Gaggle cops 134th Managing Board elections
Some have said that if one were to count total number of medals won by The Tech’s Managing Board in the Winter Olympics up to now, it would be the equivalent of a small tropical country that had never seen snow before in their lives.
Martin Schmidt named MIT provost
President L. Rafael Reif on Monday announced the appointment of Martin A. Schmidt PhD ’88 as provost, the most senior academic position in the administration.
Cynthia Barnhart named MIT chancellor
MIT’s new chancellor, and the first woman to hold the post, is Cynthia Barnhart PhD ‘88, President L. Rafael Reif announced on Monday. As chancellor, Barnhart oversees student life and education.
The Tech’s 2013 Year in Review
A special insert in this first issue of The Tech’s Volume 134, our Year in Review provides perspective on 2013. For the issue, visit http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N65/.
CORRECTIONS
To clarify an article about the format of 3.091 published in the Wednesday, January 29 issue of The Tech, 3.091 is returning to a lecture format for the Spring 2014 semester. No decisions have been made on whether to continue the online assessment format for Fall 2014 and beyond. A full report on the class will be submitted late February.
DOJ to pursue death penalty for Tsarnaev
The Department of Justice said Thursday that it will seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the alleged Boston Marathon bomber, citing the
Video shows Egypt police arresting two journalists
Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.
Former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie invokes Fifth
A former top aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey revealed Monday that she would not hand over documents in response to a subpoena from a legislative panel investigating the controversial closing of lanes at the George Washington Bridge last fall, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Genetic tests, healthy children, and ethical doubt
Her first thought after she heard the news was that she would never have children. Amanda Baxley’s doctor had just told her she had the gene for Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, or GSS, which would inevitably lead to her slow and terrible death. This rare neurological disease had stalked her family for generations.
Second U.S. bribery trial begins for New York assemblyman
NEW YORK — In October 2010, William F. Boyland Jr., a state assemblyman from the Brooklyn borough of New York City, shared fine cuts of meat, wine and whiskey with two businessmen who were trying to buy Boyland’s political influence.
Shorts (left)
Many top colleges are misleading applicants about the paperwork needed to seek financial aid, possibly violating federal law and costing students extra money, a congressman said Monday.
Several inches of snow possible tomorrow
After temperatures got up to 55°F in Boston this past weekend, our area will see accumulating snowfall tomorrow for the second time in three days. While yesterday’s all-day snow event was relatively harmless — leaving behind less than an inch of accumulation — tomorrow’s event is expected to be more significant. At the time of this writing, the National Weather Service had issued a Winter Storm Watch for “late Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon,” forecasting the possibility of 6 to 10 inches of snow accumulation.
Hacker group accuses Merkel government of helping to spy
MUNICH — The Chaos Computer Club, a leading hacker organization based in Germany, filed a criminal complaint against Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her government Monday, accusing them of violating the law by helping U.S. and British intelligence agencies to spy on German citizens.
Shorts (right)
MOSCOW — A student opened fire in a high school in northern Moscow on Monday, killing a police officer and a teacher and holding two dozen other students hostage before being captured by police, a spokesman for Russia’s Interior Ministry said.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I walk by Bexley many times a day and wonder when the action will start! Not just destructive action, but constructive learning action! By this I mean many students (and faculty!) were admitted to MIT because in their youth they took stuff apart and were innately curious about how things worked (and didn’t)! Hence since Bexley Hall has been found by experts to be structurally deficient to the point where it is less costly to tear it down and start over, it represents an invaluable learning experience for the MIT community!
What have we learned?
Is the modern housing crisis like the Great Depression? In House/Divided, The Builders Association attempts to understand the parallels between the financial panic of the late 2000s and the 1930s, with a fascinating script that draws inspiration from The Grapes of Wrath and innovative incorporation of media.
PLANNINGTOROCK
For some artists, moving to another location can be an insignificant part of their life, but for the English-born musician Jam Rostron, this decision was more than just switching her address. Rostron, more commonly known by her stage name PLANNINGTOROCK, is a Germany-based musician and producer who moved from UK’s Bolton to Berlin at a young age and rediscovered herself. As an established persona in the alternative and underground scene, Rostron has been delivering some of the most unique and unusual music for the past few years. Last month, we took the opportunity to chat with her about her upcoming album All Love’s Legal, her musical roots and the direction of her career.
Love in the modern world
Enter Gloria, brilliantly performed by Paulina García, a joyful charmer who sings along to sappy tunes while driving, a divorced woman on her second wind, adapting to the awkward stage in life when her children start having children of their own and at an age when couples seldom remain married.
Panic! at the hip rolls
Opening for Panic! at the Disco is a daunting task. Fans trickled into the venue after braving the biting Boston chill while waiting in a line that, quite literally, wrapped around the block. It’s hard to please an overly excited, impatient group of people who are here for the main act and would likely be content to skip your performance entirely.
Affordable, delicious, and all-you-can-eat
For many, IAP is a time to learn the invaluable life skill of cooking. But IAP is also a great time to explore the restaurants that Cambridge has to offer, especially those near campus. A brief walk down Massachusetts Avenue yields Shalimar of India, a mid-size restaurant in Central Square.
That inappropriate, mildly amusing moment
What do you get when you make a rom-com about three good-looking twenty-something guys in New York City? Lots of raunchy jokes and romantic clichés.
Champions League soccer returns in February
After a long winter break, Champions League soccer is set to return on February 18. The group stage has concluded and 16 teams have been eliminated, leaving the last 16 teams in the race for Europe’s top trophy. The remaining teams include the usual suspects like Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as a couple of upsets such as Galatasaray, who beat Juventus in a dramatic match in the last round of the group stages to see them through to the next round, and Olympiacos. With that said, let’s take a look at the first four of the Last 16 matchups.
Operation: LGO Plant Trek
7 cities, 2 weeks, 1 mission: to explore the inner-workings of leading advanced-manufacturing and operations companies.
Don’t get caught in a web of time sinks
The well-rounded students use IAP for vacation, avoiding the winter weather in California, or embracing the winter weather in Maine. The inquisitive use IAP to take classes in interesting subjects, such as Medieval cooking, or Japanese flower arranging. And the masochistic decide to spend IAP slaving away on 6.470, MIT’s web programming competition.
Events Feb. 4 – Feb. 10
Events Feb. 4 – Feb. 10 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Community Service Fair, hosted by the MIT Public Service Center — Lobby 10 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Getting Beyond Us and Them: Our Brains and the Possibility of Peace — 6-120 Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30) MIT Police laptop tagging and registration, $10 in cash or MIT cost object — Stata (9:00 – 10:00 p.m.) Mexican Coffee Hour with taco bar and dessert — Sidney Pacific MP Room Thursday (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Writing compelling cover letters. Sponsored by MIT Global Education & Career Development — 5-217 (6:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.) Free yoga session with “how to sleep well” discussion followed by food, sponsored by Yoga24x7 — 56-180 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) LSC shows Miss Congeniality, free tickets in Lobby 16 — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Musical Theatre Guild presents Little Shop of Horrors — La Sala de Puerto Rico Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Sublime Melodies Monad Trio Concert, $10 for MIT undergrads and $20 general public, sponsored by Persian Students Association and ASA — E51 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Chinese New Year’s Celebration, $3 at booth and $6 at the door, sponsored by Malaysian Student Association — W20-491 Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Turkish Cultural Night, free for MIT students and $10 for others, sponsored by Turkish Student Association and ARCADE — 50-140 Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Intergenerational Mobility Across Three Generations in the 19th Century: Evidence from the US Census, sponsored by Microeconomic Applications — E62-650 (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Falling Short of Expectations? Stress-Testing the European Banking System, sponsored by the Applied Theory Workshop — E19-758 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
