Monthly Archives: May 2013

Remembering Sean Collier

Officer Sean Collier. Courtesy of Somerville Police Department.

Officer Sean Collier. Courtesy of Somerville Police Department.

The following essay was written by MIT graduate student Sara Ferry the day after Sean’s death:

Officer Sean Collier was my friend, and the friend of many of my friends.

To give you an idea of the type of person he was:

He was friendly. He hung out at the Thirsty Ear a lot with the bartenders chatting. Recently, we were talking about the campus shooter scare of several weeks ago, and talking about how scary it was, and how we could make the campus safer. He was planning on starting a new job. He mentioned maybe joining the military at some point. He was so excited for his future, and was completely committed to dedicating his life to serving his community. We talked about throwing him a going away party to thank him for his service to our campus, and to celebrate the fact he might actually get to come hang out at the Thirsty in plainclothes a bit more.

He was so very helpful. When someone was breaking into my lab several months ago to steal scrap metal, the MIT police took our reports very seriously and caught the person within days. Sean offered to make a special point of coming by my lab on nights that my friends and I were working late to check on us.

He cared about the students. He loved my beloved MIT family: the residents past and present of Burton Third. When our DTYD hack this year went up, he messaged me to let me know he had heard it called in on the scanners, and could I please send him a photo since he didn’t get to see it before it was taken down? He worked detail at our party on Sunday, and mentioned beforehand that he was looking forward to it, because it had been a fun detail in the past. He messaged me after to say he had a good time. “[Burton 3rd] is good shit,” he said. BTB, you are the reason that my undergraduate years at MIT were filled with the best friends anyone could hope for, countless crazy nights of constant laughter, and stories that sometimes seem too ridiculous to believe. Sean loved you guys, and he – and the other amazing officers of our campus police force – is part of the reason that our floors’ cherished traditions and friendships are able to continue and grow year after year.

Boston area police officers attend Sean Collier's Memorial service on Briggs Field. Courtesy of Tamas Kolos-Lakatos.

Boston area police officers attend Sean Collier’s Memorial service on Briggs Field. Courtesy of Tamas Kolos-Lakatos.

Sean loved the hacking community of MIT. To every one of us who has donned a Jack Florey shirt, who has found herself or himself crawling through a hidden tunnel or along a deserted rooftop of our beloved campus looking out over our beloved Cambridge and Boston from our secret vantage points, who has been on their way to Baker House, who has a collection of faded orange buttons in a drawer, who has spent a long night camped out in a ceiling (climbing gear and headlamp in tow) just to know that the the anonymous-but-oh-so-worth-it results of their hack will grace the campus the next morning: Sean was an amazing ally. Like so many of the MIT police officers, he loved our efforts and cared deeply about our safety. You were a huge part of the reason that he loved this campus and its students and its uniquely weird and brilliant culture.

He loved being outdoors. He had just bought a new truck. He was not much older than you, or perhaps he is younger.

He knew I was watching the marathon on Monday and was one of the first people to text me to make sure I was okay. Last night, he texted me at 10:30 to see if I’d be bartending at the Thirsty Ear that night — he was thinking about stopping by after his shift ended and hanging out with the students at our weekly karaoke night. He never responded to my text back hoping that he was safe.

Courtesy of Tamas Kolos-Lakatos.

Courtesy of Tamas Kolos-Lakatos.

Keep the MIT police in your thoughts. They are a kind, dedicated, hardworking part of our community. The extent to which they care about the well-being of the students and every faculty and staff member is inspiring and stems from a deep and genuine love of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Boston is my heart, Cambridge is my home, and MIT is where I’ve had the amazing privilege to live my life, working on the projects I love with the people I adore, for nearly six years. I love you all. When you’re tooling on psets as the semester wraps up, remember that they don’t matter. But the person who wrote the pset, the person who’s grading it, the person who’s working on it with you at 3 AM, the person who’s smiling hello as they clean up the reading room, the person who’s teaching the class? They matter.

Think of Sean Collier today. He’s a genuine hero and the best of what our campus represents.

I love you MIT. Mens et manus, and IHTFP. (second meaning.)

by Sara E. Ferry

The new and improved SP ZipBikes!

SP's ZipBikes in the west bike room.

SP’s ZipBikes in the west bike room.

Boston may lay claim to the title of most walkable city in America, but sometimes walking just won’t cut it. In such times, savvy citizens become savvy cyclists: Strap on a helmet, hop on a bike, and ride. But where can a non-cyclist find a bike?

Sidney-Pacific residents need look no further than the West Bike Room. The SP ZipBikes program, administered by the SP Bikes Chair, offers free bicycle rentals for recreational use by residents, around half of whom don’t own a bike. For those without personal vehicles, SP ZipBikes—checked in and out at the front desk—make shopping trips and distant errands a breeze. As with any public resource, however, bikes for common use cannot help but invoke a tragic general neglect. Time and again SP ZipBikes have been found damaged and unlocked in random places in the crowded SP bike rooms, costing Sidney-Pacific—and hence residents, through the house tax—the price of repairs, new locks, and new bikes.

To promote responsible bike sharing, the ZipBikes program is piloting a new temporary checkout procedure, starting on April 1st. Instead of checking out keys from the front desk, residents can reserve a bike using a shared Google calendar and pick up keys from the Bikes Chair the evening before the scheduled rental. Residents may reserve up to two bikes a maximum of two weeks in advance, with a one-day rental period. All bikes must be returned to the West Bike Room, and keys must be returned to the Bikes Chair by 10PM or by individual arrangement. If you would like to participate in the ZipBikes bike rental program, email the SP Bikes Chair at sp-bikes-chair@mit.edu for access to the ZipBikes calendar (spzipbikes@gmail.com).

While SP ZipBikes provides a free bike rental option that’s close to home, residents should also consider joining the alternative Hubway bike rental program. Hubway provides bike rental services within the Boston/Cambridge metro area for a daily or annual fee, with two stations on the MIT campus (Kendall and Massachusetts Ave.). MIT offers subsidized $25 annual memberships for students and affiliates, which is an incredible deal. However, while Hubway bikes are very convenient for short trips, the service provides only heavy commuter bikes and allows travel only within the Hubway network of stations—an extra fee applies for trips longer than 30 minutes. SP residents are thus encouraged to join and use Hubway for short trips and to lobby the SP House Government to provide high-quality road and mountain bikes for free full-day rental through the SP ZipBikes program.

Biking at Sidney-Pacific: By the Numbers

(Survey of 87 SP residents)

bikes

  • 51% of respondents don’t own a bike, 22% own a road bike, 13% own a mountain bike, 17% own a hybrid (more than one option allowed)
  • 75% of SP bike owners paid less than $400 for their bikes
  • 60% of respondents have never rented a bike from SP
  • 79% of respondents have heard of Hubway, but only 5% are currently Hubway members

By Joel Jean, outgoing SP Bikes Chair

A Decade of Caring: A Tribute to Roger and Dottie

Roger_Dottie_NominationsDinner_Small

Housemasters Roger and Dottie Mark.

It was a bittersweet moment for us to celebrate Roger and Dottie’s 10th and final year of being Sidney-Pacific Housemasters at the Alumni Reunion. The entire alumni crowd gave a standing ovation to Roger and Dottie in recognition of their innumerable and significant contributions to the SidPac community over the years.

Roger has been the one you want to talk to if you got into trouble, got lost in your research, or ever needed some wisdom about how to handle your work/life situation. He also inspired us with his DIY attitude about getting things done around SP, whether it meant taking a drill to the brick walks to fasten down cleats for the movie ropes, or hanging up racks for pans in the kitchen pantry. His passion to make Sidney-Pacific the best dormitory in the entire world, especially by developing outstanding student leadership, has been the impetus and motivation for the incredible reputation our community holds throughout MIT (and the world!).

Dottie has been the heart and soul of SP — keeping tabs on residents, attending their thesis defenses, weddings, feeding residents with her delicious cooking, and her always gracious hospitality. Dottie made us feel loved and cared for — SP was not just our dorm, it was our home.

Roger and Dottie, we are going to miss you so much, we are actually not going to let you leave…

To all the alumni, if you are in the vicinity of Cambridge this year, please drop by so we can say “HI” to you and hear about your post-MIT/SP lives!

Fondly,

Roland Tang and Annette Kim

Sidney-Pacific Associate Housemasters

Get a Green Thumb at the SP Community Garden.

"Earth boxes" belonging to SP residents.

“Earthboxes” belonging to SP residents.

While the wonders of modern agriculture are separating us further and further from our food supply, some residents of Sidney Pacific are contributing their part to reverse this trend by growing their own herbs and vegetables! To serve these residents, Sidney Pacific launched a community garden in Fall 2012, spearheaded by George Chen from SPEC 2012, SP plants chair Peng Shi and Assistant Housemaster Roland Tang. The vision of this is a community of garden lovers at SP who share and support one another in the joy of planting their own food.

The community garden is currently located in the SP courtyard, in the form of a series of “earthboxes”: self-watering devices containing to 2 cubit feet boxes of soil which are lent out to residents to plant to their hearts desire. This allows residents to take advantage of outdoor sun while respecting MIT facilities regulations that disallow planting on the lawn. Residents take complete ownership of their cubic feet of soil and grows whatever herbs or vegetables they like.

Over the next year, the community garden plans to grow its membership, strengthen the sense of community, and to enjoy the fruits of its first full harvest cycle. We plan to build community by having meals together, sharing advice and tips about planting, and going to plant together. Peng, the plants chair, is planning to complement this with other plants/gardening/nature events to reach more residents with such interests and build a wider community of nature lovers at SP. If you would like to join our community, please contact SP plants chair Peng Shi at sp-plants-chair@mit.edu.

By Peng Shi, SP Plants Chair