A new social event policy for fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups has been issued and is set to go into effect today. Among other things, it will lift the party ban established last year by increasing the assembly numbers of FSILGs located in Boston that were previously limited to 49 people.

Opening statements are expected to commence next Wednesday in the trial of the accused Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, according to a court official. Pending motions will be addressed in a hearing on Monday, and on Tuesday the defense and prosecution teams will whittle down the 70 remaining potential jurors to the 18 who will be seated for opening statements.

MIT has filed a lawsuit against Apple and Micron over their alleged patent infringement concerning a technology used to manufacture semiconductor wafers. The patent describes a laser-cutting process for semiconductor metals and was originally issued in 2000 to then-MIT scientist Joseph Bernstein and co-inventor Zhihui Duan.

A prominent Democratic congressman is probing MIT about funding for professor emeritus Richard S. Lindzen, who is known for his skepticism of what he calls climate change “alarmism.”

Every year, a group of MIT students is chosen by its respective class council to design MIT’s iconic class ring, the Brass Rat, as well as organize the annual Ring Premiere and Ring Delivery ceremony. This prominent role exposes the group to criticism.

Students scaling the mountainous pile of snow behind Simmons Hall in past weeks were confronted by police officers and told to leave. Some were reportedly threatened with arrest if they did not comply.

The Division for Student Life has released a grade report for fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs). In the Fall 2014 semester, the average GPA among members of independent living groups was 4.45. The average GPA among sorority sisters was 4.43. The average GPA for fraternities was 4.38.

High pressure over the Midwest is keeping the forecast for the northeastern part of the country mercifully precipitation-free. Considering the troubles that we have had trying to find a place to put all of the snow that has fallen, a week or string of 10 days without heavy snowfall is a welcome outlook. Through the end of the weekend, we should have little to no snow and varying levels of cloudiness. Temperatures will probably not venture above freezing until Monday, and overnight lows will be dipping down into the chilly single digits (°F).

An article about the Class of 2017 Ring Premiere published last Thursday incorrectly said that over 1,100 students had bought rings by the Wednesday following the event. In fact, over 1,100 rings had been sold by that time, with some students buying multiple rings.

Stung by family members urging him to be more affectionate, Irving Singer, a philosophy professor, spent years researching and writing a 1,300-page, three-volume examination of the subject titled “The Nature of Love.”