Winter storm approaches MIT
MIT remains open today as Cambridge is predicted to get 4-9 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service forecasts. Snow emergencies have been declared in both Cambridge (effective at noon) and Boston (effective at 8 a.m.). During snow emergencies, parked cars must be moved off snow evacuation routes.
Paul Krugman talks money
On Friday, February 5th, Princeton professor Paul Krugman PhD ’77, 2008 Nobel Laureate in Economics, New York Times opinion columnist and former MIT professor spoke about the economic crisis, comparing it to the Great Depression.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT MIT debaters are latest North American champions
Who ever said that engineers can’t communicate? MIT Debate Team members and Course VI majors Adam Goldstein ’10 and Bill Magnuson ’09 took top honors at the North American Debating Championships — regarded as the most prestigious debate tournament in North America — held January 29-31 at York University in Toronto, Ontario, by finishing ahead of 79 other two-person teams from around the continent. Goldstein also earned honors as an individual performer in the preliminary rounds of the tournament, ranking as the top United States speaker and fourth overall speaker for his performance.
America’s Cup ushers innovations in engineering
VALENCIA, SPAIN — USA-17, the challenger for the America’s Cup, and Alinghi 5, the defender, may be stripped-down, lean racing machines, built purely for speed. But both are fully loaded.
Americans spend lots on communications annually
John Anderson and Sharon Rapoport estimate they spend $400 a month, or close to $5,000 a year, keeping their family of four entertained at home. There are the $30-a-month data plans on their BlackBerry Tour cell phones. The Roanoke, Va., couple’s two teenage sons each have $50 subscriptions for Xbox Live and send thousands of texts each month on their cell phones. DirecTV satellite service, high-speed Internet access and Netflix for movie nights add more.
IN MEMORY OF Carl Kaysen
Twenty years ago, as the crumbling of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the Cold War, Carl Kaysen wrote an essay whose title asked: “Is War Obsolete?” Coming from someone else, the question might have seemed rhetorical or whimsical, but Dr. Kaysen’s career brought to his musings the force of history.
2012 ring design allegedly leaked
On Sunday, alleged pictures of the Class of 2012 ring design were sent to three dormitory mailing lists from a Gmail account impersonating the Class of 2012 Ring Committee. Members of the actual Ring Committee said they did not send the e-mail, but refused to confirm or deny if the pictures were genuine.
Downward spiral continues as U.S. stocks fall below 10,000
NEW YORK The Dow Jones industrial average, a closely watched barometer of the economy’s health, dipped below the 10,000 threshold on Monday, delivering a psychological setback as investors braced for more market volatility.
Shorts (left)
<i>MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. —</i>The coronation of Peyton Manning was canceled Sunday night at exactly 9:29. The lasting image of him was supposed to come much later, Manning standing on a podium and accepting his second Lombardi Trophy. It arrived early, Manning thrashed to the ground and watching his legacy run by.
Ukraine vote offers a model for the Russians
<i>KIEV, UKRAINE</i>—The apparent victory of Russia’s preferred candidate in the Ukrainian presidential race may be a relief to Vladimir V. Putin, who has long sought to discredit his neighbor’s raucous democracy and its drift to the West.
Paperwork ties up medievacs of Haitian children
<i>PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAIT</i><i>I</i> — Private medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian children to the United States for treatment have largely stopped because aid workers, doctors and government officials are worried about being accused of kidnapping if they transport the children without first getting paperwork that is slow to arrive or is unavailable.
Shorts (right)
<i>LOS ANGELES </i>—Nearly eight months after Michael Jackson died suddenly, his personal physician was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter for providing him with a powerful anesthetic that was ruled a major factor in his death.
U.N. Climate chief under scrutiny for conflicts of interest
Just over two years ago, Rajendra K. Pachauri seemed destined for a scientist’s version of sainthood: A bearded vegetarian economist-engineer who leads the United Nations’ climate change panel, he accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the panel, sharing the honor with former Vice President Al Gore.
On health care bill, a roadmap by the Grand Old Party
WASHINGTON—When Republicans take President Barack Obama up on his invitation to hash out their differences over health care this month, they will carry with them a fairly well-developed set of ideas intended to make health insurance more widely available and affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net.
Weather
The Mid-Atlantic states are digging out after a historic winter storm this past weekend. Record snowfall totals were common from northern Virginia to eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In these areas, more than 25 inches fell from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. From the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center’s final Storm Summary, Colesville, MD is at the top of the list with 40 inches! Blizzard conditions were inevitable Friday night between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. Transportation stopped and hundreds of thousands lost power as heavy snow and gale-force wind gusts battered these locations. The storm responsible for the havoc has moved off into the Atlantic, giving a break for clean-up efforts.
Corrections
Because of an editing error, a news article from May 8, 2009 titled “No Choice for Police” was erroneously re-run as an opinion column in the 2009 Year in Review. The article was about the Burton Third Bombers’ concrete “bomb” hack on the Kresge lawn.
Biodiversity misses the point
“Dad, look, it’s a bald eagle!” I exclaimed, pointing up through the car window to track the enormous bird in flight. My father, who has a sad history of disregarding his daughter’s birding prowess (“Holly, there’s no way you saw a hummingbird in New Jersey” and “That can’t be a kingfisher”), was at least curious enough to turn the car around, if only to prove me wrong.
One undergraduate voice
In the wake of several hasty decisions by the MIT administration such as the decision to convert Green Hall to a sorority residence, a string of hacking incidents that resulted in arrests, the Star Simpson statement, and transparency problems surrounding the preliminary Blue Ribbon Dining Committee report, members of the MIT community began to evaluate the framework of student engagement. Administrators bolstered their communication staff and refined their methods of connecting and involving students in important decisions. Some faculty members began to question the merits and foresight of these decisions. Student leaders asked for more direct methods of communicating with senior members of the administration, which lead to the formation of the Task Force of Student Engagement (now the Student Engagement Committee).
Sports Shorts
DAPER announced Friday the addition of MIT to the Patriot League as an associate member in women’s crew. The Engineers will begin competing in the conference during the 2010 campaign, including the Patriot League Rowing Championship in April.
Scoreboard
Women’s Basketball Saturday, 2/6 vs. Wellesley CollegeL 60-51 Men’s Volleyball Saturday, 2/6 vs. Vassar CollegeW 3-1 vs. Stevens Institute of TechnologyL 3-0 Men’s Track and Field Saturday, 2/6 vs. Williams and Coast Guard1st of 3 Women’s Track and Field Saturday, 2/6 vs. Williams and Coast Guard2nd of 3
Upcoming Home Events
Tuesday, February 9 Men’s Volleyball vs. Endicott College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage Wednesday, February 10 Women’s Basketball vs. Wheaton College 6 p.m., Rockwell Cage Men’s Basketball vs. Clark College 8 p.m., Rockwell Cage
Saints beat Colts 37-17 for their first Super Bowl title
The New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami on Sunday night. Although the game wasn’t exactly the high-scoring shootout between two of the best offenses in the NFL everyone had anticipated, it was nonetheless filled with back-and-forth action, gutsy calls, and clutch plays.
All my single ladies
This weekend is Valentine’s Day, which is pretty awesome if you’re coupled up but kinda sucky if you’re single — and especially shitteous if you’re a single gal. For single girls, Valentine’s Day serves mostly as a reminder of how much we fail at life that we don’t have a “special someone” to do cute things for us and buy us flowers and take us to dinner. Can we get Hallmark working on some “You (don’t have a dick to) suck” cards that I can buy for myself on the 14th to supplement my romantic evening of watching <i>Pretty Woman</i> and feasting on some Chubby Hubby?
The ethical <br />merry-go-round broke down
The other night, I was with some friends and watching a Looney Tunes marathon (3 DVDs from four-disc set, $3 at the thrift store), when the question arose of why we, one of many generations who grew up on cartoons, aren’t more messed up than we are. What went on television when we were young would have today’s parents up in arms and at the doorsteps of the production companies before you could say “That’s all, folks!”
