Fire leaves Back Bay ashen, powerless
The Boston skyline went dark Tuesday evening after a major transformer failure in Boston’s Back Bay, causing a three-alarm fire that destroyed the parking garage of the Back Bay Hilton and left over 21,000 people without power. The outage left large swaths of Boston dark; from Kenmore and the CITGO sign all the way to the Public Gardens. MIT fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs) lost power from Tuesday night until late Wednesday or Thursday evening. As of press time, NStar, the power company, reports that most of Boston has had power restored though the lights; the Prudential Center was the last skyscraper to regain power at 11 p.m. All living groups have had their power restored except Sigma Nu and Fenway House.
1,620 students admitted to Class of 2016
On Pi Day at Tau Time (March 14 at 6:28 p.m.), MIT granted admission to 1,620 eager applicants. This year’s acceptance rate of 8.9 percent was a record low, with a record high of 18,109 applications overall. 6,008 of these applications were early action, a decrease from last year, and 680 of these students were accepted early. Last year, a total of 1,742 students were admitted. Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill ’86 said that one of the factors that may have affected this year’s high application pool and decrease in early applications was the fact that Harvard and Princeton reopened their single-choice early action programs. This meant that students could only apply early to one school of their choice, resulting in fewer early action applications to MIT and more regular action applicants.
MIT tops US News and World Report rankings once again
It doesn’t come as a surprise that U.S. News and World Report has once again ranked MIT as the overall best graduate engineering school in the country. MIT has held this title since 1990, the year U.S. News began ranking engineering programs. Notably, the following engineering departments — chemical, materials, computer, and electrical (the latter two tied with Stanford University) — were given first-place ratings. Other specialties with a top-five rank were aeronautics and astronautics (No. 2), mechanical (No. 2), nuclear (No. 2), and biological (No. 5).
State drops charges against Swartz; federal charges remain
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has dropped all six charges against Aaron H. Swartz, the computer activist who allegedly downloaded millions of academic journal archives from JSTOR via a laptop housed in network closet in MIT’s Building 16 running “keepgrabbing.py.”
RecycleMania starts
The UA wants all students to become RecycleManiacs! For the next two weeks, the UA Committee on Sustainability will be promoting a competition between dorms to see which can recycle the most. The competition will run March 12–23, and progress will be measured from information provided by Facilities on how material is recycled in the dorms.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Veritas Forum inspires discourse
Over 500 attendees congregated in Kresge Auditorium last Friday at 6 p.m. to ponder a single question: “Will Technology Save the World?”
Additional search advisory group members named
With the Presidential Search Committee announced last Thursday, the Graduate Student Council (GSC) and the Undergraduate Association (UA) have formed a joint task force of undergraduate and graduate students (see below), six of which are part of the task force’s Executive Team. The group is responsible for gathering student input and advising the Presidential Search Committee as the MIT Corporation selects the next MIT President.
US officials debate speeding up Afghan withdrawal
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is discussing whether to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan by at least an additional 20,000 troops, possibly more, by 2013, reflecting a growing belief within the White House that the mission there has reached the point of diminishing returns.
New fraternity establishes MIT interest group
A new fraternity may be coming to MIT. Alpha Sigma Phi, or “Alpha Sig,” the nation’s 10th oldest fraternity, has been trying to stake its claim as a colony among MIT’s current 24 existing chapters. Currently, it is attempting to recruit “founding fathers.”
Presidential Search Committee announced
The Presidential Search Committee tasked with identifying a successor to President Susan J. Hockfield was announced yesterday afternoon, three weeks after Hockfield announced her resignation. The committee will consist of 10 faculty members and 12 members of the MIT Corporation, and will be chaired by James A. Champy ’63, who also led the committee that selected Hockfield. A Student Advisory Committee made up of three undergraduates and three graduate students will assist in the search, though they are not on the official Search Committee itself.
UA Council finally official!
On Tuesday, the Undergraduate Association finally legitimized the new council by ratifying their constitution. The ratification comes after an extended deliberation period amongst the council members spanning two meetings over two weeks. The single biggest change made to the constitution at this meeting was to move text that enumerates the election proceedings (including the timeline and the ability to change them), to the election code in the bylaws. The constitution was passed unanimously after a brief discussion outlining this and other small changes. Immediately after, the bylaws were passed with only one vote against and one abstention.
UA president resigns, Wynter takes office
UA President Allan E. Miramonti ’13 announced his resignation in a campuswide email yesterday evening, citing his need to “refocus” on academics and well-being. Miramonti’s vice president, TyShaun Wynter ’13, assumed the presidency immediately.
Junior found dead in Next House
Brian G. Anderson ’13 was found dead in his third floor Next House dormitory room by MIT Campus Police slightly before noon today. He was 21.
Memories of junior Brian G. Anderson
At Brian G. Anderson ’13’s memorial service in Minnesota on Saturday, friends and family agreed on certain things about the MIT junior: He was fearless and strong. He was brilliant and loved MIT. He was frequently barefoot and in trees — often at the same time.
Burton-Conner housemasters step down after eight years
Burton-Conner housemasters Merritt Roe Smith and Bronwyn M. Mellquist announced that they will be stepping down as housemasters in an email to the dorm on Feb. 24.
Cancer researchers announce alliance
The two federally designated cancer centers in the Boston area are embarking on an unusual alliance that will combine the research strengths of both organizations to yield new treatments and insights into two highly lethal cancers.
CORRECTIONS
A brief published on March 7 incorrectly stated that Michael E. Plasmeier ’13 of Baker House held a proxy vote for Brian Luque ’12. Plasmeier is the current president of Baker — Luque’s term expired last month — and voted as a UA Council member.