http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39103 2013-06-08T13:50:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79028 Catalogue of a Loss Berger, Larisa (Larisa A.) Catalogue of a Loss is a collection of sixty-two prose poems written within the past year and half. The work is printed on 4x6 cards. Each poem may be read individually from a single card or the poems can be read in sequences. Each poem maps to at least one prescribed sequence that is visually indicated on the card(s). In the case that the poem maps to multiple sequences that poem is reprinted so that each subset it belongs to may be individually represented. Within this document, I've provided re-printings of the cards along with four of the larger possible sequences I have framed for the reader (indicated by red / violet / cyan/ gold). There are no duplicates within this set therefore the described cross-referencing in which a single poem maps to multiple sequences is not represented. The reader is encouraged to make what he will of the sequences: my intention is that the relationships suggested by the proposed reading-sequences do not establish a single structure designed to constrain the reader but offer, instead, multiple structures that will inspire new relationships of the reader's own making. The work is a memoir-of-sorts. I began working on this piece in January 2011 knowing that I would write about my father who died in January 2007-ten years after he first began experiencing symptoms of dementia. In that time I took off the Fall semester and lived in San Francisco. Writing this work caused my own re-examination on life with my parents, life at MIT and life out in the world. The work examines my life at an intimate distance. Even the colors that I used to encode the poems are taken from our family portrait. The card-form emulates exactly how I was remembering my past: connections were formed and then blurred; random details were vivid and unforgettable while others completely disappeared. The resulting work explores the lines between art and life, between art-making and life-making, between past and present, between solitude and loneliness, between intellectual exile and the comforts of home, between "family" self and "independent" self. In the sixty-seven cards represented within this document are the past five years of my life. Thesis (S.B. in Humanities and Engineering)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79024 The shield Iglesias, Brian (Brian M.) A young boy grows up in a future world buried under snow, a great factory and research lab with his father at the head. As he grows he is torn between the desire to be like his beloved father and the equally strong desire to get out from under his shadow in the eyes of those around him, in a world where there is nowhere else to go. Between chapters of this story, a trio of smaller stories set in the present day tells the tale of how the world reached the state shown in the future. Each is the same basic story of the invention of the titular shield that brought about mankind's collapse, told from the perspective of a different observer: once from the shield's inventor, once from a government agent who helped make it a weapon, and once from a former spy recalling parallels to historical events. In viewing parallel events from each of these smaller pieces the reader is able to see how all of the individual actions are rational despite the wholly catastrophic result, and the works also fill in the blanks in each other's stories of what happened as a whole. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43725 Secrets of the MIT mystery hunt : an exploration of the theory underlying the construction of a multi-puzzle contest Gottlieb, Mark Louis, 1974- This is an exploration of the rules and guidelines that underlie the structure of a multi-puzzle contest (a competition consisting of one large puzzle made up of a number of smaller constituent puzzles). The MIT Mystery Hunt, a multi-puzzle contest held on campus each January, is the second-largest annual event of this nature in the United States. The theories put forth in this exploration were culled from personal experience. Having played in four MIT Mystery Hunts and constructed two, as well as participating in other multi-puzzle contests such as the Miami Herald Tropic Hunt, the Random House $10,000 Trivia Challenge, and the National Puzzlers' League convention extravaganza, I am familiar with the specific format in question. Furthermore, I have a firsthand understanding, from both sides of the contest, of what is necessary and what is optional and, more importantly, what works and what does not. It was found that the structural framework of a multi-puzzle contest is rather loose; most of the guidelines and elements are optional. The only necessary aspects are the most basic structural components: an endgame and a number of individual puzzles. However, while a multi-puzzle contest can technically work without a majority of the elements discussed, many of these must be included for such a contest to be a successful form of entertainment. The most vital aspects are theme and variety; others that should be included are puzzles that use the available geography and experimental puzzles. Ultimately, the puzzle maker should design the multi-puzzle contest he would most like to participate in himself. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, 1998. 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43169 To our health : the role of IT in healthcare Powell, Adam C. (Adam Cooper) Preventable medical complications are afflicting a growing number of Americans. Meanwhile, the field of healthcare has been slow to uptake information technology. This thesis reviews existing literature in order to produce recommendations on how to use information technology to reduce the cost and increase the quality of healthcare in the United States. Current findings and statistics from academic and governmental sources are cited in order to illustrate the present state of the healthcare system. Changes in the healthcare model are advocated on an individual, corporate, and government level. It is proposed that improvements can be made through the metrication of personal health statistics, the use of electronic medical records, and the conversion of American healthcare into a market-based system with widely accessible quality ratings. These recommendations are targeted to voters and policymakers interested in improving the American healthcare system. Thesis (S.B. in Expository Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references and index. 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z