CORRECTIONS
An article about MIT’s BitComp in the Tuesday, Sept. 9 issue of The Tech mistakenly said Nelson Liu was an MIT senior. He is in fact a current high-school senior.
MIT campus upgrades wireless network
Just in time for the beginning of the new school year, MIT upgraded its wireless network to include a new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) as part of a push to strengthen wireless coverage on campus, according to a press release by AT&T.
Profs Danheiser and Poonen awarded School of Science Teaching Prizes
The MIT School of Science recently awarded its annual Teaching Prizes for Graduate and Undergraduate Education to two faculty members. The honor is for excellence in the classroom.
Plans for academic entity move forward
Provost Martin A. Schmidt PhD ’88 announced last week plans to move forward to create a new institutional entity at MIT. The entity will incorporate values from several programs, including the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) and Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), to create a new center focused on complex and socio-technical systems, information and decision systems, and statistics.
Faneuil Hall under major renovations
The operator of Faneuil Hall Marketplace, one of Boston’s most visited yet dated landmarks, is proposing a dramatic overhaul of the historic property that would create a new boutique hotel and shake up a shopping experience that has changed little since the 1970s.
Students discuss their concerns with nuclear energy industry leaders and policy-makers
The 2014 Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD), a 17-member body including MIT graduate students Daniel J. Curtis and Jake M. Jurewicz from the department of nuclear science and engineering and Matthew C. Ellis of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, met last Thursday with various nuclear energy leaders and industry representatives. They also met with executive and legislative offices, according to the MIT News Office.
MIT Professor wins $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize
Sangeeta N. Bhatia SM ’93, PhD ’97, the John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, has been awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for her work in applying small-scale technologies to create clinical solutions that can be implemented on a global scale. The annual prize is awarded to mid-career inventors who develop products that have societal value.
All-FSILG ban is for rush fairness
When Boston decided to impose a 49-person limit on gatherings at MIT fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups in the city last week, MIT extended the restriction to those in Cambridge and Brookline to “maintain equity among the FSILGs during new member recruitment,” according to Matthew D. Bauer, a spokesman for the Division of Student Life.
IN SHORT
September 15 is the last day to sign the 2014-2015 waiver for MIT health insurance if you are using your family’s insurance plan. Be sure to waive individual coverage through the MIT Student Extended Health Plan. You can waive coverage for just the fall semester or the full academic year. Go to http://medweb.mit.edu/healthplans/student/waiver.html.
Sacra recovering from Ebola
Dr. Richard A. Sacra, the Massachusetts physician infected with Ebola while working at a hospital in Liberia, has taken major steps toward recovery, a doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said Thursday.
US, Europe back new economic sanctions against Russia
BRUSSELS — The United States and Europe agreed on Thursday to place additional economic sanctions on Russia over its role in promoting separatist warfare in eastern Ukraine despite a fragile new cease-fire that went into effect last week.
Shorts (left)
In a move that could shore up the dire shortage of opinions on the Internet, Google has acquired Polar, an online poll company. The deal was announced on Polar’s website and through Google’s social network, Google Plus.
Cool, fall weather in store
It definitely feels like fall in Cambridge! Yesterday, temperatures reached a warm 80°F (27°C) thanks to breezy southwest winds ahead of an approaching cold front. This cold front passed through the area late last night, leaving us with cooler conditions and cloudless skies in its wake. Expect a high temperature of 68°F (20°C) today with winds from the north. More clouds should start filtering in tomorrow, but temperatures will remain cool with a high near 66°F (19°C). Tomorrow evening, a low-pressure system will form off of the coast to our south and travel northeastward along the coast of New England. We may see some rain showers associated with this system tomorrow evening into early Sunday. Otherwise, Sunday and Monday look dry with mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the upper sixties (Sunday) to low seventies (Monday).
Deal reached on Gaza reconstruction
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said Thursday night that he had reached an agreement with Israel and the United Nations to allow imports of reconstruction materials into the Gaza Strip, apparently bypassing Hamas to fulfill a key tenet of the cease-fire agreement that halted hostilities on Aug. 26.
Shorts (right)
Two days after a graphic video surfaced showing star running back Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancée, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continued to scramble to get ahead of the brewing controversy about whether he had seen the video before suspending the player for two games.
Documents unsealed in Yahoo’s case against US data requests
The federal government was so determined to collect the Internet communications of Yahoo customers in 2008 that it threatened the company with fines of $250,000 per day if it did not immediately comply with a secret court order to turn over the data.
72-hour wait for abortion is enacted in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature has enacted one of the most stringent waiting periods for women seeking abortions, overriding a veto by the state’s Democratic governor, Jay Nixon.
Indiscriminate surveillance at MIT
In the Stata Center, the doors to enter the building and then to enter the lab areas are opened by RFID cards (I call them “pox cards”) instead of metal keys. When the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) moved into Stata in 2004, the MIT administration decided, without consulting the personnel of CSAIL, to make the system log which cards are used to open which doors and when.
On the ‘startup craze’
Many students and other members of the MIT community have spent time working in Silicon Valley. While doing so, it is hard not to notice a “startup craze,” a natural product of a city with such a large proportion of entrepreneurs. One often hears (or overhears) questions like, “Do you think my idea is good?” or, “Do you want to be my CTO?” Socializing sometimes feels less like personal interaction than a networking opportunity.
Boston Calling returns for round four
The fourth installment of Boston Calling this past weekend had its ups and downs but was overall an exciting, enjoyable festival that catered to Boston’s immensely diverse music scene.
Patriots look to regain form after stunning week 1 loss
After a pre-season filled with blockbuster free agent acquisitions and heightened expectations, the New England Patriots were abruptly brought back down to earth with a thumping 33-20 loss against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday in Miami. The loss comes as a surprise to most, as the Patriots were expected to be one of the main AFC contenders for the Super Bowl along with the Denver Broncos and, to a lesser extent, the Indianapolis Colts.
