News Briefs
LaVerde’s Market returned to 24-hour service this week as new staff were hired for night shifts. The Student Center market is now open from 7 a.m. Sunday to midnight Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Noose Left on Columbia Professor’s Door
A day after a noose was found hanging on a black professor’s office door at Columbia University’s Teachers College, protesting students chanted “no diversity, no university” and confronted university officials at two emotional meetings on Wednesday.
Record Voter Turnout in Senate, Council Elections
An unprecedented 1,203 votes were cast in the Undergraduate Association Fall 2007 elections for Senate and 2011 Class Council — a sharp increase over the 1,083 votes cast in 2006 and 1,160 cast in 2005. The elections concluded Friday, Oct. 5.
Tufts Neighbors Cry Foul Over Rowdy Student Behavior
Somerville officials and a neighborhood group are calling on Tufts University to take more responsibility for students they say are behaving badly in the neighborhoods, screaming in the streets in the wee hours, jumping on cars, and urinating and vomiting in residents’ yards.
MIT Graduate Student Designs Facebook Add-On for Enemies
Now that Internet users have forged online relationships with the people they like, they can turn their attention to shaming the folks they hate.
Administrators Draft Guidelines For Responsible, Safe Hacking
In preparation for the release of a set of hacking guidelines, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75 sent an e-mail out to all MIT students last week that said students must take full responsibility for their actions even while celebrating and protecting traditions such as hacking. The e-mail also addressed integrity, warning students against academic dishonesty and illegal downloading.
Alum Gives $100 Million For Cancer Research
Tiny new drugs that target cancer-causing genes and early warning systems that flag cancer’s recurrence are among the gee-whiz goals of a planned research center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology that got a $100 million infusion Tuesday.
RIAA Sends Thirty Pre-Litigation Letters Over Alleged Music Piracy
Thirty individuals at MIT have been sent pre-litigation settlement letters after allegedly illegally downloading copyrighted music, according to a press release issued by the Recording Industry Association of America last month.
Body Identified as MIT Student Barclay
A body that washed to shore on Cape Cod yesterday was identified as MIT student Daniel J. Barclay ’07 who has been missing since Sunday, April 8. An autopsy has been performed, but cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Institute Tests New Alert System
The MIT Security and Emergency Management Office initiated a campus-wide emergency test drill in late August that consisted of sending messages via phone, e-mail, and text messaging to members of the MIT community. The office, which was launched on July 1, 2007, serves as a resource center for security-related issues. Approximately 26,000 e-mail messages were sent in under five minutes.
Hockfield, Officials Discuss State of MIT
President Susan Hockfield, along with top MIT officials, presented optimistic remarks to a crowd of about 300 at Tuesday’s State of the Institute forum in Kresge Auditorium, ending a three year hiatus for the event. Also speaking at the forum were Provost L. Rafael Reif, Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75, and Executive Vice President and Treasurer Theresa M. Stone.
Lawmakers Consider Bill on Costs Of Textbooks
A month into the fall semester, Nathassia Torchon has already had two tests in her precalculus class and is approaching her first history exam. But the Massachusetts Bay Community College student said she could not afford the $330 price tag for two of the required textbooks until this week.
UA Finance Board Allocations for Summer and Fall 2007
Source: Undergraduate Association Finance Board
‘Egg’ Nobel Awards Play Chicken Last Night
Researchers, Nobel laureates, students, and curious people alike gathered Thursday evening to celebrate the Seventeenth “1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony” held in the Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Created to honor 10 achievements each year that “first make people LAUGH, and then make them THINK,” the ceremony was complete with hysterical antics, odd science demonstrations, a chicken theme, and, of course, improbable research.