CSAIL holds joke conference
The CSAIL Student Committee (CSC) held a joke conference on April Fool’s Day featuring what they called “simply the best papers.” The conference was open to the entire CSAIL community and had “named sessions, awkward nametags, a ‘banquet,’ conference coffee and cheese platters,” according to an email sent to CSAIL.
Cold blast followed by rain and warmer temperatures
High pressure will slide across the region today and Wednesday in the wake of Monday’s recent snowstorm, bringing cold temperatures and breezy conditions to the region. The minimum temperature tonight will threaten the daily minimum temperature record of 20°F (-7°C) set in 1881, highlighting the unusual nature of such intense cold in Boston so far into April. As the high pressure system pulls away, temperatures will moderate and clear skies will give way to clouds and rain on Thursday as a cold front pushes into the region. In its wake, cooler temperatures and clearing skies will return and persist into the weekend as high pressure again settles into the region.
RAK Week connects people across campus
An open mic night in the Media Lab Friday evening marked the finale of RAK Week, a week-long series of events on campus aimed to help people “connect through small acts of kindness.”
Bring your own bag to LaVerde’s, Shaws or pay extra
A ban on single-use plastic bags took effect in Cambridge on Thursday, March 31.
Jeremih to headline SpringFest 2016
This year’s SpringFest headliner is R&B and hip hop artist Jeremih. Joining him in the lineup is Kat Dahlia along with two student openers, Boris the Scientist and Yuseff.
Burton Conner lounges closed while inspection underway
Two of Burton Connor’s lounges have been closed temporarily after students noticed the ceiling of one of the lounges moving during a party on March 5.
Starting this summer, upped security for many MIT applications
Duo two-factor authentication will be required for all students accessing MIT systems protected by the authentication service Touchstone, starting June 15. Over 20 MIT applications, including Stellar, Atlas, WebSIS, and the MIT Library catalog use Touchstone as a single sign-on service.
CAP report recommends creation of “leave of absence”
A two-year “leave of absence” and a reaffirmation that students on leave are expected to return to the Institute to complete their degrees are among the recommendations detailed in a report released yesterday by the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP).
Dean Randall responds to S^3 concerns on MIT Confessions
Associate Dean of Student Support Services David Randall has responded to several anonymous MIT Confessions posts about S^3, some of which detail negative experiences with particular deans at S^3.
CORRECTIONS
An article in our last issue incorrectly stated that MIT admissions set a record when they admitted 55 students off the wait list last year.
Weather
Two low pressure systems will bring rainy weather to the Boston area for the rest of the week. The first system has moved northeast from the central parts of the U.S. over the past few days, and should bring intermittent rain from Thursday night through Friday night. This low pressure system will cause strong southwesterly winds over the same time period. High temperatures will be in the mid- to high-60s during both Thursday and Friday, and Thursday night’s low temperature will likely be around 55°F. This is well above the climatological mean high (50°F) and low (36°F) temperatures of this time of year.
Storage options introduced to replace MET
Students have been struggling to find summer storage in light of the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse’s closure. Two new alternative options were announced on Monday last week.
New minor in statistics and data science
Citing “widespread availability of and access to unprecedented amounts of data and computational resources,” MIT will offer a new minor in Statistics and Data Science through the MIT Center for Statistics.
Liu, Gomez on communication, diversity, and how to make UA leadership more fun
With elections for Undergraduate Association (UA) president and vice president ongoing, The Tech sat down with candidates Sophia Liu ’17 and Daysi N. Gomez ’18 to talk about their experience in student government, the challenges they’ve faced, the issues they think are most important, and their plans for the future of the UA. Liu currently serves as vice president of the UA. The pair is running unopposed.
Faculty votes to consider new mathematical economics major
MIT faculty voted to consider a new Mathematical Economics major, designated as 14-2, Wednesday. They will vote to approve the major in April.
Legal clinics have served over 75 students since opening
The Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property law clinic, one of two legal clinics announced last September, has served “over 75 MIT students,” Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart PhD ’88 said.
Two low pressure systems will lead to chilly weekend weather
Two low pressure systems will be passing through the area between today and the beginning of next week, bringing some cold air and a couple of chances for precipitation over the weekend. The first system is moving eastward from its current position over the Great Lakes and is likely to arrive on Friday, bringing a chance for rain on Friday afternoon and evening, and temperatures below freezing overnight.
MIT admits 1,485 to class of 2020
MIT offered admission to 1,485 out of 19,020 applicants for the class of 2020 for an admissions rate of 7.8 percent. The rate decreased from last year’s 8.0 percent, and has been steadily declining since 2003 with the exception of last year when it went up by 0.3 percentage points.
Peer2Peer joins other campus mental health initiatives
Peer2Peer, an anonymous web-based peer support platform, launched late last month. The site allows users to chat with fellow students; the Institute launched the site as part of an ongoing effort to lower the barrier for seeking help with mental health issues. Peer2Peer was spearheaded by Berj Chilingirian ’16 and two professionals at MIT Mental Health, Evan Waldheter and Rheinila Fernandes.
Protesters seek release of Aafia Siddiqui
A small crowd of protesters gathered at the bottom of the steps of Lobby 7 Tuesday afternoon. They called on the U.S. government to release and repatriate Aafia Siddiqui ’95, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is currently serving an 86-year sentence in a prison in Fort Worth, Texas.