Crandall passes at 92
Stephen H. Crandall, the Ford Professor of Engineering Emeritus at MIT, a pioneer in random vibrations and rotordynamics, and a leader in transforming mechanics into an engineering science, passed away Oct. 29, in Needham, Mass. He was 92 years old.
DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman is 2014 Commencement speaker
Ellen Kullman, the CEO and chairwoman of DuPont, will deliver the keynote Commencement speech in June 2014, MIT is expected to announce today. She will be the fourth speaker in five years at the helm of a science or technology company.
Lobby 10 to be renamed ‘Memorial Lobby’
On Nov. 18, Lobby 10 will be officially renamed “Memorial Lobby.”
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama, after nearly five years of evangelizing exercise and good eating habits, will begin a new initiative on Tuesday that seeks to increase the number of low-income students who pursue a college degree. The goals of the program reflect the first lady’s own life and will immerse her more directly in her husband’s policies.
Problems with federal health portal stymie Medicaid
WASHINGTON — Problems with the federal health insurance website have prevented tens of thousands of low-income people from signing up for Medicaid even though they are eligible, federal and state officials say, undermining one of the chief goals of the 2010 health care law.
Shopping spree in China sets record in online sales
HANGZHOU, China — Unmarried men across China used to spend Nov. 11 lamenting their single status with a drink. Now that unofficial holiday has become the world’s largest online shopping event.
Arctic air mass brings chilly temperatures
A frontal passage early this morning brought the first snow showers of the season to our region. While at the time of this writing it was unknown whether Logan Airport would record measurable snowfall, it would be comparable timing to the date of the first snowfall last year (on Nov. 7, 2012, 0.10” of snow was recorded at Logan Airport).
Syrian opposition group votes to attend peace talks
BEIRUT — During the fractious weekend debates that ended with the main Syrian exile opposition coalition yielding to international pressure by dropping its refusal to hold peace talks with President Bashar Assad’s government, tensions ran so high that one prominent coalition member slapped another in the face, participants in the gathering said.
Shorts (left)
GENEVA — As Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers from other world powers sought to work out an interim agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranian government’s insistence on formal recognition of its “right” to enrich uranium emerged as a major obstacle, diplomats said Sunday.
Supreme Court takes up challenges to union practices
Labor leaders and businesses are closely watching a Supreme Court case to be argued Wednesday that involves a popular strategy used by unions to successfully organize hundreds of thousands of workers.
CORRECTIONS
An article in Friday’s issue on the Chancellor search mistakenly referred to President L. Rafael Reif as Rafael L. Reif. The same article also quoted Reif saying “he has to be a good educator” of a new Chancellor — the intent was rather “he or she.”
‘There is nothing sexier than a smart person.’
In 2001, Missy Suicide (Selena Mooney) co-founded SuicideGirls, a website that features pin-up photography and profiles of alternative female models, as a way to show the world that there is more than one way to be beautiful. Seven of the “SuicideGirls” featured on the site will come to Boston’s House of Blues on Nov. 17 to star in Blackheart Burlesque. The Tech caught up with the show’s organizer, Missy Suicide, about her thoughts on the show, stereotypes, and the sexiness of engineering.
MIT Squash remains undefeated on the season
At its first home match of the 2013-14 season, the MIT squash team added another win to the schedule when it defeated Boston College by a score of 6-3 on Saturday morning. The Engineers are currently undefeated after defeating Boston University, 5-4, on Thursday night and Northeastern, 5-4, on Friday.
MIT defeats Coast Guard in NEWMAC semis
Host and No. 1 seed MIT advanced past No. 4 seed Coast Guard in penalty kicks, 5-4, at the semifinals of the 2013 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Saturday morning. After remaining tied at 1-1 through two overtime periods, it came down to a battle of the goalkeepers in the shootout, with the Bears’ junior goalie Richie Burns firing at the net and having his shot saved by a diving Jake L. Amereno ’16 to end the game.
THE NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: Little Brown Birds
Apparently, it’s now November, since it is already dark when I get out of class. In the birdwatcher’s calendar, this cold, wet season is the time to go out and search for a dozen species of sparrows and thrushes. These birds are all small and brown and go by the informal name of Little Brown Bird (LBB for short). A typical sighting goes like this: “Look, something moved in the grass! Oops, I scared it, it’s flying away.” “It’s gone. What was it?” “Oh, an LBB.”
Events Nov 12 - Nov 18
Events Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 Tuesday (1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) Very Small Arrays: Data Graphics at the New York Times — 32-G449 (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Secularism, Sexuality, and Sectarian Conflict lecture — 3-133 (5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.) Ancient & Medieval Studies Speaker Series: Does Virtuous Activity Constitute Happiness? Two Case Studies in Plato — 14E-304 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Gender and Nationalistic Violence: What We Can See in the Movies — E40-496 (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Skincare for Busy People — 56-162 Thursday (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Soap Box: The Science of Remembering (and Forgetting) with Ki Goosens — MIT Museum (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) The High Stakes World of Mobile Payments — 34-101 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Musing, Schmoozing & Sushi, interfaith dating conversation — W11 Small Dining Room Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Paleogenomics 2.0: A Planetary Perspective — 54-915 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) “Fungineering” or, Thinking Outside the Building — 3-370 Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Boston Asian American Students’ Intercollegiate Coalition conference — 26-100, Lobdell, Building 32 Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Do Minority Candidates Benefit from Anonymous Job Applications? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment — E51-151 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Naming ceremony for the Memorial Lobby — Lobby 10 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Breaking rules and transforming the economy
How is technology fundamentally transforming our economy and our day-to-day lives? The Cyberposium, a day long conference at Harvard Business School, brought together students, thought leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and academics to gather in thought-provoking panels to address how technology is impacting society and businesses today. MIT students from all courses and MIT alumni met at the event, excited about the panels on the future of mobile technology, sharing economy, wearable devices, social influence, education and health technology (and many others) and ready to engage in dialogue about Techonomy 2.0.
