On Friday the 13th, hundreds of students, alumni, and puzzle enthusiasts gathered anxiously in Lobby 7. At noon, the members of the 33 teams that came to compete in the 2012 Mystery Hunt were greeted by two familiar characters: the infamous Max and Leo from 1968 Mel Brooks film The Producers. The two introduced the premise of the hunt, which is an MIT annual puzzling event that dates back to 1980.

The 2011 Enrolled Student Survey, which was conducted this past spring, polled undergraduates about extracurricular and academic activities, and underscored an apparent increase in student stress. About 65 percent of the undergraduate body responded to the online questionnaire, which is delivered every four years.

When asked about the decline in the number of early applications for MIT — down 4.7 percent from last year — Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill ’86 hypothesized that the decrease was likely caused by the reinstitution of early application programs at several other universities this year.

Last week President Obama named Mildred S. Dresselhaus, emeritus institute professor of physics and electrical engineering and computer science, and Burton Richter ’52, emeritus professor in the physical sciences at Stanford, as this year’s winners of the Enrico Fermi Award. The award is given “to encourage excellence in research in energy science and technology benefiting mankind,” according to its description. Etablished in 1956 to honor the accomplishments of 1938 physics Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi, the award carries a gold medal and an honorarium of $50,000, shared equally by its recipients.