$12 Laptop Featured at Int’l Dev. Design Summit
Goodbye $100 laptop, hello $12 laptop. Well technically, it’s only a keyboard, but it just needs to be plugged into a TV.
MIT Climbs Back to 4th in US News & World Report Ranking
After last year’s fall to seventh in the <i>U.S. News and World Report</i> rankings due to changes in reporting test scores, MIT climbed back to the number four spot among national universities. The increase was due in part to improvements at MIT, but may also be chalked up to other institutions’ scores decreasing.
More Freshmen Place Out of Biology in Advanced Standing Exams
The Class of 2012’s performance on the advanced standing exams (ASEs) was markedly different from last year’s as freshman performed better on the biology exams but poorer on the physics exams. And for the second year, results on the newly rewritten Math Diagnostic for Physics Placement exam was used to limit enrollment to the popular 8.012 alternative to 8.01.
News Briefs
MIT will no longer consult students before releasing their birth dates or information about their awards or honors, though it will not publish this information in directories, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75 announced in an e-mail to students on Aug. 25.
Sororities Get Forty Fewer Members, Pi Beta Phi Still To Bid
Sorority recruitment wrapped up Wednesday night, bringing in approximately forty fewer members than last year. Recruitment this year was marked by the presence of the new sorority, Pi Beta Phi, and keeping the move from fall to spring recruitment that began last year.
Google Maps Now Has Georgia
Two weeks ago, <i>The Tech</i> reported that in Google Maps, the country of Georgia was a blank slate. As of Wednesday, Sept. 3, Google has added cities for the countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Eric Sollee
Fencing came so easily to Eric Sollee that he was elected captain of Harvard’s freshman squad not long after picking up the sport, and went on to become an All-American, placing fifth in the NCAA championships in 1952.
Refusing Strip Searches, Siddiqui Denied Visitors and Calls, Misses Her Indictment
The MIT alumna arrested mid-July in Afghanistan failed to appear for her indictment in federal court in Manhattan yesterday. Aafia Siddiqui ’95, refuses to be strip-searched, so she cannot make court appearances, receive visitors, or use the telephone. She has had minimal contact with her lawyers since mid-August.
The Tech’s Summer News Recap
<i>Compiled by Arkajit Dey, Natasha Plotkin, and Marissa Vogt.</i>
Broad Receives $400 Million Endowment Donation
Eli and Edythe Broad, who are giving away a multibillion-dollar fortune made in real estate and insurance, announced on Thursday their biggest gift so far, a $400 million donation to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Student Loan Art Program Opens At the MIT List Visual Arts Center
Want art? For free? If your bare, ugly walls are driving you up the wall, you can come by the List Visual Arts Center between now and Sept. 14 to enter a lottery for a piece of art for your dorm room this year.
Old Ashdown Closed For Renovations and Repairs
Building W1, formerly Ashdown House, closed on August 15 as workers prepared to renovate it into an undergraduate dormitory. Actual construction will not begin until the building is inspected and cleaned up, according to Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75.
Lower Percentage of Freshmen Request Adjustment in Lottery
About the same percentage of eligible freshmen entered the Housing Adjustment Lottery this year as compared to last year, representing more students entering the lottery overall. More freshmen were eligible to enter the lottery this year because of the new policy allowing freshmen assigned to Next House to switch to a different dorm.
Fraternities, Sororities Kick-Off Recruitment Greek Griller Saturday
MIT’s week-long period of Greek recruitment commences tomorrow as potential new members begin exploring MIT’s twenty-seven fraternities and six sororities to try for a fit.
Textbook Information Available On New Coop Web Site, But No ISBNs or Covers
The Coop has introduced a Web site which allows students to view textbook information online without physically going to its Kendall Square location.
MIT Students Discuss Major Issues in This Year’s Election
MIT may be a science and engineering school, but its students still care about presidential politics, if members of its political student groups are any indication.