MIT to open new daycare facility
MIT is opening a new daycare center at 219 Vassar Street, where the current building is up for demolition and will be replaced by a dedicated daycare facility. Slated to open by end of summer 2013, the new center will have spots for 126 children — nearly doubling the size of MIT’s current daycare population of 142.
A universe of science at the Ig Nobels
If you’ve ever wondered about exploding colons or the brain activity of dead salmon, you might be interested in the work done by this year’s Ig Nobel Laureates The 22nd Ig Nobel Awards, prizes awarded annually for improbable research that “first make people laugh, and then make them think” were awarded yesterday in Sanders Theater at Harvard University. The theme for the 22nd Ig Nobels was “The Universe.” Previous themes have spanned topics ranging from “Duct Tape” to “Biodiversity.”
MIT 2030: are the faculty involved or not?
Faculty continue to express concern about MIT’s execution of the MIT 2030 plan, even as the administration launched a faculty task force to review it and placed MIT 2030 on this week’s faculty meeting agenda. The MIT 2030 plan includes both future real estate development as well as renewal of the existing campus buildings, which suffer from over $2 billion of deferred maintenance.
Gracious professionalism first
The Tech recently sat down with retired MIT professor Woodie C. Flowers PhD ’73, one of the founders of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition and a recipient of many teaching awards while at MIT.
RLADs get dorm offices
After the end of the first full week of classes, students have moved in and become comfortable in their assigned residence halls. Everyone has stepped into the flow of a new school year, and learned to navigate the halls of the Infinite Corridor as well as their suites. But do students know who else lives with them in their home away from home?
At fac. meeting, Slocum compares Reif to Wife
Avast Ye Tech GeekiesLet’s show the world we are not just mental freakies
Task Force on Community Engagement in 2030 Planning
On Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, Provost Chris A. Kaiser PhD ’87 announced to the faculty that he had appointed a “Task Force on Community Engagement in 2030 Planning.”
BC gets new housemasters
Burton-Conner #111, the housemasters’ apartment, has new residents. On Aug. 31, the new housemasters, history Professor Anne E. C. McCants and her husband, William D. “Bill” McCants, a senior attorney with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, moved into their new home. They follow Professor Merrit Roe Smith and Bronwyn M. Mellquist, who stepped down after eight years.
Sororities give out 173 bids
MIT’s Panhellenic Association offered 173 bids this year, the same number as last year. Alpha Phi and Kappa Alpha Theta gave out the most bids, with 37 each. Recruitment saw a slight increase in the number of registrants this year, with 350 students registered for the first day. Students who registered and stayed throughout Recruitment went through a five day process, with three days dedicated to mutual selection and ranking sororities at the end of the day.
Sorority women prohibited at frat rush
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) recently passed a regulation restricting sorority women from participating in fraternity Rush events. This especially restricts sorority members from being “Rush girls,” friends of the house that help out with events during Rush.
Peer2Peer hopes to start next semester
Two years ago, MIT’s long-running Nightline phone service shut down, leaving the campus without an organized peer-to-peer support system. However, an anonymous email-based program, Peer2Peer, is tentatively expected to start operating next semester.
Dancing the night away
On Saturday night, members of the MIT Ballroom Dance Team gathered in Kresge Auditorium to perform their second annual dance concert. Elaborately costumed dancers took the stage, sometimes in pairs and sometimes in groups, to perform nearly 20 different numbers in styles including tango, waltz, cha-cha, and samba (the viral Korean hit “Oppa Gangnam Style” even made an appearance). The MIT Ballroom Dance Team consists of MIT undergraduates, graduate students, and other MIT-affiliates. Members have been working on planning the concert since April. The concert also featured guest performances by the MIT Asian Dance Team and by MIT’s South Asian Fusion dance team, Chamak.
Higher prices, new LaVerde’s
Over the summer, LaVerde’s Market reset its shelves, switched up the grill’s sandwich menu, and installed a shiny new beverage section. But along with those changes, the convenience store has upped its prices.
Hurricane scaling
The destruction wrought by Hurricane Isaac — with its 11-foot surge, seven dead, power knocked out in half of Louisiana and nearly $2 billion in damage - has renewed debate among forecasters about how best to warn people of coming storms.
Design will cost users, but thrills Apple’s partners
The iPhone 5 has plenty of new features to keep Apple fans happy. But there is one feature Apple unveiled on Wednesday that is likely to annoy many: a new connector on the phone’s base.
Fresco’s closes after 21 years of service to community
Fresco’s Cafe and Grille, a restaurant on the northwest corner of Vassar and Mass. Ave., will be closing after 21 years of operation.
Number six? Not too shabby
MIT is tied with Stanford for the sixth place spot in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 national college rankings. Ranked ahead of the Institute stand Columbia tied for fourth with University of Chicago, Yale in third, and Princeton tied for first with Harvard.