The Tech’s news digest for May 15
The Tech’s new biweekly digest is the best way to hear news from around campus fast! Take five minutes to listen to the latest happenings at MIT and in the community.
CORRECTIONS
An article published Friday about Wi-Fi on Boston Common stated that the project began in February 2012, and gave the impression wireless Internet was added to the park recently. Wi-Fi was deployed on Boston Common over a year ago, in April of 2011, not 2012. The project began in February 2011.
Special podcast; Reif elected president
L. Rafael Reif has been named the 17th President of MIT. Reif has spent the past several months heading the MITx and EdX initiatives, stressing MIT’s commitment to improving residential education using online technologies. He was born in Venezuela, received a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford, and spent many years in the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. Listen to our podcast for more on Reif.
Three floors of Baker vandalized
Baker residents were rudely awakened by fire alarms twice on Saturday morning, once at 2 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. On the second instance, someone also “maliciously” discharged a fire extinguisher on the first, second, and third floors before disposing of it in a third-floor trash can. Baker was evacuated for several hours as a result, according to Baker President Michael E. Plasmeier ’13 and information from Baker House minutes. The fire alarms were pulled in the west wing of the first floor, from where the fire extinguisher was also taken.
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UA President and Vice President candidates debate
Undergraduate Association President and Vice President candidates met at the Student Center on Sunday night to debate and share their platforms. The three candidates this year are Jonté D. Craighead ’13, and Michael P. Walsh ’13, Narendra “Naren” P. Tallapragada ’13 and Andrew C. Yang ’13, and Brendan T. Deveney ’13 and Mary A. Breton ’14.
A chat with Bob Randolph
Chaplain Robert M. Randolph came to MIT in 1979 as an ordained minister and former chaplain at Dana Hall School in Wellesley. He served as an associate dean working as the head of counseling programs until he was appointed as Chaplain to the Institute in 2007. The Tech had a chance to sit down with Dean Randolph to discuss religion at MIT.
Maseeh, home of the arts
Throughout March and April, Maseeh Hall hosted a series of events known as Expressions, which merged arts with the sciences. Expressions was comprised of three events — a Master’s Tea, a lecture, and an art reception.
Why exactly do MIT students believe in a god?
What does Professor Alex Byrne, who teaches 24.503, Topics in Philosophy of Religion, have to say about faith at MIT?
What the heck is TGBSM?!
Have you ever wondered where those “TGBSM” and “Corkfessions” posters came from?
Student leaders sound off on religion
With nearly 30 ASA-recognized religious student groups on campus, the MIT community is teeming with religious diversity. But, most of these groups have less than 30 members who regularly attend their events, and some groups are no longer active on campus or are not ASA-recognized. According to Robert M. Randolph, Chaplain to the Institute, their presence on campus has been generally consistent. With so many groups, however, it is difficult to talk to everyone, and a number of groups did not respond to requests from The Tech.
Comments from the religion survey
At the end of the survey, students were invited to write about their thoughts and experiences with religion at MIT. We selected the best comments and stories from the survey to fill this page. To publish all the comments would require several pages in an issue of The Tech, so these responses represent just a small sample of the nearly 400 answers we received.
UA announces new nominees
Nominees for UA officer positions were announced Monday evening. At a meeting this coming Tuesday, the UA Council will vote to officially appoint the nominees. Excluding the Chief of Staff, the nominees (see sidebar) were selected from an initial pool of about 40 students who applied for the 19 positions posted online at http://re-invent.mit.edu/apply, 20 of which were mostly interviewed by UA President Jonté D. Craighead ’13 and Vice President Michael P. Walsh ’13 in consultation with relevant committee members. The chief of staff’s main responsibility is chairing the Nominations Committee, which includes “soliciting applications for representatives to Institute Committees, interviewing candidates, and selecting a slate of nominees,” according to the UA Constitution.
The Tech’s news digest for May 11
The Tech’s new biweekly digest is the best way to hear news from around campus fast! Take five minutes to listen to the latest happenings at MIT and in the community.
RELIGION AT MIT
At an Institute so grounded in science and technology, where do faith and spirituality fit in?
MacG not yet filled for summer housing
There is good news for those on the summer housing waitlist. 77 people, mostly from MacGregor, have declined their given housing as of Wednesday. The bad news is that the waitlist only includes students who did not get into Senior House, Bexley, or Random, but don’t want MacGregor, according to director of housing Dennis J. Collins.