White House nominates AeroAstro Professor for top NASA position
Dava Newman PhD ’92, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Housemaster of Baker House, was recently nominated by President Obama to be NASA’s deputy administrator.
Close races mark freshman elections
The Undergraduate Association released the results of the 2018 Class Council elections in an email sent to all freshmen on Friday. The class elected Colin O. Webb ’18 as president and Daysi N. Gomez ’18 as vice president.
More mental health visits
In the wake of recent campus deaths, students have been seeking mental health services in greater numbers, part of a general increase in mental health-related visits over the last five years, according to Alan E. Siegel, Chief of MIT’s Mental Health Service.
ASE pass rates up for most GIRs, especially biology
The Advance Standing Exam (ASE) takers, mostly students from the Class of 2018, generally did well on the tests during orientation this year, garnering an overall pass rate of 54.9 percent. This pass rate is slightly higher than last year’s 54.2 percent and 52-53 percent in recent years.
MIT Medical director steps down
After 14 years as the medical director of MIT Medical, William Kettyle, M.D., will be stepping down. According to MIT News, the announcement was made by Executive Vice President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz SM ’01 on Oct. 14 in an email to faculty and staff.
CORRECTIONS
An article about Kendall Square plans in the Friday, Oct. 17 issue of The Tech misstated the provost’s class year. He is Martin A. Schmidt PhD ’88. The article also misstated the name of a Graduate Student Council committee. It is the Housing & Community Affairs committee, not the Housing Community Activities committee.
Department of Chemical Engineering establishes new professorship
The Department of Chemical Engineering has recently announced the creation of the Raymond F. Baddour (1949) Chemical Engineering Professorship, a title meant for a distinguished faculty member within the department.
IN SHORT
MIT Medical will be administering flu shots tomorrow, Oct. 22 in Walker Memorial Lobby from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The clinic is walk-in — no appointment is needed. Children 9 and under are not eligible for the walk-in clinic in Cambridge and should schedule an appointment for their immunizations.
Dozens are killed in attacks on Shiite targets in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Militants unleashed a flurry of deadly attacks against Shiite targets in Iraq on Monday, including a quadruple car bombing near two of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam, and a suicide attack inside a mosque, officials said.
Texas officials clear 43 people after Ebola monitoring
DALLAS — More than three dozen people who were monitored for the past three weeks for possible contact with the Ebola virus were cleared Monday to return to work or school, leaving 133 others still being watched for symptoms of the disease, Dallas County officials said.
Shorts (right)
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s biggest cash cow, the iPhone, is gaining weight.
Shorts (left)
GENEVA — The World Health Organization declared Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, officially free of Ebola infections on Monday, calling the outcome the triumphal result of “world class epidemiological detective work.”
Hong Kong leader reaffirms tough stance on elections
HONG KONG — The Beijing-appointed leader of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, said Monday that allowing his successors to be chosen in open elections based on who won the greatest number of votes was unacceptable in part because it risked giving poorer residents a dominant voice in politics.
Gene variant may protect Hispanic women from cancer
A genetic variant that is particularly common in some Hispanic women with indigenous American ancestry appears to protect against breast cancer, a new study found.
Break out the umbrellas!
It was a cool start to the week this week thanks to the passage of a cold front on Saturday evening. Boston’s low temperature early Monday morning was a chilly 39°F (4°C), the coldest it’s been in the city since April 21!
Amid a shift in strategy. IBM reports weak earnings
After IBM reported surprisingly weak quarterly profits and sales Monday morning, Virginia M. Rometty did something most unusual for an IBM chief executive. She joined the conference call with analysts, and forcefully made the case for investing heavily in new fields that promise growth in the future, despite a near-term financial setback.
Implementing Mens et Manus
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, The Tech’s “Snapshot of the First Year Survey results for Class of 2018” revealed a startling paradox that has gone unmentioned: The Class of 2018 most desires to “Contribute to Science and Innovation” and least cares about “Participating in Politics or Community Affairs.” But I ask: how one can expect his/her contributions to science and innovation to ever see the light of day (or the market) without understanding and participating in politics and community affairs? Let me be clear that I raise this not to fault the Class of 2018 (when we are 18 and fresh from high school there is much to learn in life), but to ask the greater MIT community, particularly our faculty, department heads, deans, and administrators: what does it mean to divorce scientific achievements from participation in public life?
The ultimate feel-good movie
With plenty of dark humor strung throughout the film, St. Vincent narrates the touching relationship between a grumpy, old alcoholic named Vincent (Bill Murray) and his young neighbor Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). As Oliver tags along with Vincent during his daily routine, Vincent quickly takes Oliver under his wing, showing him the local race track, protecting him from a gang of bullies, and teaching him how to fight. As their relationship develops, Oliver realizes that despite Vincent’s miserable outward appearance, the old man’s heart is still in the right place.
MIT keeps up solid form with 2-0 win
Morgan K. Moroi ’16 and Olivia M. Struckman ’18 each located the back of the Smith College net as MIT defeated the Pioneers, 2-0, on Saturday, October 18 at Roberts Field at Steinbrenner Stadium in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. With the win, MIT improves to 10-3-2 overall and 6-0-1 in the conference, while Smith falls to 5-6-1 and 3-3-0.
MIT pulls three-peat with a perfect ledger
For the third year in a row and eighth time in tournament history the MIT women’s volleyball team won the MIT Quad Tournament on Saturday, October 18. The Engineers (22-2) took top honors with a 3-0 ledger, followed by Colby College, SUNY Oneonta, and Western New England University. Megan E. Gebhard ’17 was named the Tournament MVP while Tori L. Wuthrich ’17 earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
MIT ballroom dance team sweeps Harvard Beginners
MIT Ballroom Dance Team started off the ballroom competitive season at the Harvard Beginners Competition this past weekend, taking at least half of all placements in the finals in all events in which we competed.
Events Oct. 21 – Oct. 27
Events Oct. 21 – Oct. 27 Tuesday (5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) CME Info Session, sponsored by MIT GECD — 4-149 Wednesday (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) MIT Medical’s walk-in flu clinic — Walker Memorial lobby (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Solutions with/in/sight: From Bench to Bedside in Less Than Six Years, with speakers Matthew Vander Heiden and Katharine Yen — 76-156 Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Anonymity on the Go: A Talk About Tor on Mobile Devices, with speaker Nathan Freitas, RSVP for lunch — 37-252 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) A Sweet Trip Through Italy (3rd Annual), sponsored by MITALY— 32-162 (Forbes Cafe) Friday (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Night Market 2014, $5 pre-sale for MIT students, $7 for non-MIT students, $7 at door, sponsored by MIT CSC, AAA, ATS, SAO, and LEF — Lobdell (10:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.) LSC shows Guardians of the Galaxy, tickets $4 in Lobby 16 — 26-100 Saturday (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Cena a las Seis, semi-formal evening sponsored by Latino Cultural center — 50-140 Sunday (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Symposium on Theoretical Computer Science on the Occasion of Michael Sipser’s 60th Birthday, sponsored by Department of Mathematics — E15-070 Monday (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Job Search for International Students, sponsored by MIT GECD, advanced registration requested via CareerBridge — 32-144 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
