In Short
An energy debate between the Obama and McCain campaigns, hosted by the MIT Energy Club and Energy Initiative, will be held Oct. 6 from 7:30–9:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium. The debate will feature former CIA Director James Woolsey for McCain and Jason Grumet, executive director of the National Commission on Energy Policy, for Obama.
LaVerde’s Discontinues 24 Hr. Service, Closes at Three
As of this term, LaVerde’s will no longer be open 24 hours on weeknights and will close instead at 3 a.m.. There are no plans for any alternative late-night food service on campus since it’s not certain there would be enough student demand to make it viable.
As Synthetic Biology Becomes Affordable, Amateur Labs Thrive
In a third-floor loft where programmers build Internet start-ups, Mackenzie Cowell is talking about the tools he and like-minded young colleagues are using to fuel what they hope will be the next big thing in biology. The list includes a cut-up Charlie Card, ingredients bought on eBay to make a kind of scientific Jell-O, and a refrigerator, just scored on Craigslist.com, that chills to 80 degrees below zero.
Caltech Committee Visits MIT to Learn Our Ways
From Sept. 2 to Sept. 4., a group of 11 undergraduates from Caltech visited MIT as part of a two-week, cross-country trip to observe student life and culture at eight East Coast colleges, including Harvard University, Williams College, Princeton University, and Olin College.
Harvard Endowment Grew By 8.6 Percent In Last Fiscal Year
Harvard University’s $36.9 billion endowment earned 8.6 percent on its investments in its latest fiscal year, the school’s money managers reported Friday, even as stock markets around the world were losing money.
Caltech Economist Puts Textbook Online for Free to Protest Pricing
Squint hard, and textbook publishers can look a lot like drug makers. They both make money from doing obvious good — healing, educating — and they both have customers who may be willing to sacrifice their last pennies to buy what these companies are selling.
Confusion in Student Voter Registrations
The widespread practice of students’ registering to vote at their college address has set off a fracas in Virginia, a battleground state in the presidential election.
Could Cancer Genes Be Used to Harness Stem Cell Therapies?
On a visit to Bangalore in 1998, Robert A. Weinberg ’64, one of America’s leading cancer researchers, met a voraciously curious young doctoral student from a South Indian village so remote that he grew up without phones or television, studying by kerosene lamp. He had no Western-style last name, only a first — Mani.
At NW35, Fall Community Picnic Toasts New Dorm, Dean Colombo
Despite the long trek from main campus to NW35, turnout for last Monday’s fall Community Picnic was far greater than organizers had anticipated, said Gayle M. Gallagher, senior director of Institute events.
Police Log
<i>The following incidents were reported to the MIT Police between Aug. 25, 2008 and Sept. 3, 2008. This summary does not include incidents such as false alarms, general service calls, or medical shuttles.</i>
Fall 2008 UA Election Candidates
Voting online requires Web certificates. Candidate platforms and photos are available at elections.scripts.mit.edu/candidates.
Senate Seats
Residence Seats Candidates NW35 1 Samuel Rodarte ’12 East Campus 2 Harrison L. Bralower ’11, Donald B. Guy ’12, Ciara M. Lomax ’12, Vrajesh Y. Modi ’11 McCormick 2 Kristina N. Cibor ’11, Mengjie Ding ’12, Eleni Orphanides ’10, Ye Yao ’11 Next House 2 Timothy J. Stumbaugh ’12 New House 2 Shin Nee S Wong ’12, Richard A. Dahan ’12 Burton-Conner 2 Zachary D. Tribbett ’12, Caryn E. Krakauer ’11 Baker 2 Cyril Lan ’11, Andy Wu ’12, Daniel L. Katz ’12 Simmons 2 Daniel D. Hawkins ’12, Vinay Tripuraneni ’11, David S. Zhu ’12 Random 1 Ekaterina Kuznetsova ’09 IFC 5 William G. Near ’10, Sun Kim ’11 Panhel 1 None Bexley 1 None MacGregor 2 None Senior Haus 1 None Off Campus 1 None LGC 1 None
Aafia Siddiqui’s Son Released; DOJ Hints At Conspiracy Charges
The young boy arrested with Aafia Siddiqui ’95 on July 17 has been released to Pakistani custody to be turned over to Siddiqui’s relatives, The Associated Press reported yesterday.
Hockfield Asks Gov’t To Triple Energy Funding
President Susan Hockfield testified before a House of Representatives committee on energy on Wednesday, making the case for tripling federal funding of energy research.
MIT Class of ’08 Earns $65,324 On Average, According to Career Survey
The MIT students receiving Bachelor of Science degrees in June 2008 were offered a mean salary of $65,324, a 6.9 percent increase over last year, according to data from the preliminary version of the MIT Careers Office’s 2008 Graduating Student Survey. The consumer price index rose about 6.2 percent over the same period of time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Obama Proposes Panoply of Education Programs
Senator Barack Obama learned how hard it can be to solve America’s public education problems when he headed a philanthropic drive here a decade ago that spent $150 million on Chicago’s troubled schools and barely made a dent.
Film Based on MIT Employee’s Book Shown in Toronto
On Tuesday night Scott Campbell watched the characters in his novel walk and talk, frown and dance, paint and make love on a movie screen at a major international film festival. That’s stuff you can see people do at any film festival. For Campbell, it was astounding, since he needed subtitles to figure out what had happened to his book.
Colleges Defend Rising Tuition In Round Table With Senators
Two dozen college presidents and policy experts defended the rising costs of tuition on Monday and argued against forcing colleges to spend more of their endowments.