MIT’s Endowment Over the Past Ten Years
MIT’s endowment investments lost 17 percent of their value in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 28 percent of its value over the same period. This was the first fiscal year since 2003 that net investment return to the endowment was negative. In the 2000s, MIT’s endowment has always outperformed the S&P 500. MIT released the Report of the Treasurer on Friday last week.
Admins: Increasing Enrollment Could Boost Endowment
Top MIT administrators discussed budget cuts at a Q&A session at the Undergraduate Association Senate meeting on Monday, October 5.
Next House Residents Bemoan Teeny Meals Many Complain Food Is Worse, Portions Shrank
It all started on September 20, with a third of an ear of corn, snap peas, and a stuffed portabello mushroom. Sean Y. Liu ’10 was disgusted with the size of his dinner, so he took a snapshot and sent it out the <i>next-forum</i> mailing list for everyone to see.
All-Sorority ’13 Council Elected
The Undergraduate Association released the results, but not the individual vote tallies, of its fall Senate and 2013 Class Council elections on Saturday. A little over a quarter of undergraduates voted. Danielle A. Class and Amanda C. David were elected President and Vice President, respectively, of an all-female, all-sorority Class of 2013 Council. In a special election, Sojung C. Lee was elected Class of 2011 treasurer.
In Short
CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE: Because of an editing error, a Tuesday, Oct. 6 "In Short" item on the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan ran one week late. The deadline for canceling or enrolling in the plan was Sept. 30, as correctly reported in the "In Short" section of The Tech's Tuesday, Sept. 29 issue.
Class Council, Senate Elections End Today
Elections for the UA Senate and 2013 Freshman Class Council have been ongoing this week and end today.
College Blogs Used To Unite & Promote
Cristen Chinea, a senior at MIT, made a confession in her blog on the college Web site.
Ig Nobel Winner Shows Knuckle Cracking Won’t Cause Arthritis
“Mother, I know you can hear me. Mother, you were wrong! And now that I have your attention, can I stop eating my broccoli, please?” Donald L. Unger raised his hands in mock rebellion. He had defied his mother’s words for three quarters of his life systematically cracking the knuckles on his left hand and leaving his right knuckles free for 60 years, demonstrating (if only anecdotally) that knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis. For this achievement, he won himself the Ig Nobel Award in Medicine, presented last night at the 19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony yesterday evening.
Same Answers at State of Institute
MIT President Susan J. Hockfield delivered a 20-minute overview of the Institute’s financial climate in front of several hundred staff and a few students at the State of the Institute forum on Wednesday. Hockfield noted an intent to finish MIT’s $150 million in budget cuts in two years, rather than the three years initially proposed by the administration in 2008. Following this speech, administrators answered both pre-submitted and impromptu questions from the audience (select questions, p.13).
EC Fire Ruled not Arson
The trash chute fire at East Campus on Sept. 8 has been ruled not arson by the Cambridge Fire Department (CFD), according to MIT spokesman Nathaniel W. Nickerson.
Media Lab Construction Is Scheduled To Finish in Nov., MIT Facilities Says
Construction of the new Media Lab is on track to finish in November, according to Arne Abramson, who is managing the project.
Proposed Minor Asks: How Does Technology Alter the Environment?
Eighty-nine faculty members from a variety of departments have banded together to propose a new sustainability minor, an “extension” of the energy minor introduced last year. The members make up FENS, the MIT Faculty Environmental Network for Sustainability, and their proposal would create an undergraduate minor and a graduate certificate program in environment and sustainability.
Libraries Complete $5 Million Renovations Over the Summer
Looking for a cool new place to study this semester? MIT recently renovated two of its largest libraries. Dewey Library boasts a $4.6 million facelift that includes expanded group study space and more environmentally responsible features. Barker Library gained a brighter reading room and inherited the orphaned collections of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Library, which was closed in June. The collections of the other closed library, Lindgren, have been relocated to Hayden.
MIT Graduate Student Runs for City Council, Hopes to Represent Students
On November 3, Cambridge voters will decide whether an MIT student is fit to serve on city council. Leland Cheung, a graduate student in the Sloan School of Business is running for a position on city council because he believes “[We] need a student voice representing our interest,” a “liaison” between the students and the city government.
Café Spice to Reopen; New Dining Locations Planned for Campus
Several new dining locations are expected to arrive on campus in the new Sloan School, the new Koch Institute building, and Pritchett Dining, during next 18 months.
A Nuclear Advisory Panel Now Focusing On Waste Recycling
With a federal plan to handle nuclear waste in deadlocked disarray, an advisory panel that has spent 20 years studying a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain turned Wednesday to discussing ways of reusing the fuel instead.