After Marathon tragedy, outpour of support from MIT
Monday’s marathon bombings took a heavy emotional toll on MIT. While no students or faculty at MIT were physically injured at by the attack, the stories that have since emerged show that the bombings have still deeply hurt many in the MIT community. But through the tragedy, we’ve seen the Institute’s strength through stories of inspiration, hope, and community.
New officers to rebrand GSC
MIT’s graduate students will see new representation this coming year in the Graduate Student Council’s (GSC) officers-elect, who will take office in May: President Caleb Waugh, Vice President Alex Guo, Treasurer Parth Trivedi, and Secretary Chris Smith.
Afghan criticizes CIA airstrike
KABUL, Afghanistan — The spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that the CIA was responsible for calling in an airstrike on April 7 that left 17 Afghan civilians dead, 12 of them children, and that the secret Afghan militias that the agency controls behaved as if they were “responsible to no one.”
MIT OFFICER KILLED, MARATHON BOMBERS RESPONSIBLE
Yesterday evening, terrible events unfolded on and near MIT's campus. An MIT Police officer, who is still unnamed, was reported shot at 10:48 p.m. near the Stata Center, and was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Three alerts in wake of bombings
In the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, there have been several reports of suspicious packages found on campus. Vice President and Secretary of the Corporation Kirk D. Kolenbrander sent an email to all of MIT campus on Tuesday instructing people to not leave their belongings unattended in public places and to call the MIT Police immediately if they see something suspicious.
Biology department creates 6-7 MEng with EECS, new GIR classes
At the April faculty meeting on Wednesday afternoon, members of the faculty voted unanimously to introduce two new expansions to MIT’s biology program.
Changes to MIT’s cybersecurity policy on the horizon
On April 2, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz emailed the Academic Council to announce a few changes to emergency protocol and network security at MIT. The changes are in response to recent attacks on MIT’s information network and are part of an effort to better protect the MIT community.
Reif to appoint new Institute Community and Equity Officer
Yesterday, in an email addressed to the MIT community, President L. Rafael Reif announced the creation of a new position — the “Institute Community and Equity Officer,” or ICEO. The position will be filled by a member of the MIT faculty, and that the officer will serve as “a senior member of the administration,” wrote Reif in his email.
Mixed views on Kendall petition
On Monday, the Cambridge City Council voted in favor of a rezoning petition proposed by MIT to allow development of Kendall Square with tall buildings for residential and commercial use. There were seven votes in favor of the proposal, with Councillor Minka vanBeuzekom voting against and Vice Mayor Denise Simmons abstaining.
Prefrosh at CPW!
This weekend, MIT takes up a lively, festive appearance as the Institute gears up for the Class of 2017’s Campus Preview Weekend (CPW). 1085 prospective freshmen (or prefrosh) arrived on campus, with about 800 parents. They traveled from all over the world, with 28 international students from Australia, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Russia and Canada. The Tech roamed around campus to chat with prefrosh to see how they’re spending their CPW. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.
A new mobile records database for police officers
NEW YORK — As the officers walked up to the entrance of a Harlem housing project, a loose knot of people out front scattered into the damp, dark night and a few lingerers cast cold stares at the officers. One of the officers reached into his pocket and pulled out the newest tool in the Police Department’s crime-fighting arsenal: a smartphone.
Gun control a liability for swing-state Democrats
WASHINGTON — The families of the Newtown, Conn., shooting victims who have converged on Capitol Hill this week made a point of visiting Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a freshman Democrat known for the “North Dakota nice” of her home state, but on the main issue that brought them here — limiting the capacity of gun magazines and universal background checks — she curtly rejected their pleas for support.
The prefrosh perspective
I really like it! I’m surprised that Maseeh is as big as it is. I’ve toured other campuses and their dorms are tiny.
Flawed US reactors
WASHINGTON — All 104 nuclear power reactors now in operation in the United States have a safety problem that cannot be fixed and they should be replaced with newer technology, the former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Monday. Shutting them all down at once is not practical, he said, but he supports phasing them out rather than trying to extend their lives.
Texas growers eye immigration laws
Dimmit County onion grower Bruce Frasier spends the pre-dawn hours drawing up spreadsheets balancing the day’s inventories of young plants with orders from big-box retailers, commercial farms and direct-mail buyers across the country. The variable is always labor.
City passes MIT plans for Kendall
The Cambridge City Council voted 7-2 last night to pass MIT’s Kendall rezoning petition, permitting taller, denser development on the east side of MIT’s campus. The rezoning is the first step toward realizing plans to bring new retail to Kendall Square and to replace parking lots along Main Street with three new commercial buildings and a residential tower called “Innovation Landing.”
First UTx classes added; Stanford joins work on edX open-source system
EdX will release the source code of its entire platform on June 1. The source code will contain four parts, according to an edX press release: its Learning Management System; Studio, a course authoring tool; xBlock, an API for integrating third-party learning objects; and machine grading APIs.