Court decision may be fatal for stem cell research
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.
NW30/W59 may get real railroad crossing
For students living in New Ashdown and Sidney-Pacific, a common (if risky) route to class takes them across the railroad tracks, popping out on Vassar Street parking lot near the West Garage and Steinbrenner Stadium. MIT has for years considered building a formal foot crossing there, and those plans may finally be solidifying.
Burst pipe floods parking lot
In a freak accident last night, the ground split open and the water started gushing out in the parking lot between Buildings 1, 3 and 5. The water flooded the lot as well as the only exit, trapping several cars and SUVs. Many labs and offices nearby were also flooded.
Aafia Siddiqui’s Afghanistan arrest confirmed by Wikileak’d report
The August 2008 arrest of Aafia Siddiqui ’95 in by the Afghanistan National Police in Ghazni, Afghanistan was confirmed in a U.S. Army intelligence report released by wikileaks.org.
Berenson’s parole revoked in Peru
CARACAS, Venezuela — A Peruvian court said Wednesday that it had struck down a decision granting parole to Lori Berenson, the former MIT student imprisoned in the 1990s on charges of collaborating with a Marxist revolutionary group. The court ordered her to be returned to prison to complete the five years left in her 20-year sentence.
New cameras at Z-Center Video surveillance setup upgraded this summer
Working out? Someone might be watching you.
Police Log
<i>The following incidents were reported to the Campus Police between April 19 and May 31. The dates below reflect the dates the incidents occurred. This information is compiled from the Campus Police’s crime log. The report does not include alarms, general service calls, or incidents not reported to the dispatcher.</i>
Corrections
A review of the film <i>Inception </i>in the August 4 issue misspelled the name of the actress who plays Mal, Cob’s wife. She is Marion Cotillard, not Marie.
Why are stem cells important?
The Tech<i> asked Biology professor Richard A. Young to explain why stem cell research is important. In an e-mail, Young wrote:</i>
Anna Tang update today
The next update in the saga of Anna L. Tang, the Wellesley student who stabbed MIT student Wolfe B. Styke ’10 in October 2007, will come today at an administrative status conference before Justice Bruce R. Henry in Middlesex Superior Court.
Much of Pakistan’s progress is lost in its floodwaters
SUKKUR, Pakistan — Men waded waist deep all week wedging stones with their bare hands into an embankment to hold back Pakistan’s surging floodwaters. It was a rudimentary and ultimately vain effort to save their town. On Thursday, the waters breached the levy, a demoralizing show of how fragile Pakistan’s infrastructure remains, and how overwhelming the task is to save it.
Struggling cities shut down firehouses in budget crisis
SAN DIEGO — Fire departments around the nation are cutting jobs, closing firehouses and increasingly resorting to “rolling brownouts” in which they shut different fire companies on different days as the economic downturn forces many cities and towns to make deep cuts that are slowing their responses to fires and other emergencies.
As miners face long wait, <br />Chile filters notes and food
SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — The government has consulted NASA about the extreme isolation of space. Chilean Navy officers have come to discuss the emotional stress of living in a submarine. Doctors stand at the ready with antidepressants. Even a tiny home theater is being funneled down in plastic tubes to occupy the 33 miners stuck in their subterranean home.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced a sweeping effort to improve efficiency that, among other things, takes aim at the military’s sacrosanct corps of generals and admirals. He ordered his staff to cut at least 50 positions and made clear that he would be happier if they cut more.
Shorts (right)
The foreclosure crisis might have finally peaked in the first half of this year, but with the continued weakness in the economy and the recent deterioration of the housing market, the gains may prove fleeting.
High pressure in control
No need to worry about rainfall! New England should see sunny skies for the next several days as a large area of high pressure dominates the weather across the northeastern U.S.
Tensions in Iowa town at the heart of the eggs recall
CLARION, Iowa — The conversation at the weekly gathering of local ladies at a coffee shop here turned uncharacteristically tense.
A freshman’s guide to thriving at MIT
At this point, you’ve settled into your temporary room, semi-unpacked and probably eaten lots and lots of free food. If you’re hungry or have paid for food, you’re doing something wrong. Maybe you’ve gone to some “mandatory” Orientation events or you’re doing an FPOP. You’re meeting lots of people, staying up all night, and generally having a great time. And slowly, you might even be starting to believe that this is what MIT is like all of the time.
I Have Truly Found Paradise — now what do I do with it?
It feels a bit strange to write that September 8 will mark the third annual Wednesday that I walk down the Infinite to the requisite “first day of classes” buzz at MIT. Time flies when you’re having fun. Or, in our case: psetting, socializing, studying, exploring campus and city life, and discovering every possible iteration of “IHTFP.” Either way, I am officially an upperclassman, and as such, I’m going to give you ’14ers a bit of practical advice that I’ve accumulated from two, very busy years at the Institvte.
Build the NYC mosque
On August 3, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Society voted unanimously not to extend landmark status to 45–47 Park Place, formerly a Burlington Coat Factory, now a partially-damaged warehouse. As far as municipal law goes, the decision was as mundane and routine as handing out a parking ticket or issuing a liquor license — the warehouse, with its commonplace architectural style, simply did not offer a compelling justification for landmark status. And yet to hear many conservatives talk about the matter, it seems as if the Landmarks Preservation Society has dealt a death blow to the American way of life. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich claims that it will “encourage [radical Islamists] in their challenge to our civilization,” and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl writes that it will “risk giving militant Islamists a victory to exploit.”
FILM REVIEW Eat, pray, love, whatever
<i>Eat Pray Love</i> is a movie adaptation of the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert of the same title. It’s a story of overcoming a life crisis and finding personal balance again.
THEATER REVIEW Meet Hitler
I walk up two flights of stairs. The production is in a language learning center on the second floor. The decoration is sparse, the lighting fluorescent, industrial. There’s a small reception room with coffee and some chairs. The receptionist leads me around the corner to a small office room with fifteen chairs, facing inward at a single chair, and a bit table with a picture of Klara Hitler, Adolf’s mother. The windows are covered, one with a dark drape, another with a great red Nazi flag, with a manhole-sized Swastika in the middle. There are twelve of us. We are somewhat cramped. We wait.
AT THE MUSEUM Portraits of the modern American woman
Fashion photography tells a story. With each ad campaign, each extravagant photo shoot, haute couture designers and stylists are selling a story about a woman, about a lifestyle. The woman decked out in pearls with a cigarette perched between gloved fingers and leaning coyly into a handsome Clark Gable-look alike is perhaps a wealthy matron meeting her lover. The young girl applying eyeliner carefully, tongue stuck out in concentration allows the public an intimate glimpse into perhaps the last five minutes before a date with a beau.
Getting to know the Red Sox
<i>Editor’s Note: Welcome to Boston! Since Beantown’s professional sports teams are such an integral part of its culture, we’re presenting an insider’s view — history, current state, and future expectations — of each of them. The first installment in the series features... the Red Sox, of course.</i>
Sports Shorts
Coaches Ted Benford and Andy Hilton are leaving the lightweight men’s rowing program, Director of Athletics Julie Soriero announced on Monday. Benford, who served as the Engineers’ head coach for the past five seasons, will be returning to Northeastern University as the associate head coach. Following a three-year stint at MIT, Hilton will be going back to Dartmouth College, his alma mater, as the assistant heavyweight coach.
