Court decision to disrupt stem cell research; even Bush-approved cell lines are affected
Stem cell research at MIT and throughout the country seems sure to be strongly impacted by a federal court ruling Monday prohibiting the use of federal funds to support human embryonic stem cell research.
Revised campus shuttle routes extend hours and frequency
Starting next Monday, August 9, the Tech Shuttle schedule and route will change, and the Northwest Shuttle’s route will be replaced by the EZRide Shuttle, which runs from North Station to Cambridgeport by way of Kendall Square.
2007 sodium drop lawsuit against TEPs is dismissed, probably settled
The Tau Epsilon Phi sodium drop case, a civil suit filed by two river clean-up volunteers against two MIT graduate students and a former undergraduate, has been dismissed.
Dinner@Dorms dead
Confusion about the logistics of the “Dinner at the Dorms” orientation event was resolved this week as Residence Exploration (REX) organizers announced that for the second straight year the event would not be held.
MBTA routes now on NextBus
Tracking information for select MBTA routes is now accessible via NextBus, the web site that shows the current position and predicted arrival times of buses, at <i>http://nextbus.com</i>.
New security cameras for W20
On July 29, the span of MIT monitored by security cameras broadened to include the sector of W20 (the Student Center) where students await shuttle vans. There are also plans to install cameras at the McDermott Court vehicle entrance between East Campus and Building 66, and also in the Building 6C courtyard.
Media connect MIT to WikiLeaks probe
MIT students, alumni, and affiliates have been caught up in the recent brouhaha about disclosure of classified military documents by Private First Class Bradley E. Manning.
Radically bitter tea
The tea party movement has come a long way since its inception. Emerging in 2009 as a reaction to bank bailouts and the looming health care reform, the movement originally appeared to be a highly localized and disorganized group angry with the increasing size, power, and spending of the federal government. They seemed to resuscitate the ghost of the old “states-righters” around the time of the Civil War. Due to the extremely localized nature of the movement, many believed that the party would quickly disintegrate. Unfortunately, they were wrong — instead of falling apart, it has mutated into a virus that is taking hold of many voters and Republican politicians throughout this country.
Tyranny of the majority in France
Legislation banning face veils from public, passed by the lower house of the French Parliament, is a sadly misguided attempt to maintain national identity. In reality, it promotes only xenophobia and religious discrimination.
Getting lost in <br />freshman advising
As the fall semester approaches and MIT’s Class of 2014 arrives, I feel obligated to discuss an issue that affected my experience as a freshman. The Institute can boast of an exemplary faculty, course selection, and student body. However, MIT’s freshmen advising program has not been impressive. In contrast to most schools, MIT offers freshmen the ability to choose between group and individual advising. Residence-based Advising (RBA) and Freshmen Seminar Advising (FSA) place students with a group of their peers and MIT faculty members, while Traditional Advising focuses on individual meetings with a specific faculty adviser. Whereas most schools assign hundreds of students to a few specialized counselors, MIT advisers are largely drawn from the normal faculty.
FESTIVAL REVIEW Montreux, the musical petri dish
Jazz festivals are a strange, modern beast, a queer mix of federally funded tourist traps alongside the grassroots gatherings of lonely fanatics to meet, greet, and bitch about the state of culture today. On one hand, they’re a wonderful way to take in a huge breadth of musical diversity, to see and talk to the greatest practitioners of old and new jazz — a Davos for the aficionados of the world. On the other hand, they can be ridiculously expensive, attracting those who may have the funds to pay for tickets but not necessarily those who should be deciding the future of jazz. Certainly, Charlie Parker wasn’t playing for sexagenarians in lawn chairs. Even close to the peak of his career he busked on Manhattan streets for heroin money. Parker was the 1940’s hipster icon, the scourge of the squares, and the founder of bebop.
THE NOTEPAD Why Ke$ha sucks
Ke$ha is the latest in a series of things that suck. She’s got the usual dumpset-pop trappings with an extra dose of marketing zeal. <i>The Guardian</i> once called her a degenerate Miley Cyrus. It’s said she broke into Prince’s house to give him her demo CD. Her avaricious self-branding is her empowerment, and is, we’re told, zero parts objectification.
MOVIE REVIEW The awkwardness of reality
<i>Please Give</i> is a quirky movie that tickles your funny bone but thoroughly irritates everywhere else.
MOVIE REVIEW Inception: Architecture of <br />the minds
An idea is more than a thought. It’s a virus, a cancer of sorts, that can spread until it completely takes over a person, until it defines the person. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. This is the premise of the film, <i>Inception</i>.
MOVIE REVIEW Inception: Caught between dreams and reality
“Dreams feel real while we are in them, it is only after we wake up that we realize that something was actually strange” says Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio).
THEATER REVIEW The art of being an artist
<i>“You asked me recently why I maintain that I am afraid of you. As usual, I was unable to think of any answer to your question, partly for the very reason that I am afraid of you, and partly because an explanation of the grounds for this fear would mean going into far more details than I could even approximately keep in mind while talking.” </i>
ALBUM REVIEW Soundtrack for the summer laziness
As an artist known for his gentle voice and acoustic stylings, Jack Johnson is a pro at creating lounge music to set the mood. His fifth and newest album, 2010‘s <i>To the Sea</i>, stands out for just that: a unique feel-good vibe that makes you want to keep listening.
A grand adventure
Traveling is the best geography lesson. No matter how glossy the photos and detailed the descriptions, textbooks give the impression of flatness and uniformity to a multidimensional and diverse land. Nowhere was this more apparent than in my family trip to the Grand Canyon this summer. I’ve lived in Florida my whole life, so it was a change of scenery to see pine forests give way to bayous, the landscape buckle into hills and valleys before giving way to immense plains of wheat.
BROUHAHA RHYTHM It’s hot, humid, and stormy; must be summer
Six semesters in, and I’m only now spending a summer at MIT. I’d heard tales that unlike the brutally cruel winters of New England, Boston summers were actually fairly reasonable as far as climate was concerned. I can’t remember where I heard it, but I’ve decided that whoever told me so was clearly suffering from heat-induced pathological lying. Oh, sure, it’s not so bad anymore, but summer is summer no matter how you slice it, and summer can be downright uncomfortable on physical, emotional, and meteorological levels.
