Sal Khan to deliver 2012 address
MIT’s 146th Commencement exercises will take place this morning on Killian Court, where more than 2,400 graduating students will receive about 3,200 degrees.
RLAD proposal stirs policy debate
This fall, many dorms will see new faces in their house teams in the form of Residential Life Area Directors (RLAD). RLADs will live in the dorm and assist housemasters and Graduate Resident Tutors (GRT) with administrative and operational tasks. These changes were revealed last week, when an anonymous source leaked a letter, written by Chancellor W. Eric L. Grimson PhD ’80 to MIT housemasters, that spoke of imminent changes in residential life. The information caught many students and GRTs off-guard, sparking campus-wide controversy and debate.
Selected other university presidents’ 2010 compensation
Selected other university presidents’ 2010 compensation
Outside compensation of MIT officers serving as directors of public companies
Outside compensation of MIT officers serving as directors of public companies
Additional materials on Kyaw accident expected
The Tech has filed public records requests seeking additional information about the accident investigation into the death of Phyo Kyaw ’10. Kyaw was killed on Dec. 27 when his bicycle was run over by an 18-wheeler at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street.
President will be announced tomorrow
MIT will announce its 17th president tomorrow morning after a special meeting of the MIT Corporation, according to a press release from the MIT News Office. The Corporation will elect Susan J. Hockfield’s successor, who has been picked after a 3-month long search process conducted by a joint faculty-Corporation committee.
Reif is new MIT president
Provost L. Rafael Reif was elected MIT’s 17th president this morning at a special meeting of the MIT Corporation. He will officially replace President Susan J. Hockfield, who has served for seven years, on July 2, 2012.
Kyaw report closed
The investigation into the Dec. 27, 2011 death of Phyo Kyaw ’10 is complete, and it has been ruled an accident. Kyaw was killed when his bicycle and a J. P. Noonan tanker truck collided as the truck turned right from Massachusetts Avenue onto Vassar Street in rainy weather after dark that evening.
Warnings said to be unheeded by JPMorgan Chase
In the years leading up to JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss, risk managers and some senior investment bankers raised concerns that the bank was making increasingly large investments involving complex trades that were hard to understand. But even as the size of the bets climbed steadily, these former employees say, their concerns about the dangers were ignored or dismissed.
IS&T deploying cell antennas
Information Services and Technology is deploying antennas and amplifiers in buildings across campus to improve cellular reception.
CoolChip within rules
On April 11, Chancellor Eric Grimson PhD ’80 concluded a review of an intellectual property rights situation with CoolChip Technologies, winner of the 2011 MIT $200K Clean Energy Prize (CEP) Contest. He found that the CoolChip did not violate the rules of the competition, but “was misleading in some of its public presentations.” Grimson said in an interview with The Tech in September that he would be working with the leadership of the CEP to review their rules regarding intellectual property and attribution issues. Since then, he said, he has personally conducted interviews with the three CoolChip founders, the relevant faculty, staff, and students, and the staff of Sandia National Laboratories, which invented the technology in question. Grimson also reviewed CoolChip’s contest submission and the CEP’s rules.
Prepared remarks by L. Rafael Reif, president-elect
Reif gave the following remarks at events throughout the day Wednesday. Via the MIT News Office:
The Tech’s news digest for May 15
The Tech’s new biweekly digest is the best way to hear news from around campus fast! Take five minutes to listen to the latest happenings at MIT and in the community.
CORRECTIONS
An article published Friday about Wi-Fi on Boston Common stated that the project began in February 2012, and gave the impression wireless Internet was added to the park recently. Wi-Fi was deployed on Boston Common over a year ago, in April of 2011, not 2012. The project began in February 2011.
Special podcast; Reif elected president
L. Rafael Reif has been named the 17th President of MIT. Reif has spent the past several months heading the MITx and EdX initiatives, stressing MIT’s commitment to improving residential education using online technologies. He was born in Venezuela, received a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford, and spent many years in the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. Listen to our podcast for more on Reif.
Three floors of Baker vandalized
Baker residents were rudely awakened by fire alarms twice on Saturday morning, once at 2 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. On the second instance, someone also “maliciously” discharged a fire extinguisher on the first, second, and third floors before disposing of it in a third-floor trash can. Baker was evacuated for several hours as a result, according to Baker President Michael E. Plasmeier ’13 and information from Baker House minutes. The fire alarms were pulled in the west wing of the first floor, from where the fire extinguisher was also taken.
The Tech has an audio news digest!
In the time that it takes to walk down the Infinite, you can now catch up on campus news! Just listen to The Tech’s new biweekly news digest. It will cost you 10 minutes each week — or less than 0.1% of your time. You can subscribe to the podcast at http://tech.mit.edu/rss/newsdigest.xml.
UA President and Vice President candidates debate
Undergraduate Association President and Vice President candidates met at the Student Center on Sunday night to debate and share their platforms. The three candidates this year are Jonté D. Craighead ’13, and Michael P. Walsh ’13, Narendra “Naren” P. Tallapragada ’13 and Andrew C. Yang ’13, and Brendan T. Deveney ’13 and Mary A. Breton ’14.