City boycotts Le Méridien
Workers at Le Méridien Hotel, located at 20 Sidney Street in Cambridge, are seeking MIT’s endorsement of a boycott on the hotel. The boycott began on Oct. 11 and is in response to what the workers say is management’s refusal to respond to a request that hotel employees be permitted to consider the option of unionization without managerial interference. In reference to the Le Méridien labor dispute, Nate Nickerson, MIT’s director of communications, informed The Tech, “MIT’s general practice is not to assess the business actions of other organizations.”
More light shed on health violations
The Massachusetts Department of Health released hundreds of pages of documents Monday detailing a history of violations at the New England Compounding Center, whose tainted medicine has caused a nationwide meningitis outbreak. The documents include dozens of complaints from as early as April 1999, less than a year after the company began as a compounding pharmacy in Framingham, Mass.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Pitch Contest finale
In true MIT style, this year’s Elevator Pitch Contest — part of the $100K Entrepreneurship Competition — was full of cosplay and nerdy puns, reminding us that entrepreneurship is fun! The audience was given red balloon-drumsticks, emblazoned with “100K,” with which to make as much noise as possible. The theme of the night was “superheroes.” Hosts were dressed as Avengers superheroes, who represented each of the five competition tracks — Emerging Markets, Energy, Life Sciences, Mobile, Products & Services, and Web/IT.
Task force approves of Kendall plan
A faculty task force has recommended to the Provost that MIT proceed with its east campus (Kendall Square) rezoning proposal, but to consider the land as “an extremely precious resource” and to drive the process with a new comprehensive design plan, rather than commercial interests. The report was discussed at Wednesday’s faculty meeting and released later that day.
Aaron Swartz asks court to suppress data from MIT
MIT released details and logs of Aaron Swartz’s use of the MIT network to law enforcement without a warrant or subpoena, according to court documents filed on Friday, Oct. 5.
Sustainability, ethics and global systems
On Monday, Oct. 15, the Dalai Lama participated in a whole-day forum, in which he shared the stage with a diverse group of experts. The event, titled “Global Systems 2.0,” focused on global issues, such as world hunger, climate change, and global health. The day consisted of two panels: one in the morning titled “Ethics, Economics, and Environment,” and one in the afternoon titled “Peace, Governance, and Diminishing Resources.”
4.0 quake takes New England by surprise
A 4.0-magnitude earthquake shook southern Maine at approximately 7:12 p.m. on Tuesday, resulting in a shockwave felt all across New England. The quake, which was downgraded from its initial estimated magnitude of 4.6, caused no apparent injuries or property damage. Cambridge residents reported experiencing weak shaking.
Buddhism and meditation
On Tuesday, the Dalai Lama spoke about Buddhism in the modern world. In his talk titled “Stages of Meditation: Buddhism for the 21st Century,” His Holiness explained the basic principles of Buddhism and called for respect for all beliefs.
Woman reports sexual assault at MIT
A woman reported to police yesterday that she had been sexually assaulted on the MIT campus on Oct. 14. The call was reported to other police before reaching campus police, but the incident is currently under investigation by the MIT Police.
Graduate student Allison Tovo-Dwyer passes away
Third-year Department of Chemistry graduate student Allison Tovo-Dwyer passed away last Thursday, after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 25 years old.
EdX announces partnership with Cengage
On Wednesday edX announced a new collaboration with Cengage Learning, a large Connecticut-based provider of educational content and software. The company will both supply content to edX and work with edX to improve pedagogy.
The Dalai Lama arrives
Tenzin Gyasto, the Dalai Lama and foremost figure in Tibetan Buddhism, recently concluded a visit to MIT, home to the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values. The Center organized several events this week with the Dalai Lama and other prominent spiritual and academic figures.
High points of the 2030 report
1. The affected real estate represents “an extremely precious resource.”
More than just people on ballot
Even though Massachusetts will mostly likely vote Democrat in the upcoming presidential election, there are three statewide ballot questions that could change current laws and affect MIT students.
Delayed CityDays sees lower turnout
While previously a community service event involving only freshmen and some upperclassmen leaders during Orientation week, this year’s CityDays was publicized as a service opportunity for the entire undergraduate and graduate community and took place on Oct. 9, the Tuesday of the long Columbus Day weekend.
Entire UT System to join edX
The University of Texas system — nine universities, six health centers, 212,000 students and 19,000 faculty — announced yesterday it would join edX, the MIT-pioneered online learning platform and university consortium. The move sextuples the number of institutions involved with edX, from three to eighteen, and bolsters MIT’s efforts to make online technology a staple of university education.
Boston-area economics Nobel
Two Americans, Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd Shapley, were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science on Monday for their work on market design and matching theory, which relate to how people and companies find and select one another in everything from marriage to school choice to jobs to organ donations.
Fisher v. UT affirmative action case oral arguments heard
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the oral arguments from both sides of Fisher v. University of Texas, the affirmative action case for which MIT and 13 other universities, including the eight Ivy League schools, filed an amicus curiae brief defending the right of a university to consider the race of an applicant, among other factors, in its admissions process.