Mary Rowe retiring from role as ombudsman
The MIT Ombuds Office, according to its mission statement, “helps people express concerns, resolve disputes, manage conflicts, and learn more productive ways of communicating” and serves as a neutral resource to the MIT community. Last year, MIT’s two ombudsmen received about 800 visitors, who collectively raised 3800 different issues, including academic concerns, interpersonal problems, and requests for referrals. Mary Rowe, one of MIT’s ombudsmen, is retiring from her position this year.
THE NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: The birds, the bees, and the flowers
It’s a romantic night. A young male bee, just out of his pupa, is looking for adventure. He spies another bee in the bushes, and from her scent, discovers that she is a female. He falls in love, and within a matter of seconds they are having sex. Then, something strange happens: she hits him on the head with a lump of pollen. Confused, he wanders off, and immediately falls for another beautiful bee. They too make love, and his new partner takes the pollen off of his head.
Five surprises at MIT
At MIT, you can walk a straight sixth of a mile indoors through the Infinite Corridor. You can get a pirate’s license if you take the right classes, take a pirate oath, and sign a waiver. Starting from the beginning of freshman year, you learn that the MIT community is full of interesting facts such as these, and an array of adventures. However, looking back as I prepare to graduate in June, there are several things that stand out as major surprises about my MIT undergraduate experience. They feel so obvious in hindsight, but these five revelations took me by surprise one at a time.
Hidden in “plane” sight
I love MIT, having spent the entire decade of the sixties here. After graduating in 1963 (Course 6), I stayed on to get a Ph.D. in 1970, and I’ve remained active as president of the class of 1963. Shortly after I retired in 2003, at the end of a 33-year career in electrical engineering and computer science, I started working as a volunteer mentor for MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (“VMS” – see http://vms.mit.edu/). As a result, I find myself at MIT several times a month.
Events May 13- May 19
Events may. 13 – may. 19 Tuesday (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.) 14th Annual Henry W. Kendall Memorial Lecture with Dr. Richard Alley — E15-070, Bartos Theater (7 p.m.) MIT Chamber Music Society — Killian Hall Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) 2014 Bike Awareness Day — W20 steps (2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) xTalks: Big Data Where Art Thou? — 32-155 Thursday (5:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.) MIT Enterprise Forum Innovation Series Event: How Will Drones and Other Flying Robots Shape Your Everyday Life? — Johnson Rink Friday (5 p.m.) Daniel Manesh Senior Piano Recital — Killian Hall (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) Anime;Brain?Reset! — 3-133 Saturday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Celebrate Spring with Baby Animals: traveling petting zoo — Westgate (7:30 p.m.) MIT Ballroom Dance Club: End of Semester Social Dance — W20-La Sala Sunday (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) Swapfest — N4 Monday (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) xTalks: Carl Wieman on how to teach and learn expertise in STEM — 3-270 (1 p.m. – 2 p.m.) Can Crowdfunding Democratize Access to Capital? — E62-233 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events May 06 – May 12
Events May 06 – May 12 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Taste of India, with free food, performances, and dances, hosted by MIT Sangam and the GSC Activities Committee — Walker Memorial (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MIT Chamber Music Society Jazz Combos Concert, sponsored by Music and Theater Arts — Killian Hall Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) MIT Police Laptop Tagging and Registration, $10 cash or MIT cost object per item, sponsored by IS&T Computing Help Desk — Lobby 10 Thursday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Energy 101 Session: An Introduction to Oil and Gas, sponsored by the MIT Energy Club — E51-325 (5 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Comparative Media Studies/Writing and the MIT Game Lab host Philip Jones and show his documentary “Gaming in Color” — E14-633 Friday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) MIT D-Lab Spring Showcase and Open House — N51, 3rd floor (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) LSC shows Blue is the Warmest Color, tickets for sale in Lobby 16 for $4 — 26-100 Saturday (12 p.m. – 4 p.m.) Family Day at the List: Graphic Text Workshop, family-friendly tour at 2 p.m., free and open to all — E15 (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) MIT Concert Choir and Orchestra: Verdi Requiem, free in advance via Eventbrite, $5 at the door — Kresge auditorium Sunday (11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) BBQ and frisbee to celebrate Lag BaOmer with MIT Hillel — Kresge lawn (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble performs the music of Irving Berlin — Killian Hall Monday (4:15 – 5:15 p.m.) Nuclear and Particle Physics Colloquium, with speaker Simona Murgia from UC-Irvine — 26-414 (6 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Texas Culture Night, sponsored by the Technology Policy Students Society — NW86-185 (Sid Pac seminar room) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
MIT life from the kitchen sink
Surrounded on all four sides by the short, squat buildings of student family housing at MIT, the large, inviting playground is the focus of the view from every kitchen window, presumably positioned to enable mothers to call Johnny, or Ahmed, or Xiao Ming home for dinner. A plethora of languages are spoken here on the playground, but the main language is that of uncertainty.
Events Apr 29 - May 05
Events Apr. 29 – May. 05 Tuesday (1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.) Our Digital Lives: Protecting Our Data In Use and At Rest — 32-144 (2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.) Historic Letterlocking: The Art and Security of Letterwriting — 32-144 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Silica Sounds in the Round — MIT Museum Wednesday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk Presents Esmeralda Barreiro — Killian Hall (9 p.m.) LSC shows The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — 32-123 Thursday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Dertouzos Distinguished Lecture: The Cryptographic Lens — 32-123 (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Russian History in a Nutshell — 56-154 Friday (12:01 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Open Mic in the Lewis Music Library — 14E-109 (5 p.m.) Steer Roast pit lighting — Senior House Courtyard Saturday (1 p.m. – 4 p.m.) MIT Anime Karaoke — Coffeehouse lounge (3 p.m.) RAMBAX Senegalese Drum Ensemble Outdoor Concert — Student center steps Sunday (10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) Beaver Dash — Z Center overhang (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) Folk Dancing with Live Croatian Music — Student Center 2nd floor Monday (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Internet, Security, and Power — Broad Auditorium Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Redefining sustainability
As part of Earth Week at MIT, we’ve looked at a few labs that are working to build a brighter and more sustainable future.
On honeybees
Walk along the Charles today, and you’ll find that spring is in full swing. The crocuses and daffodils are blooming. The geese are back in town. And if you stand still for a bit and watch the flowers, you may encounter a few pollinating insects buzzing along.
Composting at MIT
Here in Cambridge and at MIT, literally tons of waste are thrown away every day, filling our landfills and generating methane and carbon emissions when they could be generating value for our communities. Recent data from the EPA shows that people in the United States generate on average 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of trash per person every day. Approximately 65 percent of this ends up in a landfill, resulting in 160 million tons added to our landfills — enough to cover the entire area of Cambridge, Massachusetts with over 75 feet of garbage — every year.
Making MIT a model of sustainability
The MIT Office of Sustainability sits in a temporary space in the basement of Building 12, a far cry from the stereotypical green and airy spaces that are associated with “eco-friendliness.” Despite these humble surroundings, Dr. Julie Newman, Director of Sustainability since August 2013, is propelling the Office to influence the decision-making of MIT.
Soaking up the sun for a cross-country drive
How many MIT students does it take to build a solar-powered car? The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT), an Edgerton Center-sponsored, student-run group, can do it in two years with just 15-20 students.
70 plastic bottles + 1 artist = 2 trees + 1 hammock
Editor’s Note: Some parts of this interview were shortened and edited for clarity.
Punting sexual assault response
“MIT stands with survivors of sexual assault.” How many times have I heard that in the last year? Too many to count. Every time I hear it or read it, I feel the physicalized anxiety that I carry inside me from my past abusive relationship rise to the surface. My hands begin to sweat, the lump in my throat swells, and one time I threw up in a bathroom in my dorm.
Events Apr. 15 – Apr. 21
Events Apr. 15 – Apr. 21 Tuesday (2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Managing Careers in Organizations, sponsored by Organizational Economics — E62-650 (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon: Current and Looming Problems, sponsored by the Center for International Studies and Inter-University Committee on International Migration — E51-095 Wednesday (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) Books & Beasts: Parchment Identification from Animal Protein Analysis, sponsored by MIT Libraries — 14N-132 (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) America and the World in the Age of Obama, with speaker Fred Kaplan of Slate Magazine — E40-496 Thursday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Starr Forum: Junk Food and the Modern Mind, sponsored by the Center for International Studies — 66-110 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) TalkBack360: What Happened in Ukraine? — N51 (MIT Museum) Friday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) MIT CTL Distinguished Speakers Series: Boston Bikes, On a Roll, with speaker Nicole Freedman, Director of Bicycle Programs, City of Boston — W20-306 (1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) “Time to React: The Efficiency of International Organizations in Crisis Reponse,” a book talk with author Heidi Kardt — E40-496 Saturday (10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Eastgate Animal Show, sponsored by Eastgate Community Association, GSC Activities, and GSC Family Subcommittee — E55-PH (9:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Easter Party, sponsored by the GSC Funding Board and the Tech Catholic Community — W11 Main Dining Room and Small Dining Room Sunday (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Bulgarian Easter Celebration, sponsored by the GSC Funding Board — NW35, rain location NW30 Monday (7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) MIT Ballroom Dance Workshops: West Coast Swing, free for MIT students, $3 for other students and affiliates, $5 for general public — W20, La Sala or Lobdell Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
T is for terrible
Boston T, you’ve got a lot to learn from the New York subway system.
Events Apr 8 - Apr 10
Events Apr. 08 – apr. 14 Tuesday (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) The Investment Crisis in Life Science — MIT Museum (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) The Square screening, movie about the Egyptian Revolution — 6-120 Wednesday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Diamond: Engineer’s Best Friend, nanotechnology lecture — 34-101 (5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) OpenMind: How the Internet is Changing Our Lives — E14-6th floor Thursday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Energy 101: Solar Technology — E51-325 (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.) Poetry reading with Adam Dickinson — 14E-109 Friday (12 p.m. – 1p.m.) Advanced Music Performance Student Recital featuring Peter Godart, jazz piano — Killian Hall (5 p.m. – 8 p.m.) Second Fridays at the MIT Museum: Nautical Night — MIT Museum Saturday (12 a.m. – 12 p.m.) CPW — MIT Monday (6 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Nationalism, Sentimentality, and Judgment: Cultivating Sympathy in the Syrian Uprising, 2011-2013 — 3-133 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Proving the ‘impossible’
When Professor Andrei Linde of Stanford University first read a paper in the 1980s by MIT professor Alan Guth, then a postdoc at Stanford, he was taken by its description of cosmic “inflation,” the notion that one trillionth of one trillionth of one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe — for an infinitely brief moment — expanded faster than the speed of light. Linde immediately started improving the theory, completing his reworking before Guth’s next paper came from the United States that said the theory was impossible. “It’s a good thing the Soviet mail system was so slow, I didn’t hear I couldn’t improve the theory until I already had!” jokes Linde.
Events April 1 - April 7
Events Apr. 1 – Apr. 7 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Deutschland Theaterland: Exploring German history and culture through theatre — E40-464 Wednesday (3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m) MIT Spouses and Partners Wednesday meeting: Dispelling Myths about Libido — E55-Penthouse (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Space Board Games Night — Building 33, 1st floor lounge Thursday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) The Picower Lecture: Impact on circuits critical for memory across species presented by Dr. Carol A. Barnes — 46-3002 (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) The Untold History of the United States — E51-115 (6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Romanian Students Association presents Wild Carpathia 3 — 37-212 Friday (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Advanced Music Performance Student Recital featuring Eleanor Bors, cello — 14W-111 (7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows Saving Mr. Banks — 26-100 Saturday (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Science Carnival — Sidney-Pacific-MP Room (2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers Art Appreciation Day — W20-306 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Ebony Affair: Essence of Excellence — W50-105 Sunday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Sidney-Pacific Despicable Me April Brunch — Sidney-Pacific MP Room (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Percussionist Hubert Zemler and Evan Ziporyn, clarinet — Killian Hall Monday (2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Who Benefits When the Government Pays More? Evidence from Medicare Advantage — E62-450 (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Land Reform and Sex Selection in China — E62-650 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.