News Briefs
New Shuttle Will Travel to Trader Joe’s
Starting January 24th, the MIT Parking and Transportation Office will operate a shuttle to and from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market. The shuttle will run every Saturday from 11 a.m. until 2:47 p.m., leaving campus every 30 minutes and making its last pickup on campus at 1:47 p.m. A current schedule can be found online at http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/shuttles/grocery.html.
The shuttle service is funded by a donation from the parents of a current student who want to remain anonymous, said Lawrence R. Brutti, operations manager at MIT’s Parking and Transportation Office. The shuttle will cease operation after May 23 unless more funding is acquired.
—Robert McQueen
Fire Alarms, Sprinklers Disturb Bldg. 32
Over the past few days, Stata Center fire prevention systems have caused trouble for the building. On Saturday, a sprinkler began pouring out water, probably as a result of a frozen pipe break. Water flowed into the lobby for about half an hour, an artist whose work had been set up under a sprinkler told a Tech photographer.
On Sunday and Tuesday, fire alarms forced occupants — including on Sunday at least one Mystery Hunt teams — to exit. Causes for the fire alarms have not yet been released, but stay tuned for a follow-up report.
—Robert McQueen
MIT Publishes Diversity Leadership Congress Notes
A website launched on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day hopes to answer President Susan Hockfield’s 2008 call for MIT to make a “serious, meaningful change” in the way it handles the “urgent challenge of diversity.”
The site, titled “Diversity & Inclusion @MIT” and available at http://web.mit.edu/diversity, currently features MIT reports on diversity and the proceedings and a webcast of the Nov. 18, 2008 Diversity Leadership Congress. Over 300 MIT affiliates attended the Congress, and the suggestions made by participants are now available online.
In an anonymized comment published in the “Diversity Leadership Congress Feedback Summary,” one participant wrote, “One big event is not enough to raise the level of awareness. MIT will need sustained smaller efforts to help managers better understand how to identify and confront Diversity goals. … My sense is that many people are uncomfortable discussing these sensitive issues, others do not want to lose critical time.”
The site, announced by Vice President for Human Resources Alison Alden, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75, and Secretary of the Corporation Kirk D. Kolenbrander, is expected to be updated regularly. The mailing list diversity@mit.edu is open to community members who want to get more involved in issues concerning diversity and inclusion.
—Robert McQueen