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MIT Pirate Certificate

physicaleducationandwellness.mit.edu

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Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#11

Post by esrauch »

madars wrote: post #8

MIT also famously does not award honorary degrees [1] which restricts its commencement speaker pool. However, commencement speakers can get honorary Pirate Certificates which is way cooler: https://alum.mit.edu/slice/arrrr-mit-pirates-and-matt-damon-... [1] https://news.mit.edu/2001/commdegrees

Do famous people really choose not to speak at MIT Commencement because they won't get an honorary degree for it? You'd think "spoke at MIT Commencement" would be an equal line item for a CV given the context.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#12

Post by ke88y »

amelius wrote: post #10

Does MIT now have a kindergarten on premises?

Yes [1]. They also provide tuition scholarships for children of staff and graduate students [2] who could not otherwise afford childcare in the Boston area (which runs on average $20K/yr against a post-tax stipend as low as $31K/yr, ie, completely impossible to afford unless you have a trust fund or a scholarship).

Not sure what that has to do with a bit of workplace levity at an otherwise famously intense undergraduate institution. Having a bit of fun is a time-honored MIT tradition; e.g., "All Tech Men carry batteries!" [3] and The Journal of the Institute for Hacks, TomFoolery, and Pranks at MIT more generally [4].

[1] http://childcare.mit.edu/

[2] http://childcare.mit.edu/tuition-scholarships/mit-childcare-...

[3] http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1990/H-Y/

[4] http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/books/ihtfp_leibowitz/ihtfp_leibo...

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#13

Post by abdullahkhalids »

polygamous_bat wrote: post #4

Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of opening. However, this being at MIT, I was never sure whether this was because of humans or bots.

I don't know why universities think the best way to decide enrollment is smashing the register button.

My undergrad university had the sense to let everyone pick their first preferences within 24 hours of enrollment starting. Then for over-selected courses, people were enrolled randomly [1]. This was repeated once more, iirc, and then in the third round enrollment was instantaneous.

This, thankfully, prevented virtual stampedes and allowed for people to select their courses in a non-panic manner.

[1] after required-for-graduation enrollments.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#14

Post by giantg2 »

esrauch wrote: post #11
madars wrote: post #8

MIT also famously does not award honorary degrees [1] which restricts its commencement speaker pool. However, commencement speakers can get honorary Pirate Certificates which is way cooler: https://alum.mit.edu/slice/arrrr-mit-pirates-and-matt-damon-... [1] https://news.mit.edu/2001/commdegrees

Do famous people really choose not to speak at MIT Commencement because they won't get an honorary degree for it? You'd think "spoke at MIT Commencement" would be an equal line item for a CV given the context.

I would think if someone was important enough to speak at commencement, the act of speaking at commencement would be a relatively unimportant and not worth putting on a CV (if someone in those positions actually needs to use CVs).

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#15

Post by number6 »

philsnow wrote: post #9
askiiart wrote: post #3

> The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities. Jeez, what buzzkills.

A certificate says “we are Some Group that Knows about This Stuff and we think that so-and-so is capable of doing pirate-y things” You’d want a letter of marque for an endorsement of being “allowed” to do pirate-y things. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque

> Article I of the United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal in Section 8 as one of the enumerated powers of Congress, alongside the power to tax and to declare war.

It's still a thing

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#16

Post by giantg2 »

polygamous_bat wrote: post #4

Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of opening. However, this being at MIT, I was never sure whether this was because of humans or bots.

They probably have a team or club you could participate in if you are interested beyond the course credits.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#19

Post by irq-1 »

askiiart wrote: post #3

> The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities. Jeez, what buzzkills.

> Jeez, what buzzkills.

Sure, but what about the preceding sentence?

> Non-MIT courses and life experience are not counted towards completing the certificate. (emphasis added)

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#20

Post by pclmulqdq »

number6 wrote: post #15
philsnow wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A certificate says “we are Some Group that Knows about This Stuff and we think that so-and-so is capable of doing pirate-y things” You’d want a letter of marque for an endorsement of being “allowed” to do pirate-y things. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque

> Article I of the United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal in Section 8 as one of the enumerated powers of Congress, alongside the power to tax and to declare war. It's still a thing

Reportedly the Russian government has issued letters of marque to hacking and cybercrime groups. I can imagine the same has happened in the US.
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