Wrestling Fails to Reclaim Varsity Status Despite $1.6M in Donations
Despite having raised $1.6 million from alumni, the MIT wrestling team was denied by the administration in an attempt to regain varsity status. Wrestling will now function as a club sport, making it the last of the eight varsity sports that were cut from varsity status last spring to transition to club status.
Sex@MIT: The Survey
Earlier this month, we asked all undergraduates via e-mail to take a sex survey. We asked you if you were having sex, when you were having sex, what kind of sex, and how good it was. About forty percent, or 1729 people, responded. We present the results here. Some of the statistics will not surprise anybody. Some surprised us all.
Kate McCarthy: Let’s Talk About Sex
Students who have concerns or uncertainties about sex don’t need to suffer alone, and can seek out help through MIT Medical’s Kate McCarthy. A year ago, McCarthy joined MIT Medical’s Center of Health Promotion and Wellness as its program manager on sexual health. She works to promote safe sex and understanding of sex in the community. While her role includes hosting events, including a December 1st “Know Your Status” HIV testing day, and writing “Sexpertise,” her online advice column where students can submit questions about sex, McCarthy primarily meets with students on a one-on-one basis to discuss all aspects of sex.
Peter Curtin G
Peter Curtin made his passion, warmth, and energy felt by everyone he worked with and befriended.
Massachusetts General Law, c.262, s.22b
Whoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse (Writer’s note: this includes anal sex, oral sex, or intercourse involving an object or body part not the penis) with a person and compels such person to submit by force and against his will, or compels such person to submit by threat of bodily injury, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years; and whoever commits a second or subsequent such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term or years.
Sex@MIT
The topic of sex is important in any discussion about the health of a campus. It is also one that is not often openly discussed. There is a lot we think we know about the sex lives of MIT students. But what is the truth? What is the norm at MIT? We hope you enjoy the content in this issue's special section and learn more about sex at MIT.
New MIT Undergraduate Program Helps Students Communicate in Industry
The students practice networking and hone “elevator pitches,” entrepreneurial ideas summarized in under a minute. They don blindfolds for team-building activities. Failure is met with candid critiques about their leadership styles.
Wave of Theft Hit MIT Dorms; MIT Police Have Made Arrests
Seventy-nine thefts, including 24 laptops and 18 bicycles, have been reported on the MIT campus this term. Derek Correira was arrested in Baker House on Oct. 22 for stealing a laptop.
Energy Dept. Aid Goes to Cutting-Edge Research
The federal Energy Department will make good on a pledge for a bolder technology strategy on Monday, awarding research grants for ideas like bacteria that will make gasoline, enzymes that will capture carbon dioxide to counter global warming and batteries so cheap that they will allow the use of solar power all night long.
Kate’s Top 10 Tips on Sex
2. If you’re going to be engaging in sex play, any kind of sex play at all, with different people, using latex condoms or female condoms is the safest way to protect yourself.
Tehran Rejects Nuclear Accord, Officials Report
Iran told the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country, according to diplomats in Europe and U.S. officials briefed on Iran’s response.
Clinton Challenges Pakistanis On Al-Qaida
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a visit meant to improve relations with Pakistan, strongly suggested Thursday that some Pakistani officials bore responsibility for allowing al-Qaida terrorists to operate from safe havens along this country’s frontier.
Shorts (left)
Every year, the single largest gathering in the world is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca: 2.5 million people from 160 countries packed into a small city in Saudi Arabia for five days.
The Senate’s ‘Dr. No’ Poses a Health Bill Hurdle
Sen. Tom Coburn’s office is the rare Capitol Hill work space without a “me wall” — the display of photographs of a lawmaker standing beside presidents, foreign leaders and other dignitaries, all illustrating How Big a Deal he is.
Iraq Arrests Police Officers and Soldiers After Bombings
Iraq announced Thursday that it had arrested dozens of police officers and army soldiers responsible for security in the neighborhood where car bombs killed and wounded hundreds of people outside government buildings this week.
U.S. Economy Grew in 3rd Quarter, First Time in a Year
The United States has emerged from the longest economic contraction since World War II.
69 On Halloween
A tight pressure gradient will be in place this weekend between a high pressure system off the coast of Nova Scotia and a strong low pressure system over southwestern Ontario. This will cause a strong flow from the southwest, bringing hot, steamy air to our region. High temperatures on Saturday will top out around 69°F (21°C), well above average, so no need to cover up your Halloween costume. The remainder of the weekend will be dry with the next chance for rain on Sunday night.
Shorts (right)
House Democrats on Thursday unveiled their bill to remake the health care system and said they had the votes to pass it. But Republicans said gimmicks had been used to hide the measure’s long-term costs.
Letters to the Editor
I have read the letter you received from Ahmed Hussain about Mother Teresa in which he discussed why she did not deserve the Nobel prize expressing some strong opinions about her activity. I wonder what is Hussain’s source of information regarding the activity of Mother Teresa. I have been myself several times in houses of the “Sisters of Charity” (the order of nuns Mother Theresa founded) and what I have seen is very different from what he describes. I have found simple nuns that lovingly assist and help those who are in need and those that have been forgotten by everybody and are alone.
Get Out and Vote!
Every member of the MIT community should have an interest in next Tuesday’s municipal elections. While there is a lot of interest in the Boston mayoral race and this winter’s U.S. senatorial race to replace Ted Kennedy, it’s much harder to find information about the candidates running for office here in Cambridge. Cambridge had a particularly poor voter turnout of under 14,000 (around a quarter of registered voters) in the last municipal elections, held in 2007. If you’re registered to vote in Cambridge, it’s your job to make your voice heard and cast your ballot for School Committee and City Council. Remember: think globally, act locally.
Schrödinger’s Cat May Be Dead, but Your Love Life Is Not
“But isn’t it true that 80 percent of MIT students graduate as virgins?”
Corrections
An article last Friday about proposed cuts to MIT pension plans misstated the fundamental relationship between MIT’s defined benefit and defined contribution plans. MIT employees need not choose one or the other, they receive both.
I Wish I WereYour Derivative So I Could Lie Tangent to Your Curves
With pickup lines like this article’s title, I can’t see why anyone would be surprised at the major finding of <i>The Tech</i>’s sex survey: 42 percent of MIT students are virgins, as opposed to a national college average of 20–25 percent. Why might this be? According to the survey, 30 percent of virgins said that it was their choice. Right. Come on, every MIT student out there who thinks of sex purely in terms of biological processes and, hence, is clueless, is going to say it’s their “choice.” There should have been an option on the survey that said “I haven’t had sex yet because I still have to take 7.012 (Intro to Biology).”
UA Update
Senate met on Monday, October 26 and started with Barbara Baker, Senior Associate Dean for Students, as a special guest. Dean Baker was interested in ways to communicate better with students, discussed ways to improve Student Life online resources such as the Student Support Services website, and detailed the work of the Deans on Call program. The UA Senate passed 41 U.A.S. 2.1: Bill to Decrease the Minimum Meeting Requirement, which allows for flexibility in scheduling Senate meetings due to long weekends. Senate will be meeting again on Monday, November 2.
Viewpoints
The Tech interviewed students in Lobby 7 on Monday, Oct. 26 about their viewpoints on sex at MIT.
MOVIE REVIEW ‘Monsterpiece’ or Just Monstrous?
From a mere ten sentences, Spike Jonze has managed to create a full-length feature film in his newest release, <i>Where the Wild Things Are</i>. The movie is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s picture book and delves into the realms of childhood and love at its truest and simplest form.
MOVIE REVIEW The Saints Are Back in Boston
When I heard Troy Duffy had made a sequel to <i>The Boondock Saints</i>, I was speechless.
COMEDY REVIEW Comedy and Commentary (Clothing Optional)
Andy Ofiesh performed comedy in the nude for the first time in 2005. Since then, he has brought his unconventional delivery to venues in Scotland and New York City. He currently recruits local Boston comedians to join him and his unique brand of stand-up on the first Wednesday of each month at Improv Boston in Cambridge.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★★ The Most Expensive, Maintream Porno Ever Now Has a Sequel.
Porn is a particularly difficult breed of entertainment to quantify: can a porn film be critiqued as more than just a vessel of sexual fantasy? Ought it be judged merely on the quality of its sex scenes, or can such topics as cinematography, acting, and (dare I say) plot make into the conversation? I have one particular film in mind.
BOOK REVIEW An MIT Alum Reveals The Simple Art of Estimation
Could you lift a house if only it were made of Styrofoam? Is it feasible to dig one’s way out of prison with a spoon? How many balloons might it actually take to lift a person or a house off the ground?
THEATER REVIEW Veterans and Newcomers Shine in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’
Shakespeare’s comedy “The Merry Wives of Windsor” strikes me as one of his more down-to-earth plays, in that it’s not so much about complex romantic networks (though there’s a bit of that) or cross-dressing (and a bit of that) but instead largely about messing with somebody simply because he’s really, really sketchy. Regardless of how much or how little you believe in “an eye for an eye,” it’s difficult not to laugh at the punishment endured by Falstaff, the sketch artist in question and a carryover from “Henry IV.” Cruel as it may seem to extreme empaths, you honestly can’t say he doesn’t ask for it.
INTERVIEW Rubblebucket Orchestra Ramp Up to Halloween Gig at Middle East
Afrobeat groove specialists Rubblebucket Orchestra will play a special show tomorrow night at the Middle East Downstairs. The morning after a gig in Hartford, I caught vocalist and saxophonist Kalmia Traver on the phone to discuss Rubblebucket Orchestra’s past, the new record <i>Rubblebucket</i>, and the influence of African music on her band’s style.
COMEDY REVIEW Night of Comedy Gets MIT to Lighten Up
As any good <i>Office</i> fan would know, B.J. Novak came to MIT last Saturday night for a stand-up comedy show. Novak, whose career started in stand-up, plays Ryan Howard in the hit NBC sitcom, writes for the show, and has appeared in such films as <i>Knocked Up</i> and <i>Inglourious Basterds</i>.
EXHIBIT REVIEW For Very Important Muggles Only
Instead of heading to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Hogwarts Express left platform 9 3/4 and took a transatlantic detour to Boston this September. Though no young witches and wizards were aboard the train, more than two hundred authentic costumes and props were.
INTERVIEW Q&A with Neville Longbottom
Matthew Lewis, who portrayed Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter series; Eddie Newquist, president of Branded Entertainment and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur; and Paul Fontaine, Vice President of Education of the Boston Museum of Science, discussed the Harry Potter exhibition at a roundtable discussion with <i>The Tech</i>.
Sports Shorts
MIT women’s soccer took on Clark University on a soggy Tuesday evening. The Engineers took an early lead and held on for the 2-0 victory in the final match of the NEWMAC regular season.
MIT Women’s Volleyball Clinches NEWMAC Regular-Season Title
MIT clinched its 3rd NEWMAC regular season title in five years by defeating Wellesley College 3-1 (25-2-, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23) on Tuesday night. With the win, the Engineers pushed their conference record to 8-0, while lifting their overall record to 24-7. Wellesley fell to 5-2 in the NEWMAC, 18-9 overall.
On Anal Virginity
Years ago, the fuss was over fellatio; nowadays, it’s everywhere. In a story on Duke University, <i>Rolling Stone</i> said, “oral sex [is] nearly ubiquitous, regarded as sort of a form of elaborate kissing that doesn’t really mean very much.” Likening oral sex to elaborate kissing might be extreme, but it isn’t extreme to say that oral sex has become a widely accepted practice.
My First Time
I was high and drunk and at a party and, against my better judgement, got in a cab with a Harvard student and went back to his apartment, where we fucked each other’s brains out. He was a good lay but boring to talk to. I bounced out of there early in the morning with the sex hair and the runny makeup, and got in the T and never spoke to him again.
For the Love of Lube!
Anyone who has ever taken basic Physics, which is a graduation requirement at MIT, can tell you that friction is the arch-nemesis of motion. Friction always opposes motion, and whenever bodies are in contact, a la intercourse, there will be friction. Some friction is a good thing, but too much can lead to painful consequences. When that happens, the result isn’t pleasant for either partner. Usually there’s a chain reaction: if a partner goes dry, the other partner goes soft. Many a virgin has botched an attempt at losing it because of too much friction.
Sex Toys: Your New Best Friend
I’m as big a fan of self-love as a newly sexually-awakened postpubescent, but sometimes a couple digits just won’t do. That’s when I reach for my favorite vibrator made by Fun Factory, a German sex toy company. Before I came across their nifty invention, I’d tried a lot of toys that left me feeling dissatisfied, so I resorted to masturbation without technological enhancements. Though it’s cheaper and equally pleasurable (especially if you’re familiar with your own body and nimble with your fingers), masturbation alone can get boring and sex toys can add variety to the bedroom. Some women have a difficult time reaching orgasm and can get closer to their goal with the aid of a toy. For me, finding the right vibrator made me realize that sex toy shopping is a little bit like playing Goldilocks. You have to find the toy that’s juuuust right and there are a lot of factors that come into play!
