Burns to give Commencement address
Today, at the end of MIT’s 150th anniversary celebrations, the Institute holds its 145th commencement ceremony. MIT will be awarding degrees to 983 undergraduates and 1,471 graduate students. Collectively, 1,161 bachelor’s degrees, 1,547 master’s degrees, and 609 doctoral degrees were awarded by MIT, according to Registrar Mary Callahan.
Global Challenge added to IDEAS
Last Friday, MIT announced the winners of its annual IDEAS (Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Action, and Service) Competition and Global Challenge. Over forty teams, consisting of everyone from undergraduates to non-MIT affiliates, competed for up to $150,000 in awards.
DormCon, Senate will live on
The Dormitory Council voted yesterday against the proposed student government restructuring brought forth by Undergraduate Association President Vrajesh Y. Modi ’11 in late March. DormCon voted 57 percent in favor of 42 UAS 14.2, the Bill to Unify the Undergraduate Student Voice at MIT — 18 points below the amount required to pass and 11 points below the previous April 3 vote on the measure. The setback may end the potential for any dramatic UA changes in the near future.
For Watson, Jeopardy! is elementary
Quick! Take a clue, and break it down into keywords, finding out what it’s asking for. Rack your brain and generate a list of hundreds of possible answers to said question. Then evaluate each answer produced for validity, using varying types of evidence. Figure out the best possible choice and report it. And do it in two to six seconds. Such a process is routine for supercomputer Watson, explained David Gondek, an IBM researcher who spoke at MIT on Monday, just before Watson began its highly anticipated competition against human Jeopardy! champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.
Losing money, losing structure
In April 2009, faced with over $400,000 in budget cuts, MIT’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) cut eight varsity teams — Women’s and Men’s Gymnastics, Women’s and Men’s Hockey, Golf, Alpine Skiing, Wrestling, and Pistol. The move saved DAPER nearly half a million dollars in expenditures annually, but caused outcry across campus and lost MIT its status as one of only two schools in the nation with 41 varsity sports — the other being Harvard.
Former varsity sports, profiled
In April 2009, faced with over $400,000 in budget cuts, MIT’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) cut eight varsity teams — Women’s and Men’s Gymnastics, Women’s and Men’s Hockey, Golf, Alpine Skiing, Wrestling, and Pistol. The move saved DAPER nearly half a million dollars in expenditures annually, but caused outcry across campus and lost MIT its status as one of only two schools in the nation with 41 varsity sports — the other being Harvard. Within the course of a day, these teams went from established varsity programs to groups with indeterminate futures. And although the club sports moratorium was lifted to allow the seven cut teams without club analogues (a club Women’s Hockey team existed at the time of the cuts) to continue, the transition was not going to be easy — from losing athletes to competing in a new league, the new club teams had a lot of work ahead of them besides raising money and resolving management issues.
Varsity cuts, 18 months afterwards
“It was the hardest decision I ever had to make in a leadership role.”
Codex wins Hunt in 42 hours
Disaster interrupted the wedding of Mario and Princess Peach. Guests watched as Princess Peach was kidnapped by Bowser, they then went into teams to solve the Mystery Hunt puzzles to help Mario find Peach and, in turn, to win the Hunt.
A guide to campus groups engaged in political advocacy
If you’re interested in getting involved in politics, there are a number of groups on campus that focus on specific issues. <i>The Tech </i>highlights six of them.
Student-built race car does 0-60 in 3 secs
Deep in the recesses of the MIT Museum, one group of students is tooling. Yet no one is struggling with a pset, or studying for a test; rather, boards are being cut, things are being welded, and the sound of power machinery is heavy on the ears. Indeed, the MIT Motorsports team is hard at work applying their knowledge to a race car.