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MIT Pirate Certificate

physicaleducationandwellness.mit.edu

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Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#21

Post by ocdtrekkie »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #13
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 virtua…

I mean, in this case it is probably considered a net win, MIT is known for its culture of "hacks", and having to game your way into the required courses adds to the challenge!

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#22

Post by fragmede »

ke88y wrote: post #12
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 undergradu…

Unless you're, y'know, Aaron Swartz.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#25

Post by paulddraper »

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.

They say that, but realistically no one ever checks for your pirate license anyway, so you can get away with it.

YMMV

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#26

Post by mikrl »

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.

Who even gives out letters of marque these days?

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#27

Post by jlev »

This was an informal thing for a long time, but I didn't know that there's now an actual certificate. I may have to go back and request mine retroactively.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#28

Post by madars »

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.

From what I've heard, yes. The choice is not between speaking at MIT+no honorary degree and not speaking at all; speak at MIT+no honorary degree/speak at Harvard+honorary degree -> well, could be swayed to speak at Harvard then!

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#29

Post by dragonwriter »

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

“It is a power enumerated in the Constitution of 1789” does not mean “It is a practice still relevant in the world of 2023”. The US hasn’t issued any Letters of Marque and Reprisal since 1815, and while it remains a Constitutional power of the US government that a couple Republican members of Congress keep trying to breathe active life into since 9/11, it seems well and truly dead in practice.

Re: MIT Pirate Certificate

#30

Post by frob »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #13
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 virtua…

For a few semesters at least, the phys ed requirement was a pool system. You wod choose your top 3 or 6 options. There were lotteries if classes were oversubscribed and those who didn't get their first choice, got lotteries for their second choice, and so on.
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