Boston gets air of rare tornado watch
A series of powerful thunderstorms tore across Massachusetts this past weekend. Lightning and high winds caused loss of power to thousands of residents statewide. A tornado watch was put into effect on Sunday in Middlesex County, Worcester County, Franklin County, Hampden County and Hampshire County.
Corrections
An article published on June 4 about former student Lori Berenson incorrectly stated that she was married to guerilla leader Nestor Cerpa at the time of her 1995 arrest. Berenson was not married to Cerpa, but she was with his wife at the time of the arrest.
2008 Top Salaries at MIT
Because of changes in IRS regulations, this data is for calendar year 2008, but the previously reported data were for fiscal years ending June 30. As a result, this year’s CY08 12-month period overlaps by 6 months with the FY08 12-month period.
Seeking the next Dean for Graduate Education
Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75 intends to hire the Dean of Graduate Education by July 1, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Steven R. Lerman ’72. Lerman, who held the positions of Dean of Graduate Education and Vice Chancellor, left MIT this spring to become Provost of George Washington University. In the meantime, Senior Associate Dean Blanche E. Staton will run the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education.
Nominated to lead NSF
On June 8, President Barack Obama formally nominated MIT School of Engineering dean, Subra Suresh ScD ’81, to act as the next director of the National Science Foundation.
Unraveling tenure at MIT
Usually students miss more lectures than their professors, but in week five of the spring 2010 term, Eric Hudson, popular instructor of 8.02: Electricity & Magnetism, would have given chronic class-skippers competition. “I think I’ve been gone five of the last seven weeks or something,” he said with a light chuckle, seeming awed at that fraction himself. “It’s really been terrible,” he said.
Subra Suresh nominated to lead National Science Foundation
President Barack Obama announced on June 3 that he plans to nominate MIT School of Engineering dean, Subra Suresh ScD ’81, to act as the next director of the National Science Foundation.
Wheeler ensnares campuses with ‘life of deception’
There were, in hindsight, plenty of reasons for the admissions office at Harvard to be suspicious of Adam Wheeler.
Berenson paroled in Peru
Lori Helene Berenson, a former MIT student and political activist imprisoned in Peru, was granted parole on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Berenson, who withdrew from MIT as a sophomore in 1988, has served 15 years out of a 20-year prison sentence for aiding the leftist guerilla group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru). She is now 40 years old.
Roche files Supreme Court brief
Biotech company Roche filed its opposition brief last month in <i>Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, et al.</i>, the intellectual property case that Stanford and MIT have both asked the Supreme Court to hear. Download it from our website at <i>http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N23/scotus/05_Roche_Brief_In_Opposition_To_Cert_Petition.pdf</i>.
C-Crete Technologies wins $100K
The winner of this year’s annual MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition was C-Crete Technologies, a team of MIT graduate students and collaborators who nano-engineered a new formula of concrete that would both improve material stability and decrease carbon dioxide emissions and cost.
Chem grad student Yu-Pu shares a capella remakes with growing YouTube fanbase
“If anyone asks us what we’re doing,” said Yu-Pu Wang, a first year graduate student studying chemistry here at MIT, “just tell them the truth.”
Nick Sisler: ‘big brother’
Many MIT students are searching for a way to help others. Nick Sisler ’11, Course II, has discovered how to make a difference in the life of an 11-year old boy. Nick has been a “big brother” to Evan Wilcox for three years, and was recently selected as a finalist for the Massachusetts Bay Big Brother Big Sister of the Year award. The Big Brother Big Sister program pairs children aged 6 through 18 with older mentors to develop “positive relationships that have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of young people,” according to their website.
Class of 2010 graduates today
MIT’s 143rd graduating class will receive their degrees on Killian Court today. At the commencement ceremony, 912 undergraduate students and 1443 graduate students will graduate.
New plans for dining: Breakfast, <br />more meals, higher price
On May 19, the House Dining Advisory Group (HDAG) released its 4-page final recommendation for House Dining, effective in Fall 2011. The new plan offers all-you-can-eat breakfast and dinner seven days a week at the four dorms with dining halls (Baker, McCormick, Next, and Simmons). The final costs will depend on the selected vendor, but are now estimated to be $2,900/year for the cheapest plan and $3,800/year for the most expensive.
IFC hits DTD hard for CPW incident
An investigation by the Interfraternity Council has implicated Delta Tau Delta in the incident of a prospective student who became unconscious after consuming too much alcohol during Campus Preview Weekend. The IFC’s ruling imposes a number of sanctions on DTD, which include a one year ban on alcohol in the DTD house, a one-and-a-half year ban on most social events, restrictions on off-campus trips during next year’s rush, and a ban on hosting prefrosh during next year’s CPW.
Wartman, smiling, goes north
Jed W. Wartman, Assistant Dean for Student Activities, likes to say “yes” to good ideas. In his four years at MIT, he says this attitude is what has characterized his work. It’s an attitude he plans to take to his new position this fall as Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Campus Life at Colby College in Maine.
Opposite N42, a new bakery opens
A new aroma is coming to MIT. It’s the smell of delicious cookies, breads, and pastries from Flour Bakery and Cafe’s newest installation, Flour3. According to the bakery’s website, <i>http://www.</i><i>flourbakery</i><i>.com</i>, the new location hopes to open before the end of June. The new location will be firing up its ovens on 190 Mass Ave., right next to Central Bottle, the new wine store that opened in November, and opposite the Information Services and Technology building.