Saying it loud
Editor’s note: The following is an edited version of a speech delivered by the author in 2012 at the MIT Black Graduate Student Association’s Ebony Affair.
For the love of all material things
During Thanksgiving, one of the most cherished American traditions, my housemates and I decided to honor another cherished American tradition: shopping! And so, we merrily went to Macy’s at midnight of Thanksgiving.
The hardest part
Ten days ago, I was walking with someone to Next House and she asked me what I thought the hardest part of college was. I thought about the question for a while and replied “consistency.” I’ve only been here for a few months, but everything is so fluid in college that I have tremendous control over what I do in my day-to-day life and because of that, it is hard to create a strong structure to my days.
Events Nov. 25 – Dec. 01
Events Nov. 25 – Dec. 01 Tuesday (7 p.m. – 8 p.m.) The List shows ART21 “Secrets” — E15-070 Wednesday (1 p.m. – 2 p.m.) Game of Thrones: Food for Thought, with Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder and guest speakers — W11 Thursday (1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) MIT Free English Class, sponsored by Baptist Student Fellowship, Baptist Campus Ministry — W11-190 (Main Dining Room) Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) International Students Association hosts Thanksgiving dinner, $5 tickets at entrance — W4 (McCormick Dining Room) Saturday (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) Thanksgiving Ballroom Social, free for MIT students, $6 other students, $8 MIT affiliates, $10 others — W20 (Sala de Puerto Rico) Sunday (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) International Folk Dancing, teaching 8 p.m. — 9 p.m., free for MIT/Wellesley students, suggested $1 donation for others — W20 (Lobdell Dining Hall) Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Health Insurance Plan Choice with speaker Jonathan Gruber, sponsored by Public Finance/Labor Workshop — E62-650 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Institute Double Take
This photo is a long exposure shot of the MIT Great Dome taken shortly after midnight. I recently got a new camera and was eager to take it out on a night photo adventure, no matter how cold it was that evening. After a few star trail shots with the Boston skyline, I decided to head to campus. There are many photos of the iconic Great Dome on the internet, so I wanted to try something different. I started exposing the image at 55 mm, and after two seconds I manually adjusted the zoom ring until I reached the wide-angle 17 mm view with another 2 seconds remaining on the shutter. I had to try it a few times to make sure I timed it right and got the zooming movement as smooth as possible. The result was an unusual, interstellar look to MIT.
Institute Double Take
I saw a post on reddit.com/r/mit asking when “MITHenge” would be this year. I clicked the link in the post and discovered that the alignment of the setting sun with the Infinite Corridor has been measured and modeled for decades. Turns out, the predicted dates for this winter’s perfect alignment — when the setting sun would be visible from the very end of the Infinite, in Building 8 — were November 10-12. So, of course, I set a reminder in my calendar and grabbed a camera when the first predicted time arrived.
Events Nov. 18 – Nov. 24
Events Nov. 18 – Nov. 24 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Modern War Gardens: Paradise Lost, with photographer Lalage Snow, sponsored by the MIT Global France Seminar — 2-105 (7 p.m. – 8 p.m.) Innovations in Wind Energy Lecture Series: Cape Wind, presented by Cape Wind Communications Director Mark Rodgers, with pizza served — 3-333 Wednesday (3:00 p.m – 4:30 p.m.) Life after the Postdoc: Research positions beyond the tenure track, sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research — 46-3002 (4 p.m. — 6 p.m.) 2014 Engineering Boutique Night for all levels of engineering students, sponsored by GECD, registration required — Sheraton Commander, 16 Garden Street Thursday (8 a.m. – 1 p.m.) Choose to Reuse (dropoff starting 8 a.m., pickup starting 11 a.m). — 32 first floor (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.) MISTI-Russia Info Session — E40-496 Friday (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) MIT Sounding: Roomful of Teeth, tickets free with MIT ID on Eventbrite — W16 (Kresge auditorium) (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) MIT American Indian Science and Engineering Society shows Windtalkers, refreshments provided — 4-237 Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) LSC shows 10 Things I Hate About You, tickets $4 in Lobby 16 — 26-100 (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) MIT Brazilian Student Association and UA show Central Station, with traditional Brazilian food — 3-270 Sunday (4 p.m. – 6 p.m.) Fidelio Trio — 14W-111 (Killian Hall) Monday (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Regenarratives, with speaker Gabriel Kahan — E15-070 (Bartos Theatre) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
The universe in a nutshell
To be or not to be, that is the question.
Not your typical Wednesday
On a typical Wednesday, I only have two standing appointments: a marketing class and a comparative literature class focused on leadership stories and ethics. The rest of the day is filled with group meetings, homework, a visiting speaker session every now and then, and of course, sleeping in, thanks to my afternoon classes.
Pledge to end sexual assault
This week marked the launch of the MIT “It’s On Us” campaign. “It’s On Us” is a national awareness campaign developed by the White House in order to eliminate sexual assault on college campuses. As a part of the “It’s On Us, MIT” campaign, students, faculty and staff are invited to sign the MIT Bystander Pledge. The pledge was written by MIT students of the Title IX Working Group, the student-staff coalition that organized the It’s On Us campaign at MIT.
Newbury Street shutdown
Where Newbury Street becomes the Boston Public Gardens, a large crowd of people of various ethnicities, genders, nationalities, colors, and ages began to march. To the brunch-eaters who paused mid-bite of quiche to try to make out what we were chanting; to the annoyed trio of girls whose path to Urban Outfitters we blocked with the incessant stream of bodies; to the tourists trapped between a fence and our anger with no choice but to hear our message: I do not apologize.
Events Nov. 04 – Nov. 10
Events Nov. 04 – Nov. 10 Tuesday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) DJing at a glance, sponsored by MIT Libraries — 14E-109 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) MIT Sustainability Mixer — 6-104 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk Presents Michael Yarsky — Killian Hall (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Film Screening of Anita: Speaking Truth to Power, a documentary about Anita Hill’s fight to end sexual harassment, sponsored by the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies — 4-370 Thursday (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MISTI Info Session: South Africa, food provided — E40-496 (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Shakespeare Ensemble presents Othello — W20, La Sala de Puerto Rico Friday (12:01 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Open mic in the Lewis Music Library, refreshments provided — 14E-109 Saturday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) LSC shows How to Train Your Dragon 2 (free) — 26-100 Sunday (2:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.) Samba and Jive Workshop, hosted by MIT Ballroom Dance Club — Lobby 13 Monday (5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.) Great Jewish Personalities of the 20th century, sponsored by MIT Hillel — W11-180 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Quiet places
There are times when I’m on the MIT campus and I want some quiet. I enjoy being around people, but in the bustle of campus activities, sometimes you need some thinking space. Here are some of my favorite places to stay when I want a relaxing environment to work, chomp on food, or sleep.
Events Oct. 28 – Nov. 03
Events Oct. 28 – Nov. 03 Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Examining Ebola Interdisciplinary Panel — 4-163 (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? — E40-496 Wednesday (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.) MIT Events Fair 2014, sponsored by CAC — W20 3rd floor (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MISTI Info Session: India, food provided — E40-496 Thursday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Ultimate Truths: Comparing Science and the Humanities, sponsored by MIT Communications Forum — 32-123 Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Starr Forum: Palestine Now, a conversation with Husam Zomlot — E40-496 (8:00 p.m. – 11:45 p.m.) Persian Students Association Halloween Party, $12 MIT, $16 non-MIT — Lobdell Saturday (6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Deepavali and Hari Raya Celebration hosted by MITMASA — 6-120 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Chongyang Festival Game Night — W20-307 Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Shakespeare Ensemble presents Othello — W20, La Sala de Puerto Rico (6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Diwali Night 2014, hosted by MIT Sangam — Kresge auditorium Monday (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MISTI Info Session: Singapore, food provided — E40-496 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Young, ambitious, and undocumented at MIT
Jose A. Gomez ’17 recalled sitting down his junior year of high school to contemplate his post-graduation plans. Like many now-undergraduates at the Institute, he had dreamed of applying to MIT for years but felt his chances of actually being able to attend were slim.
Institute Double Take
Being out and about during magic hour with a camera — the time right before sunrise and after sunset — is a great way to capture beautiful photos. The light is soft and tinged with warm colors. In the evening, the orange and yellow city lights illuminate the skyline, providing a nice contrast to the blue and purple skies. Everything glows. At 6:30 p.m. on October 8th, 2013, the sun had already set, and the sailboats were returning to dock in the fast waning rays of twilight. It was quite a colorful and serene scene, punctuated by the waxing crescent moon. A high aperture and ISO was used to keep as much of the scene in focus as possible. Even though the original was in color, a black and white version was created for a business that wanted a framed 30" by 30” print in their office. The original image was in 3:2, so a simple square crop wouldn’t work without cropping some of the sailboats. I used the content-aware resizing tool in Photoshop to keep the essence of the original image in the new aspect ratio, with the business’s approval.