Michael Bloomberg speaks at Commencement
In his speech, Bloomberg announced the launch of Beyond Carbon, a climate action initiative, by Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charitable foundation.
Remembering Aliza Akhtar (1999–2019)
“Sometimes you just meet those people that are literally angels, who are too good for this world. Aliza was that person,” her close friend Layal Barakat ’22 wrote.
Sal Khan ’98 encourages students to find and pursue passion projects
Khan said that college students should learn at their own pace with online tools, such as edX and Khan Academy.
Dorm leaders present first-year rooming assignment designs in workshop
EC proposed running an algorithm to assign first years to rooms (based on their rankings) 10 times to generate 10 sets of dorm-wide placements. Each hall’s upper-level students would then rank the results.
Burton Conner residents concerned about dorm renewal
BC Exec was not involved in formulating the move-out process, including the decision that students would move out in groups of eight, Zhang said. She noted that eight is already the maximum number of students that can apply to move in a group in the current housing switch lottery.
Black student groups hold die-in
The die-in lasted four minutes to remember how police left Michael Brown, Jr.’s body uncovered for four hours.
Dorm presidents respond to room assignment design exercise
As the process of reassessing dorms’ room assignment and move-in procedures continues, The Tech reached out to presidents and other leaders in each of MIT’s ten dorms to ask about their current procedures and how potential changes would affect their communities.
Students want transparency and collaborative approach in new vice president of IS&T
“SIPB has not had opportunities to give input on recent IS&T decisions before they were finalized. In the future, we would love to work more closely with IS&T leadership and committees to provide student perspectives on decisions before they are finalized,” Angel Alvarez '20, SIPB chair, wrote to The Tech.
New spam quarantine system causes problem for MIT email users
Some outstanding issues are that messages forwarded to external accounts are flagged as spam, and external email providers may flag Microsoft Exchange Online Protection’s “Spam Notice” emails, according to IS&T’s knowledge base.
MIT Title IX comments on DeVos’s policy on sexual harassment
“We will continue to administer a fair, impartial, and transparent complaint-handling process to all parties involved in sexual misconduct cases,” the statement said.
DeVos proposes reduced burden on universities investigating sexual misconduct, more rights for accused parties
The proposed policies would guarantee students accused of sexual assault the right to cross-examine their accuser in a live hearing through a third party, such as a lawyer. Colleges would only be required to investigate incidents occurring on their campuses or at their programs.
Faculty share opinions on College of Computing in meeting, forum
“I sit on the bridge” between computing and other fields, Professor of Physics and EECS Isaac Chuang ’90 said at the meeting. “And I’m waiting for the bridge to collapse.”
MIT Yes on 3 urges students to vote to protect transgender rights
The current law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in places of “public accommodation, resort, and amusement,” along with race, sex, religion, and other grounds.
Office of Vice Chancellor reorganized, new Office of the First Year
The OVC is looking into reducing the time between the end of finals to graduation from two weeks to one.
MIT launches new homepage
Only about five percent of users are located in Cambridge, but these users account for about 23 percent of all site visits in the past year.
Sheryl Sandberg speaks at MIT Commencement
Acknowledging the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Sandberg said, “It's painful when you miss something, when you make the mistake of believing so much in the good you are seeing that you don't see the bad.”
UA Innovation Committee redesigns 26-110 to be a new study space
The Compton Room (26-110) is a new study space for the rest of the semester designed by the UA Innovation Committee after a successful one week trial experiment.
IS&T to work on Next House Wi-Fi, Ethernet
One of the doubles being converted by IS&T is the former room of Sal Khan ’98, founder of online education nonprofit Khan Academy.
Disciplinary action for peaceful protest will not hurt MIT applicants
MIT joins at least 165 other U.S. colleges in not punishing students who participate in protests related to gun reform laws following the Feb. 14 mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida.
Students compete in programming competitions during IAP
This IAP, several programming competitions provided interested students the opportunity to learn new skills, practice old ones, and collaborate with — or compete against — their peers.
Memorial Drive Trader Joe’s may close, mayor says
Kimco Realty, which owns the mall Trader Joe's is located in, writes on their website that the Memorial Plaza property “offers an incredible opportunity to potentially redevelop within a very limited market of primary Greater Boston.”
Star Market to close at the beginning of February
Star Market, a popular grocery store close to MIT's campus, on Sidney Street to close at the beginning of February.
Good week for MIT basketball
Men’s basketball (8-1) defeated Rhode Island College 76 to 63 Thursday, Dec. 7. Cameron Korb ’19 scored a career-high 32 points and was 8-for-13 for three-point shots. This victory was the Engineer’s fifth in a winning streak.
MIT to upgrade cogeneration plant with new natural gas turbines by 2020
In addition, the current turbine is nearing the end of its projected 20-year lifespan and will need to be replaced with two new turbines, each equipped with a heat recovery steam generator. The new plant will produce 44 MW of power and 3,000 pounds of steam.
Harvard sophomore runs for City Council with undergraduate-managed campaign
Nadya Okamoto, a Harvard University sophomore, will run in the Cambridge City Council election this Tuesday following a months-long campaign managed with support from MIT freshman Grace Chuan ’21.
Cambridge City Council approves MIT’s petition for Volpe Center rezoning
MIT can now move forward with the first stages of its Volpe Transportation Center redevelopment project. It also broke ground on the first building being constructed under its Kendall Square Initiative capital project.
MIT — SO musical
Right from conductor Adam K. Boyles’ downbeat, MIT Symphony Orchestra (MITSO) delivered a brilliant performance, featuring Beethoven’s “Coriolan” Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, as well as Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in E minor, by MITSO’s own Bertrand Stone ’18.
Documenting the unchartable imagination of Jacob Collier
The film, directed by Jean Dunoyer, captured Collier’s time educating students and working with new technologies at MIT. At the end, 200 MIT musicians had the opportunity to perform on stage with him. After the film concluded, Dr. Harris, the director of the MIT Wind and Jazz Ensembles, who worked with Collier last year, offered these words: “I am so happy.”
McCormick in FYRE for the first time, tops in-out rate
Maseeh Hall and Simmons Hall were the most popular picks among the freshmen class this year, while the fewest number of freshmen chose to live in East Campus and Random Hall.