Police Log
<i>The following incidents were reported to the MIT Police between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2007. This summary does not include incidents such as false alarms, general service calls, larcenies, or medical shuttles.</i>
Faculty Discuss Hackers, Education
Administrators are working with the district attorney's office to seek a means of moving the felony trials involving three MIT students out of the Cambridge court system to an internal Committee on Discipline process, according to Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD '75.
Francis E. Low
Francis E. Low, a retired MIT physicist and provost who worked on the Manhattan Project, died of heart failure on Feb. 16 at a retirement home in Haverford, Pa. He was 85.
Wikipedia Citations Banned at Middlebury
When half a dozen students in Neil Waters' Japanese history class at Middlebury College asserted on exams that the Jesuits supported the Shimabara Rebellion in 17th-century Japan, he knew something was wrong. The Jesuits were in "no position to aid a revolution," he said; the few of them in Japan were in hiding.
Used Grease to Power Shuttles
Imagine the oil from French fries being converted into the fuel that feeds an MIT SafeRide shuttle. Biodiesel@MIT proposes to do just that: convert MIT’s abundant supply of used vegetable oil (UVO) into processed biodiesel for campus transportation.
News Briefs
MedLinks will be auctioning off a chance to win a date with students and Institute notables, including President Susan Hockfield, tonight. Twenty students and six faculty members will be auctioned off for the highest bids, with all proceeds going to Tutoring Plus, a Cambridge organization that provides free tutoring to underprivileged middle and high school students. SaveTFP is co-sponsoring the event.
Statements from James L. Sherley and MIT Administration Regarding the End of Sherley’s Hunger Strike
<i>On Friday, Feb. 16, James L. Sherley and MIT issued the following statements regarding the conclusion of Sherley’s 12-day hunger strike that same day. Sherley was protesting racial discrimination in his tenure case. For more information, see the article on page 1.</i>
Software Could Protect Against Online Media Piracy
As media companies struggle to reclaim control over their movies, television shows and music in a world of online file-sharing software, they have found an ally in software of another kind.
Class of ’09 Brass Rat Revealed, Hidden “08” Seen in Ring Design
The Brass Rat 2009 Ring Premiere held last Friday evening marked the release of the design of the Class of 2009 Ring, which features several unique aspects, such as female and male signs on the beaver’s pocket watch and an inscription of “punt,” which can be read as “tool” upside down. In addition, the presence of an accidental “08” behind the beaver in the ring’s bezel has posed a controversy.
UA Committee Chair Talks About Student Space Planning Role
<i>This is the seventh of a series of weekly interviews with members of different Undergraduate Association committees. These interviews will be conducted by </i>The Tech<i>’s news editors and members of the editorial board. A UA representative will be present during these interviews as well. Questions for the UA committee members should be sent to </i>uaqa@the-tech.mit.edu<i> the same week they are featured. Responses to these questions will be printed alongside the following week’s interview.</i>
Sherley Calls Hunger Strike Off After Day Twelve of Protesting
After 12 days of ingesting only water, vitamin supplements, and electrolytes, Associate Professor James L. Sherley of the biological engineering department ended his hunger strike last Friday, Feb. 16. Sherley, who is African American, went on a hunger strike to protest his tenure denial, which he claimed was tarnished by racial discrimination.
Fatal Levels of Sedative Found in Zhou’s Autopsy
Toxicology studies for Mengyao “May” Zhou ’04 found toxic levels of diphenhydramine, a sedative and antihistamine, in her system. Zhou, a Stanford University graduate student, was found dead in the trunk of her car on Jan. 25 of an apparent suicide.
News Briefs
Vandals defaced the Martin Luther King Jr. display in Lobby 10 last Saturday and Tuesday nights. According to MIT Campus Police Captain David Carlson, "Part of a display was knocked to the floor, dish soap was dumped on the floor, two cardboard figures suspended by ropes were taken down, and a cardboard figure was cut in half." On Tuesday, the last night of the display, a sign featuring Dr. King's famous "I have a dream …" quote was ripped, a cardboard person's head was torn off, papier-mâché figures were shredded, and four posters were stolen. The vandals were not caught.
Judge Recommends Marijuana Growth For Research Purposes
An administrative law judge recommended Monday that a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst be allowed to grow marijuana for research purposes, possibly making the state host to the nation's second laboratory authorized to grow the drug.
Three Students Face Felony Charges After Tripping E52 Alarm
Three MIT students, who contend they were hacking when caught, are facing felony charges after setting off a burglar alarm in the E52 Faculty Club last October in the middle of the night. The case, which was filed in the Middlesex County Cambridge District Court by the MIT Police, has raised concern among some in the MIT community who feel that students are being brought to court for an activity that in the past has generally been handled within the Institute.
2009 Brass Rat Design Mistakenly Available in Jan., Before Premiere
The Class of 2009 ring design, which will be officially unveiled tonight, was accidentally published on Athena and has been available for over a month. The draft version of the ring premiere brochure, originally discovered by <i>The Tech</i>, details the bezel and shanks of the ring, along with pictures and a history of the design.
Ying Yang Twins Headline Spring Weekend Concert
The crunk rap duo Ying Yang Twins will headline this year's Spring Weekend concert on April 27 in the Johnson Athletic Center. Also performing that evening is Ozomatli, a ten piece Los Angeles based group specializing in "hip hop, salsa, cumbia, dub, and Middle Eastern funk," according to their Web site.