New 2-A curriculum to be introduced in the fall
This coming fall, students in Course 2 (Mechanical Engineering) will see the introduction of a new Course 2-A curriculum, the modified, more flexible version of the traditional Course 2 track. Incoming sophomores, the class of 2015, will have their choice between the current 2-A curriculum and this new one, while students from the class of 2016 on will go into the new curriculum. For more information, see The Tech’s previous coverage of the announcement of the new program in April Edward E. Burnell ’12, a Course 2 senior, sat down with Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Course 2-A program coordinator Annette Hosoi, to ask about the proposed changes.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Higgs boson developments
This summer I have had the opportunity to work with the MIT physics faculty at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, near Geneva, Switzerland. CERN is home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and I am here with a group of MIT professors, postdocs, grad students, and undergrads working on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). And yes, this is at the heart of the search for the Higgs boson. I have witnessed most of the biggest behind-the-scenes events over the past month and will share them here.
Five dorms to have RLADs in coming fall
Last Monday, July 2, new details regarding the Residential Life Area Director positions were released. On-campus interviews will begin next Monday, July 15. The selected RLADs would step into their roles no later than Aug. 3.
Zoning changes for Kendall begin to gel
At tonight’s meeting of the Cambridge Planning Board, the City’s Community Development department presented a draft recommendation of planned zoning changes for Kendall Square.
Memorable Fourth of July show!
Earth, wind, rain, and fire were on the menu for this July 4th. I gathered my blanket and camera, donned my backpack, and was ready to sit on the esplanade through the weather to see the fireworks spectacular that so many people descend upon Boston to get a glimpse of. As someone who spent their life watching fireworks on TV, I was more than excited to see the Boston Pops Fireworks spectacular on July 4th.
CORRECTIONS
The article about the Inman Square shootings in the June 13 2012 issue of The Tech incorrectly noted that the shooting happened “on Sunday night”. The shooting happened on the previous Sunday, June 3.
Landlines set to be removed from dorm rooms
According to a statement released by the Division of Student Life last week, landline telephones will be removed from all on-campus dorm bedrooms by the end of summer.
Car Talk will move to syndication
The popular radio show Car Talk hosted by MIT alumni brothers Tom Magliozzi ’58 and Ray Magliozzi ’72 will stop new episodes in Septemnber; reruns will continue in syndication. Car Talk was first broadcast by WBUR in 1977, and was picked up by the National Public Radio ten years later. Car Talk has been broadcast on NPR for the last 25 years.
Chris Kaiser becomes provost
Chris A. Kaiser PhD ’87, former head of the department of Biology, assumed the role of provost on July 2. He succeeds L. Rafael Reif, who became president on July 2. The provost is the Institute’s senior academic and budget officer and is in charge of recruiting faculty as well as MIT’s educational programs.
Shorts (right)
LOS ANGELES — A teacher under investigation for lewd conduct with a former student led police on a dramatic chase Tuesday afternoon to Rolling Hills Estates, where he drove off an embankment, went airborne and slammed into the side of an office building.
Shorts (left)
Last year, during his best three-month stretch, Jordan Golson sold about $750,000 worth of computers and gadgets at the Apple Store in Salem, N.H. It was a performance that might have called for a bottle of Champagne — if that were a luxury Golson could have afforded.
Man is arrested for triple shooting near Columbia University last week
NEW YORK — Detectives on Saturday arrested a 30-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting three men as all four were sitting in a BMW parked across the street from a Columbia University building this month.
Retired teacher at Horace Mann School admits he had sex with pupils
NEW YORK — Tek Young Lin was revered at the Horace Mann School. He was different from other teachers — a Buddhist who carefully tended to his elaborate gardens, a chaplain and a cross-country coach. He was so beloved that the English department chairmanship was named in his honor.
Memory in child denied liver transplant is still kept alive
LOS ANGELES — A teacher under investigation for lewd conduct with a former student led police on a dramatic chase Tuesday afternoon to Rolling Hills Estates, where he drove off an embankment, went airborne and slammed into the side of an office building.
Little debate or doubt about Sandusky’s trial, juror notes
BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Joshua Harper watched Jerry Sandusky listen to one guilty verdict after another — 45 in all — and was more certain than ever that Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant coach, had sexually abused those young boys.
In Paraguay, democracy appears doubtful; trial for President Lugo
RIO DE JANEIRO — In the span of a few hours on Friday, Paraguay’s Senate convened its members, read a list of accusations and put President Fernando Lugo on trial. Dismissing his request for more time to mount his defense, the senators abruptly voted to oust him from office, spurring a fierce debate across Latin America over the fragility of democratic institutions in a region with a long history of dictatorships.
Rest of week in Boston looks beautiful
Cantabrigians can look forward to a beautiful rest of the week, with temperatures forecast to barely break 90 during the day and humidity expected to remain relatively low. Clouds will move in starting on Friday, but rain isn’t expected until Sunday at the earliest.
When the human-machine boundary began to blur
MIT Professor David A. Mindell PhD ’96 feels equally passionate about engineering and literature, and has the degrees from Yale to prove it. His obsession with the detailed study of the evolution of technology, though, is evident in Between Human and Machine, a twist-by-twist account of the personal, managerial, institutional, military and even political forces behind the field that came to be known as cybernetics, the modern fruits of which — including computers — have become the cornerstone of our technology and an inextricable part of our lives.
Ted delivers cheap laughs, Family Guy style
If you like to laugh, you should see Ted. It’s Seth MacFarlane’s (Family Guy) first try at directing for the silver screen, and he delivers on what he does best — telling hilarious vulgar, racist, or sexist jokes. But MacFarlane’s gift is also a curse, because Ted seems to skimp on everything else, making it feel more like a big-budget vehicle to tell the same jokes you can get from an episode of Family Guy.
Pixar’s newest heroine is no damsel in distress
Meet Merida, a spunky, fiery-headed young princess, and the first female star of a Pixar film in the 17 years the studio has been making movies.
Sunny summer soundtrack
Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald entered the US music scene five years ago with This Is the Life, but we haven’t seen (or heard) much of her since. It’s been a long wait for US-based fans — her second album, A Curious Thing (2010), is not readily available on this side of the Atlantic — but the recently released Life in a Beautiful Light makes for the perfect summer soundtrack.
Olympic swimmers chosen
We’re currently midway into July. That means it is hot and humid in Boston, there are less than two months before school begins, and the London Olympics are only a few weeks away. The USA Olympic team is currently being assembled for the Games which begin on July 27th. From June 25th to July 2nd, the Olympic team trials for swimming were held in Omaha, Nebraska. The big story from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was Michael Phelps’ domination of the pool he earned eight gold medals to become the most decorated Olympic athlete in history. He will be competing in seven events (four of them individual) at this year’s Olympics. However, there are other superstars this year, including Missy Franklin in freestyle and backstroke and Rebecca Soni in women’s breaststroke. Here are some things to watch out for in the coming Olympics:
Sports Shorts
Rising senior Wyatt Ubellacker ’13 completed his U.S. Olympic Trials experience Saturday June 30 with an outstanding swim in the prelims of the 50-meter freestyle event. He finished second in his heat with a personal record time of 22.78 seconds. Ubellacker also competed in the 100-meter freestyle trials on Thursday and finished with another personal record of 51.39 seconds.
Federer takes No. 1 at Wimbeldon
Roger Federer of Switzerland won his seventh Wimbledon Championship last Sunday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. On his path to the championship, he defeated first-seeded favorite Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals in four tough sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3). In the finals, Federer rallied back to beat the fourth-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland in four sets after dropping the first set (4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4).
A “grate” salad and the sweet turned savory
I was staring at the wall of energy bars at LaVerdes, looking for a quick snack between work and exercising. Bright and colorful, they tempted the eye with bold statements like “10 grams of protein!” and “Chocolate-Caramel flavoring.” Yet even the “healthy” bars often contained more sugar than protein, and I wanted something more … meaty. Unfortunately, I don’t have the technology to produce a slab of pure dried animal flesh, so I did the next best thing: I made a batch of savory granola.
