February FNL released
The January/February Edition of the MIT Faculty Newsletter opens strongly with Prof. Hal Abelson PhD ’73, Nathan Matias G, and Ethan Zuckerman’s open letter to President L. Rafael Reif regarding Tidbit alongside Reif’s response.
Putin intends to cripple Ukraine
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has left little doubt he intends to cripple Ukraine’s new government, forcing it to make concessions or face the de facto partition of areas populated predominantly by ethnic Russians, from the Crimea to Odessa to the industrial heartland in the east.
CORRECTIONS
In an article about the MIT men’s volleyball team in the Friday, Feb. 28 issue of The Tech, the headline incorrectly implied MIT had an upcoming match with Juniata College. New Paltz, MIT’s opponents in the match covered by the article, were in fact the ones scheduled to face Juniata.
NEWS BRIEFS
An email sent Sunday from Burton Conner housemaster Anne E.C. McCants to the dorm’s residents notified the recipients of the most recent in a series of thefts to occur in the dorm. According to the email, a male claiming to be an MIT security employee gained entrance to the Conner 5 Lounge and left with a PS4 gaming system after the student who confronted him went to notify the police.
Libyan rioters charge parliament building
CAIRO — Dozens of armed rioters stormed into the Libyan Parliament in Tripoli on Sunday, setting fire to the grounds, looting furniture and wounding a prominent lawmaker in a spasm of anger at the clotted and chaotic transition after the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — The familiar, piercing tone of an emergency alert jolted television viewers to attention. Then came the frightening images: the White House surrounded by terrorists, landmarks in flames in the nation’s capital and military convoys patrolling the city. “THIS IS NOT A TEST,” read the on-screen advisory.
MITx raises big questions about how information is used
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — With the success of its free open online course system, called MITx, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finds itself sitting on a wealth of student data that researchers might use to compare the efficacy of virtual teaching methods, and perhaps advance the field of Web-based instruction.
Winter clings on before arrival of spring
Although this winter featured no particularly notable blizzard in Boston like last year’s did, it does care very much to keep it cold for as long as it can. Highs will remain below freezing for much of this week, although it is now less than a month before this becomes unusual.
Shorts (right)
NEW DELHI — Hoping to clean a trash-strewn pathway to the world’s highest peak, Nepal’s tourism authority declared Monday that those climbing Mount Everest must return from the trip with an extra 18 pounds of garbage.
North Korean officials expel Australian evangelist
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday said it had decided to expel an Australian Christian missionary it arrested last month after he apologized for violating North Korean laws.
Mutation found that kills off gene responsible for diabetes
A new study based on genetic testing of 150,000 people has found a rare mutation that protects even fat people from getting Type 2 diabetes. The effect is so pronounced — the mutation reduces risk by two-thirds — that it provides a promising new target for developing a drug to mimic the mutation’s effect.
Asian-influenced dishes
If you are a frequent customer at Flour, you may know that the bakery is owned by Joanne Chang, a chef who has made a name for herself in the Boston area. Besides running the four branches of the popular bakery, Joanne also heads an Asian fusion restaurant in the South End — Myers + Chang. Even though it is no easy trek to get there, I decided to give the restaurant a try and decide if the hype was deserved.
Story of Christ
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the recently debuted film Son of God is that it’s earnest. The actor portraying Jesus, Diogo Morgado, came off as a bit too heavy-handed, but still undoubtedly genuine. This depiction of the life of Jesus Christ feeds the viewers a highlight reel of miracles, from Christ walking on water to the resurrection of Lazarus without much storyline in between.
St. Vincent’s accessible theatricality
“You guys,” St. Vincent announced in front of the crowded House of Blues, “there was a ghost in the machine.”
MIT kicks off lacrosse season with clear win
In the first meeting between both teams, the MIT women’s lacrosse team came out on top as it defeated Mount Ida College, 18-9, on Saturday, March 1. Isabella D. DiDio ’16 and Hannah A. Levy ’17 paced the Engineers (1-0) with six goals apiece while Rebecca Beaulieu led the Mustangs (0-1) with four goals.
Sotnikova’s performance justifies her win in Sochi
More than a week has passed since the Olympics have ended, but some complaints have yet to die down. Specifically, some remain adamant that Yuna Kim should have won the gold medal in the women’s figure skating competition rather than Adelina Sotnikova. The advocates of this position incorrectly weight measures such as the cleanliness or elegance of the skate and go so far as to accuse the judges of fixing the event so that a Russian would win first place. While the grace displayed by the performer may factor into the final score, there is a much more structured approach to awarding points. Judges don’t just watch a performance without taking any notes or arbitrarily award points based on how gracefully the skater performed.
Events Mar. 4 – Mar. 10
Events Mar. 4 – Mar. 10 Tuesday (11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics Global Leadership Lecture Series: John Wiehoff, CEO of C.H. Robinson, lunch served at 11:30, lecture begins at noon — E51-315 Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) MIT Police Laptop Tagging and Registration, $10 per item, cash or MIT cost object only, sponsored by IS&T Computing Help Desk — Lobby 10 (3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) Basics of Grant Writing, with speaker Sonal Jhaveri — 46-3002 Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Starr Forum: Center for International Studies shows The Network, with speakers Eva Orner and Fotini Christa — 66-110 (4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Memorial service for President Charles M. Vest, sponsored by the Information Center — W16 (Kresge) Friday (12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.) In-Gallery Chat with Peter Dourmashkin about “Sonia Almeida: Forward/Play/Pause” — E15 (List Visual Arts Center Galleries) (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Open mic in the Lewis Music Library, with a new piano — 14E-109 Saturday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) LSC shows Frozen, free admission, tickets available in Lobby 16 — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Bulgarian March Celebrations with music, food, and games, sponsored by Bulgarian Club at MIT and GSC Funding Board — NW30 Sunday (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Israeli Folkdance Festival of Boston, $5 student tickets, $15 public, sponsored by Campus Activities Complex and Israeli Folkdance Festival of Boston — W16-109 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) A Pakistani Cultural Night: Rawaj, $8 for students, $15 public, sponsored by PaksMIT — 50-140 (Walker Memorial) Monday (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Practice Makes Perfect: Peer Mock Interviews, sponsored by MIT GECD — 1-246 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
