Ann Wolpert, director of libraries, dies at 70
Ann Wolpert, MIT’s director of libraries since 1996, has died after a brief illness. She was 70 years old.
Institute reactions to the federal shutdown
On Monday at midnight, the U.S. Congress remained deadlocked on passing this fiscal year’s budget, causing the federal government to partially shutdown starting on Tuesday. Many non-essential federal employees across a wide number of agencies have been furloughed, some to the point of complete cessation. The webpages of several of these agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have been replaced with landing pages stating that the website cannot be maintained during the shutdown.
Twitter becomes favored diplomatic venue after UN
UNITED NATIONS — Countries all over the world, dictatorships and democracies alike, have in the past few years sought to tame — or plug entirely — that real-time fire hose of public opinion known as Twitter.
IN SHORT
Today is Add Date! This is the last day to add subjects to Fall registration, change electives to or from Jr/Sr P/D/F grading, change subjects to or from Exploratory for sophomores, or change a subject from Listener to Credit. The add/drop forms can be found at http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/add-drop.html.
Rebel feuding in Syria affects northern border town
BEIRUT — A group of powerful rebel brigades in northern Syria is struggling to defuse an armed standoff pitting insurgents against an al-Qaida affiliate for control of a strategic town near the Turkish border. The conflict over the town, Azaz, has shuttered a Turkish border crossing long used to supply the rebel movement and heightened tensions between rebels who seek the ouster of President Bashar Assad and extremists who want to erase Syria’s borders and found a transnational Islamic state.
The end of a sunny week brings possibility of rain
We enjoyed beautiful weather in Cambridge this week thanks to a high pressure system that brought sunny skies and daily high temperatures ranging from the mid 70s°F (low 20s°C) to low 80s°F (mid 20s°C). Looking forward, a warm front is expected to stall south of New England today. Showers associated with this front should steer clear of Cambridge during the day, but expect to see cloudier skies today than what we’ve been used to lately. As for the weekend, the chance of showers increases tomorrow. Even if we don’t see any rain, we should see cloudy skies and cooler temperatures, with a high of around 72°F (22°C). The warm front should lift through the region on Sunday, with muggy weather and an increased chance of showers close behind.
Shorts (right)
ROME — Having floated for at least two days in the choppy Mediterranean to reach Europe, a rickety trawler overstuffed with African migrants fleeing war and poverty was nearing a Sicilian island, not even a quarter-mile away. But it was still dark and no one had yet spotted them. So to signal their position, someone set a match to a blanket.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the ongoing government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense Thursday.
Wall Street seeks to soothe, while preparing for trouble
Wall Street is preparing for the government to bounce its first check.
Majority disapprove of shutdown over health law
A wide majority of Americans disapprove of shutting down the federal government over differences about the 2010 health care law, including a majority of those who oppose the law, according to the latest CBS News poll.
Zoidberg says
As I type this article on Monday morning, a government shutdown seems inevitable. In a little under 18 hours, barring a congressional Hail Mary, legislative intransigence will mean the shutdown of the National Parks, freeze on pay for troops, and furloughs of governmental employees.
The day after tomorrow, today
It’s time that we at MIT have a serious conversation about climate change. The simple fact — which we all know but seem to avoid thinking about — is that the consequences of climate change are already happening, and will get a lot worse during our own lifetimes.
CORRECTIONS
An article in Tuesday’s issue on the Burton-Conner mural controversy misquoted Akhil Raju ’14. He said, “About half the students I talked to didn’t like [the posters],” not the murals.
Intricate art with a complicated story
On Wednesday Sept. 25, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) hosted A Celebration of Benin Kingdom Arts and Culture, an event in collaboration with the Coalition of Committed Benin Community Organization, to mark the opening of the new Benin Kingdom Gallery, which features rare art from the Kingdom of Benin in present-day southern Nigeria.
ARTS EVENTS Oct. 04 – Oct. 10
ARTS EVENTS Oct. 04 – Oct. 10 Friday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) SYRIA: The Mainstream Media and Its Role in the War, photo exhibit and discussion — E40-496 (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Architecture Computation Lecture: Paul Kaiser, “Drawing on the Past,” — 7-429 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) European Short Film Festival — 10-250 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Ipswich Moving Company presents GROUND, Aerial Dance Concert — Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Ave. Saturday (6:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Comedy Night with Fuyun Chinese Comedy Club — W16-035 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) European Short Film Festival — 10-250 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) The Boston Composers Coalition presents: the female vocal quartet Anthology — Killian Hall (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Ipswich Moving Company presents GROUND, Aerial Dance Concert - Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Ave. Sunday (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) European Short Film Festival — 10-250 (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) International Folk Dancing — Sala de Puerto Rico Monday (12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Michael Wetter, “Quo Vadis Building Simulation: New Generation of Computational Tools,” — 7-429 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Charles Atlas: Instantaneous! and Everywhere? — E15-001 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Fantasies from Verdi’s Operas La Scala Chamber Orchestra — Kresge Auditorium (7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Folk Music of the British Isles & North America — Killian Hall Tuesday (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Contra Dance with live music by The Free Raisins — W20-491 Wednesday (7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Israeli Dance beginner’s night — Sala de Puerto Rico Thursday (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Born Digital Lecture — E14-633 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Urban Films: Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle (2011) — 3-133 (7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Ampersand Concert Series — E15, Bartos Theater Send your arts events to arts@tech.mit.edu.
An interview with the Queen of the Night
This year, the Boston Lyric Opera (BLO), New England’s largest opera company, has an exciting season lineup. Their first production, a new English adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, marks the highly anticipated debut of soprano So Young Park, currently a student at the New England Conservatory (NEC). She will be interpreting the iconic role of the Queen of the Night.
Exploring the unknown spaces of the known
For the Los Angeles-based experimental musician Julia Holter, having creative blocks and receiving only sporadic artistic epiphanies does not seem to be an option. Her debut album Tragedy was released in 2011, immediately accompanied by the sophomore follow-up Ekstasis in 2012 and the third full-length album Loud City Song released this year. Keeping in mind that many critically acclaimed contemporary musicians take more than a few years between releasing their albums, it might be tempting to assume that Holter prefers quantity over quality. Yet, at only twenty-eight years of age, Holter — a musically-trained CalArts alumna — delivers stronger and richer material with each subsequent album.
Mapping Vietnamese sidewalk life and street vending
Last Thursday you might have noticed a red-tape line running through campus. The line ran from Lobby 7 up to the third floor Wolk Gallery for the opening of Sidewalk City, a mini-exhibit by Urban Studies Professor Annette Kim and her group SLAB, the sidewalk laboratory. The Tech caught up with Professor Kim about the new exhibit.
Love in the digital age
In his directing debut, Joseph Gordon-Levitt tackles the complex issues of our illusions about sex and true love. Gordon-Levitt also stars as the titular Jon Martello, nicknamed Don Jon by his friends for his ability to pull “dimes” every night at the bar.
Bringing jazz from all over the world to Boston
Each year in Boston’s South End, thousands of people — from all around Boston and all around the world, aged six to sixty — gather around for one reason: jazz. Tents line several blocks along Columbus Ave., with vendors for ethnic art pieces, t-shirts, cotton candy, and potato tornadoes. Most of the attention, however, is directed towards three stages, where rising jazz giants lay down the real goods on stage.
Presidential dilemmas
Take the T to Harvard Square, walk down Brattle Street just far enough to escape the loud bustle of tourists, and you will find yourself at the Loeb Drama Center, home to the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.). It’s difficult to imagine that such a star-struck theatre could exist on such a quiet street, but the building — a typical example of modern architecture, and easily overlooked — has housed many well-known names and acclaimed performances. Zachary Quinto played Tom in a staging of The Glass Menagerie that ran this April and March; in June, the A.R.T.’s production of Pippin claimed ten nominations and four wins at the 2013 Tony Awards. And on Sept. 20, I had the opportunity to view a play of similar casting and literary caliber: All The Way, written by Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, and starring Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame.
Play Me, I’m Yours
The piano is decorated like a child’s dream — papered with dancing figures and uncoiled dragons. The upright Baldwin stands fully clothed, not a grain of wood peeking from under its fantastical wrapping. I found a sign for thearmyoftoys.com plastered across the back, and a postcard of Kermit the Frog waving at me near the pedals. I waved back.
New England Revolution looks for playoff bid
As MLS nears the end of regular season play, the hunt for a playoff spot is becoming heated. One of the teams competing for a spot in the playoffs is the New England Revolution. On Sept. 19, 2013, I had the chance to interview New England Revolution rookie midfielder, Scott Caldwell right after their practice and ask him about how the season has been so far, their chances for playoff qualification and how it feels to be a professional athlete at an age where most of his peers are in a university.
SPORTS SHORT
Moving back to dual match action after playing last weekend at the ITA New England Regional Championships, the MIT women’s tennis team returned to New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference play with a contest against Clark University. The Engineers maintained their perfect dual match record so far this season, scoring a 9-0 win against the Cougars. Vynnie J. Kong ’15 came up with the match-clinching victory for MIT in the No. 3 singles contest.
