FSILGs Face Loss of Option to House Non-MIT Summer Renters
The ability of Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups (FSILGs) to charge and accept non-student summer boarders is in jeopardy. Those boarders have been critical to struggling revenues at FSILGs.
Bareilles, Hotel Lights To Open for Ben Folds at Spring Weekend Concert
Sara Bareilles will open this year’s Spring Weekend concert, which will be headlined by Ben Folds. Folds will be bringing along the indie band Hotel Lights.
Visa Hassles May Discourage International Students
When Alena Shkumatava opens the door to the “fish lab” at the Whitehead Institute of MIT, she encounters warm, aquarium-scented air and shelf after shelf of foot-long tanks, each containing one or more zebra fish. She studies the tiny fish in her quest to unravel one of the knottiest problems in biology: how the acting of genes is encouraged or inhibited in cells.
Chorallaries’ ‘Concert in Bad Taste’ Features Comedic, Bawdy Songs
Chances are, if you’re Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, or just a member of the MIT community, you got offended by the a cappella group the Chorallaries (or the “Whore-allaries,” as they called themselves) at the <i>n</i>th Annual Concert in Bad Taste last Saturday night.
UA and Class Council Candidates
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: Because of inaccurate information provided by the Undergraduate Association Election Commission, Tuesday’s table that listed UA and Class Council candidates gave the incorrect class years for some Class Council candidates. Rishi Dixit ’12 is running for class of 2012 — not 2011 — president. David S. Zhu ’12 is running for class of 2012 — not 2011 — treasurer. Zhu is also a Tech sports editor, which the table did not disclose because of an editing error.
MLK Diversity Exhibit Vandalized Twice
President Susan J. Hockfield and Prof. J. Phillip Thompson, Chair of the Committee on Race and Diversity, have issued a statement in response to vandalism of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial exhibit last month (see right). The annual exhibit consisted of several student-created displays to promote diversity, human rights, and similar principles, and ran from Feb. 2 through Feb. 9 in Lobby 10.
Bush Administration Releases Memos On Terror
The secret legal opinions issued by Bush administration lawyers after the Sept. 11 attacks included assertions that the president could use the nation’s military within the United States to combat people deemed as terrorists and to conduct raids without obtaining a search warrant.
In Secret Letter Last Month, Obama Offered Deal To Russia
President Barack Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.
Stocks Tumble Across the Globe Amid Economic Worries
Fears that the world’s economies are even weaker than had been thought ricocheted around the globe on Monday as investors from Hong Kong, to London, to New York bailed out of stocks.
Fannie and Freddie Likely to Stay In U.S. Hands
Despite assurances that the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be temporary, the giant mortgage companies will most likely never fully return to private hands, lawmakers and company executives are beginning quietly to acknowledge.
Shorts (left)
By easing the terms of its $150 billion rescue package for the American International Group, the government is trying to buy time for the financial conglomerate to slim down and reinvent itself as a simple property and casualty insurer, with a new name, new faces in the boardroom and perhaps an initial public offering in its future.
Sanctuaries Established for Abused Afghan Women
Mariam was 11 in 2003 when her parents forced her to marry a blind 41-year-old cleric. The bride price of $1,200 helped Mariam’s father, a drug addict, pay off a debt.
Just When You Thought Winter Was Over…
The classic nor’easter swept through New England Monday morning, dumping 7.5 inches of snow at Logan airport (as of Monday afternoon).
Shorts (right)
The legal advocacy group that successfully argued for sex-same marriage in Massachusetts intends to file suit here on Tuesday seeking some federal benefits for spouses in such marriages.
Uncertainty Threatens UA Elections
With the issues of dining reform, GIR overhaul, and severe budget cuts on the horizon, more than ever the Undergraduate Association requires strong student leaders that have the confidence of the student body and the respect of the administrators they will engage.
Obama’s Vision of Change: A United States of Soviet Socialist Republics
President Barack Obama’s recent address to Congress started with a promise that he would speak freely and candidly. He acknowledged that the confidence of the American people has been badly shaken as the recession gains momentum, job losses mount, and certainty in the future erodes. He promised the American people that the nation would rebuild and recover stronger than ever.
A Technical Solution to a Human Problem
The only threat “to disrupt the ability to run a timely election” in the latest fiasco from the Undergraduate Association’s Election Commission came from the leaders who decided to fire their computer guy three weeks before he was supposed to start running the elections.
Corrections
An article Friday about MIT’s property development at 650 Main Street gave an incorrect affiliation for Michael K. Owu ’86. He is Director of Real Estate for the MIT Investment Management Company; he is not the Director of the Center for Real Estate. The Center for Real Estate is an academic center associated with the School of Architecture and Planning; the MITIMCo manages the financial resources of the Institute.
Squid vs. Whale
I am a long way from Texas. If I were in Texas, I would not be freezing my balls off. On Friday, the 27th of February, 2009, the high in San Antonio, TX—the city where I grew up—was 92 degrees. I shit you not. 92 degrees. That is six degrees separated from a boy band and hot enough for swimming. Chapstick. That’s how I know I’m a long way from home. Burt’s Bees Wax Pomegranate Lip Balm. It is the greatest thing ever recommended to me—and the reason my lips aren’t bleeding profusely.
Ramblings From Hell
It is Friday night at 8:00 p.m., and I am sitting with crumbs from what was formerly a $16.99 block of parmesan. My cable hasn’t been working for the past two days. This is unfortunate, because I returned to my apartment ten minutes ago filled with the desire to do nothing but finish this parmesan and watch C-SPAN.
