz (R-Penn.) and six other people die when their small
plane collides with a helicopter over suburban Philadelphia.
____4The Los Angeles Police Commission suspends Chief Daryl Gates in the
wake of the beating of Rodney King. Gates is reinstated by a court days
later.
____4The Committee on the Science Requirement presents its proposed changes
in Institute requirements to the Undergraduate Association Council. The
changes include requiring students to take an introductory biology course
in addition to calculus, physics and chemistry.
____5MIT files a complaint for contempt of court against former professor
David F. Noble, claiming that his release of certain documents from his
tenure case violated the terms of the agreement settling his 1986 suit.
____6The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research reimburses the
National Institutes of Health $68,966 for legal costs incurred by David
Baltimore '61 during his term as Whitehead director. The Institute had
wrongly billed the NIH in 1988. The Whitehead refunds an additional $33,128
to the Department of Health and Human Services in early May.
__/__
____8MIT announces that it will open an office in Washington, D.C., with
the stated purpose of helping government officials and organizations "by
contributing to the understanding of technical issues."
____8The president of the U.N. Security Council says Iraq has accepted the
council's demands for peace, including one requiring that the country's
weapons of mass destruction be destroyed.
____10The Corporation informs the Coalition Against Apartheid that it has
decided not to divest from companies doing business in South Africa. A
member of the CAA says that the Corporation has instead decided to look
into providing aid for South African students.
____11Anne P. Glavin, chief of Campus Police, says three undergraduate
students are responsible for the theft of about $70,000 in computer
equipment. Sheila A. Widnall '60, chair of the Committee on Discipline,
says the Office of the Dean for Student Affairs will handle the matter.
____11The United Nations declares the Persian Gulf war officially over.
____17At its April meeting, the faculty debates adding a biology
requirement for all students beginning with the Class of 1996. The proposal
would also reduce the number of required Science Distribution subjects,
from three classes to two.
____18Three members of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) accused of stealing computer
equipment are expelled from the fraternity. The chapter submits a proposal
to its house corporation outlining what steps it will take to prevent
future incidents. Campus Police Chief Anne P. Glavin says no criminal
charges will be brought against the students.
____18The Undergraduate Association-sponsored Alcohol Policy Committee
presents a summary of its recommendations to the UA Council. Among other
things, the committee recommends that house taxes not be spent on alcoholic
beverages.
__/__
____19Pascal R. Chesnais SM '88, a systems programmer at the Media
Laboratory, wins the annual Alpha Phi Omega Big Screw contest with a total
of $416.35 in donations. The runner-up is Ellen T. Harris, with $184.08.
____20An Institute-sponsored safety shuttle, "A Safe Ride," begins running
between campus buildings and recognized living groups. The shuttle, which
was originally proposed by the Undergraduate Association, replaces the
system under which Campus Police provided students with escorts back to
their living groups.
____22The White House promises to account for trips made by Chief of Staff
John H. Sununu '61 on military jets. White House Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater
says the records will back up Sununu's contention that he had reimbursed
the government for personal trips at military expense.
____22Kuwaiti leaders promise Secretary of State James A. Baker III that
they will hold democratic elections within one year. They also promise to
stop rounding up Palestinians accused of being sympathetic to Iraq during
the Persian Gulf war.
____24MIT announces it will pay the federal government $731,000 for money
"inappropriately" claimed as indirect costs. The announcement comes in
response to an April 8 letter from Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)
requesting that MIT review its indirect cost records for the last five
years.
____25ARA, in conjunction with the MIT Hunger Action Group, begins
distributing leftover cafeteria food to the Cambridge and Somerville
Program for Alcoholism Rehabilitation.
____29Prospective food service contractors submit propsals to MIT Food
Services. A search committee expects to choose a new Institute food service
based on these proposals, and make a final decision by May 22.
____30Furio Ciacci G, a student in the department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, is elected president of the Graduate Student Council.
__/__
____2An unofficial tally from leaders and officials in Bangladesh says
100,000 people are dead as a result of a typhoon. The nation's head of
disaster relief estimates that $1.4 billion in aid will be necessary.
____2The Undergraduate Association Council rejects two recommendations made
by its Alcohol Policy Committee. The committee recommended creating a dean
for alcohol education within the Office of the Dean for Student Affairs,
and preventing the use of house taxes to buy alcohol.
____3At its quarterly meeting, the Corporation's executive committee
decides to maintain a policy of "selective investment" in American
companies doing business in South Africa.
____4Approximately 2500 people participate in The Johnson Games, the first
event in a week of activities celebrating the inauguration of President
Charles M. Vest.
____5President George Bush checks into Bethesda Naval Hospital after
developing an irregular heartbeat while jogging. He is released the next
day. Bush is later diagnosed with Graves' Disease, a condition marked by an
overactive thyroid gland.
____9Professor of Physics Robert J. Birgeneau is named dean of the School
of Science, effective July 1. He replaces Gene M. Brown, professor of
biology, who had held the position since July 1985. The committee selecting
Birgeneau is the first to include students.
____9About 15 members of the Coalition Against Apartheid hold a sit-in on
the eve of President Charles M. Vest's inauguration. The students, who took
over the president's office, offer to leave if Vest announces his support
for a binding referendum in the MIT community on the issue of divestment
from South Africa.
____10Charles M. Vest is inaugurated as the 15th president of MIT.
____10Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) holds a short press conference behind
the Johnson Athletic Center, where he addresses the allegations that his
nephew, William Kennedy Smith, raped a woman at the Kennedy family compound
in Florida. The next day, Smith is charged with the crime.
__>/__
____16At its May meeting, the faculty approves the addition of biology
as a General Institute Requirement. At the same time, it reduces the number
of Science Distribution subjects from three to two.
____22MIT declines to sign a consent decree that would settle a Justice
Department suit against the Institute for consulting with other
universities on financial aid offers to prospective students, in violation
of antitrust laws.
____29ARA is awarded a five-year contract to provide food services on
campus. The company is hired on a new "profit-loss" system, under which
they are entitled to their profits but responsible for losses.
____31Two seniors, John S. Fortunato '91 and Garret M. Moose '91, are
expelled for allegedly stealing over $70,000 in computer equipment and
installing it in the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) house. Justin M. Glotfelty '92,
also involved in the thefts, is not expelled. MIT places the chapter on a
three-year probation with no restrictions.
____31The Office of the Dean for Student Affairs decides to let Alpha
Epsilon Pi house freshmen beginning in the fall despite the chapter's
rejection by the IFC. James R. Tewhey, associate dean for student affairs,
says the reasons behind the IFC's decision are not sufficient to prevent
AEPi from housing freshmen.
__<June>/__
____2The emir of Kuwait announces that elections will take place in his
country by October 1992.
____3MIT awards about 1900 degrees to 1773 seniors and graduate students at
its 125th Commencement. Walter E. Massey, director of the National Science
Foundation, addresses the graduates and their relatives in Killian
Court.
____4Edward B. Hontz Jr. '92, who lived at Zeta Beta Tau over the summer
and at Senior House the previous year, dies after falling from the roof of
Building 66. He leaves no note, but Robert M. Randolph, head of student
assistant services, says there is some indication Hontz was depressed.
__<June>/__
____7Steven H. Baden '92, accused of burning a dwelling and armed
assault with attempt to murder, changes his not guilty plea to a guilty
one.
____20Douglas P. Rodger '93 dies from carbon monoxide poisoning while in
his garage at home in Harvard, Mass. Initial reports claim Rodger died
accidentally, but his death is later ruled a suicide.
____24Professor of Physics Jerome I. Friedman, who shared the 1990 Nobel
Prize in Physics, is named an Institute professor.
____25The German parliament votes to move most government operations from
Bonn, capital of the former West Germany, to Berlin.
____25Croatia and Slovenia, two Yugoslav republics, declare
independence.
____30MIT ends the fiscal year with a $330,000 deficit, losing money for
the third year in a row.
__<July>/__
____1Professor Philip S. Khoury, a specialist in the history of the
Middle East, is appointed dean of the School of Humanities and Social
Sciences. Khoury had served as acting dean of the school for the previous
year.
____13Michael Goldfarb G is stabbed by a Dorchester teenager,
17-year-old Jamal Pinto. A Cambridge district attorney says the stabbing is
racially motivated.
____15Provost Mark S. Wrighton announces a new program to increase the
number of women on the MIT faculty. The program includes the establishment
of a fund to bring women to MIT as "faculty visitors and distinguished
lecturers," and provides special incentives for departments where women
represent less than one quarter of the faculty.
__<August>/__
____9The National Science Foundation awards a four-year, $27 million
grant to the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory. The grant, which is
meant to pay for maintaining the Bitter lab and building a new high-powered
magnet, comes one year after the lab lost a bid for a $120 million NSF
grant for a new magnet lab to Florida State University.
____11Edward Tracy is released after five years of captivity in
Lebanon.
____19MIT closes as a result of Hurricane Bob, which breaks windows and
knocks down trees. Damage along Cape Cod and other outlying areas is
extensive.
____21Steven H. Baden '92 is convicted of burning a dwelling and armed
assault with intent to murder. He is sentenced to 10 years in prison with a
concurrent suspended sentence of six to 10 years.
__<August>/__
__<>/__
____28Alpha Phi becomes the first sorority on campus to live in their own
house, on Commonwealth Ave.
__<September>/__
____29The 1060 members of the Class of 1995 arrive on campus.
____29The Supreme Soviet votes to suspend activities of the Communist
Party, which has ruled the Soviet Union for 70 years.
____2President George Bush recognizes the Baltic republics of Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania as independent states. The republics' 1940 annexation
by the Soviet Union was never recognized by the United States.
____3Fares on MBTA rail and buses increase to 85 cents and 60 cents,
respectively.
____6For the first time, freshmen take a Pre-Calculus Math Diagnostic test.
Arthur P. Mattuck, professor of mathematics, says performance was "about
what I expected, but I would not call it good." At least one freshman calls
the test "a waste of time."
__<September>/__
____10Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas
to the Supreme Court begin.
____10The Office of the Dean for Student Affairs announces that 92 percent
of freshmen and transfer students received their first and second choices
in this year's housing lottery, the first under a changed assignment
system.
____16Clarence Thomas ends five days of testimony before the Senate
Judiciary Committee. He tells reporters that he has been treated fairly by
the panel, which recommends that the full Senate approve or reject judicial
nominees.
____16Prosecutors against former Reagan aide Lt. Col. Oliver North drop the
case, saying they would not be able to prove his trial was not influenced
by testimony he gave Congress under a grant of immunity.
____17The SP01/02 series, an experimental alternative to fulfilling the
freshmen chemistry requirement, is cancelled because of scheduling
difficulties with two of the program's three professors.
__<September>/__
____18Arthur H. Roberts '93 delivers the first of three performances of
"How to Give a Woman an Orgasm," a presentation on rape and safe sex
sponsored by the Residence/Orientation Committee and the Dean for Student
Affairs.
____19Members of the Revolutionary Justice Organization announce they will
wait to release two hostages they are holding in Lebanon "until the picture
becomes clearer about the Israeli position and the United Nations
movement." The statement dashes hopes that Jack Mann or Joseph Cicippio
will be released.
____23Provost Mark S. Wrighton issues a memorandum to the Academic Council
and department heads announcing a new program designed to increase the
number of underrepresented minorities on the MIT faculty.
____30Margaret L. A. MacVicar '65, dean for undergraduate education and
creator of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, dies at the
age of 47. President Charles M. Vest calls her "one of those rare
individuals whose thoughts and actions transformed a great institution."
____30Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine) says he hopes debate
over Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas' judicial record can begin
within the week. The Judiciary Committee had split 7-7 on the nomination
vote.
____30Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide flees his homeland after the
military takes charge of the island nation.
__<October>/__
____5Next House celebrates its 10th anniversary with a series of parties
for dormitory residents and alumni.
____7The White House criticizes the leak of an affidavit by University of
Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill that charges Supreme Court nominee
Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment. In light of the disclosure, the
Senate scrapped its plans to vote on Thomas' nomination that evening.
__<October>/__
____8The Harvard Cooperative Society announces that its member rebate
for 1990-91 will be 5 percent. This is a drop from the previous year's 5.5
percent rebate, and the continuation of a long downward trend.
____9"Teaching Within a Research University," an Institute colloquium, is
attended by over 1000 faculty and students. The discussion, moderated by
former governor Michael S. Dukakis, focuses on the role classroom education
plays at a university devoted to research.
____17NATO defense ministers promise to cut their nuclear arsenals in
Europe by 80 percent, the largest reduction in alliance history.
____21Students, faculty and staff are sent Stopping Sexual HarassmentA
Guide to Options and Resources at MIT, a booklet aimed at stopping sexual
harassment on campus.
____23Approximately 50 students attended a screening of Truth or
ConsequencesSafer Sex at MIT, a student-produced video demonstrating the
proper use of contraceptives and other safe sex devices.
____30Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian delegates arrive
in Madrid for the start of a Middle East peace conference. Despite Israeli
protests, Palestinians are allowed to speak as a separate delegation,
rather than as part of a joint delegation with Jordan.
____31Rumors of a Halloween massacre "in an L-shaped dormitory"caused some
residents of Senior House to sleep elsewhere for the night. Campus Police
added extra shifts to the area for the night.
__<November>/__
____1Joseph A. Powers Jr. '92 is elected Ugliest Man on Campus in the
annual Alpha Phi Omega contest.
____4Imelda Marcos, wife of the late Philippine dictator, returns to her
homeland for the first time since the 1986 revolution. President Corazon
Aquino's government says it allowed Marcos to return so it could prosecute
her for tax fraud and other charges.
__<November>/__
____5The body of British publisher Robert Maxwell is found in the
Atlantic close the Canary Islands. A Spanish death certificate attributes
the death to a heart attack.
____6James R. Tewhey, associate dean for residence and campus activities,
rejects an alcohol plan proposed by the Dormitory Council, saying the
percentage of house taxes the plan would allow dormitories to use in
purchasing alcohol is unacceptably high.
____7Students and administration panelists discuss the merits of the
current housing system at a packed meeting of the Undergraduate Association
Council. Among the topics debated are how rejection from fraternities,
commonly known as "flushing," could be averted, how a new housing system
should accommodate a changing student population, whether rush should be
moved to the sophomore year and whether a new housing system should attempt
to create a stronger sense of MIT community.
____12The Outing Club's cabin in Bartlett, N.H., burns to the ground.
Members of Delta Upsilon, who used the cabin that weekend, later say that a
fire they mistakenly lit in the cabin's outhouse was extinguished before
they left. The cause of the fire is eventually found to be
"undetermined."
____15The Committee on Discipline sends a letter to students expressing
concern that "cheating and plagiarism have become rampant on campus." In an
informal vote, the committee unanimously supports the creation of an honor
code.
____15Midway Airlines announces that it is going out of business after a
deal for Northwest Airlines to buy the troubled carrier fall through.
____18The Office of the Dean for Student Affairs reduces funding for the
1992 Independent Activities Period to $5000, down from the $10,000
allocated for IAP 1991.
____18Hostages Terry Waite of Great Britain and Thomas Sutherland of the
United States are freed from captivity in Lebanon. Their captors promise to
release the other Western hostages by the end of the month.
____20Two employees of Lincoln Laboratories are found dead in a van located
in the laboratory's parking lot. A tank of nitrous oxide is also found in
the van.
____21The U.N. Security Council elects Butros Ghali of Egypt
secretary-general of the United Nations. The vote is considered a victory
for African diplomats, who had insisted it was their turn to lead the world
body.
____27MIT releases a new alcohol policy that differs only slightly from the
previous policy. The new guidelines require independent living groups to
register open parties and allow dormitories to serve alcohol without a cash
bar.
__<December>/__
____25Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigns from office, and
announces that he will pass nuclear codes to Russian President Boris
Yeltsin. After 70 years as a major world force, the Soviet Union
dissolves.
__<1992>/__
____6A Defense Contract Audit Agency review of MIT's indirect cost
billings recommends that MIT withdraw $22 million in reimbursement
requests. James J. Culliton, vice president for financial operations, says
most of the dispute stems from changes in government policy.
____7The Yugoslav federal military shoots down a helicopter carrying
observers from the European Community. The group was traveling from
Belgrade to Zagreb in areas said to be safe from conflict when a Yugoslav
air force jet fired a missile that killed all five EC observers on
board.
____19In response to an overflow of students during prime dining hours,
ARA keeps both Lobdell Court and Networks open longer during IAP.
____
MIT's oldest and largest
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