Physics Funds More Maternity Leave for Female Grad Students
The Physics Department has agreed to fund a third month of paid maternity leave for female physics graduate students, an extension of the two months of childbirth accommodation provided for female graduate students Institute-wide.
Hutchings Elected New IFC President
David J. Hutchings ’10 and O. Russell Rodewald ’10 were elected president and vice president of the Interfraternity Council last Wednesday, Oct. 29. Hutchings said that his main goals for the upcoming year include fostering a spirit of interfraternity community and improving the image of MIT fraternities in the community.
Profs. Have Little Influence on Students’ Ideologies
An article of faith among conservative critics of American universities has been that liberal professors politically indoctrinate their students. This conviction not only fueled the culture wars but has also led state lawmakers to consider requiring colleges to submit reports to the government detailing their progress in ensuring “intellectual diversity,” prompted universities to establish faculty positions devoted to conservatism and spurred the creation of a network of volunteer watchdogs to monitor “political correctness” on campuses.
Election Day: Yes We Can Have Free Yogurt
After being called and e-mailed many times by the Obama campaign over the last few weeks, I decided to spend Election Day in New Hampshire campaigning for Barack.
End of Good Times for Emporium
Good Time Emporium, the Assembly Square family fun center which combined the best and worst of a Chuck E. Cheese’s, an indoor Go Kart track, and a sports bar, but whose reputation was marred by a 2004 stabbing, a 2007 shooting, and a spring 2008 brawl, is closed and will not reopen. Many of the attraction’s attractions will be auctioned off in Brockton on Saturday.
Some At MIT Faced Problems At Voting Locations
Some members of the MIT community encountered problems at voting sites Tuesday, mostly as a result of a Cambridge-wide glitch that left thousands off the official lists of eligible voters.
News Briefs
Two new channels were added this fall to the MIT Cable lineup: TVJapan (channel 16) and Big Ten Network (channel 20), according to Randall W. Winchester, Team Leader of MIT Cable Television.
In Washington, Car Companies Plead for Bailout
Executives of Detroit’s Big Three automakers traveled to Washington on Thursday to press their case for more financial aid from the federal government because of the bleak prospects for their industry.
Just Before Holiday Season, Retail Sales Decline Sharply
Just ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season, most of the nation’s retailers reported double-digit declines in October sales on Thursday, underscoring how the financial turmoil has touched all stores, be they discount or luxury.
Three European Central Banks Cut Interest Rates Sharply
The top three European central banks cut interest rates on Thursday in the face of increasingly dire evidence that much of Europe was moving into a serious recession.
Bush Warns of Vulnerability In Transition to Obama
President Bush, warning that terrorists “would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change,” said Thursday that he intends to talk to President-elect Barack Obama on Monday about issues that will face his administration, including the turmoil in the financial markets and the war in Iraq.
Shorts (left)
In another sign of the economy’s toll on the nation’s health care system, some hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients even as greater numbers of people are showing up at emergency rooms unable to pay their bills.
Accounts Undercut Georgia’s Claims of Russian Provocation
Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the long-standing Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.
Shorts (right)
Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the last week, according to gun store owners around the nation who describe a wave of buyers concerned that an Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms.
Clash of Extremes
A slowly moving low-pressure region currently over the Dakotas has set up a contrast of extremes in the middle of the country. Areas to the east of the low, in the warm sector of the storm, have set all-time November maximum temperature records. In contrast, areas just to the west of the low are receiving blizzard conditions. Some areas of the Dakotas have been getting pounded by several feet of snow and winds gusting over 55 mph at times. This storm is partly responsible for the above average temperatures that we have been feeling over the past few days, but thankfully it will lose its punch before approaching Boston.
Letters to the Editor
It was fantastically fortunate that the building 66 steam explosion occurred at night, that it occurred on a Friday night, and that it occurred on the Friday night of Halloween, all of which contributed to the fact that there was nobody present in the sub-basement labs at the time.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★★ Dense, Lurid Memory
Wong Kar-Wai may be the most unjustly categorized filmmaker alive: it’s easy to see his movies as little more than small, dizzying portraits of love, loss, and romance — as mood pieces.
DANCE REVIEW Lincoln’s Legacy Dazzles at ICA
The Bill T. Jones/Anie Zane Dance Company has been established for 25 years and is renowned as a driving force in the modern dance world. The last weekend of October, the company performed a piece, “Another Evening: Serenade/Proposition,” at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
Pistol Tops Coast GuardMIT Men’s Fencing Opens Season At the Big OneWomen’s Fencing Rookies Shine At the Big One
The MIT pistol team defeated the host U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 6,004-5,874 last weekend. The women completed the sweep with a 2,663-2,470 decision over the Bears.
GAME OF THE WEEK MIT Women’s Volleyball Wins in NEWMAC Quarterfinal Match
In the first New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament meeting between MIT and Babson College, the No. 3-seeded Engineers emerged with a 25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17 victory over the No. 6 Beavers in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday. MIT (21-15) will travel to Springfield College on Friday, Nov. 8 to square off with No. 2 Wellesley College in semifinal action. Babson concluded its season with an overall record of 16-11.
