Petition launched after Mem Drive car accident
After an MIT Sailing employee was critically injured by a car in early September while trying to cross Memorial Drive, Marjory Bravard ’02, an active sailor during and after her time at MIT, launched a petition imploring President Reif and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to “improve pedestrian safety along Memorial Drive.” The petition currently has over 2,000 signatures.
Two Seamless members say hackathon misattribution was unintentional
Since the publiation of an article in The Tech about allegations of plagiarism against HackMIT contestants on the Seamless team, HackMIT organizers and two members of Seamless have stated that the videos they presented as output of their own code in the hackathon’s final presentation were actually published by Microsoft Research. Both these two contestants and the organizers said that the misattribution was unintentional, while a third member of the Seamless team has sought to publicly distance himself from the project.
Phone scammers target MIT community
Dozens of members of the MIT community reported being victims of phone scams last week, in which they received seemingly legitimate calls from local police departments demanding money.
Two retired MIT professors win Presidential Medal of Freedom
Earlier this week, Institute Professors Mildred Dresselhaus and Robert Solow were announced winners of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Smoot legacy continues on Harvard Bridge
An anonymous donor has given the Charles River Conservancy 2.5 million dollars to install new lighting along the Harvard Bridge, with one condition: that the new lights be installed every 30 Smoots.
CORRECTIONS
The HackMIT article in the Friday, Nov. 7 issue incorrectly referred to the class year of HackMIT organizer Richard Z. Ni ’15 as a ’16.
Watch for a hint of winter this weekend
For most of the country, the last week has been exceptionally cold as a frigid Canadian air mass left many of the states between the Great Lakes and the Rockies with snow cover and a reminder that colder weather is approaching. The Great Lakes region could see some lake-effect snow today as Northwesterly winds blow cold air over the relatively warm lake water. The signs of winter will also be apparent in the Cambridge area as it is likely to snow in the early morning today and temperatures will dip below freezing tonight and tomorrow night. The highs this weekend aren’t likely to get much higher than 40°F, and the moderate Northwesterly winds will make it feel colder still. It’s time to get used to these temperatures, as next week doesn’t project to be much warmer.
Women’s volleyball makes 16th trip to NCAA tournament
The MIT women’s volleyball team will be making the program’s 16th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament after receiving an at-large bid on Monday morning. The Engineers will square off with Rivier University on Friday, November 14 at Williams College. The meeting will be the first between both squads in post-season action and sixth overall since the series began in 2009. In addition to the host Ephs, the rest of the regional bracket features Sage Colleges, Babson College, Colby-Sawyer College, Bowdoin College, and Regis College.
Women’s soccer team receives an at-large bid
For the fourth consecutive season, the MIT women’s soccer team will be competing in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament after receiving an at-large bid on Monday afternoon. MIT will be a host site for this weekend’s first and second round tournaments. First round games will occur on Saturday, November 15 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and the second round game will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 16. MIT will begin postseason play against Colby-Sawyer.
The universe in a nutshell
To be or not to be, that is the question.
Not your typical Wednesday
On a typical Wednesday, I only have two standing appointments: a marketing class and a comparative literature class focused on leadership stories and ethics. The rest of the day is filled with group meetings, homework, a visiting speaker session every now and then, and of course, sleeping in, thanks to my afternoon classes.
Pledge to end sexual assault
This week marked the launch of the MIT “It’s On Us” campaign. “It’s On Us” is a national awareness campaign developed by the White House in order to eliminate sexual assault on college campuses. As a part of the “It’s On Us, MIT” campaign, students, faculty and staff are invited to sign the MIT Bystander Pledge. The pledge was written by MIT students of the Title IX Working Group, the student-staff coalition that organized the It’s On Us campaign at MIT.
Newbury Street shutdown
Where Newbury Street becomes the Boston Public Gardens, a large crowd of people of various ethnicities, genders, nationalities, colors, and ages began to march. To the brunch-eaters who paused mid-bite of quiche to try to make out what we were chanting; to the annoyed trio of girls whose path to Urban Outfitters we blocked with the incessant stream of bodies; to the tourists trapped between a fence and our anger with no choice but to hear our message: I do not apologize.
