Volume 129 Issue 24 View PDF Previous Issue Next Issue Browse All Issues
MIT Student Spread Swine Flu to Dental School at Harvard U.
By Michael McGraw-Herdeg May. 5, 2009
Last week, an MIT student did something that three decades of snowstorms haven't been able to do: He shut down Harvard.
Authored by Group May. 5, 2009
<i>The following incidents were reported to the Campus Police between April 1 and April 30. This information is compiled from the Campus Police's crime log. The report does not include alarms, general service calls, or incidents not reported to the dispatcher.</i><b></b>
MIT Seniors Face Tough Job Market; More Plan to Go to Graduate School
By Natasha Plotkin May. 5, 2009
MIT seniors are facing bleaker career outlooks than their predecessors as on-campus recruiting is down over 30 percent from last year, fewer graduating students have secured jobs, and more students are applying to graduate school as a backup option.
Universities Cut Teams as They Trim Their Budgets
By Ken Belson May. 5, 2009
After three decades of steady growth in the number of teams and student-athletes, colleges and universities large and small, private and public, east and west, are slashing millions of dollars from their sports budgets.
Swine Flu Q&A
<b>¶ Should I care about swine flu? </b>If you catch influenza, you will feel sick for several days. If you're very young, old, or have pneumonia or asthma, the flu could cause dangerous complications. The swine flu (influenza A subtype H1N1) has been blamed for more than a hundred deaths in Mexico, numbers that caused worldwide alarm last week. But the confirmed death toll in Mexico is much lower — 25 deaths among 590 laboratory-confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization. The United States had one death in 286 cases, according to the CDC. The disease "is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano last night.<b></b>
The Undergraduate Association Senate approved the student-written Dining Proposal Committee report on dining at MIT last night in an emergency meeting called to discuss dining.
New Tech Barber Will Be Evicted From Student Center This Friday
By Robert McQueen May. 5, 2009
The New Tech Barber, located in the basement of the Stratton Student Center, is being evicted this Friday after decades of cutting hair at MIT.
Community Colleges Challenge Hierarchy with 4-Year Degrees
By Tamar Lewin May. 5, 2009
When LaKisha Coleman received her associate's degree at Miami Dade Community College six years ago, her best bet for a bachelor's degree seemed to be at the more expensive Florida International University.
World and Nation
Shorts (right)
By Abdul Waheed Wafa Stephen Castle Neil A. Lewis Ellen Barry May. 5, 2009
President Hamid Karzai named a powerful former warlord as one of his two vice-presidential running mates on Monday, a day of scattered insurgent attacks that left as many as 26 people dead.
S&P 500 Erases 2009 Losses As Stocks Jump
By Jack Healy May. 5, 2009
For many investors, breaking even never felt so good.
Hamas Says It Has Grounded Its Rockets to Israel
By Taghreed El-Khodary and Ethan Bronner May. 5, 2009
The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967.
Mexico Objects to China's Stringent Quarantines
By Marc Lacey and Andrew Jacobs May. 5, 2009
Medical experts are calling the new influenza virus A (H1N1), but for many Mexicans it is simply a scarlet A.
Shorts (left)
By Vikas Bajaj May. 5, 2009
Sumit Sapra is a member of that ambitious, impatient generation of young Indians who rode the crest of the global economy. In five years, he changed jobs three times, quadrupling his salary along the way.
Obama Seeking to Cut Foreign Taxation Havens
By Jackie Calmes and Edmund L. Andrews May. 5, 2009
President Barack Obama on Monday called for curbing offshore tax havens and corporate tax breaks to collect billions of dollars more from multinational companies and wealthy individuals.
All Stuffed Up
By Brian H. Tang May. 5, 2009
Seasonal allergy sufferers don't need the visual cue of the blooming flowers and budding leaves to know that everything is coming alive. The recent hot spell is partially to blame for the sudden rise in sneezing and stuffy noses as the near record temperatures have really accelerated the greening of trees and plants. Along with the warmth, days with low humidity and a stiff breeze can really aggravate the suffering as pollen is more easily suspended in the air.
Nepal's Premier Resigns After Struggle Over Army Chief
By Tilak Pokharel May. 5, 2009
Plunging Nepal into a fresh political crisis after a decade of war, the prime minister resigned Monday in a power struggle over his dismissal of the army chief.
Cleverer and Cleverer
By Keith Yost May. 5, 2009
It was all the way back in the middle of November when I first wrote about the brewing issue of appointments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. To catch you up: the NRC is led by a five-man commission, with one of them serving at the President's discretion as the chairman of the body. The commission controls the high level nuclear regulatory policy in the United States, and as such plays an important role in the development of nuclear power.
The recent decision by the athletic department to eliminate eight sports from the Varsity program at MIT was supposedly made using an objective process:
Women's Track Wins New England Championship
By Greg McKeever May. 5, 2009
For the first time in program history, the MIT women's track & field team captured the NCAA New England Division III Outdoor Championship at Springfield College over the weekend. The Engineers edged out nine-time defending champions, Williams College, with 152.50 team points. The outdoor title followed up Tech's win at the New England Division III Indoor meet earlier this year.
Men's Track Takes Second at New England Championship
The MIT men's track and field team picked up a second-straight runner-up finish at the NCAA New England Division III Outdoor Championship over the weekend at Springfield College. Despite winning just two individual events, the Engineers were able to secure a comfortable second-place standing with 108 points, well ahead of third-place Springfield's total of 56. Sophomore Stephen A. Morton '10 eclipsed a 73-year old Institute record with his winning effort in the long jump.
Victory at Columbia Clinches ECTC Cup For Sport Taekwondo
By Tara Sarathi May. 5, 2009
After a tense season filled with painstakingly close matches and a narrow overall point difference, the MIT Sport Taekwondo team took first place at the last ECTC (Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference) tournament of the year at Columbia University on Saturday, April 25th. For the team, coached by head instructor Master Dan Chuang and led by captains Corinna Hui '09 and Christopher J. Han '09, this victory was an accompaniment to a much greater achievement: the title of ECTC champions for the 2008–2009 season. This is the first time the team has taken home the cup since the 2005–2006 season. Hui was also named female MVP for the league, an honor given to a competitor who shows both excellence in competition and leadership.
Phillips Named NEWMAC Player of the Year; Barlow Selected Coach of the Year
MIT enjoyed unprecedented recognition as the NEWMAC announced its major award winners and all-conference teams for the 2009 baseball season. Senior Thomas M. Phillips '09 slugged his way to Player of the Year honors behind the best offensive season in team history, while Andy Barlow was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Engineers to an appearance in the NEWMAC Championship for the second time in three years.
Ramblings From Hell
By S. Campbell Proehl May. 5, 2009
Dear Mr. Bane:
Brouhaha Rhythm
By Michael Lin May. 5, 2009
Animals and I, historically speaking, have had a complicated relationship. I like most of them well enough, but I'm not really the sort of person that feels comfortable approaching someone walking their dog on the street, for example. I guess the awkwardness is mutual, since being approached and petted by someone who clearly isn't self-confident doesn't seem to appeal to the animals, either. (A note to the unwillingly single: that applies to humans, as well.)
MIT's Senior House held its annual Steer Roast party starting on May 1. The traditional kickoff involved using a roll of flaming toilet paper descended from the roof to light the steer-roasting pit, followed by mud wr...
Eric D. Schmiedl—The Tech
An empty chair at the New Tech Barber in the basement of the Student Center on the afternoon of May 4. The New Tech Barber is scheduled to be evicted this Friday because of unpaid rent.
Meng Heng Touch—The Tech
Hackers put a large banner reading "LONG LIVE ROAST" across the facade of MIT's Building 10 on the morning of May 1, the first day of the multi-day Steer Roast party at Senior House. Look at page 10 for more pictures ...
Erik D. Fogg G mud-wrestles Terral R. Jordan '07 after the ignition of the roast pit during Senior House's annual Steer Roast party on May 1.
Jenna A. Berkowitz '09 performs "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2 during the Muses' spring concert entitled "College MUSEical" on May 3 in 10-250.
Electronic band Triangle Forest performs at Senior House during Steer Roast 2009.
Psychedelic rock band Major Stars performs on May 2 during Steer Roast 2009 at Senior House.
Members of the MIT Concert Choir perform "Te Deum for the Empress Marie Therese" by Franz Joseph Haydn during their spring concert on May 3 in Kresge.
Yuanyu Chen—The Tech
Phitchaya Phothilimthana '12 sings "Can't Help Falling in Love," the final song at the Muses' spring concert on May 3 in 10-250.
Zoig-Ma-Noig performs at Steer Roast 2009 at Senior House.
Dr. William Cutter, conductor of the MIT Concert Choir, takes a bow at the choir's spring concert last Sunday in Kresge.
Cassandra L. Swanberg '12 closes the Muses' spring concert with "Can't Help Falling in Love" on May 3 in 10-250.
Flames emerging from the steer-roasting pit mark the beginning of Steer Roast on May 1 hosted by MIT's Senior House.
Martin Frankland G of the MIT Concert Choir performs a solo during "Mass in C major, Op. 86," by Ludwig van Beethoven at the choir's spring concert on May 3 in Kresge.
Housemasters Henry and Cynthia Jenkins kicked off the mud wrestling with their last match as Senior House housemasters, as Henry Jenkins has decided to accept a position at the University of Southern California. Mud w...