Employee healthcare changes
MIT employees will see changes to their healthcare benefits and premiums in 2013 as MIT conforms to the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Signed into law by Obama in 2010, the PPACA established a timetable for implementing healthcare changes, the nearest of which is Jan. 1.
City boycotts Le Méridien
Workers at Le Méridien Hotel, located at 20 Sidney Street in Cambridge, are seeking MIT’s endorsement of a boycott on the hotel. The boycott began on Oct. 11 and is in response to what the workers say is management’s refusal to respond to a request that hotel employees be permitted to consider the option of unionization without managerial interference. In reference to the Le Méridien labor dispute, Nate Nickerson, MIT’s director of communications, informed The Tech, “MIT’s general practice is not to assess the business actions of other organizations.”
More light shed on health violations
The Massachusetts Department of Health released hundreds of pages of documents Monday detailing a history of violations at the New England Compounding Center, whose tainted medicine has caused a nationwide meningitis outbreak. The documents include dozens of complaints from as early as April 1999, less than a year after the company began as a compounding pharmacy in Framingham, Mass.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Pitch Contest finale
In true MIT style, this year’s Elevator Pitch Contest — part of the $100K Entrepreneurship Competition — was full of cosplay and nerdy puns, reminding us that entrepreneurship is fun! The audience was given red balloon-drumsticks, emblazoned with “100K,” with which to make as much noise as possible. The theme of the night was “superheroes.” Hosts were dressed as Avengers superheroes, who represented each of the five competition tracks — Emerging Markets, Energy, Life Sciences, Mobile, Products & Services, and Web/IT.
Nov. 6 election looms large for monetary policy
WASHINGTON — The next significant event for monetary policy is not the Federal Reserve’s meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, which is likely to pass quietly, but the presidential election two weeks later.
China’s slowing economy puts pressure on US exporters
As China’s economy cools, U.S. exporters are increasingly feeling the chill.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — During a day of old-school America-bashing in the Russian Parliament on Monday, a series of lawmakers took the podium to catalog rights violations perpetrated by Americans over the years, including waterboarding, Ku Klux Klan lynchings and the abuse of children adopted from Russia.
Despite push for austerity, EU debt has soared
LONDON — As Greece and its international lenders continue tense talks on reducing the Greek budget deficit, new data from the European Union on Monday underscored the potentially Sisyphean nature of such efforts.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — The owners of a small nuclear reactor in Wisconsin said Monday that they would close the Kewaunee Power Station early next year because they were unable to sell it and it was no longer economically viable.
Seasonable weather in store for Boston
Last Friday’s muggy and wet weather provided a bit of a messy start to the weekend, but the weather rebounded to provide New England with gorgeous weather for the rest of the weekend into the beginning of this week. With sunny skies and above average temperatures, it was a great weekend to get outside, as the crowds at the Head of the Charles Regatta would surely agree. In fact, Saturday’s high temperature of 74°F was a whopping 14°F above normal! A warm front will approach the region tonight and tomorrow, so some light rain is possible tomorrow. However, a blocking pattern will keep the warm front to our south. With a high pressure from Canada in control, seasonable temperatures are in store for this week, with highs around 60°F.
Lebanon and Jordan move to contain Syria-related violence
BEIRUT — Lebanon and Jordan moved aggressively Monday to squelch the spread of violence from Syria’s deadlocked civil war, the most significant register yet of alarm over the strife spilling over Syrian borders.
South Korea bars leaflet drop over border with North
SEOUL, South Korea — Activists said Monday that they had succeeded in sending large balloons drifting into North Korea carrying tens of thousands of leaflets, despite South Korean police efforts to block the action and a threat from the North Korean government to retaliate with a military attack.
Bold solutions vs. petty attacks
“Vote like your ladyparts depend on it.” This is the message that greeted users browsing the Obama campaign website the day before the first presidential debate. The message was clear, and it was petty. If you saw the message and thought “gee, how becoming of the president. How grand a message,” you were one of very few.
Women’s soccer victorious
In an exciting game that left them a goal behind at the start of the second half, the MIT women’s soccer team went on to defeat the Coast Guard Academy, 3-1, on a sunny Saturday afternoon following senior day. Jennifer R. Ibanez ’16 scored the game-winning goal in the 75th minute of play. The Engineers are now 12-3-1 for the season and 7-1 in NEWMAC play, while the Bears fell to 2-12 and 0-8 in conference play.
Events Oct. 23- Oct. 29
Events Oct. 23 – Oct. 29 Tuesday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) The Other Euro Crisis: Refugee Rights Violations and the Unraveling of EU Solidarity — E51-275 (7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) What Our MIT Chaplains Believe — W11-Main Dining Room Wednesday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) The World at Night: One People, One Sky! astronomy photos by Babak A. Tafreshi — 54-100 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Urban Films: Manufactured Landscapes documentary showing — 7-429 Thursday (5:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.) Why I Write Poems: Linda Gregerson presents poetry book The Selvage — 37-252 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Match Made in Hell? Citizens United and a Return to “Traditional American Values” — 6-120 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) The Anime Club shows Mouretsu Pirates and Princess Jellyfish — 3-133 Saturday (6:30 p.m.) MIT-Harvard Halloween Party: Mad Science — NW-10, Edgerton (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) The Don Byron New Gospel Quintet — Kresge Auditorium Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MITHAS presents Alamel Valli, Bharatnatyam — Kresge Auditorium (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Lorelei Ensemble: Re-Turn concert — MIT Chapel Monday (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) NFC Event: Mobile Wallet Wars and Warriors — 34-101 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Reconsidering Handsworth Songs: talk by MIT Visiting Artist John Akomfrah and Lina Gopaul — E15-070 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: Leading by example
When I went through sorority recruitment and asked about the time commitment, I kept being told “what you get out of your experience is related to what you are willing to put in.” While it sounded very vague at the time, I quickly understood what they meant when I decided to try leadership positions in Pi Beta Phi.
