The invisible
When we think of leaders, we frequently think of those most visible transformational figures whose foresight, charisma, and bravado forever shaped the world. However, this view is simplistic, and simply not sufficient to capture the full meaning of leadership. Like the “great men/women theory” of history, which attributes the chronology of the past to the actions of a few, this perspective on leadership ignores one of its most important characteristics — the fact that leadership is a collective phenomenon. The great man/woman does not exist without need, cannot function without support, and cannot succeed without belief. And so this article is for you, the oft-forgotten many whose desires and actions set the stage for the so-called great men and women.
Corrections
A story last Friday about the Boston Marathon gave the incorrect middle initial for Jared J. Markowitz G, who placed 47th. His middle initial is J, not M.
Breaking the silence
Rewind forty years and a few days to the very first Earth Day in 1970. One topic was on everybody’s mind: the growing human population. Scientists and environmentalists, eyeing exponentially increasing numbers, made dire predictions about mass famine and warfare as humanity outstripped the planet’s ability to provide space and resources.
Mr. Obama, tear down this wall
It is popular wisdom that immigrants are a drain upon our country. They’re stereotyped as either violent criminals, diseased, or wards of the state. We’re told that they steal American jobs, put a strain on our natural resources, and fail to integrate into our society. As immigration reform begins working its way through Congress, (and as Arizona goes insane), it is important to set the record straight and review the reasons why expanding legal immigration is in the interests of the United States.
The real danger of Chinese “competition”
It has been common for economists to tolerate the blather of competitiveness, not only because there are practical difficulties with trying to educate non-economists on comparative advantage and the mechanics of free markets, but also because it is commonly believed that such rhetoric can be harnessed in support of good policies. If I am worried about the large negative externalities posed by global warming, and believe it is in the U.S. or the world’s best interest for America to invest in public energy research, then what harm is there if others believe that such expenditures are necessary to “win” against China?
The science of smell
Analyzing the science of scent has long presented a challenge to researchers. In the exploration of the olfactory system, the debate comes down to two contending theories: shape and vibration.
The mentor-mentee dynamic
A critical part of becoming a leader is learning from others — especially engineering professionals who have climbed the corporate ladder and subsequently struck out on their own. Hence the concept of mentoring.
Students were not meant to live like this
Modern scientific reasoning places just emphasis on the importance of natural human needs. The field of human ethology (study of natural behavior), which incorporates aspects of evolutionary biology and psychology, indicates that life is molded by eons of environmental pressure. We lived as hunter-gatherers for millions of years, a life-style which still exists in many wild corners of the world.
Debunking the Obama trade policy
In the previous article, I tried to explain the core logic behind why trade is mutually beneficial, and not a “competition” as the Obama Administration has been describing it. At some level, many non-economists seem to accept the argument I offered, but retain some lingering doubt. They concede that free trade is beneficial (or is at least necessary to avoid some greater loss) but they still cannot shake the feeling that trade must have winners and losers. After all, isn’t our growing trade deficit with China evidence that we are being “beaten?”
Engineering tomorrow’s leaders
The challenges humanity faces in the 21st century — from the stable supply of energy in a carbon constrained world to the delivery of new products based on the fusion of engineering and life sciences — cannot be accomplished by individuals or technology on its own. We need to cultivate technically astute people who can apply their skills to guide and lead the development of socially, environmentally, and economically acceptable solutions to technical problems.
Letters to the Editor
After reading the statistics posted in The Tech about the membership of the Campaign for Students (notably, 39 percent from East Campus, 8 percent from Random Hall, 6 percent from Burton-Conner, and 3 percent from dorms with house dining) I am going to speak as a member of one of the dorms with a dining hall.
MIT Medical reform, Dining Idea Bank, and UA positions
Two guests from MIT Medical attended Senate this past Monday night. The two discussed upcoming budget changes within MIT Medical and the potential impact on students. Medical presented a proposal to close urgent care facilities at MIT from 12 a.m.–6 a.m., citing declining visits during these hours. Students who phone Medical would be consulted by a trained nurse following protocols that would assist the student with obtaining the appropriate care. In the case of emergencies, students would be transported to Mount Auburn hospital. Students were most concerned about the preservation of Medical’s Good Samaritan and confidentiality policies. MIT Medical reassured students that Good Samaritan policies were not changing, but that the confidentiality protocol is left up to Mount Auburn and further discussion with the hospital may be needed.
Paradigm shift
Our prestigious MIT graduate degrees — signals of our technical prowess and nimble rationality that are so valued in this high-tech world — are misleading. There is a mismatch between the leadership skills that the world expects of us and the scientific expertise that our degrees require. To be sure, we will be able to rise to the technical demands of any complicated challenge, incise to its core variables, and deliver a well-defined solution. But we will need to learn the leadership skills, those that determine the impact and thoughtfulness of our solution and the stability of our teams, on the fly. Graduate students in science and engineering need to expand their cadre of research skills to include leadership by shifting the traditional PhD paradigm to one that includes leadership development.
Poland’s tragedy
Saturday morning greeted the Polish communities at Harvard and MIT with devastating news. As many of us sat down, cup of coffee in hand, to skim through online editions of Polish papers, we found ourselves utterly speechless at the news of the tragic deaths of Poland’s president, Lech Kaczyn<span style=&quot;position:relative; left: -5px;&quot;>´ski, his wife, and some eighty members of the country’s political and intellectual elite.
Branding environmentalism
It’s 6 a.m. when your gasoline-powered alarm clock chatters to life, rousing you in time to make a few last changes to your term paper before rushing off to class. You slap it before glancing across your room as your “air purifier,” which is actually a feather-duster taped to a space heater, hums to life.
Dispatches from the collapse
It is tempting to blame consultants and their ilk for the troubles that Dubai faces today. Surely, if my experience was at all typical, Western consulting firms are derelict in their duty as advisers to the United Arab Emirates. But I would argue that consultants are a product of their surroundings, not the other way around. Prior to the recent meltdown, which had commentators everywhere wondering if Dubai would destroy the fragile recovery that the banking sector has eked out, Boston Consulting Group’s top brass was extolling the virtues of the Middle East and the stability it would provide to the world’s financial markets. And why not? Every recommendation that encourages more expenditures by clients offers up greater opportunity for future cases. If Dubai’s companies lack the internal resources or motivation to poke the conclusions made by their rented consultants, if they reward optimism and penalize pessimism, they should not be surprised when they receive cheery, but flimsy advice.
Should we cut NASA funding?
The White House has announced plans to host a conference in Florida on April 15 during which President Obama will unveil his vision for the U.S. space program. If recent moves by the administration are any indication, this new vision will significantly curtail public funding for space activity. The president is working hard to spin the upcoming change as a transition rather than a cut, and perhaps for good reason: He is unlikely to find a receptive audience in Florida, long a recipient of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s largess.
Should we cut NASA funding?
To the critics of the space program, greedy astronauts fill their pockets with our hard earned dollars and blast off into space, leaving our children with only rocket fumes for lunch. But to its proponents, space exploration represents a relatively small expenditure that brings positive real world impacts in the form of cutting edge research, crucial data on weather and climate change, thousands of jobs, and more than a few spinoff technologies. The truth is somewhere in between.