Sal Khan is Commencement speaker
Salman A. Khan ’98, founder of the popular Khan Academy online educational organization, will deliver the keynote address at MIT’s 146th Commencement on Friday, Jun. 8. Khan, 35, is the youngest Commencement speaker in at least 30 years.
Record 294 participate in MIT Externship Program
This January, 294 MIT students will participate in internships around the world through the MIT Externship Program. The program, run by the Alumni Association, matches current students with MIT alumni to introduce them to the professional world.
Know your end-of-term policies
Stressed, overworked, and beleaguered by p-sets, especially as finals draw near? No need to Occupy MIT — the Office of the Chair of the Faculty and the UA Student Committee on Educational Policy (SCEP) have established a set of academic end-of-term policies designed to ensure a fair final examination period for students. Here are your rights:
DNA sequencing bottlenecked in a deluge of data
BGI, based in China, is the world’s largest genomics research institute, with 167 DNA sequencers producing the equivalent of 2,000 human genomes a day.
Chu visits MIT, gives talk on clean energy
U.S. Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate in Physics Steven Chu visited MIT to map out his strategies to restore U.S. competitiveness in clean energy in a talk at Kresge Auditorium this Wednesday. This is his first visit to the Institute since his Compton lecture in 2009. The event was sponsored by the student-run MIT Energy Club.
MIT hosts White House manufacturing conference
Government officials and regional leaders in industry and academia gathered at MIT on Monday for a day-long forum as part of a White House initiative that aims to turn America’s laboratory advances into new technologies to boost the U.S. economy. The meeting was part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), created by President Obama in June as a national effort to bring together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in new technologies that will “create high quality manufacturing jobs and enhance global competitiveness,” according to an MIT/White House press release. The AMP Steering Committee is co-chaired by President Susan J. Hockfield and Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical.
CORRECTIONS
An arts review published Tuesday incorrectly said that The Postelles and The Kooks performed at Paradise Rock Club on Nov. 19. The bands played at Boston’s House of Blues.
News Briefs
Economy Hardware in Central Square has reopened after nearly a year of renovation. The store, which underwent reconstruction last December, was set to open in the spring but was initially delayed until October and finally opened today. Economy Hardware has been in Cambridge for over 60 years, store owner Larry Friedman told The Tech in January. Some of their original space is now being used by Cambridge Community Television. They are located at 438 Mass. Ave. and also have locations in Boston and Brookline.
Senate approves UA restructuring
The Senate of the Undergraduate Association voted unanimously to dissolve itself yesterday evening, a milestone in the months-long effort of the organization to substantially restructure itself.
Frank will not run for reelection in redrawn district
Facing a new electoral hurdle in a dramatically redrawn district, U.S. Representative Barney Frank, a stalwart of Massachusetts politics for more than 40 years and one of the nation’s leading liberal voices, announced Monday that he will leave Congress when his term expires.
MIT holds ethics discourses
“MIT requires a swim test to graduate but no formal course in ethics,” notes Manish Bhardwaj, a Fellow at The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT.
CORRECTIONS
A photo caption about the Major League Gaming competition published last Tuesday ambiguously referred to the “finals” of the Halo: Reach event. The photo depicts the winner’s bracket finals, not the grand finals.
6,102 apply early to MIT, slight drop from last year
6,102 people applied early-action to MIT this year, a 4.72 percent drop from last year’s 6,405. Early applications were due Nov. 1, though some residents affected by the late October blizzard were granted an extension. Early applicants can expect to hear back from MIT around mid-December.
Stephanie Lin wins Rhodes
Stephanie Lin ’12 was recognized this week as MIT’s newest Rhode Scholar. She will be studying at Oxford next year along with 32 other American recipients who received the honor. Lin is the 45th MIT undergraduate to receive the Rhodes Scholarship.
MIT, Pfizer break ground on 610 Main
Monday morning, MIT and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer celebrated the official groundbreaking of a new research center right next to campus. MIT President Susan J. Hockfield opened the ceremony, whose speakers included Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Pfizer President of Worldwide Research and Development Mikael Dolsten. With a mighty heave — literally — they and other participants shoveled dirt and took the first step toward what Hockfield described as “the best way to support innovation in Cambridge.”
Occupy UC digs heels in
LOS ANGELES — It has become something of an annual tradition on California college campuses, in what is perhaps the most prestigious state university system in the country: the state makes large cuts in public universities, they in turn raise tuition, and students respond with angry protests.