Hope for a cleaner future at MIT Energy Conference
The fifth annual MIT Energy Conference took place at the Boston Sheraton Hotel last weekend. The two-day event brought 800 professionals from areas of energy technology, policy, finance, and industry to Boston, up from the 650 last year. The Saturday conference featured John Rowe, CEO of Exelon Corporation; Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka of the International Energy Agency; and Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, who is also the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Economic Crisis Hits MIT, Necessitates Budget Cuts Throughout the Institute
This past year, MIT saw sweeping budget cuts in response to the national economic crisis. One-fourth of the General Institute Budget is funded by MIT’s endowment, which saw a 20.7 percent decline in value during FY2009 from slightly over $10 billion to $8 billion. The original proposal to avoid a major Institute deficit was to reduce expenses by up to $150 million over two to three years, but this plan was changed to up to $130 million over the next two fiscal years. Through immediate cuts, such as DAPER’s cut of eight varsity sports and the closing of two libraries, the FY2010 budget was reduced by $58 million on a goal of $50 million.
Wave of Theft Hit MIT Dorms; MIT Police Have Made Arrests
Seventy-nine thefts, including 24 laptops and 18 bicycles, have been reported on the MIT campus this term. Derek Correira was arrested in Baker House on Oct. 22 for stealing a laptop.
Housing Employee Fired After Sting Operation Caught Him Stealing $20
There was a hidden camera, a planted $20, and a fake maintenance request. In an move straight out of the movies, Detective Jay Perault of Campus Police organized a sting operation on Oct. 13 at Tang Hall to catch a housing employee suspected of multiple thefts.
MIT May Cut Employee Pension Plans, Saving $200M
MIT may cut employee pension plans as part of a plan to save $27–$199 million over the next 2–10 years, according to the preliminary report of the Institute-Wide Planning Task Force released in August. The retirement plan cuts constitute much of the proposed cuts in workforce policies and practices recommended by the report.
Algorithms Text CLRS Updated to 3rd Edition
The 3rd edition of <i>Introduction to Algorithms</i> by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein, better known at MIT as “CLRS” or “the 6.046 textbook,” came out last month. Leiserson and Rivest are professors in Course VI. In addition to 100 new exercises and 28 new problems, the new edition features a whole new section on multithreading.
Susan Hockfield, Budget Cuts, and the Blue Ribbon Dining Problem
How are three of the hottest topics on campus tied together? As most of us found out recently, the consultant firm working with the Blue Ribbon Dining Committee (BRDC) published a report recommending a mandatory “nutritional” cost to all students. In fact, the only reason we all found out was because the report got leaked.
Technology and MIT Government
MIT is quite similar to the United States; the economy is suffering, the police are trying to protect our children without destroying culture, financial aid is trying to spread the wealth around, the administration lacks transparency, and community members want a say in decisions affecting their everyday life …
The State of the Institute Hacker
With President Hockfield’s ‘State of the Institute’ just passed, I felt that it would be appropriate to address the state of the Institute hacker, who is after all, a member of MIT belonging to myriad macro and micro communities.