News Briefs
LaVerde’s Market returned to 24-hour service this week as new staff were hired for night shifts. The Student Center market is now open from 7 a.m. Sunday to midnight Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Noose Left on Columbia Professor’s Door
A day after a noose was found hanging on a black professor’s office door at Columbia University’s Teachers College, protesting students chanted “no diversity, no university” and confronted university officials at two emotional meetings on Wednesday.
Record Voter Turnout in Senate, Council Elections
An unprecedented 1,203 votes were cast in the Undergraduate Association Fall 2007 elections for Senate and 2011 Class Council — a sharp increase over the 1,083 votes cast in 2006 and 1,160 cast in 2005. The elections concluded Friday, Oct. 5.
Tufts Neighbors Cry Foul Over Rowdy Student Behavior
Somerville officials and a neighborhood group are calling on Tufts University to take more responsibility for students they say are behaving badly in the neighborhoods, screaming in the streets in the wee hours, jumping on cars, and urinating and vomiting in residents’ yards.
MIT Graduate Student Designs Facebook Add-On for Enemies
Now that Internet users have forged online relationships with the people they like, they can turn their attention to shaming the folks they hate.
Administrators Draft Guidelines For Responsible, Safe Hacking
In preparation for the release of a set of hacking guidelines, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75 sent an e-mail out to all MIT students last week that said students must take full responsibility for their actions even while celebrating and protecting traditions such as hacking. The e-mail also addressed integrity, warning students against academic dishonesty and illegal downloading.
Alum Gives $100 Million For Cancer Research
Tiny new drugs that target cancer-causing genes and early warning systems that flag cancer’s recurrence are among the gee-whiz goals of a planned research center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology that got a $100 million infusion Tuesday.
RIAA Sends Thirty Pre-Litigation Letters Over Alleged Music Piracy
Thirty individuals at MIT have been sent pre-litigation settlement letters after allegedly illegally downloading copyrighted music, according to a press release issued by the Recording Industry Association of America last month.
Shiites Grow Disillusioned With Baghdad’s Local Mahdi Militia
In a number of Shiite neighborhoods across Baghdad, residents are beginning to turn away from the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia they once saw as their only protector against Sunni militants. Now they resent it as a band of street thugs without ideology.
Turkey Angry Over Congress’ Vote on Armenian Genocide
Turkey reacted angrily Thursday to a House committee vote in Washington to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide, recalling its ambassador from Washington and threatening to withdraw its support for the Iraq war.
Shorts (left)
Last November, immigration officials began a crackdown at Smithfield Foods’ giant slaughterhouse here, eventually arresting 21 illegal immigrants at the plant and rousting others from their trailers in the middle of the night.
Shorts (right)
There are bagels and fruit in the morning, sandwiches at lunch, fresh cookies in the afternoon and an occasional restaurant dinner, but many of the doctors who routinely accept these goodies from pharmaceutical sales representatives say they meet with sales people for the educational messages they bring, not the food.
Iraq, Gay Rights Prompt Tensions Between Dems., Loyal Party Base
Of the three most recognizable Barneys in America, one is a singing purple dinosaur, another is a prehistoric cartoon character and the third is a gay congressman from Massachusetts.
Lessing, Who Inspired a Generation Of Feminists, Wins Literature Nobel
Doris Lessing, the Persian-born, Rhodesian-raised and London-residing novelist whose deeply autobiographical writing has swept across continents and reflects her engagement with the social and political issues of her time, Thursday won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Drug Companies Remove Infant Cold Medications From Market
Major makers of over-the-counter infant cough and cold medicines announced Thursday that they were voluntarily withdrawing their products from the market for fear that they could be misused by parents.
Many Happy Returns
Following the overcast Columbus Day holiday, a lingering low pressure system has been responsible for our recent spate of showers. Later today, the storm will migrate into Maine, but its effects will still be felt: cyclonic winds will remain gusty into Saturday. These strong winds will pull in dry air from Canada, and by early next week a high pressure ridge will cover New England, ushering in clear autumn skies.
INTERVIEW A Conversation in Writing
S<i>tephanie Gayle, who works at the MIT Media Lab, released her debut novel </i>My Summer of Southern Discomfort<i> this summer. The novel follows Natalie Goldberg, a New England lawyer who has moved to Macon, Ga., as she navigates a capital murder case and her own life in the sticky Southern summer. Recently, I met with Gayle to discuss her novel and her writing in general. The following is an excerpt from that conversation.</i>
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ Check Out That Luggage
The Darjeeling Limited,” the latest film by Wes Anderson, is a tour de force of overt symbolism. In the film, three brothers bring their emotional baggage (played by real luggage) to India (played by India) and go on an emotional journey (played by a train ride) to confront their past (played by their mother).
THEATER REVIEW An Abstract Week of Art
When I first heard about <i>365 days/365 plays</i>, Suzan-Lori Parks’ project to spend a year writing one play a day, I remember thinking it was a little, um, ambitious. But I also remember reading her play, <i>Topdog/Underdog</i>, which brought fresh ideas on racial identity, history’s everyday presence, masculinity as a weapon, and masculinity as a weakness. I suppose few people would be better equipped than Parks for such an undertaking.
CD REVIEW ‘In Rainbows’ a Lofty, Beautiful Success
After four years of mystery, the longest gap between Radiohead albums has finally come to a decisive close, following Wednesday’s release of new record <i>In Rainbows</i>.
Field Hockey Falls to Wellesley, 1-0
The Wellesley College field hockey team earned a 1-0 win over MIT in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference game on Tuesday afternoon, extending its winning streak to three. Emily Hewitt earned her seventh shutout of the season and the third in as many games for the Blue, which improved to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play. With the loss, the Engineers’ ledger lowered to 4-9 on the year and 1-4 in NEWMAC competition.
Morris Records 3,000th Assist In Tech Win Over Coast Guard
MIT recorded a 30-28, 30-25, 30-14 win over host U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday night, recording its sixth consecutive sweep over a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference foe. The Engineers (21-1, 6-0 NEWMAC) dealt the Bears their first regular-season home conference loss in nearly four years, with their last defeat coming at the hands of MIT on Oct. 21, 2003.
Torre’s Tenure in NY Should Not Hinge on One Division Series
I may be a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, but I am first a fan of quality baseball. (Though I will never — that’s right, never — cheer a play by Derek Jeter. Or Johnny Damon. Or Roger Clemens. The list could continue … oh, right, Alex Rodriguez.)
Cross Country Teams Compete in All-New England Championships
The MIT men’s and women’s cross country teams finished 12th and sixth, respectively, in the All-New England Championships this past Saturday. The less-than-ideal hot, humid, and dusty race conditions led to slower times than usual, but both teams posted solid performances on their home course at Franklin Park. In particular, the Tech women recorded the Institute’s highest-ever finish at this championship amid a field of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, II, and III teams.
LAMP Top 10
The Library Access to Music Project is the Student Information Processing Board’s campus-wide jukebox on MIT Cable. (To use LAMP, visit http://lamp.mit.edu.) Here are the top 10 albums on LAMP from the last two weeks, ranked by how many people played them.
Through My Eyes
Ever since I was little, I’ve dreamed of becoming Superman, minus his wardrobe and enemies, of course. As I grew older, I felt most content when I could help others. In a sense, volunteering is one of the most selfish things a person can do. Volunteering gives me a purpose for my own life and makes everything worth while. Though it is satisfying to serve in my own community, I had always dreamed of helping those suffering in developing countries around the world. I always thought that this would make the biggest difference.
Squid vs. Whale
Warning! Excessive cell phone use will give you brain cancer! That’s what some scientists are saying these days, right? Nerds in lab coats getting all Chicken Little on our weekend minutes. But imagine if they were right and 10 years from now, we were all walking around with big tumors sticking out of our heads. This would be a serious calamity and its consequences must be addressed.
Brouhaha Rhythm
The other day, I encountered a tour passing the Student Center. The tour group, as near as I could tell, consisted largely of wide-eyed parents and nonplussed teenagers apparently unimpressed with the Infinite Corridor (I guess they’d never seen anything infinite before and were still recovering from the shock). At any rate, the parents seemed enthused about exploring campus, and, after passing a group of sorority members, the more hormonal of the male high school prospects seemed to perk up as well.
