Bolting Through Memory Lane

Praveen “Bolt” Kumar is a fifth year Dual Degree student in the Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Department. He is presently the fastest athlete amongst all the IIT’s. A five-time Inter-IIT gold medallist, he has won 16 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals overall. He was also a part of IIT-M’s record-breaking 4x100m relay team and captained the Institute Athletics team in 2013-14.

How Things Work: Replacing a Lost/Broken ID Card

All too often, we find ourselves gritting our teeth over (seemingly) indecipherable bureaucratic procedures for simple things, like booking rooms at Taramani Guest House or adding extra courses. T5E brings you a new series, How Things Work, to make your insti life easier. This article gives you a step by step guide to getting a new ID card.

Scrubs: Our Insti Hospital

“In the survey, there were a few complaints that the doctors really don’t seem to check the patient well enough before prescribing medicines. There also seems to be the issue regarding the availability of specialist doctors. Some students have questioned the ability of the hospital regarding the diagnosis of serious diseases, such as Dengue or Typhoid.” Read more about the Institute Hospital, and T5E’s survey on it, in this comprehensive report by Bhargavi and Rakesh.

Elections @ IITM: A 20th Century Remnant

“…our Institute has approximately 7,500 hostel residents across 18 hostels. With at most 9 days available for campaign, a candidate is required to meet with more than 800 students a day, and each student is expected to meet with candidates for all 18+ elections!”
In light of the recent impasse in the SAC over allowing online campaigning for institute elections, Arun Sudarsan, ex-SAC member and 2014 MA (HSS) graduate, presents his arguments on behalf of online campaigning.

Don’t Ban our LAN

“The major problem with the LAN ban’s effectiveness is that it attempts to be a one-size-fits-all solution where none is possible. The 8 am to 2 pm cut is intended to ensure that students do not miss classes due to the internet, but does not take into account the widely differing schedules of students in the institute. For example, final year undergraduates and research scholars have very few courses, while half the first year undergraduates have courses from 2 pm to 5 pm, and not in the morning slot — clearly, the LAN ban constitutes a great inconvenience for such students.”

An editorial that makes a case against the LAN ban.

A Brief Chat with Kris Gopalakrishnan and Rajiv Lochan

“Print media is dependent upon revenue but we believe advertisers would come where there are readers and today’s readers are not willing to accept nonsense. Our policy on pricing reflects that. It does not matter whether our competitors are pricing at rates that are atrociously low. Our content stands out and readers are willing to pay for that.” — Rajiv Lochan, CEO of The Hindu.

An exclusive T5E interview with Rajiv Lochan and Krish Gopalakrishnan, from their appearance at the Shaastra Entrepreneurship Confluence. Read their views on startups and jobs for engineering graduates.