For MIT150, Idea Bank reopens
The Idea Bank, an online forum for community members to give MIT comments and suggestions, is open again — this time to discuss the MIT150 festivities and collect ideas for future MIT150-inspired events. The Idea Bank is intended to foster ideas in a setting where students, faculty, staff, and alumni all have input.
Whitehead professor Rudolf Jaenisch wins National Medal of Science
Professor Rudolf Jaenisch, a founding member of the Whitehead Institute, has been named as one of seven recipients of the 2011 National Medal of Science award. The National Medal of Science is the highest honor in the fields of science and engineering in the United States. Barack Obama named Professor Jaenisch this past Tuesday for his work on the epigenetic regulation of gene expression.
CORRECTIONS
Last Friday’s article on the math diagnostic incorrectly reported that 700 freshmen took the diagnostic exam. The number of students who took the exam was 865.
Novartis & Pfizer to move near campus
Two pharmaceutical giants, Novartis and Pfizer, are getting closer to realizing their new complexes neighboring the MIT campus. Both sites will primarily house research facilities.
Tech startups take to MIT for Bootcamp
Hundreds of people from the MIT and Boston community flocked to Kresge Auditorium last Saturday as the founders of Dropbox, Quora, Foursquare and seven other tech companies took the stage at the 3rd annual Startup Bootcamp at MIT. The event featured a marathon of talks and presentations from well-known figures in the high-tech startup industry.
Chile president visits MIT, tours Media Lab
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera visited the MIT Media Lab last Friday to give a speech in front of an audience consisting primarily of Chilean students in the Boston area. Piñera encouraged his audience members to return to their native country, Chile, after completing their education. Piñera addressed his audience in Spanish.
Only over-the-counter inhaler off shelves in 2011
If you are among the 2 million Americans depending on a drugstore inhaler to deal with asthma, it may be time to schedule a doctor’s appointment. At the end of the year, your only non-prescription treatment option is coming off the shelves.
Toast for sale! Grab a bite for $1.875 million.
“I really like the human-like statue with a hamburger head and a sombrero.”
Diagnostic sees changes
For a majority of the class of 2015, the math diagnostic was the first academic hurdle to conquer at MIT. On Aug. 29, 700 freshmen sat for the two-hour exam, used to suggest class placement for their Physics I GIR course.
CORRECTIONS
Because of an editing error, a letter published last Friday omitted several words from the second sentence. It should read, “Yet data from the Guttmacher Institute show that the abortion rate is over twice as high for women who live with their partner as for those who do not.”
Startups scramble over MIT students
When it comes to the job market, MIT students have still got it. A record 350 companies turned out for Wednesday’s Career Fair in Johnson. This year also marked the first time Career Fair was held — not coincidentally — on a student holiday.
Hungry in EC? Head to Pinkie’s
It’s 1 a.m. You’ve just finished a p-set and you’re starving. What do you do? Most students hit up LaVerde’s or Chicago Pizza, but now East Campus residents have another choice for cheap, late-night snacking thanks to Vincent P. Le ’13, also known as Pinkie. Le and a small group of volunteers have recently started Pinkie’s Diner, open Sunday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Talbot lounge in EC.
In a newly revamped Rush, 455 bids offered
Gordon W. Wintrob ’12, Interfraternity Council (IFC) president, can sleep very well at night. The IFC had “a very safe, hassle-free Rush,” in which 455 bids were offered to 369 men, he said — about 1.23 bids for each freshman who rushed. Of the men that were offered bids, 321 (about 87 percent) have pledged as of Monday night.
Former MIT adult stem cell researcher resumes fight against human embryonic stem cell funding
James L. Sherley is at it again. When a court decided in July that the NIH could indeed fund human embryonic stem cell research, and that they were not violating a Congressional appropriations rider to do so, Sherley and his co-plaintiff, Theresa A. Deisher, said they would appeal.
Hungry on the weekend? Clover will soon be open!
The delicious smell of chickpea fritters wafted over the west side of campus this past weekend. Saturday and Sunday, the Clover food truck that is normally parked on Carlton Street behind the MIT Medical building was docked in front of the Z-Center for the t=0 entrepreneurship conference (only for the weekend, sorry!).
UA elections see low voter turnout
The biannual whirlwind of Undergraduate Association elections has passed, leaving a Senate-elect consisting of dedicated students, a Pokémon, a risqué historical figure, a feline, and several seats still to be determined by run-off elections.
Perry and Obama diverge on border
To the president of the United States, the 1,200 border miles that stretch from Brownsville to El Paso are either “among the safest in the nation.” But to the governor of Texas, the border is “not safe.”