Howard Johnson
Former MIT President Howard Wesley Johnson, who drew upon his management acumen to guide the Institute during the tumultuous late 1960s, died Saturday December 12, 2009. He was 87.
Team 9 wins annual Maslab competition
Last Friday, robot enthusiasts flocked to 26-100 to watch Maslab, one of MITâs most popular IAP student competitions. This year, ten teams took to the playing field, building and programming robots to autonomously identify red and yellow balls and scoring them into their respective goals. The champion this year was Team 9, made up of Geza Kovacs â12, Daniel J. Stallworth â11, Raqeebul I. Ketan â11, Jeremy M. Martin â10, and Chukwuka C. Mbagwu â11.
D-Lab goes to Ecuador
In orientation for my trip to Ecuador for D-Lab, an introductory international development class, we were told to pack mirrors â so that we could make candlelight brighter. Wait, I thought. There wouldnât be electricity?
âIron Nerdâ wins website contest with social gym app
In the end, it all worked out for Daniel A. Whitlow â10 and Jong-Moon Kim â09. Last Thursday, the team won first place, and $4,000 in the third annual 6.470 Web Programming Competition. Their social networking site, âIron Nerd,â lets users exercise with their friends.
âBackdoor Banditâ Nabs Most Mice in 6.270 Autonomous Robot Design Competition
Theyâre not furry, theyâre not friendly, but perhaps theyâre housebroken.
âMy Archon Died BellmanFording the Streamâ Beats Prof. Mordemort
In an e-mail sent out to campus, the fictitious Professor-Who-Probably-Should-Not-Be-Named announced to students the commencement of the iconic 6.370 BattleCode competition, which took place last Saturday in Kresge at 7 p.m.
Shorts (left)
<i>WASHINGTON</i> â Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that he was replacing the general in charge of the Pentagonâs largest weapons program â the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter â and withholding $614 million in award fees from the contractor, Lockheed Martin.
Protecting Haiti while protecting its âorphansâ
<i>P</i><i>ORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI</i> â âGod wanted us to come here to help children, we are convinced of that,â Laura Silsby, one of 10 Americans accused of trafficking Haitian children, said Monday through the bars of a jail cell here. âOur hearts were in the right place.â
Obama submits a budget of âhard choicesâ
<i>WASHINGTON </i>â President Barack Obama declared in presenting his new 10-year budget proposal on Monday that âour fiscal situation remains unacceptable,â but he insisted that the country pursue his ambitious domestic agenda despite facing swollen budget deficits for the foreseeable future.
Obama budget privatizes NASA space exploration
The ambitious space initiative that President Barack Obama unveiled for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday calls for sweeping changes in mission and priorities for the 52-year-old agency, yet omits two major details: where the agency will send its astronauts and a timetable for getting them there.
Shorts (right)
<i>DETROIT â </i>Toyota, struggling to eliminate questions surrounding millions of its vehicles, announced a repair on Monday to stop gas pedals from possibly sticking and causing cars to speed up unexpectedly.
Proposal for second-semester freshmen to live in FSILGs
<i>The following petition was posted online at </i>http://fsilg-housing.org/<i> on January 1, 2010. As of January 28, it has been signed by 697 members of the MIT community, according to the organizers.</i>
Letters to the Editor
When MIT is offered millions of dollars, I suspect thereâs strong pressure to just say âthank youâ and not look too closely from whence the money comes. The new Brain and Cognitive Sciences building at Main and Vassar Streets was in part funded by a 50 million dollar gift from Jeffry and Barbara Picower. Jeffry Picower recently died, and according to his Will, MIT is probably going to be offered an additional 25 million dollars of Picower money sometime in the next 12 months.
Mission creep
Afghanistan used to be a simple narrative: Weâre going after the bad guys. It had a mission that could be summed up in two words: happy hunting. There was a simple exit strategy: Put Osama Bin Ladenâs head on a pike, light up cigars, and slap each other on the back as we saunter off to the C-130âs and fly home.
Give freshmen a choice
You may have seen a recent initiative which I helped publicize to allow freshmen to live in fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups during their second semester. The initiative quotes a variety of reasons why it is time to give second-semester freshmen the freedom to choose their own residence, and I encourage you to visit <i>http://fsilg-housing.org</i> to sign on and support the effort. However, this piece is not written by âus.â This piece is written by me, because I want to explain why this proposal is so important, from my particular point of view.Â
Corrections
An article last Wednesday on MITâs Solar Electric Vehicle Team gave the wrong year for Robert Pilawa. He is a current graduate student and completed his undergraduate degree in 2005, not 2006.
From the Editor
A headline last Wednesday, âSex Changes Just Got Easier!â was offensive as well as technically inaccurate. The headline has been changed to âMIT Reduces Paperwork for Gender Changesâ on our website.
Upcoming Home Events
Wednesday, February 3 Menâs Basketball vs. Babson College 7 p.m., Rockwell Cage
Swimming finishes season undefeated
On Saturday, the No. 5 MIT menâs swimming and diving team battled the No. 16 Lord Jeffs of Amherst College in the Zesiger Center Pool. Amherst held the score close early in the meet, but MIT hit their stride and cruised to a 174-124 victory, locking up their second undefeated season in Institute history.
Scoreboard
Menâs Basketball Wednesday, 1/27 at U.S. Coast Guard Academy W 78-58 Saturday, 1/30 at Worcester Polytechnic InstituteW 74-66 Womenâs Basketball Wednesday, 1/27 at U.S. Coast Guard AcademyW 62-48 Saturday, 1/30 at Springfield CollegeL 72-54 Menâs Fencing Saturday, 1/30 vs. U.S. Air Force AcademyL 19-8 vs. Haverford CollegeL 17-10 vs. New York UniversityL 18-9 vs. Hunter CollegeW 18-9 vs. University of PennsylvaniaL 20-7 Womenâs Fencing Saturday, 1/30 vs. U.S. Air Force AcademyW 15-12 vs. Haverford CollegeW 24-3 vs. New York UniversityW 14-13 vs. Hunter CollegeW 20-7 vs. University of PennsylvaniaL 15-12 Menâs Volleyball Friday, 1/29 at Southern Vermont CollegeW 3-0 Menâs Swim and Dive Saturday, 1/30 vs. Amherst CollegeW 174-124 Womenâs Swim and Dive Saturday, 1/30 vs. Amherst CollegeL 159-139 Menâs Track and Field Saturday, 1/30 vs. Bowdoin, Colby, Springfield, and Tufts1st of 5 Womenâs Track and Field Saturday, 1/30 vs. Bowdoin, Colby, Springfield, and Tufts1st of 5
I Donât Need No Minute Man
Iâm horrible as far as introductions go, so Iâll say this: For someone who got tapped to write the sex/relationships column for The Tech, I sure have been having a crappy sex life as of late. Pathetic, even. I used to have pretty good sex, but at some point, it all went to shit.
Sex toys: Two can play at this game
<i>Christine:</i> Sexually adventurous as I am, I managed to talk a partner into trying out a vibrating cock ring. From his initial hesitation, I shouldâve known better.
The Techâs 2010 Sex Toy Giveaway
<b>A</b>nother sad, single Valentineâs day? Not this year! This year, <i>The Tech</i> is here to ease your loneliness...with sex toys and lube! (What did you expect?) If youâd like to win one, write in to <i>cl@tech.mit.edu</i> with âSex Toy Giveawayâ in the subject line, and tell us why you deserve a particular item. Unrequited love? An incompetent partner? An inconvenient mole? Share your pain.
