Alacator C-Mod remains operational
MIT’s tokamak, Alcator C-Mod, has faced the threat of losing all of its federal funding throughout 2012. The experimental fusion reactor, which relied on $24 million from the Department of Energy for operation in 2012, was unexpectedly slated to lose all federal support in March in the President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013. The loss of these funds, nearly the entire budget of C-Mod, would force the closure of the experiment, one of just three such devices in the U.S.
Changes to the freshman experience
For freshmen, the MIT experience begins as soon as they are admitted. A record-low 8.9 percent of applicants were admitted to the Class of 2016, and 70 percent of those admitted accepted their offer of admission. Because of the record high yield rate, no one was admitted from the waitlist for the first time in seven years.
Seven dorms receive RLADs this year
This year saw the implementation of Residential Life Area Directors (RLADs) into most west campus dormitories. The RLADs — an extension of the previous Residential Life Associates (RLA) position — are meant to provide support for students, housemasters, and Graduate Resident Tutors (GRTs). They joined the communities of Maseeh, McCormick, MacGregor, Burton-Connor, New House, Next House, and Simmons at the start of the Fall term.
Reif takes the reigns of the Institute
It took MIT less than 86 days to pick a new president. If that sounds like a short amount of time to whittle down, interview, and vet a list of dozens of candidates, consider that the MIT Corporation’s final pick was somebody who the Institute already knew quite well. Somebody, in fact, who was already as close to the presidency as he could possibly get.
MIT 2030 plans continue to develop
Twenty years ago, MIT’s campus looked vastly different. Maseeh Hall was a graduate dorm called Ashdown House, planning for Simmons Hall had yet to begin, Kendall Square was a quiet area recently abandoned by manufacturing companies, and the Edgerton Center had just opened.
Three student deaths hit MIT in 2012
In 2012, the MIT community was saddened by the deaths of three members: Brian G. Anderson ’13, Heng “Nikita” Guo G, and Allison Tovo-Dwyer G. Guo’s death was ruled a suicide, Anderson’s was due to an opiate overdose, and Tovo-Dwyer passed away after a year-long battle with cancer.
HarvardX & MITx merge under edX
They’re called MOOCs, and it was the M for Massive that really started turning heads.
Forces of nature converge on campus
Despite the blatant lack of the anticipated apocalypse, 2012 was a good year for disasters. Last year saw several out-of-the-ordinary occurrences, including a hurricane, two major power outages, and a small earthquake.
Annual MLK exhibits opens
Tonight marks the opening of the Lobby 10 installation from the Martin Luther King Jr. Design Seminar (17.920), an IAP course where students learned about the Civil Rights Movement and discussed topics like race and identity. The installation will be up until the night of Jan. 14.
Gaggle cops 133rd Managing Board elections
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the V133 managing board!
6.x70 — Pick your poison
Have you ever wanted to design a website, battle robots, or see who can write the smartest code? MIT students engaged in these activities through several competitions during IAP, most notably 6.270, 6.370, and 6.470. Last week, the winners to these student-run competitions were announced.
US accuses S&P of fraud in suit on loan bundles
The Justice Department late Monday filed civil fraud charges against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Experiencing Techfair 2013
“Please leave your resumes at home,” read Techfair’s preface to the event, reassuring students not to expect a stressful recruiting atmosphere.
IAP brings changes, challenges
Independent Activities Period (IAP) is a time for many students to travel or intern off-campus, while others come back to campus early to take classes, participate in coding and design challenges, or attend some of the numerous student-run activities offered during January. Although one might expect IAP to be a quiet time on-campus since not all students have returned, January was a busy month at the Institute.
Power failure delivers surge to Super Bowl ratings
CBS came close to matching the audience levels of the two most-watched television events of all time Sunday night, turning an electrical failure in the New Orleans Superdome into a likely ratings advantage for its coverage of Super Bowl XLVII.
Rafael Reif is in the House
President L. Rafael Reif moved into Gray House on Saturday with his wife, Christine, continuing an MIT tradition and joining the more than 5000 students living on campus. Cradled in the L of Senior House, the president’s residence was part of architect William Welles Bosworth’s original design for MIT’s Cambridge campus and is nearly a century old.
Online Media: Year-in-Review
The Tech focused more of its efforts on digital innovation and data journalism in 2012 with the creation of a new Online Media team focused on developing The Tech’s online presence using multimedia, social media, and interactives. Beginning with the religion project, we produced a series of videos and interactive graphics on religion on campus based on a schoolwide survey. At the end of spring, we covered President Reif’s inauguration using traditional print media mixed in with audio podcasts, videos, and interactive graphics. In the fall, we investigated and visualized stress at MIT based on another schoolwide survey in our “Under Pressure” project.
Bexley, EC, Random, Baker to receive RLADs in Fall 2013
The Residential Life Area Director (RLAD) program is expanding to include Bexley, Random, Baker, and East Campus, Christina Davis, Director of Residential Life Programs, confirmed. If RLADs for these dorms are found, that would leave Senior House as the only undergraduate dorm without an RLAD.
Unraveling the Enigma - MIT Mystery Hunt 2013
At 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18. Mystery Hunt team Sleipnir’s Wranglers was prepared for the long haul. Their classroom in Building 12 was outfitted with snacks, caffeine, a chalkboard, and even a webcam so their remote solvers could join the atmosphere of the live hunt. As they excitedly opened the first puzzle, little did they know they would be a part of the longest hunt in history.