DiCarlo to head BCS
This past month, Associate Professor of Neuroscience James DiCarlo was announced as the new head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS). The BCS department is the home of the Course 9 major, and it is the academic home of most of the faculty members in the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the new Simons Center for the Social Brain, headed by outgoing BCS head Mriganka Sur.
Letter from the Chancellor
We are all deeply saddened by the passing of Brian G. Anderson, a member of our community, and the third death of a student on campus during this academic year. Any one of these events stuns us; to have three in a year is incomprehensible.
Microtargeting helps campaigns customize ads
Political campaigns, which have borrowed tricks from Madison Avenue for decades, are now fully engaged on the latest technological frontier in advertising: aiming specific ads at potential supporters based on where they live, the websites they visit and their voting record.
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 yesterday. He was 21.
Hockfield announces resignation
Susan J. Hockfield, MIT's 16th president, announced this morning her decision to step down from the presidency after 7 years.
Looking to the future: Susan Hockfield’s resignation letter
To the Members of the MIT Community:
President Susan J. Hockfield announces resignation
Susan J. Hockfield, MIT’s 16th president, announced yesterday morning her decision to step down from the presidency after seven years.
Suffolk Downs proposal may deter casino rivals
The widespread perception that the Suffolk Downs casino proposal, with its strong political backers, has a lock on development rights for Eastern Massachusetts may be discouraging some casino companies from competing in what is expected to be the state’s most lucrative gambling market, specialists say.
A short history of Hockfield and her influence on MIT
During her seven years as president, Susan J. Hockfield oversaw an aggressive expansion of MIT’s global footprint. Her years as president have been markedly outward-facing. During her tenure, she skillfully advanced MIT’s long-term interests by engaging in parnterships overseas and by securing a variety of donations for the David H. Koch Institute on Integrative Cancer Research and Fariborz Maseeh Hall, among other things. Hockfield’s administration has raised over $3 billion, more money than any one president has made during his term. She has created a number of relationships in politics and abroad. From bringing Obama to campus to creating alliances with Singapore and Russia, Hockfield has brought MIT’s influence around the globe.
New UA Council appointed, meeting soon
The UA Council, the UA’s main ruling body that replaced the Senate, has been almost completely filled, with the off-campus representative yet to be determined. The Council includes representation for every dorm, the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Association (Panhel), the Living Group Council (LGC), and off-campus residents, each selected in a way determined by their constituents. The Council will have its first meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Senate Chambers, W20-400, according UA Vice President Amanda C. David ’13. The meeting will be open, and food will be served.
ERC releases plan for global initiative
Many visions of the future presented during MIT150 concern the Institute itself and nearby Kendall Square — but MIT’s Environmental Research Council (ERC) had larger goals in mind, global-sized goals. In December, the ERC released an implementation plan for the establishment of a Global Environment Initiative (GEI), whose challenge is to “integrate the Institute’s core strengths in … research to better understand the global environment and manage our role in it.”
CORRECTIONS
A Feb. 10 article about Chipotle incorrectly gave Jeffrey Warren’s class year as 2015. He is a 2014.
Technology exposition or career fair?
Photography startup Lytro came to Techfair this year to show off its new 3D camera, whose pictures can be refocused after the shot. They invited students for a hands-on demo of the unreleased product — what they didn’t expect was the deluge of resumes.
MITx starts with 6.002x
6.002 (Circuits and Electronics) will be the first course offered via MITx, announced late last year that has seen widespread praise but also faces questions from some faculty members. MIT has billed MITx as a way to enhance the on-campus education for MIT students and simultaneously offer MIT courses, largely free, to the rest of the world.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: 2014’s Brass Rat design revealed
By 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, the promise of a surprise gift for the first 50 people in line for Ring Premiere had lured a crowd of sophomores to the doors of Kresge. Later that evening, we discovered that the first ones there got their purple tickets and went on their merry way, instead of having to jostle each other outside the door for four hours.
Google cleared for Motorola Mobility acquisition
U.S. and European antitrust regulators on Monday approved Google’s acquisition of the cellphone maker Motorola Mobility without formal conditions, paving the way for the search giant to compete directly with its new archrival, Apple.
Cambridge seeks to rebrand Central Sq.
Venturing into the city? Ever think of heading just a few blocks down from campus to Central Square instead, the geographic “heart of Cambridge?” Former Cambridge mayor David Maher and his Red Ribbon Commission on the Delights and Concerns of Central Square, appointed in June 2010, think there is more potential in this title than just the location. Following 16 months of work, last December, they published a report covering new proposals and ideas for Central’s future revitalization and development.