A one-time payment can’t address an ongoing crisis
On Oct. 19, MIT’s administration sent an email announcing a “special one-time payment” of $1,500, pre-tax, for some eligible employees, which MIT will provide in response to concerns about inflation and the financial challenges it has posed. We are grateful for the payment; however, MIT employees need real relief in the form of a cost-of-living adjustment to our salaries.
IDHR alone won’t protect us: Creating an MIT that works for us all requires a fair contract
The current process for recourse secures all power in the hands of the administration. We, as student-workers and victims in these situations, deserve a clearly laid out procedure where we are empowered to speak out about our grievances and supported throughout the process to reach a fair resolution.
MIT’s lack of safety provisions nearly left me dead. But graduate workers are not disposable!
Over the years at MIT working with countless chemical and physical hazards in my lab, I have come to learn first hand how MIT systematically neglects graduate worker health and safety. This all came to a head when I found myself in an ambulance after a chemical exposure, unsure if I would live or die.
Fossil fuel companies fall short on climate pledges
Hearings held by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in September reveal the failures of fossil fuel companies to live up to their pledges on reducing their environmental impact — and why we still have work to do.
Cambridge’s own Green New Deal
City Councilor Quinton Zondervan is proposing the Cambridge Green New Deal with the goal of lowering emissions from commercial buildings.
Freedom of expression for all, minus students
Last fall, President Reif charged the provost, chancellor, and chair of the faculty to examine the state of freedom of expression on campus “on behalf of the community.” The process that led to the Freedom of Expression statement and report grossly failed President Reif’s call to “ensure that different points of view … are allowed to be heard and debated on our campus.”
MIT must protect campus communities against hate speech and hostility
When academic departments give a platform and MIT funding to any speaker, the aegis of free speech does not relieve the department from the consequences of that speech.
Radical breakthroughs for climate change? First we must deploy existing technologies
We’re always thrilled when people use science-based tools like En-ROADS; however, En-ROADS does not support the claims Mr. Hafer and Mr. Miller make.
A union made a difference for me
Graduate student workers at the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program (MIT-WHOI) decided overwhelmingly to unionize when a huge majority of us signed union cards over the last few weeks. After seeing what unionization did for my community growing up, I am confident unionization can be a tool for building a graduate experience of greater stability, security, and support for all of us, regardless of our backgrounds.
MIT history faculty members issue statement of solidarity with Iran’s Sharif University of Technology
The members of the history faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) listed below write to express our unwavering solidarity with the students and professors at Iran’s Sharif University of Technology and condemn in the strongest possible terms the Iranian government’s violent raid on our counterparts at Sharif.
How MIT could more effectively combat global warming
Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars will make no perceptible difference in global warming during our lifetimes. Would an intense and highly focused research and development program on direct CO2 removal and climate engineering not be a better investment of resources?
‘The Tech’ should not advertise for companies jeopardizing humanity’s future
I believe that The Tech should review its definition of a “dangerous product” and consider the implicit impact of promoting Chevron job opportunities on its home page.
Open letter on open campus access
We write as more than 2000 MIT students, alumni, faculty, staff, affiliates, community members, and neighbors who strongly disagree with the recent decision to maintain a closed campus at MIT going forward. While reasonable precautions were necessary during the pandemic before full vaccinations were available, closing MIT’s campus will diminish the openness which makes MIT the vibrant, collaborative, forward-thinking place that it is.
Mental health must be top priority
Your mental health is more important than getting an A, submitting a conference paper, or hitting your degree milestones on time. This is your only life.
An MIT-quality labor agreement
Collective bargaining between MIT’s graduate student workers and administration is about to officially begin. Unfortunately, both sides are already off to a disappointing start. The administration and union organizers have been too focused on rhetoric and not enough on honesty.
Our facilities workers deserve a fair contract now, not a pay cut
MIT's administration continues to chase profits rather than devoting its immense resources to supporting the well-being of the people that keep MIT functioning. But workers are fighting back.
Do members run this union?
The union has recently announced internally that bargaining will, in fact, be closed to all graduate students, save for members of the Bargaining Committee and a handful of graduate students.
MIT can address this elephant in the room: Bad periods!
We are writing to share a “secret” about our lives as women faculty members at MIT. First, the not-so-secret part. As members of the informal “Happy Women at MIT” club, with a collective 50 years absorbing, contributing to, and reveling in the “Mens et Manus” mindset, the infusion of new students each fall reminds us that we have the best jobs in the world. Like so many of our colleagues at MIT, we grew up in working-class families, attended neighborhood high schools, and blissfully absorbed the power of math, science, and analytical thinking. We somehow ended up in top-tier graduate programs, a dream, and then as faculty at MIT, the quintessential home for nerdy (and outspoken) problem solvers.
MIT’s attempts to reduce risk also stifles exploration and opportunity
While at MIT, one of my favorite activities was to walk around campus, often late at night, just to see what there was. But showing an ID, dealing with limited access, and going through security checks have all become the norm. Not being allowed to explore is now the routine.
MIT and local input needed on open-campus reversal
One benefit the Institute gave to the city and other local communities was access to the central portion of campus — an inspiration for local young people and an educational resource for many. If this access is removed, then we have ourselves an ivory tower.