MIT to build online education platform
MIT is developing an online educational platform that will be open-source, largely free, and let users outside of MIT earn certificates for completing Institute-caliber courses online. MIT hopes the initiative, internally dubbed “MITx,” will change the way students learn on-campus — by incorporating elements of MITx into existing curricula — and push MIT’s educational reach beyond campus borders in a way the current OpenCourseWare (OCW) cannot.
The frosh are coming! 680 admitted early to Class of 2016
680 of 6,008 Early Action applications (11.3 percent) received an early holiday present when they were admitted to the Class of 2016 on Dec. 17, 2011. 3,731 applicants (62.1 percent) were deferred to Regular Action while 1,308 students (21.8 percent) were not offered admission. 289 students withdrew or did not complete their application.
Phyo Kyaw ’10 killed by truck in traffic accident
Phyo N. Kyaw ’10, 23, was killed on Dec. 27 after he was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle at the intersection of Vassar Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
Mass Ave./Vassar St. intersection a deadly hazard
CAMBRIDGE — As the traffic signal turned red Friday morning, Marcia Pearson paused her lavender bicycle in the middle of Vassar Street.
MITx vs. OCW
MITx differs from OpenCourseWare (OCW) in several important ways, but there is the possibility of confusing the two. Here’s a breakdown of what MITx is and what it isn’t, and how it compares to OCW.
Weapon caused spacecraft’s failure?
MOSCOW — A Russian scientific spacecraft whizzing out of control around the Earth, and expected to re-enter the atmosphere on Saturday, may have failed because it was struck by some type of anti-satellite weapon, the director of Russia’s space agency said in an interview published Tuesday.
Can an MIT professor save the USPS?
With the United States Postal Service (USPS) on the verge of eliminating 35,000 jobs to avoid bankruptcy, government officials are desperately seeking solutions to avert the crisis. MIT might have one. In the coming months, MIT Professor and the holder of the first copyright to “EMAIL,” Shiva Ayyadurai will be working on a proposal that will investigate how the USPS could save thousands of jobs by entering the email management industry .
Shorts (left)
A judge in Belfast on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Sean Quinn, once considered Ireland’s richest man, to declare bankruptcy in Northern Ireland rather than in his home country, where terms are tougher.
A long shot for Geithner as he begins Beijing talks
BEIJING — Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Treasury secretary, came to Beijing on Tuesday hoping to persuade Chinese leaders to toughen their diplomatic stance toward Iran and soften their opposition to fiscal changes like a stronger renminbi that might help the U.S. economy.
Pakistani judges press prime minister to turn on president
ISLAMABAD — The political and legal crisis in Pakistan took a new turn on Tuesday when the Supreme Court threatened to dismiss Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for failing to comply with court orders to reopen corruption cases against his political boss: President Asif Ali Zardari.
Israel braces for refugees after Syrian collapse
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military chief said on Tuesday that Jerusalem was preparing for a potential influx of refugees into the Golan Heights from Syria with the demise of the government of President Bashar Assad, which he said was inevitable.
Interactive tools used to assess the likelihood of death
To help prevent overtesting and overtreatment of older patients — or undertreatment for those who remain robust at advanced ages — medical guidelines increasingly call for doctors to consider life expectancy as a factor in their decision-making. But clinicians, research has shown, are notoriously poor at predicting how many years their patients have left.
Nor’easter to bring wintry mix tomorrow
This year, the Boston area has been experiencing a very anomalously mild winter. The brief snow showers that passed through the area on Monday night constituted our first measurable snowfall since October. This is rather extraordinary, considering that Boston normally records a total of over 10 inches of snow by the end of December. However, the winter is far from over, and the relative lack of snowfall so far does not necessarily mean that the rest of the season will be as mild.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday carried out its first drone strike in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas in nearly two months, ending a pause that was intended to avoid worsening relations between the countries after a U.S. airstrike in November killed two dozen Pakistani troops.
Weeks of indecision end for many New Hampshire primary voters
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Some cast votes grudgingly, others with utmost confidence in their choice, and many in New Hampshire’s famously late-breaking electorate voted in New Hampshire’s Republican primary on Tuesday after making up their minds at the last minute. Their decisions were based on economic concerns and, in many cases, pragmatism, with the aim of defeating President Barack Obama in November.
Romney is the nominee
In October, State of the Race declared Mitt Romney the heavy favorite to become the Republican 2012 candidate for president of the United States. Since then, much has changed in the Republican field, but the most important change is this: Mitt Romney is no longer the heavy favorite to become the Republican nominee; he is the prohibitive favorite. His polling numbers against other candidates, his polling numbers against Obama, his institutional support, his campaign funding, his superior organization, his wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, and the political positioning and messaging of his campaign have given him a virtual lock on the nomination.
CORRECTIONS
A Dec. 9 Campus Life article about coffee facts plagiarized from several online sources. Some of the wording found in this article is identical to content from cocoajava.com, cofei.com, and bp.com, though this list is not necessarily exclusive; there is no clear original source of this content. These sources are not credited in the article. Other facts in this article very closely follow the structure of coffee facts presented in a webcomic on theoatmeal.com, which is also not credited.
Reflections from the campaign trail
“It was just before midnight when I left Cambridge and headed north on U.S. 93 toward Manchester … back on the Campaign Trail …” So began Hunter S. Thompson’s legendary coverage of the New Hampshire primary in “Fear and Loathing,” the 1972 Rolling Stone essay that changed political journalism forever.
Cambridge’s meat Mecca
I’m not bigoted against vegetarians. On the contrary, I have many vegetarian friends. I talk and joke and laugh with them as if they were real people. I am a big enough person to tolerate them, even if they have not been enlightened by that most divine truth: the Maillard reaction is proof that God loves us and wants us to eat meat.
Boston Celtics travel to Miami but can’t handle the Heat
American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami, Fla. was filled to capacity on Tuesday, Dec. 27, when the Heat dominated the Celtics. With only a few green jerseys sprinkled throughout the large crowd, the morale for the Celtics was low. I found myself struggling to root for my new Boston team, as I have lived in South Florida since I was born. Nevertheless, the game was exhilarating, and the Celtics showed a renewed effort throughout the last quarter.
Sport Taekwondo takes second place
On Saturday, Nov. 5, the MIT Sport Taekwondo Club traveled to Cornell University and competed in the second Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) tournament of the season. Just two weeks after hosting the season’s first tournament, the team displayed grace, dexterity, and enduring drive as they faced over 400 opponents from 30 colleges nationwide. Despite being outnumbered by several rival teams, MIT demonstrated a consistently strong performance and took second place.
Men’s basketball undefeated
The undefeated MIT Engineers have started out the New Year hot, with two conference wins, improving their record to 14-0 (2-0 in conference).
Events Jan 11 - Jan 17
Events Jan. 11 – Jan. 17 Wednesday (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Noam Chomsky on the Arab Spring and the future of the Middle East — NW86-120 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Harbison, Zinman, Murrihy, Symposium on Harbison’s Symphony No. 6 — Kresge Auditorium Thursday (11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) The Current State of Health Care Reform in the US presented by Jonathan Gruber — E51-395 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Islam 101 — 1-277 Friday (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Film screening of Bringing King to China — 66-110 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) FiLmprov: Film and Musical Improvisation Event — 14W-111 Saturday (9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.) Free figure skating and ice dance classes — Johnson Ice Rink Sunday (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Snow Quidditch — Briggs Field Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Drag Workshop: Drag 101 — Kresge Rehearsal Room B (6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Hacker Movies: The Wunderkids — E15-344 Tuesday (1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) How to Feel As Bright and Capable As Everyone Seems to Think You Are presented by Valerie Young — 34-101 (2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Poverty and Prosperity — E51-335 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Taking Steve Jobs off the GOATS list
I came up with the GOATs (Greatest of All Times) list decision-making process during my sophomore year at MIT. It quickly became my go-to guide for making tough life decisions. In the beginning, there were only three GOATs. Lady Gaga and Eminem were tier one, and Charlie Sheen was tier two. The GOATs process involved complex Bayesian analysis, but the basics of it were this: whenever I couldn’t decide what to do, I would ask myself, “What would Lady Gaga and Eminem do in this situation?” If they would do the same thing, I went with that. If there was no clear consensus, Charlie Sheen was the tiebreaker.
Editor's Note
Starting this issue, we will be running Newsday crossword puzzles from Creators Syndicate.
WELCOME 2012: New year, new look
Out with the old, in with the new; that’s what New Years is for. Having learned from the mistakes of the past, a new year is time for a new beginning. As a sophomore looking back at 2011, I noticed that my freshman enthusiasm had crashed into the reality of classes, p-sets, and the need to find a career lucrative enough to pay off my college debts. I holed myself in my room, without going to the student theater shows and lectures I had formerly enjoyed. Worse still, my increasing workload led to a stagnant routine: a while-loop of note-taking, studying, and sweating over exams. Surely there was more to college life than this. I was supposed to become a well-rounded adult, not a workaholic.
