Alcator C-Mod may lose funds
President Obama’s budget request to Congress for fiscal year (FY) 2013, announced in February, proposed to shut down MIT’s federally-funded Alcator C-Mod, a tokamak (toroidal magnetic confinement device). To give itself six more months to agree on a formal appropriations bill, Congress will pass a continuing resolution this month. The resolution will likely sustain funding for Alcator C-Mod at current levels until the final budget for FY 2013 is out. If the final budget passed by Congress is in line with the president’s request, technical, engineering, and administrative staff would be laid off, and some 30 PhD students in Nuclear Science & Engineering (Course 22) would be forced to graduate by October 2013.
Far from ‘junk,’ DNA dark matter crucial to health
Among the many mysteries of human biology is why complex diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and psychiatric disorders are so difficult to predict and, often, to treat. An equally perplexing puzzle is why one individual gets a disease like cancer or depression, while an identical twin remains perfectly healthy.
Differing views on Koch’s Main Street
One of the side issues in the city’s planning process is the Main Street streetscape at the new Koch Institute, Building 76.
Three fraternities join rush
Fraternity rush was busier than ever this year, with three additional fraternities joining the recruitment craze — Phi Beta Epsilon (PBE), which was on rush suspension for two years; Alpha Sigma Phi (Alpha Sig), whose founding fathers are expanding their group; and Beta Theta Pi (Beta), which is recruiting a group of founding fathers to start anew.
MIT unresponsive on Kendall development
With six hours of public meetings on Kendall and Central Squares this week across two committees, the city is trying to decide between competing plans for Kendall Square, but MIT has still not weighed in definitively on its intentions.
EdX to offer proctored exams worldwide
Yesterday, edX announced a partnership with Pearson VUE that would allow students the option of taking a proctored final exam for their online class. Under the agreement, those enrolled in an edX course will have the option of taking the course final exam at one of over 450 Pearson VUE test centers in more than 110 countries, for a nominal fee. The proctored test will be the same rigorous test that those who take it fully online experience.
Redditor President
There are many ways to measure the traction of a social media platform: time spent, page views or unique users. But it might be useful to add one more metric: if the leader of the free world stops by to answer questions from your users, you’re probably doing OK.
Summer recap
As you enjoy your burrito from the new Chipotle that opened up in Kendall this June, you may wonder what else has changed on campus over the summer. Here’s a summary of some of the topics The Tech has covered to get you up to speed.
Major players in online education market
With most new markets comes competition, as is the case with online education. Today, there are four major platforms that produce content specifically for online instruction: Coursera, Udacity, and edX, which provide university-level content, and Khan Academy, which largely targets K-12 education. While they all offer content designed specifically for web-based instruction, they differ slightly in missions, delivery, and focus.
Freshmen move using FYRE
For the first time in two years, Baker lost its spot as the most popular choice for incoming freshmen in the summer housing lottery. Maseeh, MIT’s newest dorm, overtook Baker this year as the most popular dorm — 303 people, or 26 percent of the freshmen class put down Maseeh as their top choice, while a staggering 66 percent (753 people) ranked the dorm in their top four. Baker had the second highest number of first choice votes, but came in fourth overall in terms of top four rankings, with 667 votes, slightly behind Burton-Conner (711 people) and Simmons (703).
IAP Subcommittee survey out
On Monday, August 27, all MIT undergraduate and graduate students received an email with personalized links to a survey regarding Independent Activities Period (IAP). The email was signed by the IAP Subcommittee of the Faculty Policy Committee (FPC). The subcommittee is chaired by Course 7 (Biology) professor Lisa A. Steiner and consists of UA representatives, GSC representatives, faculty members, and some administrators. The students were selected from members of the FCP and the Committee on the Undergraduate Program (CUP), said subcommittee member Ravi M. Charan ’14.
Intro to the Daily Confusion
Welcome to the Daily Confusion for FSILG Rush 2012! Greek and ILG life are huge on MIT’s campus, and while they may not be right for everyone, many people cite their affiliations as a key piece of what makes their MIT experience so fun and valuable.
Daily Confusion
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: Due to an editing error, the events for Sigma Phi Epsilon in the Daily Confusion were incorrectly listed under Sigma Alpha Epsilon, they have now been corrected. The two fraternities are distinct--the list of events for Sigma Phi Epsilon can be found at http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N33/dailyconfusion/sigep.html.
Police Log
Aug. 24 Bldg. 3 (33 Mass. Ave.) 11:12 a.m. East car responds to 3-438 on a larceny report.
Embrace the quiet
It’s no secret that freshmen starting at MIT tend to be most worried about academic challenges. They have nightmares about the horror of p-sets and wonder how effectively they can study as they adjust to their new environment.