Winter storm Nemo to hit Cambridge tomorrow
A major snowstorm is expected to hit MIT tomorrow, as winter storm Nemo makes its way across the coast. MIT has announced that they will be closed on Friday ; Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency that will be effective on Friday starting at noon. Community members should check emergency.mit.edu for the most up to date information. The Tech will update this page throughout the night as we learn more.
Annual MLK exhibits opens
Tonight marks the opening of the Lobby 10 installation from the Martin Luther King Jr. Design Seminar (17.920), an IAP course where students learned about the Civil Rights Movement and discussed topics like race and identity. The installation will be up until the night of Jan. 14.
Gaggle cops 133rd Managing Board elections
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the V133 managing board!
6.x70 — Pick your poison
Have you ever wanted to design a website, battle robots, or see who can write the smartest code? MIT students engaged in these activities through several competitions during IAP, most notably 6.270, 6.370, and 6.470. Last week, the winners to these student-run competitions were announced.
US accuses S&P of fraud in suit on loan bundles
The Justice Department late Monday filed civil fraud charges against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Experiencing Techfair 2013
“Please leave your resumes at home,” read Techfair’s preface to the event, reassuring students not to expect a stressful recruiting atmosphere.
IAP brings changes, challenges
Independent Activities Period (IAP) is a time for many students to travel or intern off-campus, while others come back to campus early to take classes, participate in coding and design challenges, or attend some of the numerous student-run activities offered during January. Although one might expect IAP to be a quiet time on-campus since not all students have returned, January was a busy month at the Institute.
Power failure delivers surge to Super Bowl ratings
CBS came close to matching the audience levels of the two most-watched television events of all time Sunday night, turning an electrical failure in the New Orleans Superdome into a likely ratings advantage for its coverage of Super Bowl XLVII.
Rafael Reif is in the House
President L. Rafael Reif moved into Gray House on Saturday with his wife, Christine, continuing an MIT tradition and joining the more than 5000 students living on campus. Cradled in the L of Senior House, the president’s residence was part of architect William Welles Bosworth’s original design for MIT’s Cambridge campus and is nearly a century old.
Online Media: Year-in-Review
The Tech focused more of its efforts on digital innovation and data journalism in 2012 with the creation of a new Online Media team focused on developing The Tech’s online presence using multimedia, social media, and interactives. Beginning with the religion project, we produced a series of videos and interactive graphics on religion on campus based on a schoolwide survey. At the end of spring, we covered President Reif’s inauguration using traditional print media mixed in with audio podcasts, videos, and interactive graphics. In the fall, we investigated and visualized stress at MIT based on another schoolwide survey in our “Under Pressure” project.
Shorts (left)
FRANKFURT, Germany — It was only a few years ago that some economists were arguing that Europe was “decoupling” from its long dependence on trade with the United States, and predicted that the Continent’s future lay with the so-called tiger economies of Asia.
Shorts (right)
BEIRUT — Syria’s opposition coalition gave qualified backing Monday to its leader’s surprise offer last week for a dialogue with President Bashar Assad to end the civil war, pressing him to respond definitively and even offering the added inducement that he could avoid trial if he resigned and left the country.
Peace talks start between Myanmar and rebels
BANGKOK — China hosted peace talks between the Myanmar government and ethnic Kachin rebels Monday, as outside pressure grew on both sides to end the intense fighting of recent weeks.
French jets bomb Islamist militants in Mali’s north
PARIS — French warplanes bombed Islamist militant bases and depots deep into northern Mali to disrupt their supply routes, French officials said Monday, as secular Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said they had captured two Islamist commanders near the Algerian border.
States have varied responses to issue of gun violence
Although the debate over stemming gun violence after the massacre in Newtown, Conn., is breaking down mostly along partisan lines in the nation’s statehouses — with several Democratic governors calling for stricter gun laws as most Republicans urge tighter security or revamped mental health policies — the handful of exceptions show the political and geographical complexities of the issue.
Snow comes and goes this week
A series of relatively weak storms will skirt the Boston area this week, creating brief chances for light snowfall at various times. The first of these chances will come this morning, as a low pressure system passing to our south may spread some light flurries through southern New England. Next, another weak low will pass to our north overnight, bringing light snow or rain showers to the area through tomorrow afternoon. Finally, another weak disturbance will bring the chance of light snow or rain showers during the day on Friday.
US stepped in to halt Mexican general’s rise
As Mexico’s military staged its annual Independence Day parade in September, spectators filled the main square of Mexico City to cheer on the armed forces. Nearly 2,000 miles away in Washington, U.S. officials were also paying attention.
New Archbishop of Canterbury takes office
LONDON — On the eve of a divisive vote in Parliament on the legalization of same-sex marriage, Justin Welby, the former bishop of Durham, on Monday took over formally as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, saying he shares the Church of England’s opposition to marriage among people of the same gender.
CORRECTIONS
The Mystery Hunt feature printed in the Jan. 23 issue incorrectly stated the name of Matt Lahut’s team as A Plate; the team’s proper name was Up-Late. The article also mistakenly identified Enigma Valley Investment & Loan (EVIL) as Enigma Valley Savings & Loan.
Women’s basketball overtakes Mount Holyoke
The MIT women’s basketball team saw four players reach double-digits in scoring as it defeated Mount Holyoke College, 57-44, in a NEWMAC contest on Saturday. Sabrina M. Drammis ’16 led all scorers with 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in leading the Engineers (9-11, 5-9 NEWMAC) to their first series sweep of the Lyons. Sophomore Amber Legare paced Mount Holyoke (5-14, 3-11 NEWMAC) with 12 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
Baltimore wins first Super Bowl game since 2001
In one of the most memorable Super Bowls in recent history, the “Outage Bowl” wasn’t short on excitement. Although they had a lackluster start, the 49ers picked up intensity in the third quarter after a power outage threw half of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome into darkness. The delay lasted 34 minutes, and it was obvious that the Ravens lost a lot of their momentum during the break. With so many storylines to follow throughout the game (the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other, Ravens’ linebacker and leader Ray Lewis playing the last game of his Hall of Fame career, San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his first season as a starter), this game will go down as one of the best Super Bowls in the modern era.
Events Feb. 5 – Feb. 11
Events Feb. 5 – Feb. 11 Tuesday (10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Spring Career Fair — W33 (Rockwell Cage) (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) 2013 IROP Summer Reseearch Exchanges Info Session — 56-162 Wednesday (3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Science and Action: International Mercury Treaty Negotiations (free Swiss chocolate) — 24-411 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) 4,000 Years for Choice (Artist Talk) — 6-120 Thursday (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Greentown Labs’ EnergyBar February (2013 MIT Clean Energy Prize Competition kickoff) — Greentown Labs (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Egyptian Movie Night - Hassan and Morcos — 35-225 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) LSC shows Wreck-It Ralph — 26-100 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) MITSSS Chinese New Year Celebration 2013 — NW10 large lounge Saturday (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT’s Musical Theatre Guild presents The Rocky Horror Show — La Sala de Puerto Rico Sunday (7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MISTI Foreign film series shows Footnote (soup and popcorn served) — 32-123 Monday (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Boston Aquarium outreach program — W85 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Bonding beyond college
Have you ever met an MIT alum purely by chance? Maybe on a plane someone asked you about your cardinal and grey sweatshirt. Perhaps you found out an older neighbor once walked through the Infinite to class. We immediately connect to these MIT alumni, trading stories about late nights and tunnel escapades and comparing Brass Rats. We have shared experiences and a common history.
Beauty, brains, and talent
This year, two MIT students will be among the 16 contestants in the Miss Boston pageant on Feb. 10. Both Jacqueline “Chacha” Durazo ’14 and Kira S. Kopacz ’15 are a reflection of the best aspects of the Institute, passionate about their fields of study and dedicated wholly to their passions in life. Perhaps what is most striking about these women are their similar yet different perspectives on the pageant experience, how it reflects the current trends in society, and how it gives them a platform to spread their ideas and inspire others.
