Four MIT seniors are among Marshall Scholarship winners
Four MIT seniors recently received the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. According to the MIT News Office press release, these undergraduates — Kirin J. Sinha, Catherine E. Koch, Colleen Loynachan, and Grace C. Young — will join the 30 other U.S. winners in pursuing a graduate degree for two years at the U.K. institution of their choice.
American and British spies infiltrate fantasy realm of online games World of Warcraft and Second Life
Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, U.S. and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting surveillance and scooping up data in the online games played by millions of people across the globe, according to newly disclosed classified documents.
Sipser appointed Acting Dean of the School of Science
Effective Dec. 16, 2013, Michael Sipser, head of the Department of Mathematics, will become the interim dean of the School of Science according to an MIT News Office press release.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Final presentations by students in 2.009
On Monday, Dec. 9, students in 2.009: Product Engineering Processes, presented their final projects in Kresge Auditorium. The students worked together in teams of sixteen to eighteen throughout the semester to develop products and build prototypes related to the wellness-oriented theme dubbed “Be Well.” Each team was given a $6,500 budget to design their product and build prototypes. The event, a well-organized production complete with live music, began promptly at 7:30 p.m. with a musical performance by organist Epp Sonin.
MBTA expands T hours
The MBTA announced last week a one-year pilot late night service operating on Saturdays and Sundays beginning this spring. Expanded hours will not run on Friday nights. According to the Boston Globe, the new service will run until 3:00 A.M. with the last train leaving the city at 2:30 a.m. and will include the all train lines, the Silver Line, and 15 bus routes: 1, 15, 22, 23, 28, 32, 39, 57, 66, 71, 73, 77, 111, 116, and 117. Train fares will remain the same for late night hours as other times: $2 for a subway and $1.50 for a bus.
House and Senate reach compromise on Pentagon bill
WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators reached a final agreement Monday on a Pentagon policy bill that would strengthen protections for military victims of sexual assault and keep the prison facility at Guantánamo Bay open over President Barack Obama’s strenuous objections, as Congress rushed to wrap up work in its last full week of the year.
Thai premier calls for elections as opposition quits
BANGKOK — Facing volatile street protests and the mass resignation from Parliament of the main opposition party, Thailand’s prime minister on Monday called for fresh elections, the latest in a series of attempts to defuse anger against her political party and her powerful family.
Shorts (right)
BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces battled gunmen trying to infiltrate the country from neighboring Syria on Monday, while attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital killed more than 20 people, officials said.
Arctic front to bring temperature plunge
Yesterday, we at Cambridge witnessed our first lasting snow of the winter, more than one month later than the time of our first lasting snow last year. Temperatures over the last few days frequently oscillated above and below freezing, as is typical in Bostonian December.
Philippines and Muslim rebels move closer to final peace deal
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has moved a step closer to a landmark peace deal with the country’s largest Muslim insurgent group, but significant obstacles to an end to violence remain.
Israel, Jordan, and Palestinians sign water project deal
JERUSALEM — In a rare display of regional cooperation, representatives of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement Monday to build a Red Sea-Dead Sea water project that is meant to benefit all three parties.
Israel agrees to allow building materials into Gaza
JERUSALEM — Under pressure from the United Nations amid a mounting economic and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Israel has agreed to restart the transfer of construction materials to Gaza on Tuesday after an eight-week hiatus.
Protecting religious freedom at MIT
I am a chaplain at MIT, as a well as a rabbi working for Hillel. In case it is not already abundantly clear, I am Jewish.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
MIT is planning changes to the FSILG resident advisor (RA) program for the upcoming academic year. As leaders in the FSILG community, we are concerned about the process used to make these changes and the way they will affect our organizations.
CORRECTIONS
The arts events calendar in Tuesday’s issue misstated the time for the Chamber Music Society recital on Monday, Dec. 9. It is at 5 p.m., not 5:30 p.m. (There was also a 7 p.m. Chamber Music Society recital on the same day.)
Art via recycling
Nearly every month since 2011 MIT has hosted a “Choose-to-Reuse” event in the Stata Center lobby, sponsored by the Department of Facilities, Sustainability@MIT, and Green. During the event, community members donate and trade unwanted items. The overarching goal is to promote a culture of recycling and reducing waste. This year they are giving the program an arts-spin by collaborating with sculptural artist Kyle Haines. Haines will repurpose items from Choose-to-Reuse, as well other items found at MIT, into MIT-themed sculptures. His final pieces will be displayed on campus during Earth Week this coming April. He will begin collecting goods at the next Choose-to-Reuse event this Friday. He caught up with The Tech to explain his motives behind the project and how art can relate to the MIT community.
Engineers defeat Lyons by 15 points
Despite a second-half run that brought Mount Holyoke College within 10 points with just six minutes left to play, the MIT women’s basketball team held on for a 47-32 NEWMAC victory on Saturday afternoon. Playing all 40 minutes, Mari R. Kordell ’15 compiled 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals for the Engineers (4-3, 3-2 NEWMAC). Amber Legare led the Lyons (2-4, 1-4 NEWMAC) with a game-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals.
SPORTS SHORT
After winning against Bryant University by a score of 6-3 last night, the MIT squash team went on to defeat Bard College by a score of 9-0 at home on Saturday morning. This brings Tech’s season record to 6-4.
Funding the future
“What’s most interesting to me about the future of technology? Reimagining every human behavior and every human experience through the lens of a mobile device,” declares Megan Quinn, an Investment Partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm famous for making early investments in companies like Google and Amazon. Having met her briefly during the MIT Silicon Valley Pitch Trek back in October and been impressed by her experience and knowledge of the digital space, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to interview her. Quinn will be joining us on Friday, Dec. 13 at the MIT VC conference, where venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and students will come together to discuss the intersection of entrepreneurship and venture capital. With years of experience leading product development at Google and Square, Quinn exhibits admirable depth of knowledge and passion for technology. I spoke with Quinn about her thoughts on the future of mobile and personalization, during which she shared her vision for the future of mobile: “We talk a lot about having the world customized around the customer through the smartphone. When you have that experience it feels magical. It feels like you’re carrying the passport to the future with you with everything responding to you and your preferences.”
Events Dec 10 - Dec 16
Events Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) The High Redshift Universe Next Door — 37-252 (9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Colleges Against Cancer Pink Dessert Night — W7 Wednesday (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Life Sciences Circle Event: Next-omics - Personalized Medicine beyond Genomics — Broad Institute Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Crowd Sourced Mapping for Open Government — E25-401 (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Finals Week Study Break-Cookies with Canines — Hayden Library Friday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MIT Asian Dance Team presents “Illusions” — Kresge Little Theater (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) End-of-semester stargazing — 37-roof Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Association of Puerto Rican Students Xmas Dinner — 10-Bush Room Monday (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Winterfest 2013 presented by President Reif and Mrs. Reif — Walker Memorial Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
