Campus & Community

Undergraduate education at Harvard has improved significantly in recent years. The reason? A growing number of students are spending time away from Harvard.

Stavins co-editing new Journal of Wine Economics The Journal of Wine Economics, a new scholarly periodical published earlier this month for the first time, is co-edited by Robert Stavins, the…

Six Harvard College students have been awarded the first annual Lester Kissel Grants in Practical Ethics to carry out summer projects on subjects ranging from Indias market in human organs to the role of luck in legal responsibility. The students will use the grants to conduct research in the United States or abroad, and to write reports, articles, or senior theses. Three of the students will carry out their projects on internships or foreign study. Each grant supports living and research expenses up to $3,000.

The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute at Harvard is now accepting submissions for its 2006 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 June 30. Papers written this academic year are eligible, including course and seminar works, B.A. or M.A. theses, or essays written specifically for the competition. Doctoral dissertations, however, will not be accepted for consideration.

What happens when the Kyoto Protocols first commitment period comes to an end after 2012? Twenty-five leading scholars, including economists, political scientists, legal scholars, and natural scientists, recently asked – and tried to answer – that question, examining alternative international strategies to address the pressing problem of global climate change after 2012.

Eighty percent of students admitted to the Class of 2010 will enter Harvard in September, a slight increase over last years 78 percent. Led by an 85.3 percent yield for admitted students eligible for the newly enhanced Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI) for low- and middle-income families, the Class of 2010 will be the most economically diverse in Harvards history.

At its 17th meeting of the year on May 10, the Faculty Council discussed the structure of Harvard College and the review of the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and…

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department for the week ending May 8. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

President Lawrence H. Summers will hold office hours for students in his Massachusetts Hall office on the following dates: Today, May 11, 4-5 p.m. Sign-up begins one hour earlier unless…

Assistant Professor of Linguistics Cedric Boeckx and Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture Robin Kelsey have been awarded this years Roslyn Abramson Award for outstanding undergraduate teaching.

Susan Marine, director of Harvards Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR), has been appointed director of the Harvard College Womens Center. College Dean Benedict Gross made the appointment following the strong recommendation of the 13-member search committee. Marine will begin her new duties on July 1.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean William C. Kirby has appointed Diana Sorensen dean for the humanities in the FAS for the coming academic year while current Dean Maria Tatar is on sabbatical. Sorensen will assume her new duties on July 1.

In this past weekends best-of-three series for the Ivy title at ODonnell Field, the Princeton baseball team came, saw, and conquered. They also silenced the as-of-late cracking Crimson bats.

The prophets of the new abolitionism met in Austin Hall over the weekend, and one of them, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law in New York, predicted the end of the death penalty within our lifetimes. Considering the unanimity of opinion on this one main point – that capital punishment is a bad idea – the gathering was in some ways more a revival meeting for activists than a debate. But, the devils in the details and so the conference didnt lack for pyrotechnics.

Prominent theologian Letty M. Russell called for people to reach across national, religious, and ethnic boundaries Tuesday (May 9) and defeat attempts by world leaders to stay in power by dividing people against each other.

Free rides for blood drive givers For its spring blood drive, the Massachusetts General Hospital Blood Donor Center is providing free transportation to and from the Harvard campus (or back…

To the gentle strains of a bossa nova and the tangy aroma of salgadinhos, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) launched its new Brazilian Studies Program last week. In addition to the festive reception, the May 1 event was marked by a lecture by University of São Paulo historian Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, with more than 250 students, faculty, members of the Brazilian community, and friends attending. Director of DRCLAS and Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs John H. Coatsworth called the occasion a splendid mixture of Brazilian past, present, and future.

Merilee S. Grindle, the Edward S. Mason Professor of International Development at the Kennedy School of Government, has been appointed the new director of Harvard Universitys David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, beginning on July 1.

Christopher Durang 71, this years recipient of the Harvard Arts Medal, wrote his first play – an episode of I Love Lucy – at age 8.

Under the direction of guest conductor Jameson Marvin, the Masterworks Chorale will perform three cantatas by J.S. Bach in Sanders Theatre this Saturday (May 13) at 8 p.m.

The Harvard Foundation recently honored members of the Harvard community who are outstanding contributors to improving intercultural and race relations at the University. More than 40 students and one distinguished faculty member were presented with awards at the annual Harvard Foundation Student/Faculty Awards Dinner held April 28 in Quincy House in memory of David S. Aloian, former Quincy House master. Faculty, administrators, and House masters nominated the student award recipients, who were then chosen by the faculty and student advisory committee of the Harvard Foundation.

Pleasurable experiences are more fun to relive than negative ones, but a new study by psychologists at Harvard University reveals that memories of good times can be less accurate than those of bad times.

Those of us who remember grammar-school geography lessons as a tedious affair involving a pink and green window shade map and a chalky wooden pointer would probably never guess that,…

May 30, 1901 – Memorial Day. The Harvard Lampoon distributes its first parody of The Harvard Crimson (which never publishes on Memorial Day). May 25, 1905 – On Ralph Waldo…

Seth MacFarlane, who is creator and executive producer of televisions Family Guy, as well as the voice of the shows major characters, will be the 2006 Class Day speaker, the Harvard College Class of 2006 Senior Class Committee and the Harvard Alumni Association announced. He will address the senior class and guests on Class Day, June 7, at 2 p.m. in Tercentenary Theatre.

Political scientist Claudine Gay, a scholar whose work has illuminated how race informs political behavior, has been appointed professor of government in Harvard Universitys Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1.

A Nobel Prize-winning professor, renowned for his research on the psychological elements of economic decision making, and the founder of an innovative microfinance lending institution are recipients of the 2006 Thomas C. Schelling and Richard E. Neustadt Awards. The winners were announced at a May 4 event hosted by the Kennedy School of Government (KSG).

Crimson lacrosse tourney bound Within 24 hours of the men’s lacrosse team’s heartbreaking, triple-overtime loss to Dartmouth on Saturday (May 6), the Crimson were named one of 10 teams to…

Three Harvard faculty members were recently elected to the 2006 class of the American Philosophical Society (APS). The new members from the University include Howard E. Gardner, John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education Stephen Owen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, professor and chair, Department of Comparative Literature and Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology Theda Skocpol, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and director of the Center for American Political Studies.

Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology honors HBS professor Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration emeritus Michael Beer has received the Distinguished Professional Contributions Award from the Society of Industrial and…