YouTuber, engineer, and inventor Mark Rober to deliver Class of 2023 Commencement address
Rober is “excited to come out and meet the Class of 2023 and celebrate all the amazing, positive change they’re going to bring to the world.”
MIT GSU-UE heralds upcoming bargaining meeting with Sept. 12 rally
“MIT admin need to know that when they are sitting down at the bargaining table next week, they are not just bargaining with the 24 members” of the BC, but with “thousands” of graduate students, Hanna said.
Burton Conner reopens to residents after renovation
The “semester and a half” Aaronson spent in BC prior to the COVID-19 pandemic “was just incredibly impactful,” she recalled.
President Reif to step down at the end of 2022
Reif wrote that remaining as president “through December will allow time for the MIT Corporation to conduct a search for MIT’s 18th president” and “smooth the transition to a new administration.”
MIT to advance Indigenous scholarship and support of its Indigenous community
MIT will also fund “a study to research and document” the role of MIT’s third president Francis Walker in “advancing the Native American reservation system, which cruelly and unjustly relocated Native Americans from their land to make way for European settlers.”
MIT community members hold peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration
About 100 MIT community members held a peaceful Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration June 6 on the steps outside Lobby 7.
Number of COVID-19 positive tests double last week
Nelson and Stuopis wrote that they “are strongly encouraging all students, staff, postdocs, faculty, and campus visitors to wear high-quality masks indoors.”
MIT introduces first official values statement
The committee’s report states that the values statement is intended to be “a living document, evolving as needed over time.”
Spicer and Ravikumar elected next UA President and Vice President, respectively
Spicer and Ravikumar ran against presidential candidate Ananya Gurumurthy ’23 and vice presidential candidate Lexi So ’23.
Meet the prefrosh
The Tech spoke with several CPW attendees about their experiences and impressions of MIT.
Gonna go fast like a Linoone
“Thank you,” I said as I shut the car door and left as quickly as it was socially acceptable.
Falling apart
Only a few weeks ago, I felt so completely empty, like my center had been scooped out of me. What remained was a scorched shell of pure apathy.
MIT Graduate Student Union NLRB election to be held April 4–5
The GSU wrote that the “MIT administration hoped to delay” the vote by initiating a “lengthy legal process aimed at denying Fellows the right to vote.”
MIT Wrestling finishes a historic season with one national champion and two additional All-American wrestlers
Pannell’s only loss of the tournament was to Lauren Stone, the champion and “outstanding wrestler” of the entire women’s division.
Remembering electrical engineering professor emeritus Markus Zahn
Zahn earned his undergraduate and doctorate degrees at MIT before becoming a professor at the University of Florida. He joined the faculty at MIT in 1980 and retired in 2015.
Wind, rewind
I wake in the mornings, a ray of sun dancing through the windows onto my sheets, falling with a weighted blanket of air. Sitting up, the iridescent covers shed from my chest, but the weight remains.
‘Doctor Who’ Series 12: masterfully thrilling
Series 12 balances the old-school with novel twists to keep audiences on the edges of their seats.
Grant fraud case against mechanical engineering professor Gang Chen dismissed
Chen was arrested Jan. 14, 2021, on allegations of wire fraud, failure to file a foreign bank account report, and making a false statement in a tax return.
Bikes and bridges
While I can try my best to be “perfect,” it’s fundamentally impossible to achieve.
Being human is strange
We may find ourselves at our most timid, but we can find ourselves at our most brave. We may struggle to find our place but in it find humor, love, and grace. And most importantly of all, we can dare to dream, fly, and fall.
Ardent salmon tales
The thing about the salmon is that all it cares about is finding its home.
Cicadas used to live in my neighborhood
I remember that bad days fall like autumn leaves in magnificent waves of color as life learns to begin anew.
How a tiger bears its stripes
They didn’t say a thing, because nobody wanted to cause a scene. After all, is it not easier to ignore than to confront?
Baa
I just absolutely love knowing that after spending a week in quarantine essentially without seeing the light of day, I’ll get to spend even more time in it!!
Wenbo Slips
A ball hits me? Ow. I hit the floor? Ow. The ball hits the floor? Ow. The ball, floor, and I are actually all part of a rocket blasting off in consensus with the rocket equations? Ow. Ow. Ow.
Criminal justice lawyer and social activist Bryan Stevenson to deliver Class of 2021 Commencement address
Stevenson has argued and won multiple landmark cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including Miller v. Alabama (2012).
Lloyd will face ‘a set of disciplinary actions’ that will ‘limit’ his compensation
Schmidt wrote that he arrived at the decision after “conferring with senior administrative and faculty leaders, as well as” a review panel, which sought to determine if “Lloyd violated MIT policies,” and an evaluation committee, which sought to recommend “a set of disciplinary actions.”
Where the sidewalk ends…
The truth is, I only learned how beautiful it is to love other people and the world when I wasn’t so caught up in despising myself.
Spring housing placements delayed until late December
Housing and Residential Services (HRS) received a “high volume” of spring housing applications and expects that “students’ housing plans may change during the course of the coming weeks.”
First years, sophomores, and juniors invited back to campus for Spring 2021
According to an FAQ about the spring semester, housing assignments will be shared with students in “late November.” Students will be able to participate in the residential pod program with up to six pod members.
Get Out the Vote festival encourages students to vote
Performers at the event included Yo-Yo Ma, Duckwrth, Joyce Wrice, Bren Joy, Brandon Banks, Raye Zaragoza, HOAX, Mariela Shaker, the Couchsleepers, Solstice Fayemz, and Lil Seyi. MIT’s Asian Dance Team, Bhangra, Mirchi, and Casino Rueda dance groups also contributed performances.
Spring classes that ‘can be taught effectively online’ to remain virtual
Waitz and Barnhart wrote that they plan to “engage students, staff and faculty in an accelerated assessment effort… to make a determination” for the spring “as soon as we can.”
Virtual Fall Career Fair series to begin Sept. 21
Unlike previous years, MIT will not have a student holiday during the career fair. Additionally, there will be no official Interview Day, and each company will coordinate its own interviews.
It’s about thyme
There’s a grand sense of longing that fills me often, but longing for what?
Abstractions of emotion
Over the surface of the river, a hint of a rainbow colors the path below my feet. Love’s in the air. Can you taste it?
Dilapidated doting
I’m seeing things I hadn’t seen in years since I left the great state of Texas.
First-Year Orientation, FPOPs to be held virtually
Incoming first years will “meet with their first year advisor throughout the week to discuss academic options” and register for classes.
87 first-year students opt for gap year
“Typically, between 10 and 15 students will defer in a given year,” Schmill wrote in the email, but given the “higher than expected number of admitted students” who chose to accept their offers of admission, the Class of 2024 will end up being of “similar size to other classes.”
Advanced Standing Exams and math diagnostic to be administered online using proctoring software
Fall ASEs and the math diagnostic typically take place on campus during orientation week. Rajagopal wrote that the decision to move the exam dates up was to ensure the start of the semester was “less hectic for students.”
The Chicks discover liberation in divorce
‘Gaslighter’ feels lived through with its consistently strong and moving vocals and instrumentals.
The strangest game of duck, duck, goose
If the world were a stage, and if I were to be attacked by a goose on this hypothetical stage, I care not for who the players are. I do however know for a fact that my temporary exit would be akin to “Exit, pursued by a bear.”
A, B, C, D/NE, F/NE grading system to be implemented in fall
PE/NE grading can be applied to “any subject including those used to fulfill” GIRs, “minor,” and “departmental requirements.” The decision to grade a class under PE/NE “must be made by drop date,” Danheiser wrote.
ICE and DHS agree to rescind July 6 directive on international students
Burroughs said that the rescission of the guidelines “moots” the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction motion requested in MIT and Harvard’s lawsuit and will “preclude the enforcement” of the July 6 directive and its FAQ “on a nationwide basis.”
UA hosts forum to discuss MIT’s Fall 2020 opening decision
Jones said that dorm assignments will be determined using a housing lottery that will be released later this week. Students will rank their choice of dorms, and highest priority would be given to those who “want to move back to their old dorm.”
UA and GSC join amicus brief filed in DHS, ICE lawsuit
The brief writes that international students have “contributed immeasurably to the advancement of American higher education and to the American economy,” whose “participation has become an integral part of the American educational experience.”
MIT graduate students, Barnhart, and Waitz file declarations in lawsuit against DHS and ICE
Waitz wrote that since the July 6 ICE directive, “ISO has fielded hundreds of calls and emails from students” with concerns over their visa status, the state of their home country, class participation, financial loss, or “deferral or foregoing their academic programs.”
‘These Two Windows’ successfully lights a match in the rain
Overall the album is very cohesive, with each song having Benjamin’s trademark minimalist vocals and extremely well-written lyrics.
MIT Medical reopens for in-person visits
Some appointments will be “hybrid,” with a meeting “over video or telephone, followed by a briefer in-person exam and any necessary lab work.”
MIT, Harvard sue U.S. DHS, ICE over modified international student visa guidelines
The lawsuit states that “ICE’s action leaves hundreds of thousands of international students with no educational options within the United States.”
Team 2020 releases undergraduate Student Preference Survey results
The first part of the survey asked students to consider an academic scenario involving a mostly-remote curriculum with some in-person elements for lab classes, project classes, and UROPs.
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.
On being the letter ‘Q’
Let’s call this week “the week of self-improvement.”
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.
Reif leads second town hall to discuss plans for continuity and reopening campus
Topics covered included evolving knowledge about COVID-19, academic preparations for the fall, staffing, residential continuity, and reopening campus research.
Digital diplomas to be issued during online commencement
The Registrar’s Office “will be in touch about the distribution of physical diplomas when additional information is available,” Trachy wrote.
Spare me, author
Is there a real Wenbo out there writing my experiences? Would he be separate from me, then?
Community members build MIT campus in Minecraft
Shayna Ahteck ’23 wrote that there are “plans in the works to do comparative displays” or a virtual reality or mixed reality version of the map “to enhance our on-campus enjoyment of the buildings we usually occupy.”
Fall academic COVID-19 preparations discussed at faculty meeting
Vice Chancellor Ian Waitz presented several possibilities for the fall academic term during the April 22 faculty meeting, including remote teaching, in-person classes, socially-distant learning, or a hybrid scenario.
UA presidential candidates discuss transparency, climate change, COVID-19, and CUP experiments in debate
Both candidates expressed concern over institutional memory and proposed increasing documentation on past conversations. Both candidates also said that having these records available to students is important.
Four more MIT seniors declared 2020 Rhodes Scholars
Woltz, Vasconcelos, and Yamoah are all currently conducting research with the Engineering Quantum Systems Group in the Research Lab for Electronics.
MIT eligible for $5 million in federal COVID-19 financial support
At least 50% of the money must be “reserved to provide students with emergency financial aid grants,” U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wrote in a letter to college and university presidents April 9.
Skinny Cactus is a puffle-crazy penguin
I’ve grown up and moved on, something Greg Heffley will never understand.
Ashley McBryde rocks in ‘Never Will’
McBryde continues to be one of the best songwriters in the country music scene.
DAPER closes outdoor facilities
“We will continue to monitor our outdoor spaces, and if individuals don't comply with public health directives,” MIT and DAPER may take “further action to limit the potential” for COVID-19 spread on MIT campus, the statement wrote.
The album to make you ‘Love Again’
This is my track-by-track take on Dua Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia.’
MIT to subsidize MIT Dining staff wages
Hayes said that MIT Dining wants to ensure that staff are able to support their families and themselves and “maintain their benefits” so that when dining reopens, “we still have the staff to do that.”
MIT Dining finalizes meal plan options for 2020-2021 academic year
The price of the top meal plan increased six percent from the 2019-2020 academic year, MIT Dining Director Mark Hayes said in an interview with The Tech. Hayes added that a six percent increase is the “maximum allowed for the financial aid calculation.”
First case of COVID-19 confirmed in MIT community
MIT Medical is starting a public health investigation, including contacting the student, following up with their social circle “as warranted,” and “exchanging information with public health officials.”
MIT announces online commencement and future in-person celebration
Reif wrote that “in a world so disrupted by Covid-19,” it would not be possible to conduct the Institute’s traditional in-person commencement, hooding, and Tech Reunions this May.
Blake, Sharon, Waitz share COVID-19 updates at faculty meeting
Emergency management, the DSL, and the Institute’s space planning working group are also “developing plans to support community members that reside in surrounding areas, including some students who returned to homes locally, that may need a place to self-quarantine in the future,” Sharon wrote.
Goodbye grief, hello H Mart
Massachusetts Avenue is more than a divide between East and West Campus, but what is the illustrious street truly?
Closer to the heavens
I would like to preface this by saying that in light of the developing COVID-19 situation, starting next column, all walks will be held either in the forests of Northern Virginia where no human interaction is possible or virtually at Zoom University.
G. Anthony Grant becomes new DAPER head
Grant said that DAPER has “a very unique opportunity to be a key contributor to enhancing the overall sense of health and well-being across the Institute” and is committed “to serve not only our varsity student athletes but all of the students across campus.”
Undergraduates required to move out of dorms and FSILGs by March 17
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, undergraduates living in MIT dorms, fraternities, sororities, or independent living groups (FSILGs) are required to move out by noon March 17. Classes will be canceled March 16–20, extending to spring break, which runs March 23–27. Classes will resume in online-only formats March 30.
Reif announces new travel and events policies in response to COVID-19
MIT will “postpone, cancel, or ‘virtualize’” in-person MIT events with more than 150 attendees, including CPW and “other signature spring semester conferences and celebrations,” the policies state.
The waffle is a lie
What if I had more time to go out and take charge of things I care about?
MIT Dining to increase meal plan commitment minimums for Class of 2024
MIT Dining will employ a phased implementation beginning with the Class of 2024 this fall: the meal swipe commitment will increase to 225 for first-year students, 190 for sophomores, and 160 for juniors and seniors.
Ad Hoc Faculty Committee chairs provide updates at faculty meeting Feb. 19
The Ad Hoc Committee to Review MIT Gift Processes is currently looking into peer institutions’ policies.
Class of 2022 Brass Rat unveiled at Ring Premiere
The Cambridge skyline also includes a black hole, commemorating the first-ever image of one, and a “gilded” Infinite Corridor in recognition of MITHenge.
EC to increase security after recent intruder incidents, overruling prior student vote
Head of House Sandy Alexandre will request tap pads for all EC hall doors except for Bemis/Hayden stairwell doors.
Coronavirus outbreak poses ‘no identified risk to the MIT community’
Much information about coronavirus “has not been independently verified” and “much remains unknown regarding the virus’s severity and how it is transmitted.”
Frozen yogurt machine installed on second floor of student center
The machine’s indicated operating hours are 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. daily.
UA, GSC finalize members for two new student committees
The Undergraduate Association and Graduate Student Council selected student members for two newly-created committees, the Student Committee on Guidelines for Outside Engagements and the Student Committee on Campus Climate and Policies around Discrimination and Misconduct Nov. 12. Five undergraduate and five graduate student members were selected for each committee from a final pool of ten undergraduates and ten graduates.
Office of the Vice Chancellor conducts reviews of Phase Two of CUP experiment
While GPA in science core GIRs increased by 0.06 in Fall 2018, GPA in science core GIRs dropped by 0.36 in Spring 2019, according to last year’s results from Phase One of the experiment.
Reif announces new reforms in response to community reaction to Epstein funding
In response to the Oct. 7 staff and Oct. 11 research staff forums, Ramona Allen, vice president for human resources, will gather staff from around campus to share their ideas and perspectives.
Two student committees created to address outside engagements and campus climate
The Student Committee on Campus Climate and Policies around Discrimination and Misconduct will “investigate systemic injustices on campus and their corrallaries.” The Student Committee on Guidelines for Outside Engagements “will review and discuss MIT core values and the metrics by which outside engagements should be evaluated.”
Overnight utility work starts outside Edgerton House
Because the construction is independent of MIT operations, there is little Housing and Residential Services (HRS) and the Division of Student Life can do other than advocating for Edgerton’s residents.
MIT settles Fidelity lawsuit
According to a Sept. 4 district court order, MIT reorganized its offerings of 401(k) investment options, removing hundreds of funds July 15. MIT’s supplemental 401(k) plan is managed by Fidelity, the recordkeeper and investment manager responsible for choosing and tracking MIT’s funds.
DSL launches new pick-a-lunch pilot program
Students are able to use a meal swipe to pay for their choice of one entrée, two sides, and a drink.