Reimagining Energy
Almost 70 years ago, as Germany invaded France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received an urgent visit from Vannevar Bush, then chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics and formerly vice president and dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Start Speaking Already
A new poll says that 85 percent of Americans want our presidential candidates to debate science issues. I found this statistic on the website of a somewhat botched initiative, Sciencedebate 2008, which, despite its catchy title, has not had much luck convincing the candidates to clearly and contemporaneously voice their views on what should be near and dear to the hearts of most MIT students: science.
No. 6 Leaves the IFC
This year’s eventful rush came to a surprising conclusion with the decision of the No. 6 Club, MIT’s fourth oldest fraternity to disaffiliate with the Interfraternity council (IFC) and become an Independent Living Group (ILG).
Residence Exploration
“Your dorm selection is going to be one of the most important decisions of your undergraduate life of MIT. More than the facilities, it’s the people around you that matter, and it’s important to find the right kind of people you would like to stay with.”
A Brief Response
A week ago I wrote an article on the Georgian conflict titled “Eastern Promises.” In the article, I described the rhetoric being trotted out by foreign policy hawks to justify a hard stance against Russia, dismissed their narrative as flawed, and then argued for why even if the narrative was correct, it would be in U.S. interests to engage Russia diplomatically rather than revert to a Cold War us-them mentality.
Going Ballistic: Treasury Uses Their Bazooka
Two Sundays ago, Henry Paulson’s Treasury Department again tried its hand at directing this year’s hot new drama “Credit Crunch” by placing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a conservatorship. Since the program’s debut last year to scathing reviews by bankers turned critics, it has been marked by epic plot twists including major bank failures and the death of some of the financial industry’s most established players. As such, it is this investor’s sincere hope that the Treasury has finally succeeded in scripting a conclusion to this saga.
Go Out and Get a Job!
As the MIT Career Fair approaches, the sound of my classmates polishing their résumés becomes a constant roar, and the semester’s worries are temporarily replaced by career anxieties. It is that time of year when students are already thinking about the next one, and undergraduates and graduates alike try to determine where their stepping stone into the “real world” is. As someone who has been through both an undergraduate and graduate job hunt, there is just one important tidbit of advice I would like to impart.
The Russian-Georgian Conflict: An Inside View
Right in the middle of an 18-month treatment for a pair of amenorrheic ovaries on strike due to poor diet, I couldn’t help wondering, sitting in the waiting room of the Moscow clinic earlier this year, whether my Georgian-born gynecologist would be at any minute snatched away by the Russian security services, put on a Tbilisi-bound plane and sent back home indefinitely.
The Pickens Plan: A Windy Salvation?
I woke up in the wee hours of last Sunday morning to the sound of Tropical Storm Hanna tearing at my open window. Groggily, I stood up to admire the force of the storm and found I could barely make out the typically brilliant lights of downtown Boston through the driving rain. The juxtaposition of the raw power of storm winds with the awe-inspiring expanse of city lights reminded me of plans to help replace energy needs with wind power. Too tired to dwell on the matter, I climbed back in bed and let the storm’s unlikely lullaby return me to sleep.
Engagement With Russia: An Undeclared Cold-War
Keith Yost’s opinion column published in the Sept. 9 issue of <i>The Tech</i> titled “Eastern Promises” is fundamentally flawed.
Letters to the Editor
On Labor Day I was biking in Marlborough when I was knocked off the bike by the side view mirror of a truck. I was thrown about ten feet and fell on my back and head. The bike helmet was broken in two places, and aside from assorted bruises and scrapes, I sustained a concussion and a small hairline fracture of my coccyx.
Corrections
An article on Friday about a $400 million gift to the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, by Eli and Edythe Broad, described the Starr Foundation, another donor to the institute, incorrectly. It is a private foundation, not the philanthropic arm of the insurance company American International Group. (The Starr Foundation was created by Cornelius Vander Starr, the founder of A.I.G., and the foundation’s chairman is Maurice Greenberg, the former chairman and chief executive of A.I.G.)
Microcredit Changes Lives
The news of riots, violence, and street demonstrations over food crises, due mostly to rapid price hikes worldwide, has been broadcast the world over since the beginning of 2008. But how could a natural disaster-prone country — Bangladesh, with its population of 150 million squeezed into a floodplain the size of Wisconsin — avoid such food riots?
Conventions 2008
Instead of enjoying my last two weeks of summer, I watched the political conventions with the help of a bottle of whiskey. To spare you from the same pain, I will summarize the festivities in brief.
Eastern Promises
The United States should carefully consider its foreign policy priorities before it makes commitments to endangered neighbors of Russia.
Corrections
The Aug. 8, 2008 In Short section incorrectly named the position that Karl W. Reid ’84, director of the MIT Office of Minority Education, will hold when he leaves MIT and joins the United Negro College Fund of Fairfax. He will hold the position of senior vice president of academic programs and strategic initiatives, not a liaison position.
Trouble in Zimbabwe
<b>“We the Peoples of the United Nations determined to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small …”</b>
Grand New Party
On August 29th, in a historic move that surprised pundits, Senator John McCain announced his selection of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin (pronounced PAY-lin, not PAH-lin) for his vice presidential running mate. The reaction from the left was immediate and visceral; feminists claimed the choice was patronizing, liberal bloggers sardonically thanked McCain for the giving them the election and the Obama campaign lashed out, calling the governor inexperienced and a pawn of Big Oil.
Fraternities at MIT
Why will over 50 percent of freshmen men pledge fraternities this year? What is it about fraternity life that leads freshmen to join organizations that are so often associated with binge-drinking, dirty houses, and failing grades, a false stereotype that has been propagated by movies such as <i>Animal House</i> and <i>Old School</i>? How can so many men, from such a diverse set of backgrounds, find common homes in fraternities?
The Wisdom of Choosing Biden
After months of speculation and debate, Barack Obama chose policy veteran Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. Each of the top three contenders, including Biden, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia had strengths and weaknesses. Joe Biden is the smartest choice, and here’s why.