Yale Refuses To Display Divisive Abortion Art Project
When an exhibition of art projects by Yale University seniors opened on Tuesday, one was missing: that of Aliza Shvarts, whose performance-art project reportedly involved artificially inseminating herself repeatedly and then self-aborting.
Internet Shorthand Sometimes Used in Students’ Coursework
As e-mail messages, text messages and social network postings become nearly ubiquitous in the lives of teenagers, the informality of electronic communications is seeping into their schoolwork, a new study says.
Sneaking Into the Boston Marathon? Consider a Mexican Wrestling Mask
Patriot’s Day. For most people, it’s that odd Massachusetts holiday we get off from work, a time for barbecues, beer, (hopefully) nice weather, and of course, the time-honored tradition of running bandit in the Boston Marathon.
Jessop, Bennie Elected UA P/VP
With voter turnout up 13 percent, Noah S. Jessop ’09 and Michael A. Bennie ’10 won the Undergraduate Association elections for president and vice president.
Red Flagged and Chapped Lips
No, this is not about a dry-lipped freshman in danger of failing a class. Instead, it is in reference to yesterday’s dangerous fire weather conditions. Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service (the so-called “real” meteorologists) when a majority of the following conditions occur: dry air, strong winds, and approximately 10 or more days without precipitation. We certainly had that yesterday. The first two can be attributed to yesterday’s strong vertical mixing. This “homogenizing” process “dragged” the air from 1 mile above towards the surface. Since the air above is almost always windier and drier, this caused the desert-like dryness (with relative humidity readings near 10 percent) and wind gusts of 35 mph.
For Airlines, Runways Growing Increasingly Dangerous
The recent groundings of thousands of flights have raised flags about skipped airplane inspections and botched repairs to wiring.
Pakistan Approaching Peace Deal With Militant Tribes
The Pakistani government is close to an agreement to end hostilities with the most militant tribes in its turbulent border area, whose main leader is accused of orchestrating most of the suicide bombings of recent months and the assassination of the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Shorts (left)
The top American envoy to Africa declared Thursday that Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was the “clear victor” over President Robert Mugabe in the nation’s disputed election and called on other countries — including the United States — to help solve the deepening political and humanitarian crisis there.
Shorts (right)
Seizing on her Pennsylvania primary victory, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her surrogates are renewing their efforts to have the disputed Michigan and Florida convention delegates seated and pushing the argument that she now leads in the total number of votes cast when the tallies in those two states are included.
McCain Faults Bush’s Emergency Response to Katrina Disaster
Sen. John McCain took direct aim at the Bush administration Thursday as he stood in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and declared the handling of the disaster “terrible and disgraceful” and pledged that it would never happen again.
Medics, Trained for Combat Wounds, Tend to Iraq’s Needy
Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, there was a desperate wail at the back gate of B Company’s compound in Sadr City. A woman had been badly burned and her relatives were begging for help.
Corrections
The headline for an April 15 article discussing the Media Lab’s Center for Future Banking incorrectly identified Sloan Professor Dan Ariely as the lead of the new group. Ariely is a member of the group, which is directed by Deb K. Roy, associate professor of Media Arts and Sciences.
Power From Space: Its Time Has Come
Last week, we saw a significant policy shift on greenhouse gas emissions when President Bush called for a halt in the growth of U.S. emissions by 2025 and urged other major polluting nations to develop national goals to address climate change. On the same day, South Korea’s president started a visit to the U.S. to make a pitch to companies and investors to assist the country’s desire to become an energy producer following the discovery of deposits of gas hydrates — crystalline solids of methane and water molecules — off its coast last year. The country’s aspirations are understandable. They would, however, add to emissions from methane released during extraction. Gas hydrates have also been found in large quantities off the coasts of China, India, and Taiwan, all of which have increasing energy demands.
Letters to the Editor
Thomas Armet suggests that The Tech should have not published Artem Kras’ name to avoid a “witch hunt.” The term “witch hunt” distinctly implies an absence of “witches,” which is not the case here — there was a severe incident with an identifiable perpetrator, and the Committee on Disciple proved too impotent to effectively punish him. <i>The Tech</i> is acting as an important public servant by ensuring that Kras is roundly ridiculed for his actions, and is doing the COD’s job by ensuring that this kind of action does not go unpunished in our community.
Oliver’s Twist on These ‘Terrifying Times’
Ever since Briton John Oliver appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show, I’ve wanted to see more of his work, and have hoped to some day be able to talk to him. Thanks to a Comedy Central special, I got to do both this past week. On Sunday, Mr. Oliver starred in his own one-hour stand-up special, “Terrifying Times,” in which he discussed the scariness that is world politics. Instead of crude humor, Mr. Oliver made intelligent observations about serious situations put in a comedic light. A few days before “Terrifying Times” aired, I was able to talk to Mr. Oliver by phone about his transition into comedy, his work on The Daily Show, and his new comedy special. Below is an excerpt.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ 1/2 ‘Baby Mama’ Delivers Laughs, But Gags Are Far From Newborn
My new favorite thing when looking up a movie is to read the plot keywords on IMDB. They are usually hilarious and often surprisingly able to sum up a movie. For example, the keywords posted for <i>Baby Mama</i>, the new comedy starring Tina Fey, are “pregnancy,” “toilet,” and “surrogate mother.” These three words are absolutely accurate; the movie is indeed about pregnancy and surrogacy, but it’s also so absurd that the word “toilet” is not out of place.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ ‘Sarah Marshall’ Formulaic, But Not Forgettable
Comedy movies of the past few years have progressively gravitated towards in-your-face outrageous laughs. Movies like <i>Knocked Up</i>, <i>Superbad</i>, and <i>Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story</i> have led the way to this new form of R-rated comedy. These films are a direct result of Judd Apatow’s vision, who directed <i>Knocked Up</i>, produced <i>Superbad</i>, and most recently produced <i>Forgetting Sarah Marsall</i>. This movie serves up the laughs at a fevered pace, but Apatow’s formula is becoming a little predictable.
sMITe Finishes Third At Boston Sectionals, Qualifies for Regionals
The MIT women’s ultimate frisbee team, “sMITe,” came in third out of twelve teams at the Metro Boston Women’s Sectionals last weekend in Lancaster, Mass. The team qualified for the New England Regional competition on May 3.
GAME OF THE WEEK Baseball Captures Win in First Game of NEWMAC Tournament
Jay M. Turner ’08 delivered his best start of the spring as MIT’s offense complimented his effort with a strong performance in the first round of the New England Women’s and Men’s Conference Baseball Tournament on Wednesday. The Engineers cruised past Springfield College 11-2. The third-seeded MIT remained in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament after the win, and travelled to face No. 2 Wheaton College yesterday afternoon.
Rasin, Coblenz Compete at NCAA Championship
For the second year in a row, MIT sent two representatives to the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships hosted this past weekend by Stanford University. Boris Rasin ’09 made his second trip to the national qualifying round while Joshua S. Coblenz ’08 received his first nod.
