Colleges Feel Impact of Market Decline, Begin Cutting Fin. Aid
For years, as the stock market roared, educational endowments swelled, helping private secondary schools and colleges provide more financial aid, expand, and attract better faculty. But with the financial markets in crisis, those days are over.
MIT Hopes Two-Thirds of Seniors Will Give to Class Gift, OCW Fund
The Senior Gift Campaign announced an ambitious 65 percent participation rate target as they unveiled their project of developing an MIT OpenCourseWare Fund. The proceeds of the senior gift will go towards updating the video and lecture content for 5.111 Principles of Chemical Science.
Police Stress Bicycle Safety, Theft Prevention Measures
Following an accident in the Infinite Corridor this fall, the issue of bicyclist and pedestrian safety has become one of the forefront concerns of the MIT Police.
ASA Will Propose to Lower Threshold for Group Recognition
Groups of students who want access to certain resources controlled by the Association of Student Activities would have an easier time getting them, under a proposal being presented by the ASA’s executive board to all student groups at a Monday general body meeting.
RNAi Therapeutics May Hold Key to Reducing Cholesterol
People whose bodies make an unusually active form of a certain protein tend to have dangerously high levels of cholesterol. Those with an inactive form of the protein have low cholesterol and a low risk of heart attacks.
In Short
The Diversity Leadership Congress will take place at MIT next Tuesday from 1–3 p.m. and will include a keynote address by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman and a panel discussion. Facilitators will lead group debriefings at remote viewing locations in the Student Center locations and E25-111. See: http://web.mit.edu/diversityleaders/
High School Seniors Compete at MIT In Siemens Contest Regional Final
Sixteen high school students descended upon campus last weekend as part of the annual Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology to compete for $9,000 dollars and an invitation to the national finals in New York where $100,000 is up for grabs.
Startups Struggle to Find Venture Capital
For six months, Flex Biomedical Inc.’s chief executive, Sal Braico, has been furiously trying to raise money to support his Brookline, Mass. life sciences start-up, meeting with as many venture capital firms and angel investors as possible.
World Leaders Start to Press Obama on Policies
The Russians want him to hold off installation of a missile defense shield in Poland. The Europeans want him to renounce the idea of “regime change” for Iran, while the Israelis want to be sure he does not give Iran a pass when it comes to nuclear weapons.
Shorts (left)
Wang Denggui, father of three, arrived more than a year ago in the palm-lined streets of this southern town with a single goal: toil in a factory to save for his children’s school tuition.
Shorts (right)
Candy, snacks, bakery products, pet food and other Chinese products that contain milk will be detained at the border until tests prove that they are not contaminated, the federal government announced Thursday.
U.N. Report Points to Peril From Noxious ‘Brown Clouds’ Over Asia
A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations.
Hopes Dim for U.S. Car Manufacturer Bailout
The prospects of a government rescue for the nation’s foundering automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition during a lame-duck legislative session next week.
Iraqi Militants Turn to Small Bombs in Attacks
They are usually no bigger than a man’s fist and attached to a magnet or a strip of gummy adhesive — thus the name “obwah lasica” in Arabic, or “sticky bomb.”
Quantum of Tempest
One doesn’t have to be in New England very long to realize that the weather gets crazier as we approach the winter solstice. While the polar regions cool off quickly, the tropics remain relatively constant producing a large equator to pole temperature difference and a strong jet stream. The consequence of this is increased storminess that throws the area in to a weather roller coaster yielding huge swings in temperature and a whole gamut of precipitation. It’s Mother Nature’s way of trying to restore equilibrium, but at the cost of a wet pair of pants and shoes from time to time.
A Fantastic Race
On Tuesday, November 4th, history occurred. The United States of America elected its first ever African American President, Barack H. Obama. The election, driven by a record turnout, is an event of landmark symbolism and will herald the beginning of a series of changes in American politics that will have a significant impact on the United States and the world at large.
Letters to the Editor
At the sight of citizens voting for state and federal officeholders, Dan Yelin laments that MIT’s officers, from President Hockfield on down, are not accountable to their constituents (<i>The Tech</i>, Volume 128, Issue 54).
America is Different Today
Last Tuesday night, for the first time in my life, I felt proud to be an American. For the first time, I felt genuine faith in my country and a genuine desire to serve it. And for the first time in my life, my voice was heard and my voice made a difference.
A Vibrant (but Entrenched) Political System
Stella Schieffer made a strong case in the November 4th issue of <i>The</i> <i>Tech</i> (“Party-Based Elections”) for reforming the American electoral system. She described the advantages of Germany’s parliamentary electoral system, where voters separately elect both geographical delegates and party representatives proportional to their support. Schieffer argues that the German system more accurately reflects the sentiments of the electorate and that parties maintain their positions more reliably than individual politicians do.
What’s So Great About 2008?
Last Tuesday saw the conclusion of the longest, costliest, and most reported political contest in the history of United States democracy. Pundits raved over how this election broke all the rules and would be an irrevocable turning point for the course of this nation. However, despite the rhetoric of change that emanated from both candidates McCain and Obama, this campaign was strikingly conventional in many respects.
ALBUM REVIEW East from the Midwest
Chicago-based trio Pillars & Tongues don’t just play together: they talk to each other, critique each other, and advise each other—with their instruments, of course. Their frank, uninhibited musical conversations have been compiled onto a disc entitled <i>Protection</i>, released just last month on the Contraphonic imprint.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ 1/2 Sex, Rocket Launchers, and Emotional Baggage
If “The Notebook” humped a car chase, the unholy spawn that was produced would be “Quantum of Solace.” Much like a Miss USA contestant named Mildred, the latest Bond film is visually impressive, has a stupid name, and is pretty much devoid of substance. While it features top-shelf action and is extremely exciting throughout, the latest incarnation of James Bond simply lacks the cool confidence that sets the franchise apart from every other secret agent thriller.
MIT Equestrian Team Revived, Begins Training for Competition
At MIT, horseback riding is a sport that has vacillated between being active and successful one year, and being completely nonexistent the next. This year, Anna S. Jaffe ’09, President and Show Captain, and her team members, have undertaken the task of restarting the team. The group has again started getting together, training and competing at horse shows with the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
MIT Earns NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball Postseason HonorsMIT Places Three on NEWMAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference TeamTwo Engineers Earn NEWMAC Field Hockey All-Conference Honors
The MIT women’s volleyball team received four postseason awards from the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) on Tuesday. The Engineers’ individual total this year equals the program high established in 2002.
The Tech’s Athlete of the Week: Zachary E. Kabelac ’12
The MIT men’s soccer team earned six postseason honors from the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). As announced on Tuesday, Zachary E. Kabelac ’12, Christian W. Therkelson ’11, and Nitin Perumbeti ’09 all earned First-Team All-Conference selections. Thomas S. Caldwell ’09 and Max S. Stein-Golenbock ’12 both earned places on the Second Team. Rounding out the team honors, Kabelac was named NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, the fourth MIT player to earn this title.
