Bill Gates, philanthropist, will give talk on April 21
Bill Gates, philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, will speak at MIT on April 21 in an effort to motivate students and faculty to solve some of the world’s most significant problems.
Airlines, the masters of flight overbooking, have refined the practice of bumping to a science
Ryan W. Kingsbury SM ’09 is the rare flier who’s actually looking to be bumped from a flight.
Corrections
Because of an editing error, a letter to the editor last Tuesday criticizing the location of the new shuttle monitor was attributed to the wrong author. The letter was written by David A. Brescia ’11, not Andrew Freeman.
As the number of unpaid internships rises, many regulators are concerned that the practice is illegal
With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor.
In shift from Depression scholarship to White House policymaking, Sunshine Queen finds voice
WASHINGTON — Christina D. Romer PhD ’85 was so spooked by a momentary lapse during a long-forgotten MacNeil-Lehrer spot during the Clinton administration that she avoided doing television for a decade. Today, the UC Berkeley professor is the most visible face of the Obama administration’s economic team, from the showcase Sunday talk shows to live cable spots from the White House lawn.
MIT faces less competition for ... MIT
The battle for the letters “MIT” is fierce, but one source of competition for those letters looks out of the running, at least for now.
Undergrads may sign up for Harvard library privileges
Under a new pilot system between the MIT Libraries and the Harvard College Library (HCL), MIT undergraduates may now borrow from select Harvard libraries. Undergraduates were able to begin signing up for HCL Special Borrower cards yesterday. The cards grant access to several of Harvard’s 70-plus libraries.
Video shows photographer being killed in 2007 air attack
WASHINGTON —The Web site WikiLeaks.org released a graphic video on Monday showing an American helicopter shooting and killing a Reuters photographer and driver in a July 2007 attack in Baghdad.
Shorts (left)
LOS ANGELES <i>— </i>A powerful earthquake southeast of Tijuana shook Southern California on Sunday afternoon, damaging buildings in border towns and rattling a seismically-sophisticated population as far north as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas as chandeliers swayed, homes shook and the earth seemed to slide under the feet of people emerging from Easter church services for well over a minute.
Anglican archbishop rebukes Irish church for abuse scandal
LONDON — At a time when his relations with Pope Benedict XVI are already strained over the pope’s offer to dissatisfied Anglicans of fast-track conversion to Roman Catholicism, the archbishop of Canterbury has plunged into the crisis over cases of abuse by Catholic priests, choosing the Easter weekend to describe the Catholic Church in Ireland as “losing all credibility” because of its poor handling of the crisis.
As mayhem erupts in Times Square, 4 are shot and 33 arrested
NEW YORK — As Sunday night turned into Monday, what has become something of a violent Easter night ritual began to unfold. Hundreds of people filled Times Square, some pouring out of the subway, howling and unruly. By night’s end, four people had been shot, and the police had arrested 33 people.
Shorts (right)
CARCAS, Venezuela — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia visited Venezuela on Friday to sign a series of military and oil agreements with President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking to expand ties with Russia as a way of countering the influence of the United States in Latin America.
More warmth, finally!
The first days of April are much more welcoming than many of those cold, wet, windy days of March. Don’t expect new floods to engulf your surroundings later this week. We will continue to dry out from all that rain as unseasonably warm temperatures stream into New England. A high of 77°F was recorded at Logan airport on Sunday, breaking the 1950 record by 2 degrees. A large ridge of high pressure, centered just north of the Bahamas, is responsible for transporting the warm southern air into our neck of the woods. For today, expect warm westerly winds and some partly cloudy skies by evening. There may even be a shower overnight due to a weak impulse approaching from the west.
Obama limits when United States would use nuclear weapons
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self- defense.
HDAG is culmination of years of work
Last Friday, <i>The Tech</i> published an opinion piece on student engagement by UA President Michael Bennie. His column referred to two recommendations of concern to undergraduates from the Institute-Wide Planning Task Force: creating a more rational system for summer housing utilization and developing a new plan for House Dining.
With freedom comes responsibility
The argument goes that MIT is unlike other colleges. We are “special,” and for prospective students, we are “different” in ways you have to experience to understand — hence Campus Preview Weekend, where students, living groups, faculty, and administrators try their hardest to let about 1,000 prefrosh experience as much MIT as can be crammed into four days.
Welcome to your caste
I settled in a studio apartment on the thirteenth floor of an apartment complex in a western, unfinished area of the city. It was simple but spacious, and despite my zeal to be as frugal as I could, was still far more than I needed to satisfy my college student tastes. Still, my coworkers laughed at the apartment as the type of place an Indian engineer would live in — not a flophouse by any means, but clearly not the level of luxury a white person should treat himself to.
Free pizza
“What does graduate student leadership at MIT mean to you?” After nearly four years in graduate leadership positions, I’m still not sure I can answer this question. But hopefully you’ll be a bit amused as I try.
A personal view of comprehensive immigration reform Why welcoming immigrants is the American thing to do
Immigration means different things to different people. For some, it’s the start of a new life in the “Land of Freedom and Opportunity.” For others, just a way to send money home. Among those already established here, some feel that it’s a welcome influx of diverse traditions, novel philosophies, and colorful customs; others feel it brings in competition that depletes limited economic resources.
Pistol takes silver in 2 events at NRA Pistol Championship
The MIT pistol team, stripped of its varsity status in last year’s sports cuts, performed well at the 30th annual NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships at Fort Benning, Georgia, held March 16–20, in its first year as a club team. Several individuals won honors, and both the women’s team and the open team came in fourth place in their team aggregates. The open team took silver in the free pistol event and the women’s team took silver in the women’s air pistol event.
Upcoming Home Events
Tuesday, April 6 Baseball vs. Springfield College 3:30 p.m., Briggs Field Women’s tennis vs. Brandeis University 4 p.m., duPont Courts Women’s lacrosse vs. Emerson College 4:30 p.m., Steinbrenner Stadium Wednesday, April 7 Men’s tennis vs. Wheaton College 4 p.m., duPont Courts Thursday, April 8 Baseball vs. WPI 3:30 p.m., Briggs Field
ATHLETES’ CORNER
The nationally-ranked No. 6 men’s volleyball team swept Wentworth Institute of Technology, 30-20, 30-25, 30-20, on Saturday. The Engineers, who will be making their sixth consecutive trip to the NECVA Championship Tournament, improved to 29-7 overall and 14-2 in league action. MIT finished the regular season winning 15 of their final 16 matches, and their 29 wins sets the program record for wins in a season.
Scoreboard
BaseballBaseball Friday, April 2 vs. Brandeis UniversityW 6-5 Saturday, April 3 vs. Babson CollegeL 3-2 vs. Babson CollegeL 4-0 Monday, April 5 vs. Suffolk UniversityW 5-4 Men’s LacrosseMen’s Lacrosse Saturday, April 3 at Wheaton CollegeL 12-9 Women’s LacrosseWomen’s Lacrosse Saturday, April 3 vs. New England CollegeW 13-9 Monday, April 5 vs. Bridgewater State UniversityL 15-13 SoftballSoftball Saturday, April 3 at Springfield CollegeL 8-0 at Springfield CollegeL 8-0 Men’s TennisMen’s Tennis Saturday, April 3 vs. Springfield CollegeW 8-1 Men’s Track and FieldMen’s Track and Field Saturday, April 3 Engineers’ Cup1st of 3 Women’s Track and FieldWomen’s Track and Field Saturday, April 3 Engineers’ Cup1st of 3 Men’s VolleyballMen’s Volleyball Saturday, April 3 vs. Wentworth Inst. of Tech.W 3-0
