Volume 134, Number 46 Tuesday, October 14, 2014
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Established 1881 WEATHER, p. 2 MIT’s Oldest and TUE: 72°F | 62°F Largest Newspaper Mostly sunny weD: 76°F | 61°F Partly cloudy tech.mit.edu thU: 72°F | 60°F Rain Established 1881 Volume 134, Number 46 Tuesday, October 14, 2014 With growing edX role, Pink Team Pride some students skeptical Students mixed on blended models, but some profs. foresee more online integration By Sanjana Shrivastava Prof.Established Eric Klopfer, professor 1881 of science edu- cation and engineering systems and director Some MIT classes, using edX, have of the Scheller Teacher Education program, moved toward a blended model of educa- both support the conclusions drawn by the tion, integrating in-person and online learn- task report. Integrated classes allow stu- ing. According to both students and instruc- dents to have both access to professors and tors, this effort has made students’ college fellow students and “augment whatever they experience more flexible, but not without are doing in a traditional setting,” according other flaws. to Agarwal in an interview with The Tech. Online education has been at the fore- Students, however, seem to be less cer- front of the administration’s efforts this se- tain about online education. First-year MIT mester. The Institute-wide task force on the students interviewed expressed differing future of MIT’s education recently released opinions on what types of classes should their report encouraging “online and blend- contain an online component. LANDON CARTER—THE TECH ed learning models to improve graduate cur- Anuhya Vajapeyajula ’18, who took on- The 2.009 pink team takes a selfie at the end of one of the many challenges of the riculum accessibility.” According to the task line Latin, government, and health classes, semester on October 3, racing vehicles of their own design to retrieve treasure from force, this blended model provides “com- stated there is a tradeoff between the flex- across the lava field of Killian Court� Though the pink team finished last, they won the mitment to access and affordability.” Established 1881 team spirit award� Prof. Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, and Online Education, Page 6 The Seasons come to Kresge Three MIT research teams receive Department of Energy awards The U.S. Department of Energy’s cial high-temperature salt-cooled uation and Validation for Reactor Nuclear Energy University Programs reactor, according to the MIT News Simulations (BEAVRS) to allow for (NEUP) awarded five million dollars Office. validation of the accuracy of physics to an integrated research project led Additionally, Benoit Forget, as- computation tools. by Professor Charles W. Forsberg sociate professor of nuclear science Mechanical engineering profes- ScD ’74 of the department of nuclear and engineering, and Kord Smith, sor Alexander Slocum also received science and engineering. Forsberg, the Korea Electric Power Company a $400,000 grant from the NEUP ini- EstablishedNSE 1881 Professor Lin-wen Hu, and col- Professor of the Practice of Nuclear tiative in order to develop a seawater laborators from University of Cali- Science and Engineering, obtained uranium extraction system that uses fornia at Berkeley and University of a $400,000 grant in a separate NEUP the infrastructure and power of off- Wisconsin at Madison received ex- Research and Development Award shore windmills. tended funding for their commer- for developing Benchmarks for Eval- —Amy Wang Doctors confirm Braintree facility patient does not have Ebola virus Ebola scare triggers mounted response from health teams By Meghan E. Irons and Todd Texas, and the infection of that patient’s a spokeswoman for Beth Israel Dea- Wallack nurse. coness Medical Center said it had “de- THE BOSTON GLOBE Suddenly, a disease that seemed termined with certainty” that the man thousands of miles away has spread in- treated in Braintree does not have Fears about the deadly Ebola virus side US borders. Ebola. Also Monday night, the Boston spread to Massachusetts this Columbus “We have a large outbreak of anxiety Public Health Commission issued a KENTO MASUYAMA Day weekend, prompting holiday press and it is as real as the Ebola threat,” said statement saying that the patients who Francesco Manara leads the Cameristi della Scala conferences and reverse 911 calls to re- William Schaffner, a national infectious arrived on Emirates Flight 237 “do not chamber orchestra in a performance at Kresge Audi- assure a jittery public after two Ebola- disease specialist at Vanderbilt Medi- meet the criteria for any infections of torium last Wednesday� Eight seasons were played in related scares. cal Center in Nashville. “The chances public health concern, including Ebola” sequence, merging Vivaldi’s classical concerto and Piaz- On Sunday, when a man who had of getting Ebola are very small, but the or several other diseases. zolla’s tango across over two centuries and two hemi- traveled to Liberia showed up at a public does not see it that way.” On Tuesday morning, Governor spheres� Braintree clinic with flulike symptoms, The city has already quietly dealt Deval Patrick was scheduled to re- he triggered a full hazmat response, and with three to four other suspected cas- ceive an Ebola preparedness briefing was escorted by police to a Boston hos- es of Ebola in recent months, none of from public health officials and airport pital in an ambulance, while his car was which actually turned out to be Ebola, personnel. second floor of W20 from 10 plastered with orange biohazard signs health officials said Monday. Instead, As public worries intensified over IN Short a.m. to 4 p.m. to keep people away. the patients had other diseases com- the long weekend, Boston public health MIT Libraries is seeking in- Then, on Monday, a team dressed mon in West Africa, such as typhoid and officials called a news conference on put from MIT students on Shred IT Day is on Friday, in yellow protective suits quickly sur- malaria. the Monday holiday to assure residents renovations to library spac- Oct. 24. Items dropped in rounded and boarded an Emirates flight “They were treated with appropriate that Boston hospitals are prepared if an es. A discussion will occur on the Building 32 lobby from 10 from Dubai at Logan International Air- personal protective equipment,” said actual case of Ebola eventually turns up. Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. Register here: a.m. to 2 p.m. will be securely port after several people on board ex- Dr. Anita Barry, who heads the infec- They also wanted to tamp down fears http://bit.ly/MITLibraryIdeas shredded. hibited flulike symptoms, sparking fears tious disease bureau of the Boston Pub- that the disease could spread even if it they might have the dreaded disease lic Health Commission, “and they went reaches the region. Flu shots will be available Send news information and that is sweeping parts of West Africa. back to living their lives.” Unlike many other diseases, Ebola on Thursday, Oct. 16 on the tips to [email protected]. The incidents followed news of the The two weekend scares also ap- first Ebola death in the United States, in pear to be unfounded. Monday night, Ebola, Page 8 KeeP the Doors FieLD HOCKEY wins YELLowsaiL PAPer test woes SECTIONS World & Nation � � �2 MIT field hockey beats Wheaton by one Pop-punkers release ninth Brought to you by OPen Opinion � � � � � � � � �4 goal� SPORTS, p. 11 studio album despite tough Q�E�D� S3 Dean Randall on Fun Pages � � � � � � �5 year� FUN, p. 5 continuing the woMen’S soccer VictorY Arts � � � � � � � � � � � �9 discussion� ARTS, p. 9 Sports � � � � � � � � � 11 OPINION, p. 4 MIT wins with single overtime goal� SPORTS, p. 11 2 The Tech Tuesday, October 14, 2014 D North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reported to have appeared British Parliament in public recognizes Palestinian state Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader whose unexplained absence from public view for more than a month raised intense By Stephen Castle and Jodi who promoted it, said Britain had The breakdown of negotiations WORL speculation that he was ill or deposed, apparently has been seen. Rudoren a “historic opportunity” to take over a two-state solution, continu- The official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that THE NEW YORK TImes “this small but symbolically im- ing Israeli settlement building and N Kim had given “field guidance” at a newly constructed scientific portant step” of recognition. the bloody conflict in Gaza all ap- complex. The agency did not specify when Kim, 31, made the LONDON — Against a back- “To make our recognition of pear to have jolted Europe’s poli- visit, but South Korean media speculated that it was on Monday. drop of growing impatience across Palestine dependent on Israel’s ticians, including Sweden’s new Kim, the grandson of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, Europe with Israeli policy, Brit- agreement would be to grant Israel prime minister, Stefan Lofven, had not been spotted since Sept. 3, after having made a series of ain’s Parliament overwhelmingly a veto over Palestinian self-deter- who this month pledged to recog- appearances. passed a nonbinding resolution mination,” said Morris, who leads nize Palestine, the first time a ma- In the opaque politics of North Korea, the world’s most isolat- Monday night to give diplomatic a group called Labour Friends of jor Western European nation had ATIO ed country, Kim’s prolonged absence inevitably invited rumors recognition to a Palestinian state. Palestine. done so. that he had been replaced in a power struggle or was ill, or both. The vote was a symbolic but potent Richard Ottaway, a Conserva- Paul Hirschson, a spokesman The last time he was seen, in a television broadcast in late indication of how public opinion tive lawmaker and chairman of for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said September, Kim walked with a pronounced limp, and North Ko- has shifted since the breakdown the House of Commons foreign that moves like the British reso- rea’s state-run press said he was not feeling well.