In the Community

That’s the magic number for The Greater Boston Food Bank’s (GBFB) annual Turkey Drive, where just $15 provides a meaty turkey to families across eastern Massachusetts for the holiday. Yet with winter swiftly approaching, Thanksgiving is just the threshold for the need the GBFB anticipates this season.

Diane Rosenfeld, through her work at Harvard, has found a way to help many. Social justice and civil rights protection of domestic violence victims are at the core of Rosenfeld’s work, both as a lecturer at Harvard Law School (HLS) and as an activist with Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.

It’s November again, signaling the cold autumn preamble to another lengthy Massachusetts winter. And here at Harvard, “giving month” has arrived — kicking off the annual Community Gifts Through Harvard campaign, a campuswide charitable initiative that draws much-needed dollars from generous faculty, staff, and retirees for various Massachusetts Bay charities during the month of November. This year’s goal is to reach upwards of $800,000.

Harvard University’s planners are seeking comment on preliminary refinements to several master planning concepts well in advance of filing an Institutional Master Plan (IMP) with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), targeted for 2009.

A chilly Saturday morning outside of Harvard Stadium couldn’t stop the residents of Allston from coming out to mingle at the 19th annual Allston-Brighton Family Football Day (Oct. 18). President Drew Faust and Vice President of Government, Community, and Public Affairs Christine Heenan joined residents of Allston-Brighton for the pregame luncheon.

Top world skaters will skate for a cause this weekend (Oct. 10-11) when they gather at Bright Hockey Center for the Jimmy Fund’s annual “An Evening with Champions.” Hosted by 1992 Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie ’90, the event has raised more than $2.4 million for the Jimmy Fund, which supports adult and pediatric cancer research and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Stricken with scarlet fever as a young boy, David Wright grew up in a silent world. In his moving autobiography, “Deafness: A Personal Account,” the South African-born author tells that story.

Last week, more than 5,700 books were shipped from TriLiteral, the warehouse that holds inventory for Harvard University Press, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press, and Yale University Press, to help replenish the Iraqi National Library. The three presses have partnered with the Sabre Foundation, whose book donation program has a long history of helping get educational materials to countries in need — often those engaged in or recovering from conflict. The Sabre Foundation (working with a grant from the United States Embassy in Baghdad) covered the logistics and shipping of the titles.

A new education research and development laboratory at Harvard University will identify and advance strategies to improve student achievement in America’s public schools, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced Sept. 25 at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Fall was grandly ushered in by local residents on Sunday (Sept. 21) with RiverSing, a unique arts festival along the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge.

The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced that the 2008 Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award will go to Billy Shore, co-founder of Share Our Strength. The award and the $100,000 prize that accompanies it will be presented to Shore on Nov. 19 at a reception in Cambridge, Mass.

Later this month, the Revels and the Charles River Conservancy will again team up for RiverSing, a free and open-to-the-public event celebrating the beauty of the Charles River and the first day of fall. Featuring seasonal music and communal singing, the Sept. 21 event will be held on the John W. Weeks Footbridge linking Allston and Cambridge.

Trevor Bakker ’10 spent this summer at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the world’s first permanent war crimes court.

As part of its Celebrity Science Series, the Museum of Science will host “Sustaining Life: A Conversation” on Oct. 3 with Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Eric Chivian, director of…

Top world skaters, including 1964 Olympic gold medalists Ludmilla and Oleg Protopopov and national synchronized skating champions the Haydenettes, will take on cancer when they gather for the annual “An Evening with Champions” on Oct. 10-11 (at 7 and 8 p.m., respectively) at Bright Hockey Center. Started in 1970 by former U.S. champion John Misha Petkevich, “An Evening with Champions” will feature a silent auction and prize drawing. Paul Wylie ’90, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, will again host the event with proceeds benefiting the Jimmy Fund.

Harvard’s teaching mission doesn’t go on summer vacation — and it doesn’t stop at Harvard Yard. In fact, Harvard’s labs and classrooms, the Yard, and nearby parks and local schools were all buzzing with learning and fun activities this summer as thousands of people, young and old, took part in dozens of Harvard community-based programs.

Harvard’s 33rd annual Senior Picnic went off without a hitch on a sun-filled Wednesday (July 30) whose warm temperatures were cooled by a gentle breeze.

On the verge of making some of life’s biggest decisions, a group of Allston-Brighton high school students listened attentively to a few of the possibilities that lay before them.

The Harvard Allston Education Portal, a new resource center designed to be a bridge between North Allston/North Brighton residents and Harvard teaching and learning, opened its doors last week (July 14) with mentoring for area children and a science movie night for families.

Rolling thunderstorms dumped rain on Harvard Yard, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the student leaders and campers who gathered at the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) on Wednesday (July 23) for a barbeque that had one very special guest.

Katherine Bogdanovich Loker, a major Harvard benefactor and one of the nation’s most active and generous supporters of higher education, died June 26 in Oceanside, Calif. She had suffered a massive stroke earlier in the week.

Harvard University today (July 8) released the report of its Greenhouse Gas Task Force. The task force, appointed by President Drew Faust in February, proposes elements of a framework for much-intensified efforts to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of a broader effort to promote environmental sustainability.

Educational testing is a fundamental part of the educational system in the United States, but many argue that far too much emphasis is placed on it. One influential voice in the lively, often contentious, testing debate belongs to Daniel Koretz, professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), whose research focuses on educational assessment as it relates to educational policy, with an emphasis on the effects of high-stakes testing. His new book, titled “Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us” (Harvard University Press, 2008), is a detailed exploration of the pros and cons and complexities of testing.

The Crimson Summer Academy provides yearlong mentoring to economically disadvantaged high school students in Boston and Cambridge.

In the future, Harvard will go beyond traditional ivy and red brick to create campuses with more energy-efficient buildings that minimize water usage and produce low air emissions.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending May 19. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies of Harvard University is currently accepting submissions for its 2008 Noma-Reischauer Prizes in Japanese Studies, given to the undergraduate and graduate student with the best essays on Japan-related topics. The undergraduate award is $2,000 and the graduate award is $3,000. The deadline for submission is Monday, June 30.

DEPT.OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES AWARDS PRIZES HUMBOLDT FOUNDATION ELECTS VISITING PROFESSOR KOBAYASHI GILDER LEHRMAN SCHOLAR NAMED ACKERMAN PRESENTS ADDRESS AT ITALIAN CONFERENCE CHA’S KEEFE RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GOMES TO FETE ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY

On Wednesday (May 21), a male undergraduate student reported that he was the victim of an assault and battery at approximately 8:55 a.m.

With the end of the academic year fast approaching, the temptation to purge all obsolete office and school materials is stronger than ever. But to maintain Harvard’s impressive 50 percent recycling rate, Harvard’s University Operations Services (UOS) wishes to remind the community to continue recycling all materials whenever possible.