CORe Digest
October 18th 2007
The C This episode of the Digest is brought to you by America's Pastime! It is my understanding that currently a lot of very exciting baseball games are going on. The Rockies are pretty much beasting anyone in their path, which is particularly pleasing to the Oliners from states in the Mountain Time Zone, who frankly don't have much else going for them. The good ole' Eastern Standard Time, however, is not as homologous. Growing up in Connecticut, smack in the middle of New York and Boston, I was constantly surrounded by two sets of extraordinarily passionate fans who would stop at nothing to mention last night's defeat. Both sets are probably watching tonight's game, albeit with different desired outcomes. I know that many people enjoy watching baseball, but a fair number play it as well. While Olin has no baseball team, consider the following bar graph that I found on Google by searching "baseball graph": You'll notice this bar graph contains a few flaws. For instance "Number of 3rd Graders" is the axis label for the Y-axis. Number of 3rd graders that what? Exist? Play the sport recreationally? Own a franchised team of that sport in a professional league? It's ambiguous. Also, this chart is misleading because "football" and "soccer" are the same thing. An additional bar should be added for "American football", which is America's Other Pastime. Also, in what experts are calling "pretty neat", the CORe Calendar can once again be found on Google Calendar! You can add it to your Google account, and I think it makes RSS, and this way your parents can find out all of the great on campus events you've been participating in! And if you're a parent that reads the CORe Digest, send an e-mail to coredigest olin edu and we'll feature it next week in a special "Parent's Shout Out" section!
Re Digest
CORe Calendar:
Friday, October 19:
Saturday, October 20:
Sunday, October 21:
Monday, October 22:
Tuesday, October 23:
Wednesday, October 24:
Thursday, October 25:
Greg "Stopped Playing Tee-Ball After Getting Hit In The Face Twice In One Practice" Marra
Vice President of Communication
Family Weekend 2007 Feedback Survey
Cheers to another amazing Olin family gathering thanks to all of your participation! I cannot believe our fourth annual Family Weekend has come and gone. I hope you enjoyed the fun filled event as much as we did. What a great success! The student performances were unique and entertaining. The presentations were informative and intriguing. The food was festive and delicious. The weather cooperated in giving us cool, sunny fall days.
We value your feedback and are grateful for the positive remarks that have been shared thus far. To help us improve on future year's planning, please take a few minutes to complete this brief online survey. We would appreciate the courtesy of your submission by noon on Monday, October 29, 2007, at which time the results will be tallied.
Again, we appreciate your time in completing this survey. I enjoyed seeing all of you!
Warm regards,
Krissy
Final Assessments - Here, There and Everywhere
Olin, Wellesley, Babson and Brandeis
Olin posted it's Final Assessment schedule on October 12, 2007. http://star.olin.edu/docs/Records/Final_Exam/FinalAssessmentScheduleF07.pdf
Wellesley's Final Schedule is posted at:
Babson's Final Schedule is posted at:
Brandeis' Final Schedule will be posted on Brandeis' site in early November. General information on final exams at Brandeis is at:
Open Office Hours in OSL
Come talk to us!
SERV Announcements
Volunteering is for Awesome People!
Honor Board Weekly Poll
As always, please feel free to give us feedback at any time by emailing the Honor Board.
This Week's Poll:
|
Why do so few people run for positions on the Honor Board? Tell us why you did not run! (you may vote for all that apply) |
| I'm only interested in hearings and cases |
| I don't want the responsibility of judging my peers |
| I was too lazy to fill out the application |
| I was looking for something much more adjustable |
| I had too many other commitments instead |
| They don't seem to do anything productive |
| I have a personal grudge against the Honor Board |
Last Week's Results:
| Do you feel that anonymous mailing lists violate the Integrity clause of the Honor code? |
| Yes, but I still feel they are important. - 11 % / 14 Votes |
| Yes, and something should be done. - 9 % / 11 Votes |
| Unsure, but I feel they are important. - 15 % / 19 Votes |
| Unsure, but something should be done. - 17 % / 21 Votes |
| No, and I feel they are important. - 37 % / 46 Votes |
| No, but something should still be done. - 10 % / 12 Votes |
| Total Votes: 123 |
Aerial Silks Performance
Hi All,
I wanted to let you all know that I'll be performing in the TSNY
Beantown (http://boston.trapezeschool.com/) aerial staff show at the
rig at Jordan's Furniture in Reading, MA (20 min north of Boston) at 5pm on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 27. I will be performing a duo
aerial silk piece with my partner, where I'll be flinging her around and catching her in the air. I highly suggest you come--the show will
consist of our aerial silk act and a lot of crazy flying trapeze. It
will be a lot of fun! Oh, did I mention it's FREE?
Also, for those of you who don't already have it, this is my new (and
permanent) email address. Don't forget to update your address book!!
See you all soon,
Matt
Aerialist
www.m2silk.com
FWOP presents: Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar…
The Franklin W. Olin Players, Olin's drama group, is putting on its fall show! Picasso at the Lapin Agile, a hilarious comedy by Steve Martin, tells the story of what might happen if Picasso, Einstein, and a mysterious visitor from the future met in a bar in 1904. It will be performed on October 19, 20, 26, and 27th. All performances are at 8pm in the Olin Auditorium. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for adults. Your ticket stub will get you into multiple performances. Don't miss out on this great show!
Olin Soccer double header - 11:20, 12:40
Olin put up another strong showing this weekend winning 3-1 with Goals from Marco Morales, Jared Fry, and Matt Wootton. John Geddes logged in another strong performance with 4 saves as team Phoenix improved their record to 3-1-0.
Olin will have a double header this weekend, so come on down for some great action on the pitch. First game is at 11:20 and the second is at 12:40.
Wellesley College Film Society Presents
Movies at Wellesley!
It's like FILM but over there!
Friday, October 19
7pm: Children of Men
9pm: Gattaca
Saturday, October 20
7pm: Gattaca
9pm: Children of Men
SCIENCE CENTER, ROOM 377
FREE WITH WELLESLEY/MIT ID ~ ALL OTHER OFF-CAMPUS GUESTS: $3!
(BRING YOUR ONECARD)
Comfy Things from Olin Bean Bag Chairs in the Dining Hall
Stop by and see our FBE business's first products at lunch tomorrow! We have large and small bean bags intended for one person and also have plans to make multi-person couch style bean bags in the future. We will also make custom bean bags out of a fabric of your choice.
Come take a load off, on our bean bags!
Guest Lecture: Rev. John Buehrens on Preventive and Pre-Emptive War
The Iraq War & Danger of War with Iran
October 24, at 11am, in AC 113
Rev. John Buehrens of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Needham speaking about “Preventive and Pre-Emptive War: The Iraq War and Danger of War with Iran.” Buehrens is a activist for peace and social justice, an author of Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals, an honorary president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and teaches part time at the Harvard Divinity School.
Miz Wizard's Science Secrets
Gender, Science and Humor-October 21, 2007
"She cooks. She cleans. She wins the Nobel Prize". Newspaper headline in 1977, on Rosalyn Yarow's award in Physiology/Medicine
Bring your family or friend--young, old, male, female--to this solo performance and see how many of the women scientists mentioned you recognize. Yes, we've come a long way. Yet, it's always good to be reminded of the often ludicrous barriers that female scientists over time has had to overcome. Dr. Jane Curry will tell the stories of historical and contemporary women scientists and inventors with humor and fanfare. A few non-exploding demonstrations are included!
As Ms. Curry explains, "If you ask most people to name a woman scientist, they would likely say Marie Curie. Ask for another example, and the response might be silence. I wanted to populate that silence with images and stories of women who have made significant contributions to science, math and technology in spite of considerable obstacles often placed in their paths. And I wanted to do it in a way that is engaging and fun."
Performances: Sunday, Oct 21 at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. (90 minutes)
Venue: Broad Institute, 451 Main Street, Cambridge
Tickets: $10-30 Purchase online at www.acteva.com/go/scfg
Details: http://tinyurl.com/ytkogs including parking information
Sleep: Did You Know?
Get the facts!
Did you know…
that before Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb, people slept an average of 10 hours a night? Today, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours per night on weekends.
that approximately 70 million people in the United States are affected by a sleep problem? (about 40 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder and an additional 20-30 million are affected by intermittent sleep-related problems)
that more than half of adults surveyed in the 2002 Sleep in America poll said they experienced one or more symptoms of insomnia at least a few nights a week? (insomnia is characterized by difficult initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, or waking too early)
Get the facts! Get some help if you need it. For more information, check out www.sleepfoundation.org
Final Call for Summer Book Suggestions
"Wired Magazine" is not a book.
The Summer Book Program Advisory Committee is accepting suggestions until October 31. The committee will consider four factors in reviewing your suggestions for next summer's book: readability, lends itself to a Convocation discussion, relates to the Olin curriculum, and is available in paperback or at paperback price. Suggestions (title, author and brief rationale) should be sent to Rod Crafts (rod.crafts@olin.edu). The Summer Book Program is supported by the class gift from the Class of 2006.
PGP
Olin’s resource for internships, summer research, jobs, graduate school and more…
GENERAL
Harvard Business School Information Session (HBS 2+2 Program)
Tuesday, October 23rd, 6:30 pm – AC 109
Tuesday, October 23rd, 6:30 pm – AC 109
Come learn more about HBS’ 2+2 program (2 years of work + 2 years of graduate school = an MBA). Registration is mandatory for this event. Please register in EASE to reserve a spot. Refreshments will be served.
Osram Sylvania Rotational Development Program in Engineering
Application Deadline: Friday, October 26th at noon
Osram Sylvania will be here on Monday, October 29th at 7pm in AC 109 for an information session about their rotational development program. They will also be here for on campus interviews on Tuesday, October 30th. Interested candidates must apply through EASE.
MIT Technology and Policy Open House
Monday, Oct 29th - TPP Lounge E40-380, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Two of our alums - Susan Fredholm (06) and Pearl Donohoo (07) are currently participating in this program and suggested you might want to check it out. Many Technology and Policy students join this program following their undergraduate studies at MIT or during their graduate studies at another department as internal dual degree applicants. Further information about TPP is available at this website, http://web.mit.edu/tpp. Questions may be directed to tpp@mit.edu.
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (GRFP)
Deadlines: November 1st -9th
For U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens at or near the beginning of their graduate studies, this program offers a stipend of $30,000 a year for three years and a $10,500 cost of education allowance and a one-time $1,000 travel allowance. For more information about the timing or application process for the NSF fellowships, check out the website at www.nsf.gov/grfp.
NASA Undergraduate Research Program (USRP)
USRP is managed by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and places students at 12 NASA centers and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This highly competitive program is a paid technical research internship and has summer, fall and spring sessions. For program and application information for engineering undergraduate students, see: http://education.nasa.gov/usrp .
Don’t forget to register in EASE by eCampusRecruiter, on the PGP website to see all the jobs, internships and events currently posted. ?s email postgrad@olin.edu
JOBS / INTERNSHIPS
(More information in EASE!)
|
IBM
Semiconductor Reliability Engineering Intern - Burlington, VT
General Dynamics C4 Systems
Electrical Engineer - Massachusetts and Arizona
Software Engineer - Massachusetts and Arizona
Systems Engineer - Massachusetts and Arizona
Teradyne, Inc.
Test Development Engineer - Boston, Metrowest
Software Engineer - Boston, Metrowest
Hardware Engineer - Boston, Metrowest
Mechanical Engineer - Boston, Metrowest |
Seminar: New Results in Lamettrian Geppettoism
Presented by Ian Ingram and Ani Garmin
Ian Ingram is a Senior Research Associate in the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Carnegie Mellon University School of Fine Art and Ani Garmin is an Adjunct Geppettoist employed by Ingram Clockworks
As an artist and technologist concerned with the importance of play and fascinated by ethology, Ian Ingram’s work often takes the form of toy-like robotic sculptures and behavioral installations that cohabitate with living systems.
In Classical Geppettoism, the practitioner constructs the toy they want to imbue with life and then relies on the beneficence of a fairy godmother to give the toy a soul and a mind. Julien Offray de La Mettrie refined Cartesian materialism, obviating dualism, asserting that both the body and the mind were machines in his 1748 book, Man a Machine. In his honor, toy-makers who build both the bodies and the minds of their products call themselves Lamettrian Geppettoists. Lamettrian Geppettoists have freed up fairy godmothers to pursue other activities.
As an artist and technologist concerned with the importance of play and fascinated by ethology, Ian Ingram’s work often takes the form of toy-like robotic sculptures and behavioral installations that cohabitate with living systems. A toy can serve as a portal to profound experience and Ian attempts to create such toys, often with associated narrative elements that lead viewers to extrapolate their own interpretations and significances. Much of his work is implicitly an exploration of what robots can be outside the boundaries of industrial, military, and popular preconceptions. Making these machines and robots requires a synthesis of technology, choreography, animation, and a sense of awe of the inner-workings of the natural world, both its macroscopic, dynamic morphologies and the algorithmic underpinnings of the systems we call life.