Man arrested for rape in Building 2 Tuesday morning
A man was arrested early Tuesday morning on campus and charged with two counts of rape and one count of trespassing.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK Prefrosh in Providence
Last Thursday, I found myself standing in the same hotel as I had been two years prior when I was accepted to MIT. It was at the Radisson Providence Harbor Hotel in Rhode Island, where the MIT Club of Rhode Island has been hosting its prospective freshmen dinner since 2007.
Breast cancer genes can’t be patented, judge rules
A federal judge on Monday struck down patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The decision, if upheld, could throw into doubt the patents covering thousands of human genes and reshape the law of intellectual property
Penny Arcade comes to town
“My gravy trainnnnnn!” exclaimed Jerry Holkins, co-creator of Penny Arcade after losing an arm-wrestling match to co-creator Mike Krahulik at a Q&A session at the Penny Arcade Exposition last weekend.
Modi & Wyman take UA top spots in landslide win
Vrajesh Y. Modi ’11 and Samantha “Sammi” G. Wyman ’11 were elected as Undergraduate Association President and Vice President, receiving over 80 percent of votes in the spring election.
Census forms distributed to living groups this week
Students who live on campus or in a FSILG will receive a census form this week. The census must be filled out as soon as it arrives and mailed back by National Census Day, April 1, 2010. Anyone who does not complete the census form will be fined $100 by the Federal Government, and MIT is legally obligated to provide directory information on them to Census officials, who will visit to ensure completion of the form.
New EPA scrutiny of plastic chemical
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to add bisphenol-A, or BPA, a plastic widely used in food packaging and plastic bottles, to its list of chemicals of concern because of potential adverse impacts on the environment and human and animal health.
Corrections
A Friday, March 19 article about torrential rains incorrectly stated that residents of East Campus wrapped their basement smoke detectors in plastic bags to keep the alarms from going off. MIT Facilities wrapped the smoke detectors, to keep moisture out of electrical connections, not to prevent steam from setting off the alarm.
Shorts (left)
A Pakistani court Monday eased some travel restrictions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist and pioneer of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, who admitted six years ago that he had been running an illicit proliferation network. But the court maintained a prohibition on news interviews with him about his past nuclear activities, according to lawyers involved in the case.
Female suicide bombers blamed for Moscow blasts
Brazen suicide bombings in the center of Moscow on Monday confronted Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin with a grave challenge to his record of curbing terrorism, and raised the possibility that he will respond as he has in the past by significantly tightening control over the government.
Rainiest March on record?
As you read this, we are surpassing the record for Boston’s rainiest March in the last century. As of last night, we have seen a total of more than 11.2 inches of rain this month, while the rainiest March prior totaled 11.0 inches in 1953. Flooding throughout the region will occur; the NWS has flood warnings out for all of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as much of New York and New Jersey. Today, a strong southerly low-level jet stream from the E/SE feeds lots of moisture over us. Upper level winds slowly push the low pressure system directly on top of us, centering a strong region of convergence right over Massachusetts. We should see the heaviest rain today around noon; totals for the day will be around three or more inches. Surface winds will be predominantly from the north/northwest and reaching a maximum speed of 20 mph.
Delaware and Tennessee win Obama’s U.S. school grants
Delaware and Tennessee beat out 38 other states and the District of Columbia to win a share of $4 billion in federal education grants, convincing the Obama administration that they have bold plans for overhauling their public school systems.
10 Mexican students among dead in drug violence massacre
Mexico reeled Monday from another bloody weekend of drug-related killings that was made even more horrible by the baffling massacre of 10 young people and children traveling in a pickup truck in Durango state.
Shorts (right)
It is not clear what some students at South Hadley High School expected to achieve by subjecting a freshman to the relentless taunting described by a prosecutor and classmates.
Muted speculation about N. Korea’s role in bombing of S. Korean warship
The mystery of what caused a South Korean warship to sink in disputed waters may not be solved for days, with rescuers still hunting for 46 missing sailors and a recovery crane slowly being carried to the site.
In companies tax moves, push on provision of health reform
An association representing 300 large corporations urged President Barack Obama and Congress on Monday to repeal a provision of the health care overhaul that prompted AT&T, Caterpillar and other companies to announce substantial charges for the current quarter.
Finally!
There’s a health policy joke that MIT’s Jon Gruber likes to tell: A health economist dies and goes to heaven. When he gets there, he is greeted by St. Peter and told that he can ask God one question. The economist asks, “Will there ever be universal health insurance coverage in the United States?” God replies, “Yes, but not in my lifetime.”
Who’s in charge here?
<i>This is the first in a series on the graduate student leadership development experience at MIT, brought to you by the Leadership Development Subcommittee of the MIT Graduate Student Council. They welcome comments and feedback at </i>gsc-leadership@mit.edu<i>.</i>
The economics of endangerment
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Seahorses. The last thing I expected to have on my mind in the city that just hosted the Winter Olympics, complete with a fuzzy Sasquatch mascot that couldn’t be more unlike the sleek sea creatures. But there is no more appropriate place to talk about the seahorse than the University of British Columbia, where scientist Amanda Vincent leads Project Seahorse, a team of researchers who use the iconic fish to spearhead marine conservation efforts worldwide.
Letters to the Editor
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: Because of an editing error, a prior version of this letter was attributed to the wrong author. The letter was written by David A. Brescia '11, not Andrew Freeman.
Upcoming Home Events
Tuesday, March 16 Baseball vs. Brandeis University 3:30 p.m., Briggs Field Men’s tennis vs. Salem State College 4 p.m., duPont Courts
MIT curling team sweeps its way to second regional title
Curling? That’s right. That Olympic sport where people slide rocks on ice and sweep like madmen has arrived at MIT. In fact, MIT students have been curling for the almost three years, since the curling club was approved by the ASA.
Scoreboard
Baseball Saturday, 3/27 at Wheaton CollegeL 9-0 at Wheaton CollegeL 7-4 Women’s Lacrosse Saturday, 3/27 at Springfield CollegeL 17-13 Softball Saturday, 3/27 vs. Clark UniversityL 6-0 vs. Clark UniversityL 13-2 Men’s Volleyball Saturday, 3/20 vs. Mount Ida CollegeW 3-0 vs. Elms CollegeW 3-0
Sports Shorts
Grant M. Kadokura ’11 won the 125 lb. National Collegiate Wrestling Association championship on March 13, the first national title in wrestling in Institute history. He defeated Frankie Miller from the University of Georgia.
BROUHAHA RHYTHM Moderating musical tastes
Upon hearing that I’d only ever heard the highlights from the <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>, as opposed to the full soundtrack, a friend of mine who is...enthusiastic about the show lent me the two-disc complete set over spring break. The fact that I still remembered most of the lyrics, in spite of not having heard them in the better part of a decade, is testament to both how much I enjoyed <i>Phantom</i> and how little other music I had access to at age 12. My much-belated apologies to the people in my 7th grade gym class on the day I thought the title song was appropriate workout music.
VARIOUS STATES OF UNDRESS Going down
Last week, I met one of my good friends for lunch at a fancy restaurant, the kind where they hand you a steak knife for your burger, and she started talking about sex with her man-friend. She’s usually more reserved, so I was curious.
