The first 71 days of office
President L. Rafael Reif, MIT’s 17th, has begun his “freshman year” at MIT, as he told the Class of 2016 during its Convocation. He is now entering his third month in office since assuming the role on July 2. The Tech interviewed Reif about his first summer on the job and his plans for the future.
New lung cancer study suggests more-tailored drug treatment
The first large and comprehensive study of the genetics of a common lung cancer finds that more than half the tumors from that cancer have mutations that might be treated by new drugs that are already in the pipeline or that could be easily developed. For the tens of thousands of patients with that cancer — squamous cell lung cancer — the results are promising because they could foretell a new type of treatment in which drugs are tailored to match the genetic abnormality in each patient, researchers say.
Hockfield appointed to the HKS
Former MIT President Susan J. Hockfield will be the Harvard Kennedy School’s (HKS) Marie Curie Visiting Professor this academic year, the school’s Dean, David T. Ellwood, announced on Friday. Ellwood and other members of the HKS faculty had several discussions with Hockfield, after which she was nominated and approved by tenured faculty. She will be affiliated with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and will continue to serve as a professor of neuroscience at MIT.
Romney calls Obama’s post-convention gain ‘a sugar high’
President Barack Obama raised more money in August than Mitt Romney did, outpacing him for the first time since the spring and adding to a sense in both parties that Obama is entering the post-convention sprint to Election Day in a slightly stronger position, leaving Romney with less than two months to change that dynamic.
Shorts (right)
BEIJING — The strange disappearance from public view of China’s presumptive new leader is turning a year that was supposed to showcase the Communist Party’s stability into something of an annus horribilis.
Autumn-like weather becoming calmer and warmer this week
Stiff winds and cool temperatures poured into New England this weekend, behind a strong cold front which passed through Saturday evening. Hence a deep trough, located in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere, has overtaken our recent weather. The trough’s northerly winds, out of Canada, have brought much cooler and drier air. These winds are occurring ahead of a surface high pressure approaching our region.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — Russian Parliament members moved a step closer to stripping an opposition lawmaker of his post Monday, heightening tension before an opposition march planned for this weekend.
Spreading Palestinian economic protests focus on leaders
HEBRON, West Bank — A week of Palestinian protests against rising prices and economic hardship erupted Monday into rioting against the Palestinian Authority in this city and others in the West Bank, posing a new challenge to the Western-backed government that has worked to promote stability. Anger has mostly been directed at Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, an internationally respected economist who has been widely credited abroad with shepherding the authority toward sound fiscal policies and the building of the institutions needed for a future state.
UN warns Syrian rebels over human rights violations
BEIRUT — The top U.N. human rights official warned opposition fighters in Syria on Monday that they would not be immune from prosecution for atrocities, as videos from the Syrian city of Aleppo appeared to show a mass execution by rebel fighters of bound and blindfolded Syrian government soldiers.
Debunking the middle class
Game theory suggests that in the final sum of things, democratic politics is mostly about wooing the median voter, i.e. the individual or demographic whose inclusion will bring your coalition to 50.1 percent of the vote. Thus it comes as no surprise that in America, where the median voter is a middle-class voter, election-year rhetoric tends to focus on fetishizing those of moderate income.
Women’s tennis wins first game
It was a fine start to the 2012 season for the No. 30 MIT women’s tennis team as the Engineers downed Assumption College, 9-0. Junior Lauren C. Quisenberry and freshman Victoria Tam got things started for MIT with an 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles.
Events Sep. 11 - Sep. 17
Events Sept. 11 – 17 Tuesday (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) The Brain’s Politics: How Campaigns are Framed and Why talk by George Lakoff — E15-070 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) 23andMe and Consumer Powered Research talk on personal DNA sequencing — NE30, Broad Institute Auditorium Wednesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) The Sense of Style: Scientific Communication for the 21st Century talk by Steven Pinker — 34-101 (5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) The New, New Mobile: Commerce on Wheels panel (registration required) — 32-123 Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) A Modern Day Challenge: safeguarding, conserving and protecting the cultural heritage of Israel — E40-496 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Urban Films: The Parking Lot Movie, introduction by by Professor Eran Ben-Joseph — 3-133 Friday (6:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows The Avengers — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Shakespeare Ensemble shows 10 Things I Hate About You — Kresge Lawn Saturday (8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Boston Open Powerlifting Championship — Walker Memorial (8:30 p.m.) MIT Ballroom Dance Team Dance Concert — Kresge Main Auditorium Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MIT Heritage of the Arts of Southasia presents Kalapini Komkali (Hindustani khyal) concert — E51 Monday (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Challenges and Excitement of Space Exploration talk by Dr. Charles Elachi — E51-115 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
