Plans for mixed-use development at intersection of Mass Ave. and Main St.
Following Normandy Real Estate Partners and Twining Properties’ purchase of properties formally owned by Kathy Fennell and the Fennell Property Trust in January, plans for the area at the intersection of Mass Ave. and Main St. will have a general focus on mixed-use development but remain unspecific. A joint venture between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Twining Properties bought the parcels, including several parking lots and the former Quest Diagnostics building, for a reported $32.4 million. According to Cambridge City Councilor Kenneth Reeves, the Fennel properties constitute “the largest number of parcels to be sold in Central Square in a long time.”
Tsarnaev buried
BOSTON — The mystery surrounding the burial of the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has come to an end. The Boston Marathon bombing suspect was buried this week at a small Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Va.
Bexley Hall closing due to structural problems
Bexley Hall, home to 116 undergraduates, will be closed for renovations for up to three years beginning this summer, Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo announced at a meeting with residents on Tuesday.
Going abroad from MIT
When Jenny Shen ’13 studied abroad in Paris, she engaged in impromptu debates for hours on a lawn in front of the Louvre. “We watched the sun set over the Champs Elysees over a bottle of wine,” she said.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Sal Khan talks education styles
On Wednesday, Salman A. Khan ’98, founder of Khan Academy, was brought to MIT by StartLabs to speak about starting Khan Academy and what he’s doing now. He fielded questions from MIT President Rafael Reif, who interviewed him on the stage of Kresge Auditorium.
Survey: Students, though stressed, are glad to be at MIT
Results from the Student Quality of Life Survey are now available online. In early March 2013, Chancellor Eric Grimson PhD ’80 invited all students enrolled at MIT to participate. Over 54 percent of the graduate and undergraduate population responded to at least part of the survey before it closed on April 3, 2013.
Student arrested in Boston bombings seeks release
BOSTON — Robel Phillipos, the former University of Massachusetts student who is accused of lying to the authorities investigating the Boston Marathon bombings, will seek to be released from federal custody on Monday, his lawyers said in court papers filed over the weekend.
Course 18 moving
Handing in math problem sets may now require more exercise. In late June or early July, the entire Department of Mathematics will be moving to E17 and E18 as their current space in Building 2 undergoes a significant renovation. Undergraduate math majors have already experienced the effects of the construction, with their undergraduate lounge moved to the Compton Room, opposite 26-100, this past January. For the duration of the construction, the lounge will remain in the Compton Room. As for the rest of the department, all faculty, staff, and graduate student offices will be moved to the new “swing space” in E17 and E18, which will be shared with the Department of Economics, whose space in E52 is also being renovated.
Grant funds threatened by sequester
With over 70 percent of MIT’s yearly research funding coming from the federal government, the federal budget sequester will have a significant impact on research at the Institute.
Three suspicious packages found on campus this week
Feel like MIT’s been popping up on your phone a lot these days? The past week has seen three more reports of suspicious packages around campus — at Kendall Square and buildings 54 and E52 — causing police to issue messages to students through MIT Alert and evacuating buildings. All three alerts were cleared within an hour.
Amherst College faculty vote against joining edX
On April 16, 2013, Amherst College faculty voted 70-36 against a motion to join the edX consortium. The college would have been the second liberal arts college to join edX, after Wellesley College.
Tsarnaev’s college friends face charges
NEW BEDFORD — Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov were college roommates who clicked with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, another soccer-loving immigrant from the former Soviet Union who, unlike them, blended seamlessly into the United States. Tsarnaev spoke perfect English and knew where to shop and how to have a good time.
‘Old’ ASA requirement leaves some unsettled
In early spring, the Association of Student Activities (ASA) emailed to all ASA-recognized student groups requiring that the information in their ASA database entry to be up-to-date and compliant with the ASA’s rules and regulations. One of the requirements was that group constitutions include the ASA Governance Clause — any group missing the clause from its constitution received a notification of such, requiring that the clause be added in order for the ASA to approve the constitution. (The Tech, as it is currently an ASA-recognized group without the governance clause, also received this request.) The clause as a requirement for ASA-recognized groups has existed for several years, according to ASA president Rachel H. Keeler ’14, but has not been uniformly enforced.
Bombing suspect reveals original plot
WASHINGTON — The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings told FBI interrogators that he and his brother had considered suicide attacks and striking on the Fourth of July as they plotted their deadly assault, according to two law enforcement officials.
FBI agents pore over bombing suspect’s trip to Russia in 2012
FBI agents are working closely with Russian security officials to reconstruct Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s activities and connections in Dagestan during his six-month visit last year, tracking meetings he may have had with specific militants, his visits to a radical mosque and any indoctrination or training he may have received, law enforcement officials said on Sunday.