MIT plans expansion of University Park
MIT will work with Forest City Boston to build a new building at 298–334 Massachusetts Avenue, in the area just north of Random Hall, expanding research and retail opportunities along the block. Construction could start as soon as a year from now.
CAC, Walker groups to talk
This morning, several design and construction firms will be taking a tour of Walker Memorial to evaluate the building’s potential to support MIT’s Music and Theater Arts programs. Although Campus Activities Complex Director Phillip J. Walsh has said “no decisions have been made and cannot be adequately addressed until the feasibility and assessment reviews are conducted” in regards to the project, the action of the Facilities department in hiring these architects and contractors comes as an alarm to several student groups housed in Walker.
Docks honor 75th, will double in size
Changes are coming to the MIT Sailing Pavilion next year for its 75th anniversary: the pavilion will more than double in size, some boats will be gone, and new boats will come. The costliest of these changes is the $1.6 million dock renewal project planned by the MIT Nautical Association (MITNA) for the pavilion.
20 attend dining protest
For the first week in what seems like all semester, few public words have been spoken about dining. No new petitions have been sent out, no Undergraduate Association resolutions have been passed, and no new tweaks to the plan have been made. It’s been a week since the last dining protest. Perhaps students have finally accepted the administration’s word that it is committed to moving ahead with the most recent version of the plan, perhaps they’re even mostly satisfied with it, or maybe they’re just busy studying for finals.
Anna Tang acquitted in stabbing
Anna L. Tang was deemed not criminally responsible for the attempted murder of Wolfe B. Styke.
The Cheney Room: MIT’s hidden gem
On any given day, the Margaret Cheney Room, a lounge designated exclusively for female students at MIT, is peacefully quiet. In this hidden campus gem, flyers are plastered on the walls, with topics ranging from UROPs to body image. Posters proclaim Martha Stewart-esque guidelines: “Exercise every day.” “Learn to Prioritize.” “Avoid people who are complainers or who stress you out.” “Relax.” Beds, puzzles, a piano, showers — the room has everything for the exhausted female student to relax.
Taking a new legal direction: Genes are not patentable
The legality of patents on genes is in jeopardy after a judge ruled that genes were ineligible for patents because they involved “laws of nature.” Twenty percent of the human genome is currently patented.
Electronic RFPs so far a success
The Student Activities Finance Office reports that their new electronic system of student group reimbursements is working well, and they are not backlogged at the end of term for the first time in several years.
‘Control group’ in NYC homeless study denied aid
NEW YORK — It has long been the standard practice in medical testing: Give drug treatment to one group while another, the control group, goes without.
Corrections
An article on published on Tuesday, December 7, about the 2.009 final presentations incorrectly stated the projected cost of the Blue Team’s egg washer was $100,000 per unit. Their initial legal and patent costs are expected to be $100,000, but their projected production costs are between $600 and $1,000 per unit.
Drug-trafficking cop, Joe D’Amelio trial set for March
Former MIT Campus Police officer Joseph D’Amelio, arrested for drug trafficking in March 2009, remains at liberty after posting bail. His trial is scheduled for March 22, 2011, though these dates routinely slip.
Gaggle cops 131st Tech Managing Board elections
Gaggle cops 131st Tech Managing Board elections
Harvard Corp. to nearly double size
On Monday, Harvard announced a doubling of the size of its board of directors, “the President and Fellows of Harvard College”, from seven to thirteen.
September 11 rescue worker health bill blocked by Senate this week
WASHINGTON — Republican senators blocked Democratic legislation on Thursday that sought to provide medical care to rescue workers and others who became ill as a result of breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke at the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.
Senate stalls bill to repeal gay exclusion policy in military
WASHINGTON — In a blaze of unusual bipartisan fury, a military policy bill that would repeal the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly in the military stalled in the Senate on Thursday, severely diminishing the chances of ending the Clinton-era policy this year.
Shorts (left)
MUMBAI, India — When it was introduced in early 2009, the egg-shaped Tata Nano was billed as a modern-day people’s car, an ultracheap vehicle that would bring greater mobility to the masses of India and, eventually, the world. But those ambitions have stalled — for now, at least.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — While President Barack Obama presses the Senate to embrace a new arms control treaty with Russia, another nuclear pact with Moscow cleared its final hurdle on Thursday after more than four years with virtually no notice but potentially significant impact.
UK student protesters attack car carrying Prince Charles
LONDON — Britain’s coalition government survived the most serious challenge yet to its austerity plans on Thursday when Parliament narrowly approved a sharp increase in college fees. But violent student protests in central London, including an attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the theater, provided a stark measure of growing public resistance.
Sports stars seek profit from catchphrases, nicknames, epithets
Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis shut down so many receivers last season that teammates started calling his turf Revis Island, where opposing players were inevitably marooned.
Weekend weather warmer, wetter
A proverbial grab bag of weather will be on display this weekend, with clouds, sunshine, rain, and possibly even snow all on tap. First, clearing skies and calm winds will result in some of the coldest air of the autumn this morning, with temperatures plunging into the mid-teens. However, as a high pressure center drifts offshore, southerly flow will advect warm air to our area, and temperatures will increase steadily throughout the day and overnight, bringing Saturday’s high to the mid-40s.
China moves to block foreign broadcasts on Nobel prize
SHANGHAI — Chinese censors apparently began blocking the news websites of CNN, the BBC and the Norwegian broadcaster NRK from appearing in China on Thursday, a day before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is to be held in Oslo, Norway, to honor Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned dissident.
Illegal immigrants who drive risk more than a ticket
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — It was just another suburban fender-bender. A car zoomed into an intersection and braked too late to stop at a red light.
Add India to a revamped Security Council
On Nov. 8, on the final day of his visit to India, President Obama gave an address to a joint session of the Indian parliament that included this gem: “In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”
Letters to the Editor
We were incredibly excited to read in The Tech a few weeks ago that MIT is planning to create an official plan for undergraduate computational biology education. Having graduated from MIT last spring and spent three years in UROPs (with one of us continuing as an MEng) in the Berger Computation and Biology Group, we appreciate the need for increased guidance for undergraduates who are interested in computational biology. When we first came to MIT, we remember many people wondering why we, as math and computer science majors, were taking biology classes and attending biology-related talks. We often felt unsure of which classes to take and how to best prepare ourselves for careers in interdisciplinary research, and without the guidance that we were fortunate to receive from faculty and graduate students, we may not have found our way. The enthusiasm that both Professor Grimson and Professor Kaiser expressed about guiding undergraduates interested in computational biology was wonderful to hear.
Wise up about Wikileaks
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the latest Wikileaks/Bradley Manning revelations “very irresponsible, thoughtless acts that put at risk the lives of innocent people all over the world.” Mike Huckabee stated that anything less than execution is too kind a penalty. Sarah Palin said of Julian Assange, the front-man of the Wikileaks ensemble, “He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands ... Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?”
Being liberal doesn’t work — to remain relevant, Democrats must revise their agenda
There’s an interesting fairy tale that Democrats (and Mr. Veldman) have been telling themselves for more than a decade. “If we were simply better at getting out our message, we’d win more elections.” This is an incredibly facile analysis — it is akin to saying that the U.S. Army would win more wars if its soldiers shot more enemies and got shot less themselves. Even if it had the power to explain why Democrats win in some years and lose in others (which it doesn’t), it’s less than worthless as a form of strategic advice. The “voters are stupid, why else wouldn’t they vote for us” meme has been rampant on the left for quite some time — if it really had insights to offer, surely these lessons would have been capitalized upon by now.
UA Update and Answers
At last week’s Exec meeting, there was a short discussion on dining at Simmons, but not many residents showed up to express their opinions. It transitioned into a discussion on FinBoard reforms. Changes have been made to split the Spring allocation period into two periods, and there was further discussion on changes to policy and funding, as well as the creation of a committee to revise FinBoard policies over IAP.
Who is out of touch, you say? Republicans regularly and unashamedly disregard the wishes of the American people
Penn Jillette once observed that the Republican Party was essentially the “party of fear” and the Democratic Party the “party of hate.” During the Bush era (when he made the remarks) these designations hit the nail on the head. Republicans used the awful specters of Islamic terrorism, the Radical Gay Agenda, abortion and — gasp! — taxes to bully voters into thinking there was only one way they would make it through the next decade with their churches, families, money, or guns safe. Democrats, conversely, used George Bush as a symbol for everything that was wrong with Republicans. He, and by extension the Republican Party, wasn’t just incompetent, he was greedy and racist and ever eager to encroach on our rights — he took from the poor to give to the rich, he turned a cold shoulder to the victims of Katrina, and he routinely disregarded the constraints of the Constitution.
The undergraduate entrepreneurial ecosystem at MIT
Entrepreneurship is one of those things that belongs to our generation. Our lives are continually defined by companies that have been started by entrepreneurs our age. Entrepreneurship is something that we all want to try.
EXHIBIT REVIEW Fresh Ink: Ten takes on Chinese tradition
Settled in a gallery that’s not quite part of the new Art of the Americas wing and not quite part of the old MFA, Fresh Ink is surprisingly quite at home. In this newest project, ten contemporary Chinese artists responded to pieces in the Museum’s collection with works of their own, adeptly treading the boundaries of the traditional and the modern, bringing the past and present closer together.
Fencing dominates Ivies Engineers bout Brown, Yale, Cornell at invite
The MIT men’s and women’s fencing teams competed at the Brandeis Invitational last weekend. The women went 4-1, and now have nine match wins on the season, while the men went 1-4 to get their fourth match win.
Basketball keeps up their winning streak Engineers now 7-1 for the season
The MIT men’s basketball squad, ranked 21st in the nation (out of over 400 teams), extended their winning streak to six games with a 92-68 win over UMass-Boston Tuesday night in Rockwell Cage.
Upcoming Home Events
Friday, December 10 Women’s basketball vs. Wellesley College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage Saturday, December 11 Squash vs. Amherst College 4 p.m., Z-Center Courts Sunday, December 12 Squash — Alumni Match TBD, Z-Center Courts
