An Athena cluster is any room where there are a bunch of workstations (and usually printers) set up for you to log onto Athena. NOTE: You will need an Athena account.
Just go to any Athena cluster, seat at an empty terminal, and click on the “Register for an Account” button to set up an account.
There is an Athena cluster right here in Sidney-Pacific (see below). There is also a large Athena cluster on the 5th floor of the Student Center (W20-575). Other Athena clusters around campus can be found at (
To register for an Athena account, you will need your MIT ID number and your Kerberos/Athena Account Coupon (a piece of paper containing personalized keywords, usually either handed out or mailed to you by your department). Your account will be activated in about a day, and then you are free to use the computing facilities, including e-mailing old friends and using the Web to check out the sites listed in this guide.
HANDY HINT: For online Athena help see ist.mit.edu/services/athena/olh.
If you have a computer, you can get an Ethernet connection to the Internet from your room in Sidney-Pacific (there are two Ethernet jacks per person in each room).
HANDY HINT: Can’t tell which jack is for the Internet? A good way to check is to plug your phone cable into both jacks; the one without the tone is the Internet jack.
Sidney-Pacific also has a wireless network, accessible from all rooms and common areas. For detailed instructions for getting on the network, you can check out at rcc.mit.edu or web.mit.edu/rescomp/www/dorm.shtml. The first one is for submitting installation or help requests. You will need an Athena account to log in there. The second URL is more of a reference page for getting started.
If you have problems with setting up your computer (or installing certain software), you can contact the MIT Computing Help Desk (ist.mit.edu/support/servicedesk) in Building N42 on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm (x3-1101).
The Computing Resource Center, located on the first floor of S-P in room #158, just off the main lobby and across the hall from the large multipurpose room, is a computer cluster open to all S-P residents.
The S-P Athena cluster contains 9 machines running Windows XP Pro, 4 running Athena-Linux and 2 running Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
The cluster also features two nice HP 9050dn black and white laser printers (MASSAVE and ALBANY), two HP 8150dn black and white printers (SIDNEY and PACIFIC), and an HP 4600dn color printer (WAVERLY). All these printers are configured and used like ordinary Athena printers.
There are a number of MIT mailing lists to which you can freely add yourself. Login to Athena and type “mailmaint,” or go to webmoira.mit.edu, and then follow the directions.
A weekly email of S-P Anno is sent to residents and includes housing information and event announcements. It is also used by the house manager for important facilities notices.
There is a S-P Online Forum on the S-P website, where you can connect with other residents using an online community. Sell stuff. Find residents with common interests. Make new friends. Make suggestions about events and services of this community.
Purchasing a computer? Check out the IS&T website for student online purchasing deals and computer-buying advice.
Residents are allowed 150 pages of free B&W printing per month, after which a 3-cent-per-page charge applies. A color printer is also available for 30 cents/page. For more information about printing at Sidney-Pacific, visit s-p.mit.edu/it/printing.php
Go to s-p.mit.edu to find out! :-)
My Account is a portion of the site that only members of the S-P community can access. Here are some of the things residents can do in My Account:
You will need an MIT Personal Certificate to access the My Account portion of the site. You can find more information about MIT Personal Certificate at: ist.mit.edu.
If you do not have your personal certificate installed, your browser will fail to load the site.
Once the certificate is installed on your computer, click the My Account button in the upper left corner of the S-P web page (s-p.mit.edu).
IMPORTANT: Upload a picture of yourself to My Account: this is used to verify your indentity if you are ever locked out of your room without your ID.
You can leave your trash in a bag outside of your apartment, it will be cleaned up by maintenance in the morning.
There are also trash and recycling bins in every floor.
All common kitchens have garbage cans. Please do not pile the garbage until the can overflows.
In SP, there are three groups of recyclables.
Large bins for single-stream recycling are located in each hallway. For more information, see the S-P website: http://s-p.mit.edu/resources/recycle.php. Please make a conscious effort to recycle as much as possible (FYI, recycling of glass, metal, plastic and paper is mandatory in Massachusetts).
Room phones are restricted to placing only on-campus calls (e.g., Campus Police, Medical, other dorms, faculty and staff) and receiving off-campus calls UNLESS you pay for the full service.
You have the option to pay for an upgrade to full service, which includes the ability to place unlimited local calls and 800 #’s, access long distance services, and voice mail. The monthly cost is $17, with a $25 activation fee.
For long distance calling you will either need a calling card (many varieties are available ranging from 1¢/min to 60¢/min for long-distance calls within US) or you can get a seven-digit CampusLink (PaeTec) code. With this code, you direct dial long distance calls. PaeTec is the only long distance service available on campus.
SEE ist.mit.edu/services/telephony/studentinfo for more information.
Dial 100 for an emergency call to the MIT Campus Police from any campus phone.
If your phone service has call waiting, press the switch hook momentarily and then 77 to answer an incoming call. Do the same to switch back to the first call.
To call a number off-campus dial 9 first and then the number (include the area code, even if it’s just a local call).
HANDY HINTS:
Open 24 hours a day!
Washing and drying machines (24 of each) are located on the ground floor, in room #190, near the game room.
You can pay with quarters or charge it to your MIT Card (if you have TechCash). For more information, visit web.mit.edu/mitcard/techcash.html
To check for available washing or drying machines, visit www.laundryview.com/laundry_room.php?lr=1364821 (also linked from the S-P front page).
There are common kitchens on floors 2 through 9 with room numbers x19.
Each common kitchen has a stove, full-size refrigerator and freezer.
There are locks on the freezers, since they are intended only for use by residents in single efficiencies (who do not have a full-size freezer in their own apartments). If you are a resident in a single efficiency, you will be given the combination to the freezer on your floor.
Keeping the common kitchens clean is the responsibility of everyone who uses it—the janitors are not in charge of cleaning the kitchens. So please be considerate and wipe up anything you spill on the counters, floor, stoves, etc, and don’t leave food behind. Sinks are equipped with a garbage disposal.
At Sidney-Pacific there are 139 parking spaces in the garage under the building, and 70 in the lot behind the building. A regular MIT parking sticker is needed (applications are at the MIT Parking and Transportation Office).
Temporary passes will be available the first few days that residents move in.
For more information about vehicle registration, parking stickers, campus parking lots, and other parking- or transportation-related stuff, contact the MIT Parking & Transportation Office (W20-022, x8-6510) or see their website at web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/parking/student/index.html
Sidney-Pacific has an exercise room for its residents, located on the ground floor of the five-story wing of the building (room #189, across from game room and laundry).
The exercise room features physical fitness equipment such as treadmills, recumbent bikes, elliptical trainers, Icarian and Paramount selectorized weight equipment and free weights.
The courtyard can also serve as a venue for volleyball, wiffleball, or frisbee.
S-P has televisions in the lounges on floors 2–5, and in the kitchen areas on floors 2–9 if you don’t have your own TV. The remote controls are available at each TV area and need batteries to be operated.
All bedrooms in Sidney-Pacific have cable jacks. Just plug into the jack in your room and you get the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, CW), public broadcasting channels, several foreign language channels, MIT channels, SPTV (the building’s television channel), and other basic cable channels -- all for free.
S-P has a sound-proof music room located on the ground floor (Room 187). It contains an upright piano, a drum set and bass. The key to the music room can be checked out from the front desk.
Other musical instruments are also available.
All music items, including keys to respective rooms, can be checked out from the front desk for 2 hours. There is a $1/hour late fee ($10 maximum) for items not returned on time.
If you play an instrument, are looking for people to jam with, and/or are interested to perform in a concert, contact sp-music-chair[at]mit[dot]edu. We’d be more than happy to help build your home of music in S-P!
NOTE: Please refrain from playing during S-P quiet hours which are 12am-8am.
Located across from the S-P Gym, on the first floor (Room 184).
The game room has a huge TV, video games and other A-V equipment, as well as pool, ping-pong, air hockey, and foosball tables. Equipment (balls, ping-pong paddles, PS2 and Wii controllers, etc.) can be checked out at the front desk.
Food and drink are not to be placed on game tables at any time. This is done to prevent the (very expensive) refelting of the tables that occurs as a result of stains and spills.
S-P owns 10 bikes, which can be checked out at the front desk for a fee of $1 per day.
HANDY HINT: If you are new in town, if the winter is near, or if you are just short on time (or money), you may not want to buy a bike right now, S-P’s zip-bike is the way to go.
We are looking for people who enjoy working on bikes and who want to help maintain the zip-bike program. If you are interested, please email sp-bikes-chair[at]mit[dot]edu.