REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: 21 bringing down the house
On a windy Tuesday night this past week, the Lecture Series Committee ran a presentation centered around one of the most prominent references to MIT in pop culture. In the dimly light room 26-100 stood Jeff Ma ’94, the inspiration for the main character of the movie being screened: 21. Next to him was Ben Mezrich, renowned author of Bringing Down the House, which piqued Kevin Spacey’s interest in a story of MIT nerds taking down Las Vegas’ casinos (Spacey played an MIT lecturer who coached the team).
Swartz hid behind helmet, but only after he was already photographed
On Friday, the government filed its consolidated reply to various motions to suppress evidence in U.S. v. Aaron Swartz. Swartz is being prosecuted for hiding a laptop at MIT and mass downloading millions of journal articles from JSTOR from 2010–2011.
Colleges in area partner with edX for class credit
EdX now has now broken into the community college sphere. President of edX, Anant Agarwal, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced yesterday at a press conference that students at Bunker Hill and Massachusetts Bay Community Colleges would be able to take an adapted version of 6.00x for credit starting in Spring 2013. This is the first partnership of edX with a community college and one of the first times a private institution (such as MIT or Harvard) has collaborated with a public institution to improve the quality of class content, according to Paul Reville, Massachusetts secretary of education.
Hubway stations to close by Nov. 28
Yesterday, Hubway began a “phased seasonal shutdown” of its stations in preparation for the winter, according to a post on its website. It will be closing up to six stations per day.
Faculty Newsletter praises faculty 2030 report
In the November issue of the Faculty Newsletter, released yesterday, three articles respond to the faculty 2030 task force’s report on “Community Engagement in 2030 Planning on Development of MIT‐Owned Property in Kendall Square.”
Church of England prepares for vote on female bishops
LONDON — Two decades after it supported the introduction of women as priests, the Church of England began three days of deliberations Monday that will include a critical vote on the ordination of women as bishops — a notion that still splits its members into rival camps.
As it emerges from scandal, News Corp. looks to buy again
News Corp. is starting to look like its old self again. The media conglomerate, which had been on its heels for more than a year because of the phone hacking scandal in Britain, is looking to make acquisitions. First on the list could be a 49 percent stake in the Yes Network in New York, a purchase that could aid in the formation of a new nationwide sports network to compete with ESPN.
Shorts (left)
LONDON — The leader of Britain’s biggest business lobby issued a stark warning Monday about the growing risk that the country will leave the European Union and urged British business executives who favor staying in the bloc to speak out in response to skeptics of further European integration.
Scores of Palestinians killed, wounded as conflict continues
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — After a night of sustained Israeli strikes by air and sea and a morning of rocket attacks on Israel, the Health Ministry here said Monday that the Palestinian death toll in six days of conflict had risen to 91 with 700 wounded, including 200 children, as the assault ground on unrelentingly despite efforts toward a cease-fire.
Quiet weather in store for Thanksgiving
The high pressure system that has been parked over the Northeast for the last few days will remain in control of our weather through the end of the week. It will continue to be dry and seasonably cool (highs around 50°F). Onshore flow off the ocean today and tomorrow will advect some moist air, causing some cloudiness. Thanksgiving looks to be a pleasant day, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 50°F’s expected. The high pressure will finally move away from our region on Friday, with a cold front approaching from the west. Southeasterly flow could allow temperatures to make it into the mid 50°F’s. Looking ahead to the weekend, the cold front is expected to move through on Saturday, but shouldn’t bring a great deal of precipitation. Following that, Sunday will be much cooler and breezier.
Shorts (right)
BEIJING — In his first speech to the Chinese Communist Party’s elite Politburo, Xi Jinping, the new party chief, denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state.”
Fighting breaks standoff between rebels and Congo forces
KAMPALA, Uganda — Heavy shelling and gunfire Monday broke a tense standoff between Congolese rebels on the outskirts of the eastern Congolese city of Goma and government soldiers backed by U.N. troops who were hunkered down inside, as fears also rose of a direct military confrontation between the Democratic Republic of
Rocket fire in the Gaza strip hits close to home
I’m frightened. My younger sister, who will be a freshman at MIT next year, is currently hiding in a bomb shelter in Israel. My phone buzzes nonstop with worried calls from my mother, and texts from my sister with messages like “update: sirens went off, went to safe room, heard blast but out now,” and “wow that was loud … two more rockets fell near us, one was hit by iron dome and the other they say fell in the sea.” While my sister is handling the terrible situation well (she is mostly complaining that the rocket attacks are preventing her from seeing the new Twilight movie), the reality is that Israel has been thrown into turmoil by the constant barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, which have made living everyday life impossible for millions of Israelis.
Men’s basketball victorious
Trailing by a point midway through the second half, MIT put together a 7-0 run that put the Engineers in the lead for good as they defeated Gordon College by a final of 64-53. Senior Mitchell H. Kates led all scores for the No. 1 ranked Engineers with 23 points, with senior William Tashman picking up his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Corraling coral in the Pacific
As my plane began its steep descent to Christmas Island, 2’N, 157’W, middle of nowhere, I was reminded that the islands I was to visit are some of the most remote pieces of land in the world. I thought about the adventure of a lifetime I was beginning: meeting the sailing yacht Seadragon for a month-long expedition to study coral on three remote atolls in the central Pacific.
