The official student media body of IIT Madras
“The overall picture we get is one of complete non-cooperation that has led to utter chaos in many schemes related to research scholars…an unprecedented 100% of his manifesto points have not been executed, with many of them either being issues that are not under his purview or completely impractical schemes.” Read to learn about the RAS’s disastrous tenure.
‘Perhaps the most significant change was the decision to bar vehicles from entering the campus during the Saarang and Shaastra shows…The measures that the Shaastra and Saarang teams implemented have certainly made the campus safer for deer and other animals — there was not a single case of deer death reported during the two fests.” As part of ‘Inconvenient Truths’, our series on the environmental conundrums facing IITM’s campus, Nitin and Kalyani look into how measures taken by the organizers of both insti fests culminated in a clean chit from Prakriti.
“Rohit says that despite the workload for an Institute Secretary being quite high, the immense networking opportunities it provides makes the post worth the trouble. He indicates that the administration was extremely helpful and never proved to be a hindrance for any of his work.” Read to learn about the International and Alumni Affairs Secretary’s tenure between 2014 and 2015.
T5E’s Secretary Review series begins with a review of the work done by the Sports Secretary, Nitish Reddy. Read through the article to gauge the Secretary’s effectiveness during his tenure.
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.
“…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.
“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.
‘Smiling widely, Prof. Manokaran says, “It may sound cheesy, but I wanted to come back to make an impact. If you look at the technology that has come out of India in the last ten years, it has made a huge impact. Now we can try to attack the problems where there is a huge demand for innovation. If you ask me why I came to IIT Madras … it’s one of the best places to be, and I don’t mean to brag, but students here are among the best in the world. I feel much more at home in Chennai than anywhere else.”’
Ananth and Aahlad speak to three young alumni professors about their motivations for coming back, their thoughts on what makes IITM unique, their opportunity costs for coming back to India, and much more.
“Close to a hundred students gathered in front of Himalaya lawns at 5 PM on November 14 to register their views on moral policing. A couple of speeches were made, songs were sung, hugs exchanged and cheeks kissed, with the occasional peck on the lips. The organizers maintain that the event was about ‘Celebrating Love’ and not kissing in specific, but the parallel stuck, with it being widely reported by the media as the IIT Madras version of ‘Kiss of Love’. ”
Aroon reports on the recent event, “Celebrating Love”, organized on the IIT Madras campus.
“These sessions gave us an opportunity to learn what the others are working towards. They had so much passion for Computer Science that just talking to them was very inspiring. There is so much energy when you are meeting such people who are doing well in their fields, and after coming back, I feel even more motivated to excel.” Spandana Raj, recipient of both this year’s Facebook Grace Hopper Celebration Scholarship and the Google Anita Borg Scholarship, speaks to Ananth Sundararaman about her experiences.