Reif announces education initiatives
President Reif announced four new education initiatives last Tuesday in response to the report from the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education.
Discovering the Zika virus
HONG KONG — Yap Island, a tiny island in the Western Pacific best known for using huge stone discs as currency, was facing a medical mystery.
DSLx initiative to offer online mini-courses that teach ‘soft skills’
The Division of Student Life (DSL) is in the process of launching its DSLx Life Learning initiative, which aims to teach MIT students “soft skills,” according to the website.
Zika virus testing made available in limited cases
MIT Medical has made Zika virus tests available to certain community members who have recently returned from an area affected by the virus, according to an email.
Academic Council group will implement BSU recs
After the Black Students’ Union (BSU) and Black Graduate Students’ Association (BGSA) each published a set of recommendations addressing racial and mental health issues on Dec. 9, the Academic Council, a group of senior administrators, formed a working group to address the points and plan their execution. They are now laying out a plan for implementing the recommendations.
A struggle within MIT’s IT department over its future
The sweeping transformation that is currently underway at MIT’s Information Systems and Technology office is one that is unprecedented in its scope and backlash from employees. Many students and faculty are familiar with IS&T, which maintains services ranging from email accounts to Athena clusters across campus — technologies that underlie everyone’s time at MIT. Fewer people, however, are aware of the changes that have redefined the organization over the past year.
Mack Avenue Superband: jazz legends, educators
The Mack Avenue Superband, an energetic and star-studded six-piece jazz ensemble, performed at the Berklee Performance Center last Thursday.
Sports Blitz
Men’s volleyball won in straight sets against Emerson to reach 10-3 on the season. Martin Krasuski ’17 and Matt Riley ’19 had 15 and 12 kills respectively.
MIT comes from behind to defeat Coast Guard in overtime, 74-67
MIT overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 1:48 of regulation to send its New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men’s basketball game to overtime where the Engineers gained the upper hand to come away with a 74-67 victory. Bradley Jomard ’19 scored 13 of his season-high 29 points over the final six minutes, including overtime, to help the Engineers secure the win.
In search of an elusive freshman internship
The search for something to do over the summer has been a rough one. As a freshman who wants to code but hasn’t done a ton of coding, it can be quite difficult to secure an opportunity from a company of interest. Nevertheless, last Monday, like many MIT students, I went to xFair to speak with dozens of representatives looking for potential summer interns.
Taylor Shaw
Editor’s Note: Portraits of Resilience is a photography and narrative series by Prof. Daniel Jackson. Each installment consists of a portrait and a story, told in the subject’s own words, of how they found resilience and meaning in their life.
Lessons from Confessions
I started confessions.mit.edu after the suicide of a student whose death surprised everyone: a sociable, involved student who, I thought, must not have been talking to anyone about her deepest struggles or hearing firsthand the same struggles in others. There is a deafening silence on certain issues, and Confessions has shed some light on the kind of thoughts that proliferate in an emotional vacuum like this.
