News Briefs
Legatum, a private investment firm with an interest in sustainable development, gave MIT a $50 million structured gift to create the new Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, according an MIT press release. The LCDE hopes to offer a fellowship program for graduate students, starting in the 2008–2009 academic year and to “create a platform for sustainable development,” according to the center’s Web site.
DiFava, Amster to Head Facilities
The Department of Facilities has separated into two divisions: Operations and Security, headed by MIT Police Chief John DiFava, and Capital Projects and Strategic Planning, headed by newcomer Richard Amster Jr. This separation was effective Nov. 5.
Make a Splash: ESP Encourages Students To Dive and Explore
Hundreds of middle and high school students arrived at MIT last weekend to participate in the Educational Studies Program’s annual Splash weekend event.
Gov. Patrick Has Enough Votes To Remove UMass Chair Tocco
Governor Deval Patrick has rounded up enough votes on the University of Massachusetts board of trustees to muscle aside Stephen P. Tocco and probably replace him with Robert J. Manning, an investment executive who is the board’s vice chairman, UMass officials say.
News Briefs
Melis N. Anahtar ’08 was named a Rhodes Scholar on Nov. 17. The scholarship will send Anahtar, along with 31 other students from around the world, to Oxford University for two or three years of graduate study.
Study Compares State Scores With Other Countries’
American students even in low-performing states like Alabama do better on math and science tests than students in most foreign countries, including Italy and Norway, according to a new study released last week. That’s the good news.
Decline of University Tenure Track Raises Concerns
Professors with tenure or who are on a tenure track are now a distinct minority on the country’s campuses, as the ranks of part-time instructors and professors hired on a contract have swelled, according to federal figures analyzed by the American Association of University Professors.
Novartis and MIT Unite To Find New Techniques For Drug Manufacturing
Novartis and MIT signed the first contract of a 10-year corporate partnership on June 1, creating the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing. The center was created to improve manufacturing techniques in the pharmaceutical industry.
OLPC Hits Financial Setbacks
The dream of a laptop computer cheap enough to distribute to millions of poor children is finally coming true — but not quite in the way its backers imagined.
Entrepreneurs Involve Consumers in Product Design, Construction
At a time when most electronic gadgets come out of huge factories in Asia, Limor Fried ’03 works on a different scale.
Police Log
<i>The following incidents were reported to the MIT Police between Oct. 12 and Nov. 7, 2007. This summary does not include incidents such as false alarms, general service calls, larcenies, or medical shuttles.</i>
Chain Acquires Hotel@MIT From Institute
The Hotel@MIT is being sold for an undisclosed price by the partnership of MIT and Forest City Enterprises to HEI Cambridge LLC, an affiliate of HEI Hotels & Resorts. The sale is expected to close by Dec. 5.
Final UMOC Donations
Candidate Charity Total An individual running as “Talia Winters” Transition House $348.32 Natalia N. Chernenko ’08 Charles River Watershed Association $344.74 Miriam A. “Mish” Madsen ’09 Doctors Without Borders $291.46 Adalberto N. Garza ’10 Planned Parenthood $85.31 Jasmine R. Florentine ’11 Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals $42.17 Those Damn Spammers One Laptop Per Child $30.41 Evelyn M. Mervine G James Randi Education Foundation $12.33 Other $107.06 Total $1261.80
News Briefs
A total of $1,261.80 was raised through Alpha Phi Omega’s Unholiest huMan on Campus competition, which ended Nov. 2. The sum will be donated to Transition House, an organization combatting domestic violence.
MIT Alumnus Thain Chosen to Lead Merrill Lynch
John A. Thain ’77 won plaudits as Wall Street’s Mr. Fix-It by revitalizing the embattled New York Stock Exchange. Now, he faces what could be a more formidable challenge: turning around Merrill Lynch, the once-proud Wall Street firm battered by losses from the mortgage debacle.
MIT Sophomore Arrested at Logan For Wearing LED Device
Star A. Simpson ’10, wearing a circuit board that lit up and was connected to a battery, was arrested at gunpoint at Logan International Airport this morning and was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of a hoax device. Simpson was released on $750 bail earlier today; her pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2007 at 9 a.m. in East Boston District Court.
Five Injured by Sodium in Charles River Fire
Five burn injuries from a boat fire on the Charles River Thursday appear to have been caused by sodium, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Local media sources reported that the sodium may have come from Sodium Drop, an MIT tradition in which sodium is thrown into the Charles River so that students can watch its violent reaction with the water.