Kendall design team assembled
MIT’s East Campus Steering Committee has selected the next group in charge of advancing the development of the Kendall Square area. The group will collaborate on a study of the property, which will develop into a long-term strategy for development for the area, and in particular the balancing of meeting commercial, residential, and academic needs, according to the MIT News Office.
Coursera to create ‘learning hubs’ outside the US
Coursera, a California-based venture that has enrolled 5 million students in its free online courses, on Thursday announced a partnership with the U.S. government to create “learning hubs” around the world where students can go to get Internet access to free courses supplemented by weekly in-person class discussions with local teachers or facilitators.
Assembly limits of Boston FSILG residences to be re-evaluated
Students and alumni of MIT’s fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs) gathered on Oct. 24 for a meeting regarding the temporary restriction on large events in Boston FSILG residences, which are to remain until the assembly limits of each residence could be evaluated. Boston FSILG residences are applying for updated assembly permits and are restricted from having events that exceed the occupancy of their houses until the permits have been issued — effectively, a ban on parties and other large events at the residences.
NEWS BRIEFS
Billionaire Carlos Slim Helú promised to donate $74 million to the Broad Institute Monday, according to the Boston Globe. His donation will fund genetic research based on the DNA of Hispanics and other non-Europeans, the Globe reported. “I try to support this kind of project — that is for the interest of everyone in the world, but with some focus in Mexico and Latin America,” Slim told the Globe.
Contrite White House spurns health law’s critics
BOSTON — The White House on Wednesday blended expressions of contrition for the troubled rollout of its health care law with an aggressive rejection of Republican criticism of it, as the administration sought a political strategy to blunt the fallout from weeks of technical failures and negative coverage.
Red Sox clinch first title at Fenway since 1918
BOSTON — For much of the 20th century, the Boston Red Sox were a symbol of frustration and pain for an entire region. As popular as they were in their corner of the nation, either they were good enough to lose in agonizing fashion on baseball’s grandest stage or they were just plain bad.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives, with bipartisan support, passed legislation Wednesday that would roll back a major element of the 2010 law intended to strengthen the nation’s financial regulations by allowing big banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to continue to handle most types of derivatives trades in house. The bill, which passed by a 292-122 vote, would repeal a requirement in the Dodd-Frank law that big banks “push out” some derivatives trading into separate units that are not backed by the government’s insurance fund.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor living in asylum in Russia, now has a job at one of the country’s major Internet companies, a lawyer who has represented him since he arrived here as a fugitive from U.S. prosecution four months ago said Thursday.
Voter’s anger over shutdown is inspiring Democrats to run
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1994, and until this month, prospects for changing that were dim at best. Of the state’s three House seats, a Democrat has a fighting chance only in the district encompassing Omaha and its suburbs. And the party’s sole hope there, Omaha’s popular City Council president, had declared that he was not going to run.
Senate Republicans block two Obama nominees
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the confirmation of two of President Barack Obama’s nominees, one to a powerful appeals court and another to a housing lending oversight post, setting up a confrontation with Democrats that could escalate into a larger fight over limiting the filibuster and restricting how far the minority party can go to thwart a president’s agenda.
Bodies of dozens of migrants found in Niger’s desert
DAKAR, Senegal — The decomposing bodies of 87 migrants from the impoverished West African nation of Niger were discovered in the Sahara this week just a few miles from a well, apparently stranded after a desperate search for water, said the head of a local humanitarian organization who helped bury many of the bodies.
Cold front brings warmer temperatures and rain
Grab an umbrella instead of a sweater today: today’s temperatures will be among the warmest we’ve experienced in recent days, but we will also see rain for most of the day. The source of the rain is a powerful cold front which has been moving across the Midwest this week, producing strong winds and up to several inches of rain. Here in Boston, we will likely see about a quarter of an inch of rain. Winds may gust as high as 30 miles per hour. The cold front will then move off the coast tonight into tomorrow morning.
Pho real, you’ve gotta go to Le’s
You’ll find Le’s Vietnamese Restaurant inside The Garage in Harvard Square, and if you haven’t been, it’s definitely worth checking out. The atmosphere is very peaceful; the walls are warm colors, and paper lantern-like lighting hangs overhead. There is an extensive menu of Vietnamese dishes, but I have to say, if you go, you should try the pho.
Arts Events NOV. 1 – NOV. 7
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: An earlier version of this calendar listed the incorrect date for the Folk Dancing with Live Electric Balkan Music event. It is on Sunday, Nov. 3, not Saturday.
Save your high expectations for something else
I had high hopes for this movie. Ridley Scott, Cormac McCarthy, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz? A-List all the way, right? I was so, so very disappointed. From just viewing the trailer, you pretty much get the entire movie minus the endless and mostly dull dialogue.
Halved Hamlet, twice the fun
Last Tuesday, I sat down with the director and two leads of the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble’s production of Hamlet. The director, J. Paul Nicholas, previously worked with the Ensemble on the spring 2012 production of The Tempest. Keenan A. Sunderwirth ’14 and Mark L. Velednitsky ’14, the actors I spoke with, are no strangers to either the Ensemble or the stage — both MIT seniors have worked on eight shows in their time here, and began acting at ages 6 and 7 respectively.
Love, jealousy, and a thousand arabesques
Last week the Boston Ballet began their 2013–14 season with La Bayadère, a classical ballet set in a fantastical-version of ancient India, that artistic director Mikko Nissinen describes as “one of the most iconic and quintessential pieces in the classical ballet collection.”
Sex, angst, and lesbian love
Blue is the Warmest Color, or La Vie d’Adèle, chapters 1 et 2 in its original French title, is a tender, wrenching, heart-gripping love story about a teenage girl Adèle, her coming of age, falling in lesbian love for the first time, and subsequent devastating heartbreak. A loose adaptation of the graphic novel by Julie Maroh, it is melancholic, raw, emotional, powerful, and yes, it is sexy, but it is the loving that makes it so, the traumatic loving.
Frankie Rose and Franz Ferdinand rock the Orpheum
The Orpheum Theater in Boston is a beautiful old opera house in Boston that seems a little past its glory days, but it was perfect for the indie rock and dance mashups of Casual Sex, Frankie Rose, and Franz Ferdinand.
Playing with the past
The Digital Den, which has had public viewing hours in the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse in recent months, held a launch party on Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Middlesex Lounge in Central Square, with guided tours of the computing equipment on exhibit, and playtime with machines ranging from early Macs to an Oculus Rift.
A harrowing look at the life of a slave
American history is extremely messy. It is often hard to believe that a country founded on the idea of freedom and equality for all denied these freedoms to women and minorities for so long. But the movie 12 Years a Slave forces us to confront one of the greatest evils in the history: slavery.
Princess of hearts
I admired Princess Diana when I was a kid because she was nice when she didn’t have to be. She could have just attended the requisite state functions, but instead she made an effort to reach out to less fortunate people, and she set the bar for later celebrity activists. In the 1980s, she famously shook the hand of a man with AIDS, despite the widespread fear and misunderstanding of people who were HIV positive at the time. Her complicated personal life became tabloid fodder, but to her fans her flaws only made her more relatable. But the afternoon before her fatal car accident, I remember wondering aloud to my friends as we wandered between the rides at a local amusement park whether Princess Di was really a nice person, in real life, not just on the news.
What would change if you could time travel?
Richard Curtis has written several charming romantic comedies, including Love Actually, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones’ Diary. With About Time, it’s clear that Curtis hasn’t lost his magic touch; it’s yet another beautiful, funny, sentimental tale about love and life.
Free vegetarian food and a community brought together
You know those old Star Trek episodes where Kirk, Bones, and Spock beam down onto an alien planet, and find themselves in the middle of some big marketplace, where people are selling strange foods, and wearing bright colored clothes? Well, walking into the 18th annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival, held at the Roxbury Community College Athletic Center last Sunday, was quite a bit like that.
“Your future starts with your choices today”
Boston Ballet corps de ballet member Diana Albrecht spoke with The Tech about her career in ballet as well as her favorite moments of La Bayadère. A native of Paraguay, Albrecht has been dancing since she was three years old, and professionally since she was 16 years old. In La Bayadère, her roles include dancing as a bayadère (Hindu temple dancer) in the first act, in the fan waltz in the second act, and as a shade in Solor’s dream in the third act.
Volleyball beats Emerson
Playing for only the second time in program history and first as NEWMAC rivals, the MIT women’s volleyball team defeated Emerson College, 25-16, 25-11, 25-18, on Tuesday night. Kristine A. Bunker ’14 paced the Engineers’ (20-10, 6-3 NEWMAC) balanced attack with nine kills and a .643 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks. Kat Rice led the way for the Lions (15-11, 3-6 NEWMAC) with four kills to go along with two digs, an ace, and a block.
Champions League soccer play resumes Nov. 5
The Champions League has kicked off and we are halfway through the group stages. The first three match weeks should have pleased soccer fans all over the world with all the great soccer played and the many goals scored. Before the second half of the group stages start on November 5, it is best to take a look at how the groups are shaping up so far:
