Massie ’93 in U.S. House of Reps.
On Nov. 6, Thomas Massie ’93 was elected as U.S. Representative for Kentucky’s Fourth District. Massie graduated from MIT in 1993 with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and also received a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute in 1996. Massie, a Republican, won the seat after a seven-way primary and has already been sworn in due to his predecessor’s early retirement.
MIT filing a new Kendall Square zoning petition
MIT announced last Tuesday that it would file a new zoning petition for its area of Kendall Square “as soon as possible.” The changes will be presented in advance to the Cambridge Planning Board on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 4, and the formal filing is expected to soon follow.
How prepared are MIT and Cambridge for rising sea levels?
MIT’s campus as you know it may not exist in 100 years — and if it does, it would likely have a renewed focus on ocean engineering. That’s because, according to a New York Times analysis of major U.S. cities, much of southern Cambridge would be underwater if ocean levels rise five feet, which is “probable” within 100–300 years. If levels rose 20 feet, over half of Cambridge and a third of Boston would be submerged.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: 21 bringing down the house
On a windy Tuesday night this past week, the Lecture Series Committee ran a presentation centered around one of the most prominent references to MIT in pop culture. In the dimly light room 26-100 stood Jeff Ma ’94, the inspiration for the main character of the movie being screened: 21. Next to him was Ben Mezrich, renowned author of Bringing Down the House, which piqued Kevin Spacey’s interest in a story of MIT nerds taking down Las Vegas’ casinos (Spacey played an MIT lecturer who coached the team).
Swartz hid behind helmet, but only after he was already photographed
On Friday, the government filed its consolidated reply to various motions to suppress evidence in U.S. v. Aaron Swartz. Swartz is being prosecuted for hiding a laptop at MIT and mass downloading millions of journal articles from JSTOR from 2010–2011.
Colleges in area partner with edX for class credit
EdX now has now broken into the community college sphere. President of edX, Anant Agarwal, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced yesterday at a press conference that students at Bunker Hill and Massachusetts Bay Community Colleges would be able to take an adapted version of 6.00x for credit starting in Spring 2013. This is the first partnership of edX with a community college and one of the first times a private institution (such as MIT or Harvard) has collaborated with a public institution to improve the quality of class content, according to Paul Reville, Massachusetts secretary of education.
Hubway stations to close by Nov. 28
Yesterday, Hubway began a “phased seasonal shutdown” of its stations in preparation for the winter, according to a post on its website. It will be closing up to six stations per day.
Faculty Newsletter praises faculty 2030 report
In the November issue of the Faculty Newsletter, released yesterday, three articles respond to the faculty 2030 task force’s report on “Community Engagement in 2030 Planning on Development of MIT‐Owned Property in Kendall Square.”
K2C2 almost done
The City’s yearlong, $350,000 analysis of the future of Kendall and Central Squares is drawing to a close, but what does it have to show for it?
W20 to get card readers soon
Going for a late night Verdes run? Better grab your MIT ID. Starting Tuesday, the doors to W20 will require card access every night between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.. During those hours, visitors will only be able to enter through two doors: the front entrance near LaVerde’s and the back entrance by the ATMs.
Le Meridien workers continue campaign
Yesterday evening, between 4 - 6 p.m. a picket line with approximately 30 participants including Le Meridien hotel workers, union organizers, and MIT students gathered in front of the hotel located at 20 Sidney Street. Picketers called for hotel guests to support a worker-led boycott by checking out of the hotel. The picket line was planned for last night in order to attract the attention of hotel guests who are participating in the Eastern Division of the Community College Humanities Association conference, which is scheduled to take place at Le Meridien from November 15th-17th.
Financial worries pile on before graduation
Money troubles interfere with the academic performance of about one-third of all college students, and a similar number of students regularly skip buying required academic materials because of the costs, according to a survey released Thursday.
Houston for Commencement
Drew W. Houston ’05, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, the online file storage service, will be the keynote speaker for the graduating class of 2013 at MIT’s 147th Commencement on June 7, 2013. While Khan Academy founder and 2012 speaker Salman A. Khan ’98 was MIT’s youngest commencement speaker in at least 30 years, Houston is even younger at 29 years of age. He won’t be more than a couple of years older than many of the addressees receiving graduate degrees.
$25 million for international development initiatives
MIT will receive up to $25 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as one of seven university partners in a newly-launched Higher Education Solutions Network. The network aims to engage institutions of higher education in addressing global development challenges. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah hopes this initiative will “recapture the legacy of science, technology and innovation as core drivers of development — as well as inspire and support the next generation of development leaders.”
Fiscal cliff on the horizon
Unless Congress can come to a compromise regarding the fiscal cliff before the start of 2013, MIT could face up to a 10 percent cut in its federal research funding, affecting both students and faculty. The fiscal cliff refers to the mandate set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction agree on a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction package by Nov. 23, 2011; otherwise, roughly $400 billion in immediate budget cuts, or sequestration, automatically become effective in 2013.