MIT is a world famous school. For Taiwan, not only does MIT share the acronym of "Made in Taiwan," it has been closely related to the island's scientific and economic development for many years. Former minister of Economic Affairs Chao Yao-tung, Chang Chung-mo, chairman of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Huang Hsiao-tsung, director of the Chung-shan Institute of Technology, Chu Hsin, a moving force behind the nation's first domestically designed automobile, and even today's ministers of Finance (Shirley Kuo) and Economic Affairs (Chen Li-an) are all MIT grads.

Given its long history, it's easy to understand the feeling of pride of MIT students.

MIT's leading position in defense technology was established in WWII, when MIT developed radar proved decisive in the Pacific War. Even today, MIT's defense research expenditures are the highest in the country. Although this turns off a few prospective students, the defense funds are an important source of revenue. Early on, MIT, because of lack of funds, faced the threat of being swallowed up by its powerful neighbor Harvard.

When MIT applied to set up a school 145 years ago in Boston, because technology was not emphasized, after twenty years they had only accumulated US$100,000 in endowment. They began to build buildings and recruit students. But as MIT's reputation rose, Harvard's science departments recommended repeatedly that the two schools be amalgamated. However, because MIT faculty and students feared the school would lose its independence, they rejected the proposal.

But who would reject Harvard?

"Who'd be willing to be bought out?" asks Liu Ko-fei, about to finish his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. "Harvard people are proud, and we're proud too. They're proud on the outside and we're proud in our bones."

MIT certainly has things to be proud of. Not even mentioning rankings, since its formation this school of only 10,000 students and faculty has produced 12 Nobel Prize winners, the inventors of the telephone and airplane, the founder of the Douglass Aircraft Corporation, and countless other scientists and entrepreneurs.

Even the political capital Michael Dukakis used to run for President--the "Massachusetts Miracle"--was created by MIT grads, says Cheng Hung, a professor of the Department of Mathematics. The Massachusetts Miracle refers to the incredible recovery, to the lowest unemployment and the highest rate of industrial growth among industrial states in the 1980's, after the decline of traditional industry in the 1960's and 1970's.

The recovery was generated by high-tech companies on Route 128 in Boston. According to 1986 statistics, of the 216 companies, 70% were established by MIT graduates, including Digital, the world's third largest computer maker, which employs 30,000 people in Massachusetts alone.

So what magic does MIT teach its students?

"We get a Spartan education," says Chin Kan-ping, a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering. Credits for each class are a balance of class time, lab time, and out of class work.

Chang Liang-ying, studying for an M.A. in architecture, at MIT for only a year, says aside from eating and sleeping, all her remaining time is spent studying. To accommodate students, MIT's general library is open 24 hours a day and closes only for four hours on Christmas Eve. The high pressure leads to occasional suicides. The stress is especially difficult since MIT claims to lead the world in technology and wants everyone to research innovative topics.

Even if one is fortunate enough to be accepted at MIT, then the decision to go is not taken lightly. Chen Chi-cheng, a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering, recalls that when he received the MIT admission letter, he debated whether he should make the plunge. An older schoolmate who had lived in Boston said to him, "If you are going to die, you should come once to at least say hello to the greatest experts in the world."

Is it worth it?

The answer is yes. Liao Nan-shih, who received a Ph.D. at Illinois and came to MIT for post-doctoral work, believes that MIT must have unique advantages to be able to produce so many elites. "Here attending class is 'enlightening,'" Liao argues. Other schools stress what other scholars have discovered in the past; MIT stresses how the idea is developed. The school assumes that when you graduate you'll be the top person in your area; even your professors shouldn't be able to ask questions you can't answer.

Not only do the graduate students have to do experiments and write theses, so do undergrads. For the past 18 years the Department of Mechanical Engineering has had a nationally famous class: Introduction to Design. Students in the class are divided into teams. At the beginning of the semester each team is given a large cardboard box and the theme is discussed. In the middle of the semester, professors in the department each instruct students in their specialty and the cardboard boxes are designed by the students into various types of machinery. The end-of-semester exam is a competition. Because the competition produces some great performances, American public television broadcasts it every year. Last year the Japanese Asahi network also carried it.

Thoroughness and a work ethic permeate MIT's campus along the banks of the Charles River. For example, MIT has the beaver as the school mascot. This is not only because it is the greatest engineer in nature, but even more because it is gregarious, assiduous, and has the habit of working all night. "Isn't that just like us?" laughs Liu Ko-fei.

The thorough rationality of MIT can be seen in the campus sights. "Our carvings are all brass, and the department buildings are all named after their subjects, not like Harvard which uses people's names. Therefore the humanistic feel here isn't so strong," says Huang Jong-shin, an M.A. candidate in Civil Engineering.

Chang Liang-ying says that when the pressure gets heavy she likes to go to Harvard to walk around. The atmosphere of old buildings and shops is a great tension-reliever. Not only is MIT small, it is surrounded by warehouses and company offices. "It's not very possible for students to hang around on campus," she says with regret.

Of course some don't agree that the humanities get short shrift. MIT's language departments are first in the country, the Sloan School is the fourth or fifth best business school in the country, and the political science department is also strong. But a leopard can't change it's spots--even these classes use the scientific method.

There's a popular joke about management studies at Harvard and MIT. "Harvard trains its graduates how to use MIT graduates." Although MIT has produced its share of corporate leaders, Harvard has produced several presidents or secretaries of state, and MIT hasn't been able to put anyone in these influential positions.

"Now the curriculum is changing a bit," says Huang. MIT demands that its undergrads spend one-third of their time studying humanities. The school not only hopes that its graduates are top-notch engineers, it also hopes they can occupy top positions in society.

Standards for admission have changed with this policy. Last year the school magazine The Tech published a study by a physics professor which showed that MIT's standards for applicants in mathematics, chemistry, and languages have clearly declined. This doesn't mean the excellence of the applicants is lower; it means that the school is starting to look at extra-curricular performance.

Nevertheless, professors have mixed views about this change, especially a few who feel the quality of students has declined. They have complained repeatedly, because the reason they came to MIT in the first place was to teach the "best."

MIT, with over 100 years of history behind it, is between a rock and a hard place. We'll just have to wait and see how its current crop of students fares in the future.

[Picture Caption]

This is a shot of MIT, sitting aside the Charles River, taken from the John Hancork Building, Boston's tallest tower. (photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-ch'i)

The winters are cold at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; many buildings are connected by long halls to protect students from the chill.

The autumn colors add a touch of the artistic to otherwise wholly "rational" MIT. (photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-ch'i)

A class portrait display constructed by students of the architecture department outside their department building.

Undergraduates put green footprints on the dormitory as a way to break the boredom of studying.

Because there is too much homework, MIT is one of the few American universities without a football team. Student athletics are strictly for the exercise.

On ROC's National Day, MIT's Chinese students also get a day off enjoy a concert held in Boston's open-air concert hall. (photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-chi)

The week before Halloween, the roads are lined with pumpkins; students from abroad can't help taking one home to ponder. (photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-ch'i)

MIT stresses efficiency--the school building are known by numbers, not names. This building, the most important on campus, is dubbed "Hall Number 7." (phot o courtesy of Chen Ch'i-eng)

Steel frame sculpture is the most commonly seen "decor" at MIT.

The Media Lab keeps MIT at the forefront of technology in the information age. The building has won accolades from outsiders, but some irreverent students say it "looks like a bathhouse."

The winters are cold at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; many buildings are connected by long halls to protect students from the chill.

The autumn colors add a touch of the artistic to otherwise wholly "rational" MIT. （photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-ch'i）

A class portrait display constructed by students of the architecture department outside their department building.

Undergraduates put green footprints on the dormitory as a way to break the boredom of studying.

Because there is too much homework, MIT is one of the few American universities without a football team. Student athletics are strictly for the exercise.

On ROC's National Day, MIT's Chinese students also get a day off enjoy a concert held in Boston's open-air concert hall. （photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-chi）

The week before Halloween, the roads are lined with pumpkins; students from abroad can't help taking one home to ponder. （photo courtesy of Wu Hsien-ch'i）

MIT stresses efficiency--the school building are known by numbers, not names. This building, the most important on campus, is dubbed "Hall Number 7." （phot o courtesy of Chen Ch'i-eng）

Steel frame sculpture is the most commonly seen "decor" at MIT.

The Media Lab keeps MIT at the forefront of technology in the information age. The building has won accolades from outsiders, but some irreverent students say it "looks like a bathhouse.".