Cambridge, Mass. Is a Science Lover’s Kind of Town
When you run an ice cream parlor down the street from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, you expect your customers to chat about stem cell research or trade theories about neutrinos between licks of burnt caramel. But Gus Rancatore, whose Toscanini’s shop in Cambridge, Mass., is renowned as much for its deep-thinking clientele as for its sundaes, discovered long ago that catering to the technology-minded crowd could have unforeseen advantages.
Thousands Gather at Boston City Hall, Protest California’s Gay Marriage Ban
Thousands of people gathered at Boston City Hall on Saturday to rally against the passage of Proposition 8, the recent ban on same-sex marriage in California.
Non-Profit Connects Low-Income Applicants With MIT
The number of early applications increased by approximately 25 percent this year, partly as a result of MIT’s new partnership with QuestBridge, a non-profit organization that connects low-income students with top colleges.
Institute To Cut Budget, Slow Hiring
MIT will cut general spending by five percent in the fiscal year beginning next July, and by 10–15 percent within the next three years, the president and provost said in a letter to the MIT community yesterday. The announcement mirrors announcements by elite universities similarly affected by the global financial crisis.
Media Companies Donate Space, Time for One Laptop Per Child Ads
After a rocky beginning, the nonprofit group One Laptop Per Child thinks an advertising campaign will give a lift to the organization’s effort to place low-cost laptops in the hands of children in developing nations.
Study Abroad Flourishes; China Attracts More American Students
Record numbers of American students are studying abroad, with especially strong growth in educational exchanges with China, the annual report by the Institute on International Education found.
Presidents’ Pay Rises Faster at Public Universities
David J. Sargent, the 77-year-old president of Suffolk University in Boston, received a $2.8 million pay package in 2006-7 — including a $436,000 longevity bonus and more than $1 million in deferred compensation — after the board of trustees, eager to delay his retirement, decided he had long been underpaid.
What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?
Ellen Spertus ’90, a graduate student at MIT, wondered why the computer camp she had attended as a girl had a boy-girl ratio of 6-to-1. And why were only 20 percent of computer science undergraduates at MIT female? She published a 124-page paper, “Why Are There So Few Female Computer Scientists?”, that catalogued different cultural biases that discouraged girls and women from pursuing a career in the field. The year was 1991.
Wage, Budget Freezes Possible as Harvard Looks to Spend Less
Even the world’s richest university is feeling the pinch from the economic downturn.
News Briefs
Aafia Siddiqui ’95, the MIT alumna arrested in Afghanistan in July, has been declared “not competent” to stand trial “as a result of her mental disease, which renders her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense,” according to a forensic evaluation dated Nov. 6 and quoted in a court order released yesterday. Siddiqui had been previously diagnosed with chronic depressive type psychosis in September.
Student Dies After Collapsing at Marathon
Kjell A. Tovander ’09 died on Sunday after collapsing during the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, Okla.
Colleges Feel Impact of Market Decline, Begin Cutting Fin. Aid
For years, as the stock market roared, educational endowments swelled, helping private secondary schools and colleges provide more financial aid, expand, and attract better faculty. But with the financial markets in crisis, those days are over.
MIT Hopes Two-Thirds of Seniors Will Give to Class Gift, OCW Fund
The Senior Gift Campaign announced an ambitious 65 percent participation rate target as they unveiled their project of developing an MIT OpenCourseWare Fund. The proceeds of the senior gift will go towards updating the video and lecture content for 5.111 Principles of Chemical Science.
Police Stress Bicycle Safety, Theft Prevention Measures
Following an accident in the Infinite Corridor this fall, the issue of bicyclist and pedestrian safety has become one of the forefront concerns of the MIT Police.
ASA Will Propose to Lower Threshold for Group Recognition
Groups of students who want access to certain resources controlled by the Association of Student Activities would have an easier time getting them, under a proposal being presented by the ASA’s executive board to all student groups at a Monday general body meeting.
RNAi Therapeutics May Hold Key to Reducing Cholesterol
People whose bodies make an unusually active form of a certain protein tend to have dangerously high levels of cholesterol. Those with an inactive form of the protein have low cholesterol and a low risk of heart attacks.
In Short
The Diversity Leadership Congress will take place at MIT next Tuesday from 1–3 p.m. and will include a keynote address by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman and a panel discussion. Facilitators will lead group debriefings at remote viewing locations in the Student Center locations and E25-111. See: http://web.mit.edu/diversityleaders/
High School Seniors Compete at MIT In Siemens Contest Regional Final
Sixteen high school students descended upon campus last weekend as part of the annual Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology to compete for $9,000 dollars and an invitation to the national finals in New York where $100,000 is up for grabs.