IN SHORT
Meal plan change period ends tomorrow. It will not be possible to add, remove, or swap meal plans after Sept. 17.Career week continues until the end of this week. Career fair will take place Friday, Sept. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Johnson Athletic Center and Rockwell Cage. (See the schedule of other events on page 13.)
CORRECTIONS
An article published in the Friday, Sept. 9 issue of The Tech erroneously stated that Matthew C. Ellis of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory was a member of the 2014 Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation, citing the MIT News Office. The article should have referred to Matthew S. Ellis of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, as is reflected in an updated version of the News Office article.
After 19% investment return, endowment climbs to $12.4 billion
MIT’s primary investment pool generated a return of 19.2 percent in the 2014 fiscal year, during which the Institute’s endowment rose to $12.4 billion, the MIT Investment Management Company announced last Friday.
With ‘eduroam,’ MIT offers remote access to MITnet
MIT recently joined the network-access service eduroam and began broadcasting the “eduroam” SSID on Aug. 19, adding to the more familiar “MIT,” “MIT GUEST,” and “MIT SECURE,” according to a news article on MIT IS&T’s website.
Lawyers spar over jury in Tsarnaev case
Lawyers representing Dzhokar Tsarnaev, on trial for allegedly detonating two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon and later killing MIT Police officer Sean Collier, called for charges against him to be dismissed on the grounds that grand and trial juries in Massachusetts do not fairly represent the population, violating a constitutional requirement.
Privacy concerns arise over tech in classrooms
At a New York state elementary school, teachers can use a behavior-monitoring app to compile information on which children have positive attitudes and which act out. In Georgia, some high school cafeterias are using a biometric identification system to let students pay for lunch by scanning the palms of their hands at the checkout line. And across the country, school sports teams are using social media sites for athletes to exchange contact information and game locations.
Cool, dry weather to return soon
Cambridge experienced a nice taste of fall this weekend with clear, blue skies and lows approaching the 40s (°F) . The high pressure system associated with this benign weather is now moving off into the Atlantic. Expect unsettled weather today as a low pressure system approaches from the southwest and a weak frontal boundary pushes through the area. Scattered showers this morning should give way to mostly cloudy skies in the afternoon. Expect moderate westerly winds behind that front.
Shorts (right)
Microsoft agreed Monday to buy the creator of Minecraft, the world-building computer game, for $2.5 billion, in a move meant to add the immensely popular title to its stock of content.
US responds to Islamic State’s plan to enter through Mexico
WASHINGTON — Militants for the Islamic State have traveled to Mexico and are just miles from the United States. They plan to cross over the porous border and will “imminently” launch car bomb attacks. And the threat is so real that federal law enforcement officers have been placed at a heightened state of alert, and an American military base near the border has increased its security.
Study points to well leaks, not fracking, for water contamination
A study of tainted drinking water in areas where natural gas is produced from shale shows that the contamination is most likely due to leaky wells rather than the process of hydraulic fracturing used to release the gas from the rock.
Number of Americans with health insurance increases
Federal researchers reported on Tuesday that the number of Americans without health insurance had declined substantially in the first quarter of this year, the first federal measure of the number of uninsured Americans since the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of people in January.
US is still open to talking to Iran about Islamic State
PARIS — Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the Obama administration would keep the door open to confidential communications with Iran on the security crisis in Iraq, despite sarcastic criticism from Iran’s supreme leader, who said the American plan for bombing Islamic militants, their common enemy, was absurd.
Shorts (left)
NEW DELHI — The maker of one of the costliest drugs in the world announced Monday that it had struck deals with seven generic drugmakers in India to sell lower-cost versions of the medicine — a $1,000-a-pill hepatitis C treatment — in poorer countries.
North Korea sentences American to 6 years of labor
SEOUL, South Korea — The Supreme Court in North Korea on Sunday sentenced one of the three Americans known to be held in the country to six years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts” against the North.
Champions League set to return September 16
As club soccer slowly picks up speed all around Europe, Champions League is set to make its return to the center stage on Sept. 16 and 17 with the first round of group matches. This year’s group stages will showcase some new teams and some old teams who have managed to make long-awaited returns to the Champions League. There will also be the Bulgarian Ludogorets, who are completely new to the Champions League stage, looking to continue their fairy-tale run. So, as you tune into the upcoming matches, let’s take a look at the groups:
Women’s volleyball team sweeps in home tourney
The MIT women’s volleyball team swept its way to the 2014 MIT Invitational title on Saturday, September 13, claiming its sixth championship in the 25-year history of the tournament. The Engineers (11-1) blanked Emmanuel College (28-26, 25-13, 25-15) and Connecticut College (25-17, 25-20, 25-12) on Friday before wrapping up the tournament with victories over Bates College (27-25, 25-17, 25-21) and Endicott College (25-21, 25-17, 25-17). Nicole C. Gagnier ’15 was named the Tournament MVP while Megan E. Gebhard ’17 earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
MIT football team overpowers Becker
MIT jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and never looked back as the Engineers took a 38-14 win over visiting Becker College in non-conference football action Saturday, September 13. MIT, which built a 28-7 halftime lead, saw Justin R. Wallace ’15 run for 136 yards and Peter J. Williams ’15 throw for 220 yards and a pair of scores in the victory.
Events Sept. 16 – Sept. 22
Events Sept. 16 – Sept. 22 Tuesday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) MIT D-Lab Open Hour — N51 3rd floor (4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Starr Forum: film screening of Documented and conversation with filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas — E15-070 (Bartos Theater) Wednesday (3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) How the MIT Technology Licensing Office can help you protect and promote your technology, sponsored by CSAIL and Technology Licensing Office — 32-D463 (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Film screening of Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence, sponsored by Religious Life, Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values, Buddhist Community at MIT, and Simmons Hall — W79 (Simmons) Thursday (8 a.m. – 1 p.m.) Choose to Reuse, dropoff starts at 8 a.m., pickup starts at 11 a.m., sponsored by Green Committee, Staff for Sustainability, Recycling Program — Lobby 13 (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) Ampersand presents Shenandoah & the Night and Tredici Bacci — E15-070 (Bartos Theater) Friday (5 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Citizens Rising Anti-Corruption Symposium with Lawrence Lessig and Martin Gilens, see citizensrising.us — Kresge auditorium (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) MISTI Info Session (China/Singapore) — E40-496 Saturday (9 a.m. – 9 p.m.) Hack for Democracy Workshop on Money in Politics, with Lawrence Lessig, sponsored by The High Impact Network — Stata (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) The Ig Informal Lectures at MIT, featuring the Ig Nobel Prize winners, sponsored by The MIT Press Bookstore and The Annals of Improbable Research — 26-100 Sunday (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) Swapfest, MIT’s monthly high-tech, computer, electronics, and ham radio flea market, $6 general admission, $4 MIT/Harvard student ID — N4, Albany St. garage and lots (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Bulgarian Independence Day Party, sponsored by Bulgarian Club at MIT and GSC Funding Board — NW30 Monday (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) MIT Energy Week Flagship Expo, sponsored by MIT Energy Club — 34-101 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Institute Double Take
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” This especially beautiful sunset was brought to my attention shortly after 7 p.m. and was already a wealth of reds, oranges, and golds by the time I got out to Kresge with a Nikon D800 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. As someone who has only been shooting for a few months, my thought process is usually something along the lines of “Ahh! Colors! Button!” and most of my photos accordingly consisted of a visible foreground and blown out sky or a reasonable exposure of the sky replete with black landscape devoid of detail. Sunsets can be difficult to capture since the most radiant colors tend to last only 20-30 minutes, and this one was no different.
