Q-Week, PE classes, UROP Extended Direct Funding deadline
Q-Week for on-campus students runs until Feb. 22.
First-year international students advised to follow Institute guidance when registering for classes
First-year international students are advised to follow the Fall 2020 guidance on registering for in-person coursework determined by the International Students Office (ISO), according to a Feb. 8 email from Vice Chancellor Ian Waitz.
2021 Commencement ceremony to be held online
Reif stated that after consulting with the “Commencement Committee, student leaders, the deans, and the senior leadership team,” it was determined that early June was too soon to plan a large campus gathering.
Local 26 files charges against Bon Appetit over warning issued to shop steward
The MIT Student Worker Alliance has organized a rally for dining workers that will take place on Feb. 22 over Zoom.
Graduate students must return to the US to maintain appointments, some exceptions allowed
The International Students Office wrote that this is in accordance with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 5-Month Temporary Absence Rule, which was suspended for Spring and Summer 2020.
Country covered in snow
Be careful when you’re out walking at night — it gets slippery!
MIT granted permission to vaccinate extended MIT community
Stuopis and Waitz wrote that Massachusetts’ vaccination phase, as determined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and “how regularly and in what volume” MIT receives doses from the state influence whether individuals can receive vaccinations.
How merit-based raises hurt DEI
Recently, MIT Human Resources announced that it will be instituting across-the-board 3% raises for all staff making under $75,000 in 2021. This is a welcome reversal of a policy that MIT announced last April, suspending all merit-based raises for the year due to financial concerns related to COVID. According to MIT’s 2020 Quality of Life Survey (conducted before the pandemic), 65% of staff reported increased cost of living as a source of stress, and 61% said the same about the cost of housing alone. With the additional financial pressure of the pandemic, the wage freeze threatened to push staff even deeper into economic precarity.
New year, new MITIMCo: MIT’s chance to lead in socially responsible investing
In 2020, the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) joined Climate Action 100+ (CA100+), a global investor-led engagement initiative to ensure that the world’s largest corporate emitters take necessary climate action. Among our peer institutions, only Harvard and Brown are part of CA100+. We commend MIT for joining the ranks of more than 545 investors committed to admirable efforts on climate.
Elitist and racist egg donation ads have no place in student newspapers
If you are a female MIT student with the last name Wu, Huang, or Chen, you may have received an email in the past two weeks with the subject line “亞州精英 Outstanding Asian.” The email offered $50,000 in compensation for an Asian egg donor, ideally a “21-year-old Chinese MIT student, top in her class,” with “several awards in high school and university.” This concerning request is actually a permutation of an advertisement that The Tech has run twice in the past decade, once in 2012 and once in 2017. The ad, paid for and submitted by the same individual, has not changed much over the years, though the most recent email iteration has swapped out “genius” for “outstanding” and more than doubled the compensation from $20,000 to $50,000. Both the 2012 and 2017 appearances of the ad disturbed MIT community members for its racial stereotyping, tactless wording, and lack of acknowledgment of the medical risks involved with egg donation.
Trying to untangle my identities, but it’s impossible
“Your personal statement was very interesting and enjoyable to read, but it doesn’t present a clear argument why Joanna Lin would make a good doctor."
