Volume 134, Number 24 Tuesday, May 6, 2014 ‘Major Gift’ Endows New Food, Water Lab J-WAFS to Be Interdisciplinary Effort by Austin Hess Water Supply, and Energy
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Established 1881 WEATHER, p. 2 MIT’s Oldest and TUE: 65°F | 46°F Largest Newspaper Mostly sunny weD: 67°F | 46°F Sunny thU: 64°F | 47°F tech.mit.edu Mostly sunny Established 1881 Volume 134, Number 24 Tuesday, May 6, 2014 ‘Major gift’ endows new food, water lab J-WAFS to be interdisciplinary effort By Austin Hess water supply, and energy. EDITOR IN CHIEF MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in a statement that the food and wa- MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul ter issuesEstablished at the center of J-WAFS’s 1881 Latif Jameel ’78 has provided a “ma- future research were among “the jor gift” to establish the Abdul Latif most pressing challenges facing Jameel World Water and Food Se- humanity.” curity Lab (J-WAFS) according to an Lienhard said that the research MIT press release. would take place “all over campus” in In the release, MIT said the lab participating faculty members’ cur- would focus on research related to rent laboratories and workspaces. addressing global water scarcity and MIT emphasized the interdisci- food shortages. The lab will also re- plinary nature of the new lab. Lien- portedly support related research on hard said in the statement that part “population growth, urbanization, of the lab’s focus would be to orga- and climate variability.” nize existing water and food supply MIT said the lab will begin op- research. In an email to The Tech, erations in September 2014 under he said the focus of J-WAFS would TAMI FORREstER—THE TECH the leadership of mechanical engi- be “[U]sing our best assessments of Laura Y. Zhang ‘15 and Joshua ‘Muffin’ Gordonson mud wrestle at Senior House’s Steer Roast neering professor John Lienhard. Ac- regional drivers of water and food this Friday. Other events included numerous musical performances over the weekend as well as a cording to his website, his current re- Established 1881 feast Saturday afternoon. search interests include desalination, J-WAFS, Page 9 No. 6 rejoins IFC after years away OBitUarY Six-year stint as an ILG ends following house, IFC votes MIT Professor Lazarus By Alex Delmore and Austin representation” with their previ- “I think we just structure ourselves Hess ous affiliation and hoped to be- very much like a fraternity, and have TECH STAFF come part of the IFC. Anil said, “I trouble relating to ILGs.” Edmonds researched solar wind told them that basically because cited a focus on alumni connections MIT’s fourth oldest fraternity, our values align pretty closely that and an organized system for Rush Remembered by colleagues and friends The Number Six Club (No. 6), has it would be relatively simple and events (including the new Clearing- rejoined the Interfraternity Council straightforward for the IFC to ad- house system) as benefits of frater- By John Belcher, Marianne velop instruments for more than after being an Independent Living vocate on their behalf as well, in nity status not available to ILGs. Lazarus, and Julia Lazarus 20 spacecraft missions to learn Group for almost six years. No. 6, addition toEstablished the rest of the fraternity 1881 “Their culture, their social scene, about the solar wind, including MIT’s chapter of Delta Psi, had left community.” their values fit in better with the fra- Editor’s Note: John Belcher, an the plasma instruments on board the IFC in 2008 due to disagree- Anil said the IFC “had a unani- ternity community as opposed to MIT physics professor, was a close Voyagers 1 and 2, launched in ments over the Clearinghouse sys- mous vote of approval to admit the ILG community,” said Anil. “So colleague of Alan Lazarus. Mari- 1977, which are the first space- tem used during Rush. them back into the IFC.” it just felt like a logical re-merger, anne Lazarus, the wife of Alan craft to travel beyond the edge of The decision to rejoin the IFC “Culturally, we really fit in with especially since we… talked through Lazarus, and his daughter, Julia, our solar system. Instruments he was the result of a vote by No. 6’s the IFC,” said No. 6’s other co- their concerns with Clearinghouse, contributed to this obituary. developed continue to provide house members. “We also still president, Eva “Niki” Edmonds ’15. which they don’t have anymore.” Alan Jay Lazarus, senior re- measurements of the solar wind wanted to consult with our alumni, “Within the IFC there’s a lot of fo- No. 6 left the IFC in 2008 primar- search scientist emeritus at MIT, plasma that buffets Earth, and of particularly the ones who made the cus on how a fraternity reinforces ily because they believed that the a gentle man, respectful of all the distant boundary between decision to leave [the IFC],” said its values.” Edmonds said that No. IFC’s Clearinghouse system, an on- and respected by all who knew solar plasma and the interstellar Steven “Jeremiah” Collins ‘16, one 6’s values include the love of learn- line portal that allows fraternities to him, died peacefully in his home medium. of No. 6’s co-presidents. “There was ing and mutual improvement. She track freshmen during Rush, was a in Lexington, Mass. on March 13 Lazarus was the principal a unanimous vote of approval to re- also said that through the IFC, there violation of the freshmen’s privacy. of complications with Lewy body investigator for a solar wind ex- join the IFC, with the exception of is more support for hosting social The Clearinghouse system has dementia and with cutaneous T- periment on SOL-RAD 11. He was one abstainer.” events than there is through the Liv- been changed since 2008, reliev- cell lymphoma. He was 82. also a co-investigator for: a solar According to IFC President ing Group Council. ing No. Six’s concerns, according Lazarus was born in San wind plasma experiment utiliz- Haldun Anil ’15, the co-presidents Edmonds also said, “unlike the to Collins. While the old system Francisco on October 24, 1931. ing Faraday cup sensors on Ex- of No. 6 approached him because ILGs, we are responsible to a na- His early education in California plorers 10, 18, 33, and 35, which they felt they lacked “adequate tional organization.” Collins added, No. 6, Page 8 schools, completed with a year at studied Earth’s magnetosphere; Phillips Andover Academy, de- the Mariner 4, Mariner 5, and veloped in him a love for learn- Mariner 10 missions to Venus ing, especially science. He had and Mars; Pioneers 6 and 7 and IN Short summer jobs at Los Alamos and Voyagers 1 and 2, which explored Join MIT Commuter Con- Oak Ridge National Labs, while the outer solar system; the Imp-7, nections for Bike Awareness earning degrees at the Massa- Imp-8, and Wind spacecraft fo- Day 2014 on Wednesday, chusetts Institute of Technology cused on solar wind near Earth; May 14 from 11:00 a.m. to (SB 1953, in physics) and Stan- the Orbiting Geophysical Obser- 2:30 p.m. on the steps of the ford University (PhD 1958, in vatories 1 and 3, which studied Student Center. Register your high-energy physics, under the Earth’s magnetosphere; and the bike with MIT Parking and direction of W. K. H. Panofsky). Giotto probe to Halley’s comet. Transportation. You can also He did post-graduate work at the He was the lead or co-author participate in the Mass Com- Rand Corporation. on more than 200 scientific pa- muter Challenge to get free Lazarus’ career at MIT, be- pers. Lazarus’ DSCOVR Faraday giveaways, including helmets, gun in 1959, spanned more than Cup is scheduled to fly in early leg bands, lights, and popcorn. 50 years. He joined space re- 2015 as a real-time beacon for search pioneers Bruno Rossi and NOAA space weather forecast- There is an MIT community Herbert Bridge to study space ing. Because it will be sun-point- LEnnY MARTINEZ—THE TECH meeting to learn more about physics, focusing particularly ed and make fast measurements, Fernando F. Cunha ’16 races for the fastest lap with his electric MIT.nano Tuesday, May 6, on space plasma and the solar this instrument will be a proto- go-kart. Students in 2.007, Design and Manufacturing, gathered 2-3 p.m. in 10-250. wind. At MIT’s Center for Space type for a Faraday Cup on Solar to race go-karts that they had built over the semester on Saturday, Research (now the Kavli Insti- Probe, on which he was a co-in- racing in both head-to-head ten-lap races as well as competing for Send news information and tute for Astrophysics and Space fastest individual lap times. tips to [email protected]. Research), Lazarus helped de- Lazarus, Page 9 senior SPrinG the enD OF tiKI-taKA? Asian Dance teaM Machine SPeaK SECTIONS World & Nation . .2 The fleeting feeling What Champions League semis have to Q.E.D. shows how to SPrinG showcase Opinion . .4 of the end of MIT, by say about strategy. SPORTS, p. 11 communicate with our Exhibition of contemporary Fun Pages . .5 Somewhere on the robot overlords. NFL scheDUle chanGes and traditional dances. Sports . 11 Search for Meaning. PHOTO SPREAD, p. 6 FUN, p. 5 FUN, p. 5 Prime time changes coming this year. SPORTS, p. 12 2 The Tech Tuesday, May 6, 2014 ‘Game of Thrones’ sees rising D unease over rape’s role in plot MERS virus found in United From its very beginnings, “Game of Thrones,” has been riddled with sexual brutality. The franchise, which started as a series of fantasy novels by George R.R.