Five burn injuries from a boat fire on the Charles River last Thursday, Sept. 6, appear to have been caused by sodium, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Local media sources reported that the substance may have come from a sodium drop, a traditional MIT activity in which sodium is thrown into the Charles River so that students can watch its violent reaction with water.

The Boston University Student Dental Plan will not be available to members of the MIT community this academic year. The plan had been the least expensive of the options available to students in the area and remains open to those enrolled in a number of other local colleges and universities. The Housing and Community Affairs subcommittee of the Graduate Student Council is exploring replacement options.

This is the sixth interview in a seven-part series introducing incoming students to some of MIT’s faculty, staff, and student leaders. Today, The Tech interviews Leeland B. Ekstrom G, president of the Graduate Student Council. Ekstrom talks about graduate student life and his plans for the GSC.

The new automatic door mechanism for Lobby 7 has had persistent problems since its installation on Aug. 21. The exit door seems to fail every few days. As of last week the door has been blockaded and disabled. The failure is a result of a thermal overload in a relay that operates the door mechanism, and Facilities has been investigating temperature issues in the room that houses the control equipment.