Deval Patrick to Speak at Commencement
MIT’s 143rd Commencement exercises will take place this morning on Killian Court where more than 2,200 graduating students will receive about 2,600 degrees.
Sec. of Energy Chu Pushes For Greater Technology Research
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu urged the need to pursue energy research in a spirit akin to that of the seminal AT&T Bell Laboratories in his address last month at MIT as part of the Karl Taylor Compton lecture series.
Plaque Shows Off Alum Smoot’s Contribution to Measurement
Fifty years and seven months after the colorful markings first appeared across the 2164.8 foot (or 364.4 Smoot) span of the Harvard bridge’s sidewalks, a new plaque “In Commemoration of the 50th Year of the Smoot” (and in Honor of Oliver R. Smoot ’62) debuted in a special ceremony yesterday afternoon. The plaque was embedded in a concrete base on the bridge at the southwest corner of Memorial Drive and Massachusetts Avenue.
News Briefs
MIT Medical’s nighttime urgent care service will be closed<b> </b>over the summer, along with Medical’s inpatient unit, due to low utilization and costs.
Undergraduate Association Finance Board Allocations for Summer/Fall 2009
Undergraduate Association Finance Board Allocations for Summer/Fall 2009
ATO Receives Housing License; Alcohol, Roof Access Restricted
Members of the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity can soon come home. Yesterday afternoon, the Cambridge License Commission unanimously approved them for a long-sought housing license.
Large Event Fund (LEF) Allocations for July–Sept. 2009
Large Event Fund (LEF) Allocations for July–Sept. 2009
Graduate Student Dies After Fall From E19 Roof
Han D. Nguyen G was found Tuesday morning in the parking lot of Building E19, apparently having jumped from the roof of the building. Nguyen, age 25, was a third-year PhD student in marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Student Life Fee Up $22 From Last Year
The Student Life Fee goes up to $272 next year, an increase of $22 (8.8 percent) from the previous year’s $250. All students pay this fee in order to support campus student services.
Six Masked Westgate Intruders Flee From Police, Still Unknown
Six masked men fled the Westgate Lowrise dormitory and escaped the MIT Police after a brief car chase on Monday, May 11.
UA Finance Board, ARCADE, LEF Allocate Funds
The Undergraduate Association Finance Board released its allocations for the Summer/Fall 2009 period on May 19.
Final Blue Ribbon Report Removes Some Unpalatable Recommendations
The final report of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Dining to MIT, dated May 11, 2009, recommends that the existing House Dining program be dismantled and replaced with a declining-balance program. But in the report, the committee says it does not recommend a mandatory meal plan for all students, charging students in dining hall dorms an “opt out fee” where they would pay to eat nothing, or turning the MacGregor Hall convenience store into a dining hall.
ARCADE (Assisting Recurring Cultural and Diversity Events) Allocations for July–Sept. 2009
ARCADE (Assisting Recurring Cultural and Diversity Events) Allocations for July–Sept. 2009
Hackers Leave Lunar Lander on Dome
A scale model of the Apollo Lunar Module that carried astronauts to the surface of the moon appeared on the surface of the Great Dome in the early morning of Sunday, May 17. (How early? Just before sunrise, hackers were visible walking on the dome.)
Obama Seeks ‘New Beginning’ With Islamic World
President Barack Obama pledged on Thursday to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances to confront violent extremism and heal religious divides.
Shorts (right)
Two more deaths linked to swine flu — both of adults in their 40s — were reported by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Wednesday, bringing the total H1N1-related fatalities in the city to seven.
Small Businesses Taking Steps Toward Online Networking
By choice or necessity, successful small-business owners are earnest networkers, gladly shaking hands, handing out cards and attending local meetings to find and keep customers, solve problems, seek feedback or support and bolster their bottom lines.
Chrysler Sale to Fiat Moves to Higher Court
A federal appeals court agreed late Tuesday to hear an appeal of Chrysler’s sale to Fiat, after a lower court judge approved the move to help expedite the process.
A First French Open Title: Federer Can See It Now
With just two victories separating Roger Federer from that trophy and with no Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray in sight, Federer was ready to accept the obvious on Wednesday at the French Open.
Shorts (left)
Youssef Megahed toyed with a piece of lint on the other side of the bulletproof glass and described his case as simply “weird.”
New Hampshire Approves Same-Sex Marriage
The New Hampshire legislature approved revisions to a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday, and Gov. John Lynch promptly signed the legislation, making the state the sixth to let gay couples wed.
Summer Outlook
First of all, congratulations and best wishes to all the graduates. The weather will fortunately allow for outdoor celebrations today. Although it will be cloudy, rain should remain to our south until the evening hours. A coastal storm will scrape us tonight, but pleasant conditions for the weekend will follow.
A Freshman Looks Back
It’s always easy to complain about things. For some reason, humans have the amazing innate ability to hone in on the bad and neglect the good. And at a place like MIT, it’s especially easy to fall into that trap. The rigor of the courses, problem sets, and tests coupled with everything MIT has to offer inside and out of the classroom contribute to the hybrid nature of our unofficial motto, “IHTFP.” Immortalized on every class ring, it is often a cry of frustration (at least mentally) and sometimes invoked as a term of endearment (e.g. “I Have Truly Found Paradise”). It can even be both simultaneously. But whether or not you have ever, or ever will think of MIT as “paradise,” we sometimes forget amidst the dining failures, sports cuts, and housing issues that this place does a lot of things right.
Moral Duty
It seems odd to write advice “to the graduating class of 2009” when I myself am one of the graduates. If you’re reading this during Commencement, I am currently somewhere between Dublin and Dubai, about to begin my new life as a consultant in the Middle East. When I started writing for <i>The Tech</i> back in September, I’d hoped to lay out the beliefs that make me a conservative. Nineteen articles later, I’ve commented on the 2008 election, written policy pieces on everything from education to health care to economics to foreign policy, and even tossed in a few articles on my favorite subject, energy — but I still haven’t gotten to write that defining piece that goes beyond policy prescriptions to core political philosophy. This is the 20th and final article that I’ll written for <i>The Tech</i>. I guess it’s now or never.
‘Welcome to MIT’
When I woke up one morning before the week of finals, I was appalled to discover bags under my eyes. Wailing, I clutched at the mirror and proclaimed aloud, “Look at how MIT has aged me!” When I told my friends my story, they merely looked at me, bleary-eyed, and one of them fixed me with a raccoon-ringed gaze: “Welcome to MIT.”
The Failure of the Task Force on Student Engagement
A little more than a year ago, I sat down with Martin F. Holmes ’08 — my successor as Undergraduate Association President — and then-Graduate Student Council President Leeland B. Ekstrom PhD ’09 to pen a letter expressing our serious concerns regarding the lack of meaningful student involvement in Institute decision making and outlining our proposals for change. The issue of student input, which had begun to resurface as a concern during my term in office, came to a head last year after the Institute’s handling of the arrest of Star A. Simpson ‘10, the surprising announcement of Green Hall’s conversion to undergraduate housing, poor communication regarding the future of W1 and student dining, as well as a number of hacking incidents. After a series of negotiated edits and changes, this letter — which was eventually co-signed by Mr. Holmes, Mr. Ekstrom, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75, and Executive Vice President Kirk D. Kolenbrander — was published in the Faculty Newsletter and called for the establishment of a Task Force on Student Engagement.
How You Will Remake the World
Dear fellow graduating students: Congratulations! Alumni from this institute have unique leverage in shaping how people think. This capital has been earned, over almost a century and a half, by the hard work, integrity, and accomplishments of the women and men who have passed through these corridors. So how will you spend this precious currency?
RESTAURANT REVIEW The Wine Cellar
School is finished, and the summer is upon us. Who wouldn’t want to visit the cheese capital of the world — beautiful France — with her rolling countryside and complex wines? Fortunately, Thierry Charles of The Wine Cellar, the fondue restaurant located conveniently across the Harvard Bridge, has brought France to Back Bay. With its exposed brick and wrought iron, The Wine Cellar is a very cozy place, perfect for intimate gatherings of close friends and family and even better for getting to know a new group of people. The cook-it-yourself fondue style fosters conversation and makes the meal feel more like a group activity than a simple dinner.
RESTAURANT REVIEW Great Appetizers and Outstanding Entrees
The moment you walk in the door of KO Prime, the well-acclaimed steakhouse near the Park Street T stop, you feel trendy, surrounded by a funky chocolate and red decor complemented by faux cow skin chairs and zebra-striped pillows. KO Prime feels more like a modern lounge than a restaurant, and indeed, the spacious dining room is adjoined by a classy bar and couches. While fun and upbeat describe the atmosphere itself, the food is nothing less than elegant.
THEATER REVIEW Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
Based on the 1891 Frank Wedekind play of the same name, <i>Spring Awakening</i> is a modern musical focusing on age-old issues. It confronts sex, love, and everything in between through a musical score that is much more akin to radio rock songs than the classic music characteristic of shows like <i>Les Miserables</i>.
BOOK REVIEW Make Yourself Useful
What is the good life? More to the point, what is an attainable good life given our current cultural and economic circumstances? How do we develop and practice what is best in ourselves despite the forces arrayed against us?
INTERVIEW Mens et Manus
<i>Matthew B. Crawford runs a motorcycle repair shop. He is also a writer and enjoyed a multi-year affair with academia in political philosophy. In his new book </i>Shop Class as Soulcraft<i>, he considers his experiences as white-collar minion vs. self-employed manual tradesman. Crawford argues that for many, the second may be both more economically rewarding and fundamentally satisfying.</i>
Men’s Heavyweight Eight Beat Yale, G’town for 12th
On Sunday, May 10, both squads of the men’s crew team competed in the Eastern Sprints Regatta on windy Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester. Present were all 18 major East Coast rowing powers, including the eight Ivy League schools, as well as major state schools.
Gadget Review
<b>What it is:</b> Apple’s newest iPod Shuffle, a portable music player that holds 4 gigabytes of songs (about 72 hours, more than a thousand songs).
Sidebar: We Shot It
We lost our first iPod Shuffle. To keep the second one from getting away, we decided to shoot it. As it turned out, the iPod’s lightweight aluminum case proved no defense against an expert marksman’s rifle.
Brouhaha Rhythm
Coming home for the summer from MIT has been a time-honored tradition for me, assuming two years is sufficient to establish a tradition. As lovely as I hear Boston gets in the summertime, there’s too much waiting for me at home — family, friends, a significant other, and a job — for me to stay. Assuming, therefore, that going home would be my first and only choice for my summer plans, it logically followed that I’d have to bundle up the entire contents of my hovel and put most of it in storage, a process that consumed more time and more space than I probably would have liked.
