MIT students rally to help Haiti quake victims
After the most powerful earthquake to hit Haiti in a century, more MIT students have raised their voices in response to the catastrophe and have held events to help with the Haiti earthquake relief. From video game marathons to prayers to collages, students have found new ways to engage the community in furthering efforts to help earthquake victims.
Corrections
A story on Tuesday misspelled the name of the winning 6.370 BattleCode team. The correct name is “My Archon Died BellmanFording the Stream,” not “BellamFording.” Bellman-Ford is an algorithm for computing shortest-paths in networks.
Update on the HASS Requirements Changes
Further developments on changes to the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences requirement have been released.
Alumna convicted in terrorism trial
Aafia Siddiqui ’95 was convicted on Wednesday of trying to kill American military officers while she was in custody in Afghanistan, capping a trial that drew notice for its terrorist implications as well as its theatrics.
Executive vacancies in UA, ASA
Paul Baranay ’11, speaker of the Undergraduate Association Senate, has resigned his position as Speaker. Baranay announced his intention to resign at the Dec. 7 senate meeting, with the intention to take a medical leave from MIT, he said.
Shorts (left)
Viewers look forward to the commercials shown during a Super Bowl because they know the spots will almost always be different from and better than — the everyday ads they typically deride or ignore. For Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, the anticipation may be more keen than usual.
Shorts (right)
<i>FLINT, Mich.</i>—It was a Saturday afternoon, April 19, 2008, and Guadalupe Alberto, a 77-year-old former autoworker, was driving her 2005 Toyota Camry. Within blocks of her home, witnesses told police, the car accelerated out of control, jumped a curb and flew through the air before crashing into a tree.
Mass. Republican Senator is sworn in, Democrats regroup
<i>WASHINGTON </i>— President Barack Obama and congressional Democratic leaders sought to reset their agenda as they lost their 60th vote in the Senate on Thursday, trying to push ahead with measures to spur job creation even as they grasped for ideas to keep alive their health care legislation.
Talks reported as trial nears for 9/11 lawsuits
<i>NEW YORK</i> — With a firm trial date looming for thousands of lawsuits brought by workers at ground zero against the city, lawyers for both sides are engaged in intensive talks aimed at settling some or all the cases.
Amazon pulls Macmillan books over pricing dispute, fight ongoing
Last Friday, Amazon.com pulled all books from Macmillan, one of the largest publishers in the United States, in a dispute over the pricing on e-books on Amazon’s website.
Weather
Some schools and businesses have already closed in the Mid-Atlantic states of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia ahead of a powerful snowstorm that is forecast to strike that region starting this afternoon.
Google asks spy agency to look into cyberattacks
<i>SAN FRANCISCO </i>— Google has turned to the National Security Agency for technical assistance to learn more about the computer network attackers who breached the company’s cybersecurity defenses last year, a person with direct knowledge of the agreement said Thursday.
The Golden Triangle of a public education system
This is the first of a three-part series on how we can fix public education in the U.S.
Global warming in the hot seat
In November 2009, hackers released of thousands of confidential e-mails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia. Although the e-mails did not reveal scientific fraud or the fabrication of scientific evidence (as recently concluded in a partial decision by an internal review board) they did suggest that researchers at the CRU had become partisan in their support of the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis.
A different kind of democratization
When reading Maggie Liu’s article entitled “College admissions is no scam — just reflection of socioeconomic disparity” from the January 20 issue of <i>The Tech</i>, I got the impression that the writer, like many others before her, seems to be of the opinion that education, regardless of being superior or inferior, fundamentally shapes individuals rather than being in many respects shaped by them. College students, regardless of their prior education and social conditions can equally benefit when democracy is infused in the process of receiving and exchanging knowledge in and outside of the class rooms. Nowadays, when the issue of democracy and higher education is brought up, it usually alludes to extending social justice and providing access to higher education for those groups in society that are disadvantaged due to lingering discrimination based on color of skin or national origin, among others, or due to lack of financial means. Even though this is still an ongoing situation, institutions of higher education like Northeastern University have been taking measures to combat the issue by providing financial aid and promoting affirmative action and diversity. Ironically, these same measures are now being blamed for having lowered the standards of higher education. I, however, have a different take on having these two concepts, democracy and education. I believe they form a complementary rather than opposing or antithetical relationship.
Letters to the Editor
The public face of MIT is 77 Massachusetts Avenue. The building, with its imposing Ionic porch and lofty interior, is not only an architectural landmark in its own right, but also the gateway into the world of MIT. The lobby — officially titled the William Barton Rogers Lobby, but more popularly called Lobby 7 — was designed in 1939 by William Welles Bosworth as the culminating element of the campus that he designed and that was built in 1916. Ever since the completion of Lobby 7, the four plinths that define the corners of the great rotunda have remained empty. They were originally intended as bases celebrating Aristotle, Ictinus, Archimedes, and Callicrates.
UA Elections coming up
The first Senate meeting of the Spring semester will be held on Monday, February 8. The schedule for the rest of the semester is as follows: February 22, March 1, March 8, March 29, April 5, April 12 (Senate Officer Elections announced), April 26 (Senate Officer Elections), May 3, May 10.
MUSICAL REVIEW Little Shop, big laughs, bigger plants
The MIT Musical Theatre Guild premiered their IAP show, Little Shop of Horrors, last weekend. Little Shop is a comedy that is unafraid to be over-the-top, with such characters as the tragically low-aiming Audrey (Rachel Williams ’12) and Orin Scrivello (Matthew Cohen ’10), a sadistic biker-dentist who, if you asked him, might very well give “D.D.S.” as his last name.
ALBUM REVIEW Smooth grooves from across the ocean Atakoglu’s new jazz fusion album takes you across continents
Of all the albums I’ve heard this year, Fahir Atakoglu’s Faces and Places certainly ranks as one of the most exciting. Not only is it special for carrying several international styles into the mainstream jazz market (Atakoglu was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and uses artists from Cuba, Brazil and New York in his ensemble), but as a standalone work it is a powerful addition to the jazz fusion library. Rather than passively creating an album that fuses several cultural voices together, Faces is a very blunt, intentional attempt at multiculturalism — its title and piece choices take geography as inspiration. Despite the diverse nature of the compositions, the album seamlessly weaves styles and moods, lending a greater sense of continuity; this is a cross-continental road trip, not your neighbor’s vacation slide show.
Robert Downey Jr. blows everyone else away, still can’t save this film ★★★✩✩
Watching Sherlock Holmes is a bit like going to the circus: loud noises, moving objects and bright colors — but no substance. Although fairly entertaining, Holmes relies too heavily on Robert Downey Jr., who singlehandedly elevates the film above mediocrity as if he were LeBron and Holmes the 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers. Holmes follows the hero (Robert Downey Jr.) and his sarcastic sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) as they tackle a conspiracy to bring down the British government.
A fresh sound made for all people
“A stick, a stone/it’s the end of the road/ it’s the rest of a stump/it’s a little alone” Luciana Souza sings, choosing English over her native Portuguese. It’s also the birth language of Antonio Carlos Jobim, the quintessential Brazilian composer and the artist behind the song itself.
Sherlock Holmes reinvented: shorter, darker and a lot feistier ★★★★✩
This is Holmes as you have never seen him. Director Guy Ritchie took Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s celebated detective (Robert Downey Jr.) and warped him so much he very well could have been a brand new character. Nevertheless, Sherlock Holmes the movie is a brilliant production that will take you on a dark captivating adventure, with lots of relentless action, veiled mysteries and satisfying surprises.
Upcoming Home Events
Saturday, February 6 Men’s and Women’s Track & Field vs. Williams and Coast Guard 12 p.m., Johnson Track Women’s Basketball vs. Wellesley 2 p.m., Rockwell Cage
Super Bowl preview: the sports staff’s picks
As a Patriots fan, I always feel obligated to root against the Colts. Unfortunately, over the course of the 2009 season, I’ve had to grudgingly accept that the Colts aren’t a terrible football team. However, the Saints’ superior running game and Dwight Freeney’s questionable status — even if he plays, I have a hard time believing he’ll be as effective as usual — make me feel justified in predicting that the Saints will win. Like most observers, I expect an offensive explosion from both teams. In the end, though, I think Reggie Bush will shake off the Colts’ run defense and make a play worthy of his paycheck.
Pro sports: year in review
<i>Editor’s Note: This piece was supposed to be in the last issue, but was left out. So... here’s your 2009 Pro Sports Year in Review!</i>
ATHLETES’ CORNER
Ten MIT seniors were honored this weekend at their final home meet of the season. The meet with Amherst was also devoted to the victims of Haiti’s recent earthquake. Over $300 was raised and donated to Partners in Health and the American Red Cross.
Scoreboard
Men’s Basketball Wednesday, 2/3 vs. Babson College W 67-49 Women’s Basketball Wednesday, 2/3 vs. Babson CollegeW 62-48 Men’s Volleyball Tuesday, 2/2 at Newbury CollegeL 3-1
