Tsarnaev friend pleads guilty to obstruction, faces 7 years max
BOSTON — A college friend of the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, who denied last year that he hindered the investigation into blasts at the finish line of the race, changed his plea to guilty on Thursday.
Institute considers rerouting Saferides
Students should watch for changes to the Saferide schedule this year as the MIT Office of Parking and Transportation works with various student groups to finalize and implement new shuttle routes.
Professor Rob Miller is new East Campus housemaster
Computer science professor Robert C. Miller ’95, who lived in East Campus as an undergraduate, has been named the dormitory’s new housemaster.
Reif accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, invites community to join him
MIT President L. Rafael Reif plans to be doused with icy water on Killian Court today at 11 a.m. He was challenged by Harvard President Drew G. Faust and MIT’s Edgerton Center, according to MIT’s official Tumblr page.
Shorts (left)
LONDON — After years of complaints about declining standards for high school exams, the British government has made them harder to pass: The latest results show the first drop in the passing rate in three decades. And in a nation where education has long been a political battleground between progressives and traditionalists, the changes are an emphatic victory for the old school.
On Ferguson unrest, poll shows sharp racial divide
A poll taken since a white police officer in Missouri shot dead an unarmed black teenager shows blacks and whites sharply divided on how fairly the police deal with each group, along with a rising feeling, especially among whites, that race relations in the country are troubled.
Secretary allows reprieve on test-based teacher ratings
Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Thursday that states could delay the use of test results in teacher-performance ratings by another year, an acknowledgment, in effect, of the enormous pressures mounting on the nation’s teachers because of new academic standards and more rigorous standardized testing.
Shorts (right)
With everyone from former President George W. Bush to Justin Bieber and Shakira posting online videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice over their heads in the name of charity, the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” continues to dominate social media and has now raised more than $41.8 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Two US Ebola patients are released by Atlanta hospital
ATLANTA — The two American aid workers who were the first patients ever to be treated for the Ebola virus at a hospital in the United States have been released, capping a transcontinental medical drama that stirred public debate about whether any American with the virus should have been allowed to return.
US Supreme Court delays gay marriage in Virginia
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a last-minute order delaying same-sex marriages in Virginia, less than a day before officials there were to begin providing marriage licenses to gay couples.
Summer to make comeback after cool weekend
As summer comes to a close, the second half of August has been a bit cooler than usual so far at the Institute. While normal high temperatures for this time of year are around 80°F (27°C), temperatures observed at Logan Airport in Boston have not exceeded 80°F since Aug. 17. This trend of cool weather will continue into the weekend, as a weak low pressure system passes over New England. This system will bring cloudy skies, scattered rain showers, and a steady easterly breeze, which will blow cooler ocean air over the the coastal land region.
Despite horror of Islamic State, Hill wary of US military expansion
WASHINGTON — For weeks, Capitol Hill has watched U.S. military engagement in Iraq with quiet unease.
The Giver is just another dystopian movie
Like so many elementary school children, I read The Giver for the first time in fifth grade. In 11th grade, I picked up the book again, but I found myself reading through a much more intricate book than I had remembered. Its concise yet terrifyingly vivid portrait of a dystopian community left me wrestling with complex questions about society and modern culture.
