Reminiscences of MIT in the mid-1950s
Heading off to the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology in late August, 1954, I believed that I was doing a public service to the nation. America was in the early stages of the Space Race with the Soviet Union, and my guidance counselor at Dayton, Ohio’s Fairmont High School had convinced many of us graduating seniors that it was a civic duty to become engineers and help advance the nation’s chances of winning that historic race. Little did I know then that beating the Commies in space, and to the moon, would have little to do with my activity at MIT.
The hilly road back to MIT
My friend Emily was one of the many MIT students admitted to McLean, a psychiatric hospital, last semester after the death of Phoebe Wang.
Norbert and me
My home in South Dayton (now Kettering), Ohio, seemed a long way away from the MIT campus in the fall of 1954. Living in the East Campus quadrangle, I was restless and homesick, and having trouble sleeping nights. This situation led me to take a part-time student job as switchboard operator for East Campus on the late night or graveyard shift, as it was called. If I were going to be up all night anyway, I might as well get paid.
Let’s fall in love
How hard is it to be in love with a complete stranger? According to Stony Brook University psychologist Arthur Aron, it’s as simple as a 90-minute, 36-question session. In his study, pairs of heterosexual strangers sat in the same room and asked each other a series of increasingly personal questions that fostered closeness. Several of the 33 pairs went on dates right after the experiment and one pair went to the altar six months later and invited the researchers to attend.
Cambridge blues
As the team captain of the Cambridge Blues Basketball Club pulled up to the rendezvous point in the heart of Cambridge, I and three other 2-meter gentlemen watched the cheeky fellow, grin in tow, pull up and declare: “All that was left boys. Hop in.” I was fortunate enough to play for the Cambridge Blues Basketball Club during my full year abroad at King’s College, Cambridge University, and the memory of that baby blue Fiat being pushed to its physical limits is something that I will cherish forever. The only thing missing from the car was a big red nose and a flower that squirted Lucozade (we had the comically large shoes, after all).
Saying it loud
Editor’s note: The following is an edited version of a speech delivered by the author in 2012 at the MIT Black Graduate Student Association’s Ebony Affair.
For the love of all material things
During Thanksgiving, one of the most cherished American traditions, my housemates and I decided to honor another cherished American tradition: shopping! And so, we merrily went to Macy’s at midnight of Thanksgiving.
The hardest part
Ten days ago, I was walking with someone to Next House and she asked me what I thought the hardest part of college was. I thought about the question for a while and replied “consistency.” I’ve only been here for a few months, but everything is so fluid in college that I have tremendous control over what I do in my day-to-day life and because of that, it is hard to create a strong structure to my days.
Events Nov. 25 – Dec. 01
Events Nov. 25 – Dec. 01 Tuesday (7 p.m. – 8 p.m.) The List shows ART21 “Secrets” — E15-070 Wednesday (1 p.m. – 2 p.m.) Game of Thrones: Food for Thought, with Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder and guest speakers — W11 Thursday (1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) MIT Free English Class, sponsored by Baptist Student Fellowship, Baptist Campus Ministry — W11-190 (Main Dining Room) Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) International Students Association hosts Thanksgiving dinner, $5 tickets at entrance — W4 (McCormick Dining Room) Saturday (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) Thanksgiving Ballroom Social, free for MIT students, $6 other students, $8 MIT affiliates, $10 others — W20 (Sala de Puerto Rico) Sunday (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) International Folk Dancing, teaching 8 p.m. — 9 p.m., free for MIT/Wellesley students, suggested $1 donation for others — W20 (Lobdell Dining Hall) Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Health Insurance Plan Choice with speaker Jonathan Gruber, sponsored by Public Finance/Labor Workshop — E62-650 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Institute Double Take
This photo is a long exposure shot of the MIT Great Dome taken shortly after midnight. I recently got a new camera and was eager to take it out on a night photo adventure, no matter how cold it was that evening. After a few star trail shots with the Boston skyline, I decided to head to campus. There are many photos of the iconic Great Dome on the internet, so I wanted to try something different. I started exposing the image at 55 mm, and after two seconds I manually adjusted the zoom ring until I reached the wide-angle 17 mm view with another 2 seconds remaining on the shutter. I had to try it a few times to make sure I timed it right and got the zooming movement as smooth as possible. The result was an unusual, interstellar look to MIT.
Institute Double Take
I saw a post on reddit.com/r/mit asking when “MITHenge” would be this year. I clicked the link in the post and discovered that the alignment of the setting sun with the Infinite Corridor has been measured and modeled for decades. Turns out, the predicted dates for this winter’s perfect alignment — when the setting sun would be visible from the very end of the Infinite, in Building 8 — were November 10-12. So, of course, I set a reminder in my calendar and grabbed a camera when the first predicted time arrived.
Events Nov. 18 – Nov. 24
Events Nov. 18 – Nov. 24 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Modern War Gardens: Paradise Lost, with photographer Lalage Snow, sponsored by the MIT Global France Seminar — 2-105 (7 p.m. – 8 p.m.) Innovations in Wind Energy Lecture Series: Cape Wind, presented by Cape Wind Communications Director Mark Rodgers, with pizza served — 3-333 Wednesday (3:00 p.m – 4:30 p.m.) Life after the Postdoc: Research positions beyond the tenure track, sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research — 46-3002 (4 p.m. — 6 p.m.) 2014 Engineering Boutique Night for all levels of engineering students, sponsored by GECD, registration required — Sheraton Commander, 16 Garden Street Thursday (8 a.m. – 1 p.m.) Choose to Reuse (dropoff starting 8 a.m., pickup starting 11 a.m). — 32 first floor (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.) MISTI-Russia Info Session — E40-496 Friday (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) MIT Sounding: Roomful of Teeth, tickets free with MIT ID on Eventbrite — W16 (Kresge auditorium) (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) MIT American Indian Science and Engineering Society shows Windtalkers, refreshments provided — 4-237 Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) LSC shows 10 Things I Hate About You, tickets $4 in Lobby 16 — 26-100 (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) MIT Brazilian Student Association and UA show Central Station, with traditional Brazilian food — 3-270 Sunday (4 p.m. – 6 p.m.) Fidelio Trio — 14W-111 (Killian Hall) Monday (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Regenarratives, with speaker Gabriel Kahan — E15-070 (Bartos Theatre) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
The universe in a nutshell
To be or not to be, that is the question.
Not your typical Wednesday
On a typical Wednesday, I only have two standing appointments: a marketing class and a comparative literature class focused on leadership stories and ethics. The rest of the day is filled with group meetings, homework, a visiting speaker session every now and then, and of course, sleeping in, thanks to my afternoon classes.
Pledge to end sexual assault
This week marked the launch of the MIT “It’s On Us” campaign. “It’s On Us” is a national awareness campaign developed by the White House in order to eliminate sexual assault on college campuses. As a part of the “It’s On Us, MIT” campaign, students, faculty and staff are invited to sign the MIT Bystander Pledge. The pledge was written by MIT students of the Title IX Working Group, the student-staff coalition that organized the It’s On Us campaign at MIT.
Newbury Street shutdown
Where Newbury Street becomes the Boston Public Gardens, a large crowd of people of various ethnicities, genders, nationalities, colors, and ages began to march. To the brunch-eaters who paused mid-bite of quiche to try to make out what we were chanting; to the annoyed trio of girls whose path to Urban Outfitters we blocked with the incessant stream of bodies; to the tourists trapped between a fence and our anger with no choice but to hear our message: I do not apologize.