Terrorists Could Target Reactor; MIT Delays Conversion of Fuel
MIT’s 50-year-old nuclear reactor, one of only three US research facilities not run by the Department of Energy that still use material that could also be used to make atomic bombs, will probably not be converted to use a safer fuel for at least another five years because of technical obstacles, according to a recent government report obtained by the Globe.
Registrar Doubles Official Transcript Prices
Official transcripts will cost students and alumni twice as much this season as the cost was raised from $4 to $8 at the start of MIT’s fiscal year on July 1, 2009. Registrar Mary Callahan said that the cost was increased in order to “help cover the steadily rising costs (postage, paper, and handling) associated with its production.” Other schools have also increased the cost of transcripts, although not as drastically: Harvard raised its price to $5 on April 1, 2009, up from $3 for the first, $2 for each additional. The transcript fee for MIT students was last increased eight years ago in 2001 from $3 to $4. Unofficial transcripts remain free.
MIT Admits Record-Low 10.4 Percent of Early Applicants, Rejects Record-High 17 Percent
About one fifth of applicants, an unusually large fraction, were rejected outright in this year’s early admissions cycle, which saw a record-high of 5,684 applications and a record-low admission rate of 10.4 percent.
Gaggle Cops 130th Managing Board Elections
On December 7, 2009, <i>The Tech</i> took over the UA Senate chambers in W20-400 for these momentous affirmations of journalistic excellence.
Randall Munroe, xkcd Creator, Holds Q&A and Signs Books in 26-100
“XKCD is here in 26-100 tonight.”
Institute-Wide Planning Task Force Releases Its Final Report
The Institute-Wide Planning Task Force released its final report on December 16 after nine months of collaboration among approximately 200 students, faculty, administration, and staff within the task force. The 88-page document, which was originally scheduled to be released in November, compiles the reports from nine Working Groups and organizes them into five themes.
Police Log
<i>The following incidents were reported to the Campus Police between November 13 to December 31. The dates below reflect the dates incidents occurred. 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>
Diversity Report is Late
The Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity will release its final report concerning underrepresented minority faculty members on January 14, 2010, a month later than scheduled, according to chair of the Initiative Paula T. Hammond PhD ’84. The Initiative established in 2007 investigated how race and ethnic status affect the professional lives, including the hiring, promotion, and tenure, of minority faculty at MIT. The report will discuss the Initiative’s findings and issue recommendations on how MIT can increase faculty diversity and improve the underrepresented minority faculty experience.
MIT & Startup Sue Hard Drive Manufacturer Seagate
A decade-long lawsuit pitting a tiny company called Convolve against Seagate Technology has taken an unexpected turn after a whistle-blower claimed that Seagate had appropriated Convolve technology and later destroyed evidence in the case.
MIT Admits Record-Low 10.4 Percent of Early Applicants, Rejects Record-High 17.4 Percent
About one fifth of applicants, an unusually large fraction, were rejected outright in this year’s early admissions cycle, which saw a record-high of 5,684 applications and a record-low admit rate of 10.4 percent.
Media Lab Team Uses Social Web To Win DARPA Red Balloon Prize
A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology edged out about 4,300 other teams on Saturday in a Pentagon-sponsored contest to correctly identify the location of 10 red balloons distributed around the United States.
UA Demands Official Statement On the State of Dining Reform
Last night, the Undergraduate Association demanded that the Division of Student Life release a statement describing its current work on dining reform and its plans for next semester.
Dana Mead to Step Down as Chairman of MIT Corporation
After serving as Chairman of the MIT Corporation for six years and selecting Susan J. Hockfield as MIT’s latest president, Dana G. Mead PhD ’67 announced last Friday that he will be stepping down from his position at the end of June. According to Corporation bylaws, members may not be older than 75; Mead is currently 74.
Former Admissions Dean Returns to College Game 2 Years After Scandal
Two and a half years ago, Marilee Jones, the highly regarded dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, vanished from public sight when it came to light that nearly three decades earlier, when she was first hired there, she had lied about her academic credentials.
Graduate Student Guangtao Cong is Missing
Administrators believe that “as far as we now know,” missing graduate student Guangtao Cong “is safe and we know his whereabouts,” said Dean for Graduate Education Steven R. Lerman ’72 on Saturday.
ASA Releases Results From Space Processes; 39 Clubs Will Lose Out
The Association of Student Activities released preliminary decisions in student group space allocations last night. The process, which happens every two years, determines which student groups retain office space and which lose it, as well as which groups get storage space for equipment and supplies.
Kabelo Zwane ’12
Kabelo Zwane, a sophomore and MIT’s first student from Swaziland, died in Bedford, Mass. on Saturday, November 7, in an apparent suicide. He was 21.