IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: Walking for a cause at Relay
On March 9, the Johnson track filled with participants in the third Relay For Life held on MIT’s campus. Relay For Life is a 12-hour overnight event, where teams raise money and then come to support the fight against cancer by walking around the track throughout the night. The night consists of ceremonies, such as the luminaria ceremony, to honor survivors, caregivers, and all those who have battled cancer, in addition to performances by MIT dance and a cappella groups, workshops like zumba, and other games that get participants involved throughout the night.
Whale watching in New Zealand
It’s 12:30 a.m. My PhD advisor is at my bunk-side. “Julie,” he says, “we got one of the tags, and we can hear the other. You’re up.”
With tenure but not without troubles
As chair of the Undergraduate Association Student Support Committee and as part of continuing efforts to have open discussions about mental health on campus, I approached Professor Belcher about sharing his story in a public forum. He graciously obliged with this moving account. For me, Professor Belcher’s piece is a reminder that mental health challenges do not discriminate — they can strike any person at any stage of life, but they need not be debilitating.
Without a “higher power,” how did life start?
Ask A-theist is a new column by Aaron Scheinberg, an atheist, and Stephanie Lam, a Christian, which uses contrasting worldviews to explore questions and misconceptions about philosophy and religion. This week, Aaron chose a question from your submissions. Send us the burning questions you have always wanted answered by an atheist or Christian (or both), and we’ll tackle them!
Events Mar 19 - Mar 25
Events mar. 19 – mar. 25 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance book presented by author David Roodman — E25-111 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Staging Shakespeare from Kabul to the Globe, Corinne Jabert Lecture — 14E-304 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) TalkBack 360: Science on Trial, community discussion — MIT Museum Thursday (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Women Take the Reel presents First Person Plural — 4-163 (8:30 p.m.) Technology Policy Students Society Canadian Culture Night — NW30 Friday (7:00 p.m.) MIT Anime Club Bring Your Own Anime showing — 3-133 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: Counting my blessings
Did you know that faculty at some schools believe Greek life can be life-threatening? At the Northeast Greek Leadership Association (NGLA) conference in Hartford, Connecticut, which I attended a few weeks ago, I heard a fellow Greek from another university talk about meeting with a student life administrator at his school. This administrator opened their conversations by citing stories about men and women on other campuses who were injured or died at fraternity events, and made very clear her mindset that Greek life was dangerous to students with her introductory anecdotes.
The emotional rollercoaster of literature review
Imagine this: you have a brilliant idea, a question that no one has ever dared asked, a new way to study the cosmos, a ground-breaking theory.
Why are humans so special?
Ask A-theist is a new column by Aaron Scheinberg, an atheist, and Stephanie Lam, a Christian, which uses contrasting worldviews to explore questions and misconceptions about philosophy and religion. This week, Stephanie chose a question from your lovely submissions. Send us the burning questions you have always wanted answered by an atheist or Christian (or both), and we’ll tackle them!
Events Mar 12- Mar 18
Events Mar. 12 – Mar. 18 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk presents Amanda Casale — 14W-111 (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) From memory to inspiration: A remembrance of Aaron Swartz — E14-674 Wednesday (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Irish Fest — Student Center Lobby (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Innovation Series Event: Big Ideas, Big Solutions — How can we solve more big problems? — 32-123 Thursday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) The Soul of Anime book launch with author Ian Condry — E51-149 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Beyond the 3/11 Touhoku disaster — talks and reception (RSVP at http://goo.gl/DeTUJ) — W20-407 Friday (11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Johnny Cupcakes@MIT: Retail Entrepreneurship & Building a Cult Brand — E62-262 (7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows Beasts of the Southern Wild — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Roadkill Buffet Presents: The Sequester Cut The Pope’s Budget By One Pope — 6-120 Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Edgerton Ides of March Party, Roman themed — NW-10 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT WInd Ensemble Concert with Don Byron — Kresge Auditorium Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Pianist Yukiko Sekino in recital — 14W-111 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) MIT Muslim Student’s Association goodwill baking — McCormick Country Kitchen Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Religion and secularism unite!
Ask A-thiest is a new column by Aaron Scheinberg, an atheist, and Stephanie Lam, a Christian, which uses contrasting worldviews to explore questions and misconceptions about philosophy and religion. Send us the burning questions you have always wanted answered by an atheist or Christian (or both), and Aaron or Stephanie will tackle them!
Events Mar 5 - Mar 11
Events mar. 5 – mar. 11 Tuesday (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Syria, Two Years into the Revolution — E51-395 (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Literature in the Digital Age, author Bessora presents novel Cyr@no — E51-057 Wednesday (12:00 p.m.) CAST Music and Technology: Victor Gama — 14w-111 (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Fitness during feast and famine: How error-prone DNA polymerases influence physiology and evolution in E. coli — 48-316 Thursday (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Angels of Death: David Foster Wallace and the Battle against Irony, Letterman and Leyner? — E14-633 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Urban Films: The World of Buckminster Fuller (1974) — 66-110 Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) 100 Years of Service: Snapshots of the MIT Women’s League — 10-340 (6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Emerson Scholar Student Recital: Carl Lian ‘15, piano — 14w-111 Saturday (7:30 p.m. – 11:55 p.m.) MIT Ballroom Dance Team March Social — W20, La Sala (9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Jews on Ice — Johnson Ice Rink Sunday (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Figure Skating Club Exhibition — W34 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Egyptian Culture Night — Sidney-Pacific MP room Monday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) ACT Lecture: Karim Ainouz: I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You — E15-001 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Head in the clouds
As undergraduates at MIT, we whispered under our breaths as we passed the Green Building about the lonely, mysterious graduate students who worked there — “The lights never go off! There is always someone there.” As a graduate student, I’ve had the privilege to meet some of those nocturnal souls. This is one of their stories. —Emily A. Moberg
Events Feb 26- Mar 4
Events Feb. 26 – Mar. 4 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk presents Gabriel Zucker’s piano sonatas — 14W-111 (3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Cory Doctorow: “A World Made of Computers: Why Getting It Wrong Matters” talk on technology regulation — E14-633 Wednesday (12:00 p.m.) CAST Music and Technology: Eric Singer, concert of robotic musical instruments — 14W-111 (7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.) South Asian Women Resist: Religious Fundamentalism, Imperialism, and The State in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan — 4-231 Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Skoltech & MIT Russia Distinguished Lecture Series: Reset 2.0: Prospects and Possibilities? — 56-114 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Women in the MA Game Industry: A Discussion of Diversity, Challenges and Progress — Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive Friday (7:00 p.m.) LSC shows Argo — 26-100 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) ORCHIDS: an intersex adventure, film screening — 6-120 Saturday (2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Jai Bhim Comrade documentary by Annd Patwardhan — 26-100 (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) Debut concert by EVIYAN Iva Bittova, violinist/vocalist; Gyan Riley, guitarist; and Evan Ziporyn — Kresge Auditorium Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Becoming a mentor
“True education does not consist merely in the acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature, or art, but in the development of character.”
A Lunar New Year celebration
Lunar New Year celebrations generally evoke images of fireworks, mountains of delicious food, and a table surrounded by family. In most East Asian countries, Lunar New Year is the largest and most important holiday of the year. Unfortunately, on Lunar New Year’s Eve this year, Cambridge was engulfed by the snowstorm Nemo, and students were trapped within the confines of their residences. Yet on this dreary February 9th evening, Ashdown House was hosting a Lunar New Year celebration, co-sponsored by ARCADE (Assisting Recurring Cultural And Diversity Events).
Events Feb. 19 - Feb. 25
Events Feb. 19 – Feb. 25 Tuesday (3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Contrasting Secular & Religious Agenda Terror and Guerrilla Warfare: From Che Guevara to Osama bin Laden — E40-496 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Convergence Journalism? Emerging Documentary and Multimedia forms of News panel — E14-633 Wednesday (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Kevin Jerome Everson: “Recent Practice” multimedia presentation — 5-135 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) FILM + improvisation=FiLmprov!, live improvisational music — 14W-111 Thursday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Steve Pinker: The Evolutionary Psychology of Religion lecture series — 32-155 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Urban Films: Street Fight — 66-110 Friday (10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) Using big data to discover tacit knowledge and improve learning DUE Education talk — 3-270 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) An Evening with Jim Gaffigan — W16 Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Mocha Showcase 2013 — Kresge Little (8:00 p.m.) Queen Esther’s Ball — Walker Memorial Morss Hall Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Simulating adulthood: Junior republics and the invention of modern youth — E51-095 (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) India’s Urban Transformation: The Full Story — E40-496 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events Feb. 12 - Feb. 18
Events feb. 12 – feb. 18 Tuesday (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Under Pressure: A Forum on Student Stress — 10-250 (7:00 p.m.) Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?: An Animated Conversation with Noam Chomsky — 26-100 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Innovation Series Event: Practical tips for successful exits — 34-101 Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Starr Forum: The Fate of the Reset, discussion of US-Russian relations — 66-110 (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) Valentine’s Day Concert: Love Songs from the Great American Song Book — 14W-111 Friday (6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MIT-CAST Chinese Spring Festival Party — W20-307 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Chocolate, Cheese, and Wine Night, 21+ — NW86, Multipurpose room Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Eastgate Presents The Wizard of Oz — Eastgate Penthouse Lounge (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) ATS Lunar New Year Festival — W20-208 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Barnacle eggs and mangroves
As Dr. Jesus Pineda leapt off the side of the boat, knife in hand, I had the analogous scientific feeling of “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” I was out of my depth — literally — since the tide had come in and the water was several meters deep. But let me back up and tell you how I, a graduate student who prefers pixels to petri dishes and MATLAB to measuring, ended up on a boat with a renowned scientist jumping overboard.
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: Sorority identity
In Alpha Epsilon Phi we spend a lot of time discussing who we are. There are a lot of feelings about identity. But I have given some thought to identity and the meaning of sorority life and have come to a fairly simple conclusion: sororities are defined by the people who make them up, not the letters they bear. I am so proud of the women in my chapter, and even more so to count them among my friends. I debated trying to fit something nice about every single one of them into this article, but decided not to because of space limitation. To that end, I will be talking about a few (with names changed) to represent the content of character of the many. Here are a few:
CAMPUS LIFE IN REVIEW
In 2012, Campus Life saw foreign students documenting their experiences in the uniquely bizarre world of MIT, insightful stories by graduate students showing us that contrary to what we’ve all learned from PhD Comics, graduate school may not actually be an endless cycle of despair, and some generally great advice from your fellow students.