Thanks to your votes, we have the results of the SP Photo Contest. Here is the list of winners and their photos:

First Place: Bo Dong

In July,2011, I paid a visit to Shangri-La, an earthly paradise in Yunan, China. The woman in the photo is a Tibetan Buddhist, she told me she is quite happy with her life.

Second Place: Steven J Levine

Colors of the Water. This long-exposure image was taken from the 5th floor of MIT's Next House undergrad dorm in June of 2010. The city has purposely been desaturated to emphasize the beautiful colors of the buildings' reflections in the Charles river.

Second Place: Kunal Mukherjee

Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Third Place: Felix Moser

Children running in Kampong Phluk, Cambodia.

Third Place: Unknown (Please contact SP Photofile Chair if you took this picture)

"I Stand Alone" - Lighthouse near York Beach, Maine

At Coffee Hour on January 25^th, representatives from MIT Community Wellness spoke to Sidney-Pacific residents about relationships. The discussion started off with a sobering statistic: 1 in 3 American women will be victims of relationship abuse during their lifetime (American Psychological Association). In a collaborative effort, residents came up with verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual aspects of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Some of the characteristics of unhealthy or abusive relationships seemed obvious, such as physical violence. Even if there has only been one incident, it is not appropriate to contextualize physical violence: it is a warning sign of probable escalation that must be taken seriously. Residents were also reminded that relationship abuse is not always physical. A partner can be verbally or emotionally abusive, and this should be taken no less seriously. Indeed, this type of abuse can precede physical violence, and should be seen as a red flag. Verbal abuse is expressed through the way one partner communicates with the other, such as in a threatening, disrespectful, or humiliating manner. Emotional abuse may be manifested through subtle actions, such as isolating the partner from friends and family, excessive jealousy, constantly checking up on the victim’s whereabouts, and/or controlling where they go and who they are with at all times. The abuser may blame their actions on alcohol, or their temper: remember, there is never any excuse for abuse. In all types of abusive relationships, one partner employs a pattern of controlling behavior used to gain power over the other person in the relationship. If you suspect a friend is in an abusive relationship, speak up: express your concerns and offer your emotional support/help. Listen to them: they may not be emotionally ready to end the relationship. Do not be judgmental: it is NEVER the fault of the victim. Be there for them, and refer them to MIT Medical’s 24-hour confidential Violence Prevention and Response hotline: 617-253-2300. If there is immediate physical danger call the police. To learn more go to http://medweb.mit.edu/wellness/programs/violence_prevention.html

After brainstorming warning signs of abusive relationships, Sidney Pacific residents started coming up with components of healthy relationships. The take-away from the evening: when in doubt, ASK! Whether it’s at the beginning of a relationship with a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or with your fiancé, asking the other person if they would like to do ___ (kiss, hold hands, have sex, you name it…) is always the gentlemanly/ladylike thing to do. A simple “Hey, I really like you, and I’d really like to kiss you right now. Is that ok?” establishes a balance of power on a date, or in a new relationship. Additionally, the importance of communication was stressed: communication about what each partner is or is not comfortable with, communication about birth control/contraceptive choices, etc. So this month, with Valentine’s Day just passed, let’s take a moment to celebrate healthy relationships!

By Sunny Vanderboll

Did you know there was a difference between “giving a hug” and “taking a hug”?

Well, if two people hug each other voluntarily, they would both be giving a hug; but if one person passionately hugs another who is not really willing to be hugged, then the latter would merely be receiving a hug passively.

So how do you know if someone would warmly give you a hug back, or take your hug uncomfortably? According to specialists Duane de Four and Kelley Adams from Community Wellness at MIT Medical, the key is as simple as a three-letter word: “Ask”!

Brainstorming in progress.. What are some abusive/constructive verbal behaviors?

In SPICE Coffee Hour on February 1, 2012, Duane and Kelley led 7 groups of over 40 SP residents to explore the elements of an abusive versus a healthy relationship. Participants brainstormed in groups to come up with destructive and constructive behaviors under four types of interactions in a relationship: verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual. (This order is also roughly according to increasing levels of intimacy, and it is better to spot and handle abusive behavior in early stages of this progression!)

Representatives from each group took turns presenting their ideas.

Abusive behavior is usually the means to establish power and control over the other person. As Duane and Kelley reminded us, such an approach usually leads to hurtful results on both sides. On the contrary, a healthy relationship is characterized by respect. A great way to show love and respect is by effective communication and that not only through expressing yourself honestly and gently, but more importantly though often neglected, through listening patiently. This is why asking, instead of simply acting on your presumptions, is a good start, especially when it comes to interactions that may be perceived differently across cultures, such as hugging or kissing.

On second thought though, wouldn’t asking simply “kill the moment”? Isn’t it more “magical” or “romantic” if things “just happened”? Duane and Kelley left this as a challenge for us to ponder on: where did this stereotypical idea come from, and have we considered the alternative– to be respectful by asking? Indeed, it may be worth questioning ourselves: who or what are we letting ourselves be influenced by (The media? Popular culture? Other people?), and whether we are shaping our perspective towards relationships based on what is true.

So, next time when you’re unsure if giving a hug would be appropriate, you might want to consider this simple three-letter word: Ask!

By Annie Chen, SPICE Chair

Wall of constructive behavior. Can you find the magic word that links them all?

Review: Via Matta Restaurant (79 Park Plaza)

Via Matta (Source: yelp.com)

On November 22^nd, The Pacific held its inaugural dinner at the Italian restaurant Via Matta: a moderately priced ($30 – $50) up-scale Italian restaurant nestled between hotels and boutique shops at Park Plaza. Unlike your run-of-the-mill Italian eatery, Via Matta has decided to take the gamble that the American population can recognize good Italian food even when it’s not covered in tomato sauce[1]. Indeed, Via Matta’s professed specialties are the northwest cuisines of Piedmont, Tuscany, Liguria, and Emilia Romagna. Piedmont, in particular, is about as far away as you can go from the traditional spaghetti and meatballs as you are forced to trade in your twirl-and-slurp for dishes of a much earthier and creamier disposition. Egg-based noodles, fragrant truffles, hazelnuts, strong cheeses, cream sauces, and world-renowned red wines are continual features in Northwestern Italian cuisine and a welcome change from the “Frutti di Mare no more!” syndrome of the North End.

The restaurant’s ambience falls somewhere between romantic date spot to lounge and the spacing between tables provides for enough privacy to discuss everything from business in the boardroom to the bedroom. The service was generally very good and the wine selection comprehensive enough to provide accompaniment to our various main courses:

Pappardelle with wild boar (Source: yelp.com)

Pappardelle with wild boar and chanterelle mushrooms: The food, although flavorful, lacked enough textural diversity to keep my attention and stay interesting

Seared medium rare salmon over lentils, pomegranate seeds and bacon with a foam: Seared salmon was great.  The lentil mixture was a little salty for my taste.

Steak sirloin with onions, tomatoes, and eggplant ratatouille. The sirloin was cooked perfectly and was also very tender. The seasoning was superb, and the eggplant side matched very well.

Fettuccine with lamb sausage: The fettuccine was tasty but not overly memorable – the lamb sausage worked well, but there could have been more of it.

Overall, our group of five SP food reviewers gave Via Matta 3.5 out of 5 stars. The most common complaint was that the restaurant’s prices were a bit steep considering the quality of the meal. Although many of the dishes were firsts for us, the monotonicity and complexity of the meals left us wanting more. Whether it was the lack of color, texture, or flavor diversity, the meals often came up short on replay value as we trekked across the plate. Certainly a great date location but not the absolute best Italian Boston has to offer.

By The Pacific

The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, established in 1872, is the oldest public arboretum in North America.

Arnold Arboretum in autumn (Photo courtesy of Chelsea He)

SP residents visited the Arnold Arboretum at the end of autumn (Courtesy of Dawsen Hwang)

The SP trip to the Arnold Arboretum, organized by the Plants chair and Bikes chair, drew a huge crowd; more than twenty people came including 5 bikers and 2 runners! A warm and sunny day set the stage for one of the last  public tours this year. Our quirky tour guide (fun fact: his day job is a driving trucks) showed us stories and characteristics of many plants around the park. In fact, he encouraged us to use all of our senses, include touching the spikes on the trees!  In the end, the tour lasted 2 hours,  much longer than we planned. Not only our understanding, but also appreciation of plants was fostered through this substantial and fun tour.

For interested readers, the Arnold Arboretum is located at the Forest Hills Station at the end of the Orange Line. In addition to taking the T, we also recommend biking or jogging there. For more information see:

http://arboretum.harvard.edu/

Here are some thoughts from the residents who attended the trip:

“This event was very well planned and organized. The trip was full of fun. I took a lot of pictures there. It was a fantastic trip to learn, to relax, and to think. I highly recommend this to my friends and I’d love to go again!” – Sheng-Ying (Aithne) Pao

“I really enjoyed this trip!” – Jagdish Ramakrishnan

“This is a great time to see the New England foliage. I had lots of fun learning about the plants too.” – Amy Zhou

By Dawsen Hwang, SP Plant Chair

This month Sidney-Pacific students came together to cook a hearty meal for over 100 residents of CASPAR.  CASPAR is a nonprofit organization that operates as a shelter and soup kitchen.  It also provides outreach, stabilization, residential, aftercare, education, and prevention services to those in need.  The shelter and kitchen serves dinner to over 100 people every night, and it relies on the generosity of local restaurants and businesses for food donations. Over the past ten years, MIT’s graduate residences and the CASPAR emergency shelter have developed a good relationship. SP usually donates leftover food from our large events such as our summer BBQs and monthly brunches to CASPAR. In addition, last year, the Warehouse started a recurring resident volunteering program through which residents volunteer every other week to help serve dinner at the soup kitchen, and recently we have expanded that program to include Ashdown and SP residents as well.  On Sunday November 6th, SP residents cooked and baked for 5 hours and carried the food over to the CASPAR residence located on Albany Street. Pasta, meatballs, chicken, bread, cookies and brownies were served to very appreciative individuals in need.  The partnership with CASPAR is important to raise awareness of this organization’s efforts and to gain an appreciation for the tireless work that one of our close neighbors does for the community.  This effort was made possible through a Public Service Grant awarded to SP members.  SP plans on serving another dinner in December, closer to the holidays.

By Emily Calandrelli, SP Outreach Chair

The SP Orientation 2011 concluded with the Boston Aquarium tour on September 17^th. We had fun dancing to the tunes of Beyonce and Lady Gaga, munching freshly grilled burgers with a chilled beer in hand, brunching on the best Sunday breakfast ever and roaming around Boston. In the Orientation Newsletter, we, the SP orientation committee, promised to bring you a series of fun and fabulous events and that is exactly what we did.  Let’s take a moment to review some of the fun we have had.

The Orientation Dance Party with the raised dance floor and a superb DJ performace (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

The Orientation Dance Party was on the evening of September 2^nd and what a party it was! With over four hundred people, this must had been the best orientation party in town. I am not the only person saying that. A couple of my friends from Sloan, who have organized spectacular parties in places like Seattle and DC, joined the party that night and were like “awesome party, dude!” Students who attended almost all the parties during this orientation season still remember Sidney-Pacific’s as the best one. I seriously hope you didn’t miss it. With the weather in our favor and the mood in the air, it was all-a-tapping for guys and girls on the dance floor. Interestingly, the raised dancing platform was actually not part of the original plan. Although it took a while to set it up, I’m glad we did it. We had an absolutely superb DJ performance. They really amazed everyone with the screen setup in front of the dance floor showing the music video of the song. It was pure joy to see so many of the new residents come and enjoy the dance party. We ended the party with a birthday celebration for George Lan, President of Sidney-Pacific.

The Orientation Brunch attracted more than 400 students. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

The Orientation Brunch on September 4^th was an outstanding event in its own right. Over four hundred students attended, with a lot of first year students from all of the graduate houses on campus. We started the preparation at 7 AM in the SP kitchen. From cooking scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, baked beans, sausage, and bacon to cutting all sorts of fresh fruit, it was a heroic task that was accomplished in a record time by a group of fifty-some dedicated SP volunteers. Ozge, our beloved brunch chair, worked really hard and did an excellent job of managing all the enthusiastic volunteers. Three serving queues were opened simultaneously to reduce the wait time. In about twenty minutes, we served around four hundred students. They were out in the courtyard eating, chatting, mingling or just plainly enjoying the sunshine. Many residents liked the fact that the brunch menu was advertised on the corridor walls next to the queue. Seeing it in advance added to the gourmet pleasure.

The Rock ‘n Roast Orientation BBQ was held on the evening of September 10^th. Every year Sidney-Pacific has a tradition of organizing the best BBQ on the campus, be it in terms of food, fun, or friends. It just runs in the SP blood and we can’t help it! A tremendous amount of preparation had to be done in advance because of the scale of the event. Fortunately, we had many volunteers showing up right from the start and many of them were new residents of SP. This was one of those “see it to believe it” type of event. Volunteers showed up, took a task and the job got done. Whether it was husking three hundred corn ears, chopping up thirty pounds of onions and forty pounds of tomatoes, grilling one thousand burgers or raising a mammoth screen for our outdoor movie screening pleasure, it was all accomplished with lots of fun. The whole event went smoothly and efficiently, thanks to all the volunteers. I sometimes wonder if these are some extraordinary people I am living with or if SP is just a unique place that makes it all happen! Perhaps it is both!

Every year Sidney-Pacific has a tradition of organizing the best BBQ on the campus. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

During the BBQ, residents enjoyed fresh juicy burgers, wholesome fruits, and cold beverages while being entertained by the music. Keeping in line with the international culture of SP, we served vegetarian, turkey and braided chicken burgers, besides the usual beef burgers. Was that all? Well, there was Tim the Beaver, our school’s mascot, going around shaking hands with his fellow classmates. We also had representatives from Zipcar at a table in the courtyard and they were very impressed by the turnout. After sunset, an outdoor movie was screened and many of us watched it with friends while sipping on hot coffee.

Getting to know your Housemasters in the Housemaster's Welcome Dinner. (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

Housemaster’s Welcome Dinner, Bike Auction Coffee Hour, French Dessert Outing, and Art Crawl were all very successful events and were well-attended by the residents. All of the organizers collected good memories along the way that we will cherish for time to come.  We hope that you also had your share. We are interested to hear your feedback on these events. We’ve already heard that almost everyone could find an event that suited his or her interest. Also, many new residents appreciated the fact that we used composting in almost all of the SP orientation events, but we want to know how we can do better next year, so take a moment to fill out the Orientation survey later in the newsletter.

“All good things must come to an end” and so the orientation season has come to an end. But wait, that doesn’t mean the fun is over! We just had our ice cream outing and SPICE Coffee Hour and we have various interesting events coming up too. Please see the SP announcement and the website for the schedule of these upcoming social events.

Sidney-Pacific, Make it Yours!

By Birendra Jha and Hussam Zebian, SP Orientation Chairs

On August 31st, residents from Sidney-Pacific and Ashdown House visited the Casella recycling facility in Charlestown. The facility collects raw, unprocessed recyclable material from collectors, sorts the material by type, and then sends the sorted materials to plants, both domestic and abroad, for processing. We received a personal tour of the facility, an overview of the recycling industry, and an inside look at how the plant operates.

Thousands of tons of new recyclable material are brought into the facility every day. (Photo courtesy of Sunny)

Some interesting facts:

• Casella Recycling is a publicly traded company and receives no incentives from the government.
• The Charlestown plant, which is largest recycling plant east of the Mississippi River, sorts material from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, as well as the Boston metro area. The facility has over 140 conveyor belts and employs 150 people.
• The plant exports 50% of all sorted material to China, mostly comprised of paper and cardboard, as well as all Plastics 3-7.
• In 2010 alone, the facility sorted 1.5 million tons of recyclables.
• It costs $70 for one ton of trash to be disposed of at a landfill. Cities and municipalities receive $10 back for one ton of recyclable material sent to the facility.
• The facility uses “single stream” technology, which means that a mixture of all recyclable material is put on the same line. This also means that at home, we don’t have to pre-sort our recyclables.
• The facility uses the physical and optical properties of materials to physically separate them to a minimum purity of 95%, with tools like magnets, eddy current machines, and optical sorters.

Casella employees pre-sort out material that may damage equipment, like plastic bags and large metal objects. (Photo courtesy of Sunny)

The visit followed an environmental discussion dinner that took place earlier this August with participants from SP, Ashdown and Edgerton. The theme of the discussion was the export of plastics 3 through 7 to China, and it touched on related topics such as the health effects on Chinese workers. The discussion concluded with an open question on why these plastics are not processed here in America. On the trip to the Casella recycling facility, the head manager confirmed that Casella does export all plastics 3-7 unsorted together to China, where low-cost labor manually sorts through it. He noted the lack of demand for these plastics in America.

The visit confirmed that recycling is not just a theoretical sustainability goal, but a real and growing industry that supports local jobs and an international industry, saving millions of tons of waste in the process. The recycling center collects thousands of tons of material every day, material that would otherwise end up in a landfill. With Casella’s zero-sort policy, recycling is now easier than ever. Please do your part to recycle!

If you missed the visit, you can go on one of the following tours organized by the City of Cambridge (email recycle@cambridgema.gov for more info): September 21st 1:30pm, October 19th 1:30pm and November 15th 8:30am. You can also take the virtual tour here: http://zero-sort.com/

By Sunny Vanderboll and Jean-Philippe Coutu

Bike trip to Concord organized by SP Bikes Chair and SP bike interest group (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

In the busy life of an MIT grad student, exploring the Boston area usually means a quick trip just across the river.  However, the country-side surrounding Boston is one of the things I have enjoyed most since coming to MIT, and is usually overlooked. Cycling is one way to fill in this gap.  In the words of Hemingway,

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”

On the way to the ice cream shop (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

The first weekend in September was the first bike trip of the term, organized by the SP bikes chair and the SP bike interest group.  Fourteen of us set off after the SP orientation brunch and several were using SP zip-bikes.  Our goal was Kimball Farms, a well-known ice cream stand near Concord.  We traveled up the river past Harvard and joined the Minute-Man trail, a converted rail-way line that travels straight to Bedford.  After a quick break, we continued on and made it to the ice cream shop, only to discover that there was already a substantial line (at only 4pm!).  Most residents ordered a “small” ice cream, about twice the size of a large at Tosci’s, in a variety of flavors including chocolate raspberry swirl and black raspberry chocolate chip.  However, our Athletics chair declared that he could handle a large but gave up halfway through.  Satisfied and filled with sugar, we made the final trip to Concord where we took the commuter rail back to Boston, arriving back at SP just five hours after we left.

Ice cream from Kimball Farms (Photo courtesy of SP Photofile Committee)

In summary, and in the spirit of MIT and completely unnecessary quantification, I present the ice cream ride in numbers:

By Zachary Ulissi, SP Bikes Chair

There is a room in Sidney-Pacific hidden in plain view.  Though few are aware of its existence, those in the know find it immensely useful for everything from salsa dancing to martial arts to music practice to simply quiet introspection.   There is no concealed door or secret password, and it is conspicuously marked on the SP floor plan; in fact, you’ve probably walked past it way more than three times on the way to check your mailbox.

For years, the Michael Kobina Owu Room (named for the manager of the construction of Sidney-Pacific) has duteously served the needs of Sidney-Pacific residents.  But until recently, it resembled the Hogwarts Room of Requirement in more than just its obscurity.  For years, SP residents have been depositing their unwanted paperbacks and textbooks in the room originally designated as a library, creating a dizzying array of clutter that has grown exponentially with disuse and neglect.  With books strewn haphazardly across the shelves and stacked in teetering towers, browsing for a casual beach read or a quals-prep textbook can be a task more daunting than, well, digging for a mysterious diadem in a heaping mound of relics and junk.

Volunteers sort through novels piled on the “Fiction Couch.” On the right is the accompanying “Textbook Couch.” (L-R: Chelsea He, Annie Gai, Isaac Oderberg) (Courtesy of Roland Tang)

Yvonne Yamanaka sorts the non-fiction books into different categories. (Courtesy of Roland Tang)

Recognizing the potential to transform a packrat’s haven into a bibliophile’s paradise, Associate Housemaster Roland Tang led a group of intrepid volunteers on a mission to create order from chaos.  On Sunday, August 7, seven volunteers worked diligently for two hours, pulling every single book off the shelves, wiping away years of dust and grime, and sorting the volumes into categories such as Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Classics, Historical Nonfiction, Foreign Language, and Textbooks.  If we assume that the books in the Owu Room reveal the reading preferences of SP residents past and present, some trends can be observed.  Unsurprisingly, volumes on computer programming and economic policy dominate the textbook category, while selections are ripe among science fiction and thriller novels.  Perhaps less expected, however, are the countless romance paperbacks, which make up the largest (by far) of the fiction categories.  Once sorted, the next step was to reshelve the books into the appropriate locations.  To avoid clutter, books that were obsolete or in poor condition were marked for recycling, and those that were deemed outdated or esoteric were packed away for donation.  In total, four boxes of books were recycled, and an additional eight boxes were donated to charity.

Tatyana Shatova organizes the textbook shelf as Toddler Housemaster Samuel Tang looks on. (Courtesy of Roland Tang)

The book cleanup is just the first step in plans to revamp the Owu Room library.  More improvements are on the way, including reading lamps, new signage, and reading recommendations.  We encourage you to browse the collection at your leisure, or even add to it with your own books; all we ask is that you please help us keep it neat for the benefit of all SP residents.  And we hope that on those shelves you will uncover your next great adventure, be it historical (see: The Iliad of Homer in Classics), geographical (see: Guide to the Jersey Shore in Travel), romantic (see: Dating Boot Camp: Conquering the Dating Obstacle Course in Self-Help), astronomical (see: 3001: The Final Odyssey in Sci-Fi/Fantasy), or gastronomical (see: The Joy of Cooking in Cooking).  Happy reading!

By Chelsea He