Year: 2006

  • Nation & World

    Undergraduate essay contest on ‘Literature that Changed My Life’

    The Cultural Agents Initiative, the Office of the Dean for the Humanities in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Harvard University Press have announced an undergraduate essay contest to explore the impact of literature on individual lives.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Frosh look at energy independence

    U.S. energy consumption will continue to rise in the years ahead, and along with it, America’s dependence on foreign energy sources. That was the message delivered Nov. 30 by former Congressman Philip Sharp to a group of 36 congressional freshmen attending the 17th biennial Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress at the Kennedy School.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Pacifism is fruit of family tree

    The nonviolent principles of Mohandas Gandhi may be the only way to bring peace to the world, Gandhi’s granddaughter said Monday (Dec. 4).

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Clausens’ memorial service scheduled for Dec. 15

    Wendell Vernon Clausen, Pope Professor of the Latin Language and Literature Emeritus, died Oct. 12 in Belmont, Mass. He was 83 and had been in declining health after suffering a…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    This month in Harvard history

    Dec. 2-3, 1942 – Seven Mexican and three Bolivian journalists visit Harvard while touring the U.S. and Canada to study wartime conditions. Dec. 9, 1944 – Alumni begin to respond…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Casts of monuments preserve fading treasures

    The carved stone monolith tells the story of Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat, the 16th and last ruler of the Maya city of Copan, one of the most important sites in Maya history.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Hormones in milk can be dangerous

    Ganmaa Davaasambuu is a physician (Mongolia), a Ph.D. in environmental health (Japan), a fellow (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), and a working scientist (Harvard School of Public Health). On Monday…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Study: Gap in energy among teens

    A new study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that America’s overweight teens consumed an average of 700 to 1,000 calories more than required each…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    More blacks ‘misperceive’ weight problem

    Overweight black Americans are two to three times more likely than heavy white Americans to say they are of average weight – even after being diagnosed as overweight or obese…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Popular hair-loss drug impedes prostate cancer detection in middle-aged men

    Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have found that the prostate specific antigen (PSA) cancer screening test is falsely lowered by a factor of two in middle-aged men who…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Research finds mutation that causes Noonan syndrome

    Scientists have discovered that mutations in a gene known as SOS1 account for many cases of Noonan syndrome (NS), a common childhood genetic disorder that occurs in one in 1,000…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Dust from Asia invades North America

    On the dustiest days in the western United States, 40 percent of the grime blows in from Asia. And fine particles can travel all the way around the world from…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘Usable Knowledge’ Web site delivers research to educators

    The Harvard Graduate School of Education on Dec. 6, 2006, launched a new Web site aimed at connecting the research of its faculty with educators in the field. The Usable…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Negative vibes from space

    Astronomers have discovered the first negatively charged molecule in space, identifying it from radio signals that were a mystery until now. While about 130 neutral and 14 positively charged molecules…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Harvard Review garners recognition

    Harvard Review has garnered recent recognition for both its writing and art design: Two pieces published in the literary journal have been selected for inclusion in The Best American series – a showcase for the year’s poetry, short stories, and essays since 1915 – while two of the journal’s covers have been chosen for Print…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Tradition of American protest literature probed

    In July 1846, Henry David Thoreau was arrested in Concord and briefly jailed for evading a poll tax. His friend Ralph Waldo Emerson visited him, and peered through the bars.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Plans could guide Harvard Forest proposal to conserve 2.5 million acres

    Harvard Forest’s “Wildlands and Woodlands” proposal to conserve roughly half of Massachusetts as protected lands has received a boost from a new report detailing seven strategies to finance the ambitious proposal.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A.R.T. for all: New program sets aside affordable tickets

    In order to make tickets widely accessible, the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) has launched a new program – 50 @ $15 @ noon – which offers 50 tickets at $15 for each performance during the 2006-07 season. The tickets will become available at noon on each performance day, either by phone or in person. Purchases…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A 3.5 percent increase in applications marks Early Action’s last year

    The number of Early Action applications to Harvard College increased this year by 3.5 percent. While numbers are still preliminary because the processing and reading of applications have not been completed, 4,005 students have applied compared with 3,869 last year. This is the fourth year in a row that about 4,000 students have applied early.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Things fell apart

    So thoroughly convincing was the Yale football team’s owning of the 123rd annual showdown with the Crimson gridironers this past Nov. 18 at Harvard Stadium, it seemed as if the visiting Bulldogs had packed years of frustration into a single afternoon. Yale’s five-year drought against the Crimson may very well have fueled their 34-13 winning…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Canada and U.S. grow apart

    If the relationship between Canadians and Americans were put into lyrics, an appropriate song might go: “Canadians say potato, Americans say potahto.”

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Newsmakers

    ‘Rojo’ takes first prize Gardner Cowles Associate Professor of Music Hans Tutschku recently won a first prize in the 2006 Musica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competition for his work “Rojo.”…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Harvard increases T-Pass subsidy for all riders

    After careful evaluation, Harvard Transportation Services recommended and gained approval to provide all monthly transit passes at a 50 percent discount, beginning Jan. 1. This policy change equalizes the subsidy amount for bus, subway and commuter rail users, and softens the impact of the MBTA fare increase for many users.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department for the week ending Nov. 27. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Flu vaccinations available through Dec. 19

    Free flu shots are now available to all Harvard ID holders and HUGHP health plan members at Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) every Monday and Tuesday through Dec. 19, and at a range of times and days at additional Harvard locations in Cambridge and Boston.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Unarmed robbery reported on Banks, Cowperthwaite streets

    This past Monday (Nov. 27) at approximately 5:40 p.m., a female graduate student reported to the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) that she was robbed at the corner of Banks and Cowperthwaite streets.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Faculty of Arts and Sciences Standing Committees 2006-07

    Upon the recommendation of the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the president approved and announced the following Standing Committees at the recent FAS Faculty Meeting. Standing Committees of the faculty are constituted to perform a continuing function. Each committee has been established by a vote of the faculty, and can be…

    20 minutes
  • Nation & World

    At the Fogg, dissenters (old and new) get a chance to rail once more

    For a few months at least, the compact Straus Gallery on the ground floor of the Fogg Art Museum will be the heart of protest and dissent at Harvard.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    HGSE provides 3 years of funding for doctoral students

    Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Dean Kathleen McCartney announced that, as part of a multiyear doctoral funding opportunity, the School has guaranteed to pay full tuition and health fees for all doctoral students through the end of the third year. The announcement, made at a meeting of doctoral students in Askwith Hall, was received…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Abizaid warns of looming world war

    America cannot walk away from Iraq without risking another world war. That warning was sounded at the Kennedy School forum Nov. 17 by Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), the man responsible for U.S. military strategy in the Middle East.

    2 minutes