Accord for a global trove of genetic data
Seventy medical, research and advocacy organizations active in 41 countries and including the National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday that they have agreed to create an organized way to share genetic and clinical information. Their aim is to put the vast and growing trove of data on genetic variations and health into databases — with the consent of the study subjects —that would be open to researchers and doctors all over the world, not just to those who created them.
Drew Houston speaks at 147th Commencement
Over 2,600 students will graduate from MIT today, receiving over 3,300 degrees. Killian Court is expected to be filled with over 13,000 guests at the Institute’s 147th Commencement.
Department Receptions
Receptions take place immediately after the ceremony unless otherwise noted.
Letters for Swartz
This is an update for the MIT community about the analysis President Reif asked me to lead last January on the events concerning MIT and Aaron Swartz. I’m preparing a report together with Institute Professor Emeritus Peter Diamond and Washington, DC attorney Andrew Grosso. We’re being supported by Assistant Provost Doug Pfeiffer. The four of us have been working hard. Given the visibility of the Aaron Swartz case and the controversies surrounding it, it’s important to get the report right and to take the necessary time and effort to do that. My plan is to give my report to President Reif this summer.
Swartz judge sides with MIT on release of case evidence
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton ordered yesterday that some confidentiality restrictions be removed from evidence MIT had produced for the case against Aaron Swartz, which was dropped after his suicide in January. This is the first order since Swartz’s lawyers’ motion on March 15, which would have made information collected for the trial public. The judge agreed with MIT’s and JSTOR’s March 29 responses, asking that information including the names of employees be redacted.
International students will experience new inspections
Last Wednesday, international students received an email from Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, director and associate dean of the International Students Office, warning them to be prepared for a new and potentially time-consuming border inspection process when re-entering the U.S. Guichard-Ashbrook stated that the new inspection process is a “direct response” to the Boston Marathon bombings.
IN SHORT
The percentage of admitted freshman choosing to enroll at MIT will be about 72 to 73 percent. Mikey Yang ’05, Associate Director of Admissions, posted the news in a blog post on Monday. This is the highest ever yield for MIT, preceded by 70, 65, and 64 percent in the three previous years, respectively. Twenty transfers were also accepted. No students will be accepted from the wait list. This is only the second time in the past eight years that MIT has not been able to accept students from its wait list. Yang said that they had planned to accept from the wait list before seeing enrollment results.
Residents of Bexley considering housing
Last Tuesday, Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo announced that Bexley Hall would be closed for up to three years for renovations, displacing all residents at the end of this semester. On Friday, the Bexley community collectively voiced their concerns and wishes in a letter addressed to Chancellor Eric Grimson PhD ’80 and Dean Colombo, signed by over 70 students and GRTs. Grimson and Colombo responded to the letter yesterday afternoon. In the meantime, Bexley residents were given the option of entering a housing lottery, which closed yesterday at 5 p.m., if they wanted to remain in on-campus housing next year.
Bomb suspect talked of jihad
KIZLYAR, Russia — It’s not every day that a well-dressed American shows up in this town, where shaggy cows meander over deeply rutted roads, so people remember Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Among the things that made the young visitor stand out, two acquaintances recalled Thursday, was his avid interest in waging jihad.
Plans for mixed-use development at intersection of Mass Ave. and Main St.
Following Normandy Real Estate Partners and Twining Properties’ purchase of properties formally owned by Kathy Fennell and the Fennell Property Trust in January, plans for the area at the intersection of Mass Ave. and Main St. will have a general focus on mixed-use development but remain unspecific. A joint venture between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Twining Properties bought the parcels, including several parking lots and the former Quest Diagnostics building, for a reported $32.4 million. According to Cambridge City Councilor Kenneth Reeves, the Fennel properties constitute “the largest number of parcels to be sold in Central Square in a long time.”
Tsarnaev buried
BOSTON — The mystery surrounding the burial of the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has come to an end. The Boston Marathon bombing suspect was buried this week at a small Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Va.
Bexley Hall closing due to structural problems
Bexley Hall, home to 116 undergraduates, will be closed for renovations for up to three years beginning this summer, Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo announced at a meeting with residents on Tuesday.
Going abroad from MIT
When Jenny Shen ’13 studied abroad in Paris, she engaged in impromptu debates for hours on a lawn in front of the Louvre. “We watched the sun set over the Champs Elysees over a bottle of wine,” she said.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Sal Khan talks education styles
On Wednesday, Salman A. Khan ’98, founder of Khan Academy, was brought to MIT by StartLabs to speak about starting Khan Academy and what he’s doing now. He fielded questions from MIT President Rafael Reif, who interviewed him on the stage of Kresge Auditorium.
Survey: Students, though stressed, are glad to be at MIT
Results from the Student Quality of Life Survey are now available online. In early March 2013, Chancellor Eric Grimson PhD ’80 invited all students enrolled at MIT to participate. Over 54 percent of the graduate and undergraduate population responded to at least part of the survey before it closed on April 3, 2013.
Student arrested in Boston bombings seeks release
BOSTON — Robel Phillipos, the former University of Massachusetts student who is accused of lying to the authorities investigating the Boston Marathon bombings, will seek to be released from federal custody on Monday, his lawyers said in court papers filed over the weekend.
Course 18 moving
Handing in math problem sets may now require more exercise. In late June or early July, the entire Department of Mathematics will be moving to E17 and E18 as their current space in Building 2 undergoes a significant renovation. Undergraduate math majors have already experienced the effects of the construction, with their undergraduate lounge moved to the Compton Room, opposite 26-100, this past January. For the duration of the construction, the lounge will remain in the Compton Room. As for the rest of the department, all faculty, staff, and graduate student offices will be moved to the new “swing space” in E17 and E18, which will be shared with the Department of Economics, whose space in E52 is also being renovated.
Grant funds threatened by sequester
With over 70 percent of MIT’s yearly research funding coming from the federal government, the federal budget sequester will have a significant impact on research at the Institute.