‘The Tech’ stands with Black communities
Names — Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade — and voices can no longer go unheard. We stand in solidarity with the courageous protestors, organizers, and heroes who fight each day for justice.
MIT celebrates Class of 2020’s virtual commencement
Reif said that an in-person commencement will be held at MIT at “some safe point in the future.” He also said that digital diplomas have been delivered to students who requested them through the Blockcerts Wallet app.
Graduate students to start returning to campus
Graduate students who are eligible to register for summer or fall 2020 and remain in housing beyond July 31 due to renewed housing licenses or on-campus housing assignment for the upcoming academic year may return to campus.
Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Guidelines for Outside Engagements holds forum
Core values for outside engagements include transparency; being worthy of a good reputation; honesty and integrity; respect for community members and human rights; “promoting diversity, inclusion and equity”; “pursuing and advancing knowledge with scientific integrity”; and “educat[ing] and foster[ing] the advancement” of all community members.
MIT team wins International Theoretical Physics Olympiad
The ITPO’s website writes that the problems are written by PhD students and postdocs. The exams allow students to “play with non-trivial questions and to learn through competition,” the website writes.
Departments discuss fall teaching scenarios
If only a portion of the student body is on campus, departments could offer “different classes for remote and in-person students with more emphasis on individual coaching and guest speakers for remote students.” Remote and in-person students could also be subject to different grading policies.
UA Judicial Review Board to finalize bylaws after Spring 2020 election ruling
A complaint filed May 15 on behalf of the UA Council by UA President Danielle Geathers ’22, forwarded to The Tech, prompted the decision. The complaint called JudBoard to cease all activity and finalize its previously incomplete bylaws by May 29.
MIT Quality of Life Survey preliminary results released
71% of student respondents described their overall physical health as “excellent” or “good,” compared to 55% who described their mental health as such. When asked how many days in the past week they got enough sleep to feel rested, 20% of student and 32% of faculty and staff respondents indicated fewer than three days.
Media Lab Open Agriculture Initiative closed amid allegations of scientific misrepresentation and environmental harm
The New York Times reported in October that Zuber “halted OpenAg activities, pending completion of ongoing assessments.” The Initiative was already mostly closed prior to its complete termination in April.
IS&T makes Microsoft Teams available for MIT community
IS&T is making Microsoft Teams available to “help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 and best support MIT community members as they engage in activities remotely.”
Commencement, summer registration, emergency summer housing
Virtual commencement will take place noon EDT May 29.
Student evaluation on the progress of the 2015 BSU/BGSA Recommendations
We call upon MIT to establish an Institute-wide body this Fall with the charge to create a long-term strategic plan, including concrete measures to increase the number of Black graduate students. To be effective this strategic plan must be backed by the purse strings of the Institute.
Recognizing the privilege of white America
How to solve the problem? We need to punish the guilty, but the solution also will require white Americans transitioning outside their albino comfort zones and deliberately seeking opportunities to socially integrate.
Anti-Asian racism: the neglected strain of COVID-19
Why is American-ness something we have to prove? Will handing out masks wearing red, white, and blue truly erase any hostility? What about after the virus? All of this begs the question, what if the virus originated from a European country?
War criminals fit right in at MIT
At a university that invites trusted partners such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to Career Fair in order to direct students deeper into the U.S. war machine, it is perhaps fitting that MIT graduates will be sent off into the world with warm anecdotes and hardy life lessons from SEAL training.
Welcome to the table
YouTube showed me the answer I had been looking for all these years. I finally felt like I had found the words to describe who I really was.
Not your traditional love story
Yes, there’s Asian and LGBTQ representation(!), and in a way that feels organic, showing refreshing, imperfect experiences of love.
Fighting coronavirus through research
As one of the few labs authorized to conduct research on biosafety level three (BSL-3) viruses, the Gehrke Lab is studying pathologies of SARS-CoV-2 at the Ragon Institute.
MIT community holds vigil in wake of George Floyd killing
“We can and must legislate the hateful dehumanizing actions of those who are unwilling to check their biases. I stand in support of the peaceful protesters insisting on accountability in the recent killing,” Dozier said, emphasizing that he supports the MIT community’s efforts to build a more “inclusive, equitable, and...
Community members propose fall models during charrettes
Participants were given ten minutes to design a fall model with several constraints in mind. The constraints included the uncertainty of the pandemic trajectory and medical advances, measures taken to protect community health, space limitations of campus, most classes being remote, and community members’ willingness and reasons to return to campus.
Preliminary results of COVID-related student surveys released
Only 26% of on-campus and 24% of off-campus undergraduate respondents “agree strongly” that they “feel like part of the community at MIT,” compared to 41% of respondents in the 2019 Undergraduate Enrolled Student Survey.
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MIT community holds vigil in wake of George Floyd killing
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Community members propose fall models during charrettes
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Preliminary results of COVID-related student surveys released
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Two ‘mini’ town halls held with students to discuss fall scenarios
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Flexible P/NR policy approved in faculty meeting
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MIT creates working group in response to new Title IX regulations
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Jason Ku reflects on his time as MIT student, researcher, and lecturer
- Read more in News »
A call for clearer communication regarding COVID-19
The anxiety we already experience as a result of the pandemic and an inability to make research headway needn’t be compounded by opaque communications from your office.
Current UA Officers agree Danielle Geathers and Yu Jing Chen stand out as leaders in this time of uncertainty
Danielle and Yu Jing’s platform focuses on the student to administration transparency vector, building infrastructure to increase the UA’s awareness of student concerns and thus increasing the UA’s ability to advocate those interests to administration.
Student security proposals disregarded by DSL, HRS
The Division of Student Life (DSL) and Housing and Residential Services (HRS) recently decided to overhaul the security of East Campus. The plan they designed rejected six months of collaborative work and incorporated minimal student contribution. This is not an acceptable model for student-administration relations.
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A call for clearer communication regarding COVID-19
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Current UA Officers agree Danielle Geathers and Yu Jing Chen stand out as leaders in this time of uncertainty
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Student security proposals disregarded by DSL, HRS
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Cambridge face covering order not justified by scientific evidence
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Abate emissions with greens in quarantine
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Vote Fiona Chen and Yara Komaiha for UA president and vice president
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Fiona Chen and Yara Komaiha stand out as strongest ticket in this time of uncertainty
- Read more in Opinion »
‘Tigertail’ is a flawed portrait of an immigrant family
While the film attempts to explore the complexities of a family fragmented by cultural and geographic barriers, its unconvincing character development makes the plot seem forced and the protagonist unsympathetic.
A first look at ‘Kami no Tou’
The long wait is over; ‘Tower of God’ finally has an anime, and even if it is not all what I hoped, I am still finding it enjoyable. We are thrown into a world with little explanation, and the sheer novelty and expanse of the Tower compels me to keep...
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‘Tigertail’ is a flawed portrait of an immigrant family
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A first look at ‘Kami no Tou’
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An epic adventure from the comforts of my bed
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Ashley McBryde rocks in ‘Never Will’
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‘Itaewon Class’ is a Sweet Night of youth, friendship, and reaching for stars
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The album to make you ‘Love Again’
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Murder, prostitutes, and fishing
- Read more in Arts »
Sailing seniors appreciate their time on and off the water
“We made a really good effort of spending time together outside of practice at MIT and even now, from all our corners of the world.”
Women’s tennis coach honors her team’s efforts
“Although our season was cut short and we only got to play 5 team matches, I felt that we had already come a long way in being invested in each other and in competing hard for each other.”
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Men’s Volleyball coach highlights a season cut short
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Sailing seniors appreciate their time on and off the water
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Women’s tennis coach honors her team’s efforts
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Men’s Tennis reflects on its shortened season
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Women’s lacrosse coach describes her team’s shortened season
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MIT Men’s Lacrosse seniors discuss their final season
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MIT Baseball reflects on its shortened season
- Read more in Sports »
Life is not a binary string of successes and failures
The me who hopes I become a success story versus the me who wonders when I’ll quit.
The Holten-Andersen Group’s approach to bio-inspired materials
There is no question that nature is the best engineer. As hard as material scientists try, replicating nature’s intricate processes and networks is a holy grail that often seems nearly unattainable. Instead of attempting to copy nature, some scientists draw inspiration from nature’s mechanisms and apply them to the synthesis...
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Engineering nuclear policy
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The Holten-Andersen Group’s approach to bio-inspired materials
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Creating compounds with catalysts
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Starving cancer by controlling cell proliferation
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Targeting tumors with nanoparticles
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Thinking about other people’s thoughts
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Nobel Laureate Jim Allison talks cancer research, science education, and advice for aspiring researchers
- Read more in Science »