MIT must ensure the vitality of OCW
With the implementation of the sequester, a swath of federal budget cuts, MIT must answer some tough questions. What is our most valuable service to the world? Our research? Our undergraduates? Graduate students? What is our primary responsibility, and what do we value?
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Corporation’s plans for Kendall would harm the undergraduate experience
CORRECTIONS
A restaurant review in last Friday’s issue on Atomic Bean Café neglected to list the café’s weekend hours. In addition to weekdays 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., it is also open on weekends 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The unquestioned assumption of online education
Online education is growing rapidly. Recently, six new universities have been added to the edX platform. Each new university plans to develop its own set of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Between the big three — edX, Coursera, and Udacity — there are now hundreds of MOOCs from universities all over the world. Advocates are quick to highlight that these MOOCs have already served millions of students, enabling anyone with an Internet connection to receive a world-class education.
We could be so much more
On Saturday, the government enacted a set of across-the-board spending cuts known as “the sequester.” These cuts, painful for both parties, were created by Congress last year to motivate a compromise on deficit reduction.
The best protection from guns is one of your own
“You know, we wouldn’t be nearly as panicked if we all had guns.”
Data and morality support the need for gun control
The United States already has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. There are about 89 guns per 100 citizens, and in 2011, 34 percent of adults owned a gun and 47 percent of adults live with a gun in the house. The United States also ranks eleventh worldwide in total firearm-related deaths, with not a single country ahead of us categorized as “developed” by the United Nations. Given this data, how is there any reasonable expectation that giving even more guns to Americans will somehow lower the rate of firearm-related deaths?
Gun control could prevent lawful self-defense
By now there must be a special command bunker ready for the White House communications team to man when Joe Biden decides to hold a press conference. If it exists, it certainly would have been used last week. Responding to Kate Ernest, who asked how a law-abiding citizen should best protect themselves if they have no access to firearms, the Vice President exclaimed, “Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!” As the words rolled off of Veep’s tongue, communications staffers were likely sent into a panic mode that has become all too familiar.
Current gun control proposals could save lives
On Saturday morning, the entire MIT community was warned: “There was a person with a long rifle and body armor in the Main Group Building of MIT.” Minutes later, emails sent by RLADs, friends, and family members were less measured: “GUNMAN, STAY INSIDE!”, “Are you okay? Are you okay? Answer me!” Students stayed in, parents called in, and SWAT teams and news crews assembled.
CORRECTIONS
A story in Friday’s issue on the CPW event cap mistakenly indicated that DormCon lowered the cap, when in fact it was the Admissions Office. The same article named Kelly E. Snyder ’14 CPW Chair of East Campus; she actually the president of EC.
CORRECTIONS
A photo caption on the front page of last Friday’s issue incorrectly stated that the Barker Library reading room was reopened as a 24/7 study area. The reading room is not yet open 24/7.
A public relations campaign for science
One of the most exciting programs offered by MIT is the Undergraduate Association (UA) student faculty dinner program. Taking a professor out to eat, on MIT’s dime, is not only a great way to get to get to know your professors, but it also shows students that our professors are, in fact, real people. Getting to interact in a casual setting helps break the stereotype that our professors’ lives completely revolve around their work.
CORRECTIONS
A story in Tuesday’s issue on some of the 6.x70 competitions mistakenly indicated that 6.270 has only existed for “over a decade” — rather, 6.270 is in its 26th year, having started in 1987.
How MIT is doing it wrong in Kendall
In spite of a severe Cambridge housing crisis, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to build on-campus towers for lease to commercial tenants.
Understanding diversity
Many people hold a naïve conception of affirmative action and don’t understand what it actually involves, yet they deem it a dangerous program that threatens our Institute. We believe that affirmative action is actually incredibly fair and integral to the success of any merit-based institution in the world we live in.
Students need to be more self-reliant
While the series of student suicides at MIT and other colleges in the Boston area is not the focus of this piece, it has inspired my reflection on how to cope in difficult times at the Institute. These events have prompted me to stretch my search for solutions to perhaps controversial lengths. In any case, I wish to express my condolences to these students’ families and loved ones.
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness
Florence Gallez calls on victims of mental illness to try something we already know doesn’t work, and is often dangerous to the individual: to tough it out, build up resilience, and get better on their own. Not only does this view run counter to virtually all research we have at our disposal today, but it is akin to asking victims with cancer to just try really hard to overcome it by themselves without seeking medical attention. Your body is just as incapable of getting rid of an illness like cancer as your mind is incapable of getting rid of an illness like depression. In fact, your body may even stand a better chance, as there’s no “immune system of the mind.” Gallez claims that we have everything we need inside of us, and by focusing on our needs and shutting out the noise of the world, we’ll get better. Gallez is wrong. Let’s take a look at what science has established with respect to mental illness.
A student perspective on MIT 2030
Over the past year, the Institute has been releasing “MIT 2030,” its framework for land use and renovation for the next 20 years, and it contains some interesting and ambitious ideas for commercial development on and around the MIT campus. However, behind flowery language of an “innovation district” lie major problems with MIT 2030. In effect, the plan neglects the central mission of the Institute: to “advance knowledge and educate students.”