Referendum exposes dining dislike
From March 16 to March 17, students cast ballots not only to elect the next Undergraduate Association’s (UA) president and vice president, but also to respond to the dining referendum sponsored by UA Senator Shuang Chen ’13 of Simmons Hall. A vast majority elected Allan E. Miramonti ’13 and Alec C. Lai ’13, the only official running ticket, to the presidency; likewise, a majority of students expressed mild to strong disapproval of both the new dining plan recommended by the House Dining Advisory Group (HDAG) as well as the process by which HDAG proposed recommendations for the plan.
Medical panelists may have financial conflicts of interest
Doctors with private financial conflicts of interest dominated some of the panels that wrote guidelines on cardiovascular health in recent years, according to a medical journal study released Monday.
Researcher’s post goes viral
As the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific brought the world’s third-largest economy to its knees, millions of people around the globe watched with baited breath to see whether Japan’s damaged nuclear reactor, Fukushima I, would be the next Chernobyl. Two days later, a blog post entitled “Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors” went live on , a site which was registered that same day. Only hours later, Jim J. Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money called the post — after it was reproduced at — the “best piece on the nuke issue,” via Twitter. The original author of the post? Josef Oehmen, a researcher at MIT’s Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI).
Ethnic clashes fuel debate over US plan to leave Iraq
KIRKUK, Iraq — Many in this divided city want U.S. troops to stay longer than President Barack Obama’s administration has said they will, and a tense standoff last week showed why. Kurdish troops from the north were in positions on the outskirts of Arab neighborhoods.
CORRECTIONS
Due to editorial deadlines, a March 18 opinion column about the nuclear reactors at Fukushima includes a timeline of events only through March 15. Developments between March 15 and March 18 are not reflected in the column.
MIT dominates USNWR graduate science and engineering rankings
MIT took the top spot in nearly all science specialties and many engineering specialties in U.S. News and World Report’s (USNWR) recently-released 2012 graduate school rankings. MIT was ranked first in overall engineering and ranked third behind Stanford and Harvard for business.
UA might see drastic changes
Three bills proposing major restructuring to the UA was presented to the Senate last night. Two of the bills, one submitted by Vrajesh Y. Modi ’11, current President of the UA, and the other submitted by Jonté D. Craighead ’13, current Speaker of the Senate. Both offer competing solutions to the problem of fragmentation among the five undergraduate governing bodies: UA, IFC, DormCon, Panhel, and LGC.
Student shuts down laptop thief
Yesterday at 12:30 p.m., a suspected laptop thief was caught and handcuffed in the Stata Center after CSAIL researchers chased him down. Wesley D. Graybill G said that he saw the suspect making a dash for the exit, jumped in front of him, and slammed him into the wall. The suspect slipped by, but Graybill chased him down and was able to pull him to the ground. The researcher caught up and held down the suspect until the Campus Police arrived.
CORRECTIONS
An article published on Tuesday about the UA debate omitted Alexander W. Dehnert ’12 from a list of UA officials who have recently resigned. In February, Dehnert resigned as Living Group Council Senator and UA Chief of Information Technology.
Fact or fiction?
Have you been wondering what “Fact or Fiction” means, or what Gossip Girl, Glee, and BU have to do with women at MIT? Jessica L. Trudeau, Fact or Fiction committee head and program administrator at the MIT Community Development and Substance Abuse Center (CDSA) describes Fact or Fiction as a media campaign — created by the CDSA — to “challenge MIT undergraduate women to think about female identity at the Institute.”
Nuclear plant safety questioned by scientist group
With Japan’s nuclear industry facing intense scrutiny after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, critics of nuclear power in the United States are increasingly shining a spotlight on U.S. regulators and power companies.
US relations with Saudi Arabia chilled
WASHINGTON — The brutal crackdown in Bahrain poses the greatest Middle East democracy dilemma yet to the Obama administration, deepening a rift with its most important Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, while potentially strengthening the influence of its biggest nemesis, Iran.
UA Finance Board Spring II allocation results
Note: Spring 2011 marks the first time FinBoard has allocated funds in two spring cycles. This year, funding from Spring I allocations rolls over to Spring II; some groups did not submit Spring II budgets.
Class of 2015 admission rate sinks to 9.6 percent
On Monday, MIT celebrated pi day by granting admission to 1,715 high school seniors. Despite an increase in class size to 1,120 — up by about 60 from the current freshman class size — the class of 2015’s admission rate was a staggeringly low 9.6 percent. With 17,909 applications overall, the admissions office saw an 8 percent increase in applications from last year, driving the admit rate down from last year’s 9.7 percent.
Japan in crisis, MIT reacts
It was supposed to be a routine visit to Japan for MISTI staff to meet with host companies and university contacts about upcoming summer internship programs. Michelle L. Kern, program coordinator for MISTI Japan, and Patricia E. Gercik, managing director of MISTI Japan, arrived in Tokyo on March 10, and started with the usual meetings the next day — the day of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that destroyed the northeast coast.
Institute replies vacuously to Styke suit
On Tuesday, MIT submitted its response to Wolfe B. Styke G’s lawsuit. Styke is suing the Institute and Russell J. Novello for a total of $50,000 in negligence, resulting from the October 2007 incident where he was stabbed in his Next House dorm room by Anna L. Tang, who was a Wellesly student at the time. Novello was the security guard who provided Tang with a key to Styke’s room. Tang was found not guilty by reason of insanity late last year and is fully free as of early this year.