Campus & Community

This beats the record, said Jon Lanham, associate librarian of Lamont Library, who collects late return due date cards. One from a book due in 1967 held the record until The American Revolution, Part I, 1766-1776 by Sir George Otto Trevelyan (Longman, Green, and Co., 1899) was returned this month after turning up in the collection of the Blue Hill Public Library in Maine. Due more than 50 years ago, it is Lamonts longest outstanding overdue book. Despite its late return, no fines will be enforced.

Racial and ethnic diversity in the student population is a positive influence that helps medical students work more effectively with patients of different backgrounds, according to a study in the May issue of Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The findings were cited in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court in the University of Michigan affirmative action case.

Theres new news out of Africa, said veteran journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

Purposefully, and without fanfare, 11 prominent African leaders spent last weekend at the Kennedy School diagnosing the dilemma of elected political leadership in Africa. Why, asked two former presidents, two former prime ministers, a foreign minister, and a clutch of current and former ministers, did so many promising democrats become autocrats after their first terms in office? Why have so many initially honest leaders become corrupt? Why have so many elected officials preyed on their own peoples as kleptocrats?

The Kennedy School of Government has announced the naming of the Roy and Lila Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The Ash Institute will build upon the Institute for Government Innovation, established in 2001 by a $50 million endowment from the Ford Foundation. A gift from Roy and Lila Ash will expand the institutes mission to advancing the understanding and practice of democracy and the innovations necessary for its success.

Nieman Foundation Fellow Ann M. Simmons, bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times in Johannesburg, South Africa, receives her Nieman certificate from Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers at a ceremony at Massachusetts Hall on May 15. Summers told the fellows that Harvard derives great benefits from your presence, and expressed his belief that the program helps to promote both greater knowledge and higher ethical standards – qualities needed in todays rapidly changing profession of journalism.

Three Boston educators were named Conant Fellows at a ceremony hosted by Graduate School of Education (GSE) Dean Ellen Condliffe Lagemann and Boston Superintendent Thomas Payzant at the Harvard Faculty Club on Monday (May 19). The Conant Fellowships, named for Harvard President Emeritus James Bryant Conant, were established in 1986, at Harvards 350th anniversary, to recognize the contributions of educators in Boston and Cambridge public schools. The fellowships, which support study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, are awarded for academic and professional achievement.

In January 2002, former Medical School Executive Dean for Administration Paul Levy took over as president and chief executive officer of ailing Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which had been losing $50 to $60 million a year.

On April 22, the Harbus Foundation presented grants totaling $60,000 to five Boston-area nonprofit organizations. The Harbus Foundation is a student-run Harvard Business School organization whose mission is to support education, literacy, and journalism projects in Boston. This year, approximately 50 Harvard Business School students reviewed almost 100 grant applications submitted by Boston-area nonprofit organizations. Through a rigorous evaluation process that seeks to measure an organizations potential to positively impact the community, students selected five grant recipients.

Artemas Wards troubles began one April day in 1775 when he got out of bed, and they have continued now for more than 200 years. Wards two-century-old journey from pre-eminence to obscurity has provided lessons in historical research techniques for modern-day Harvard graduate students, lessons that they in turn have passed along to undergraduates.

Although the personal relationship between George Bush and Vicente Fox may have cooled since Mexicos refusal to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda told an audience at Harvards Yenching Lecture Hall last Wednesday (May 14) that he believed the future was bright for relations between the two countries. In a speech titled Mexico and America: Partners and Protagonists, Castañeda struck a conciliatory tone and called President Bush Mexicos best friend in the United States.

Juniors Shaka Bahadu of Dunster House (left) and Shira Sivan Simon of Leverett House have been chosen by the Harvard Alumni Association to receive the 2003 David Aloian Memorial Scholarships. The award recognizes special contributions to the quality of life in the Houses and thoughtful leadership that makes the College an exciting place in which to live and study. Each House nominates one House resident for the award.

A thick cable of nerve cells connecting the right and left sides of the brain (corpus callosum) is smaller than normal in abused children, says Martin Teicher, associate professor of…

A barrage of editorials and letters to the editor have appeared in the press in recent weeks charging that the U.S. military ignored the advice of experts on Middle Eastern art and archaeology about what needed to be done to protect Iraqs cultural heritage after the fall of Saddam Husseins government.

Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers President Adrienne Landau (left) and Director Bill Jaeger balloon the campus on Monday (May 19), just as it was decorated 15 years ago, when the election that led to the unions formation was held.

May 1638 – The College Yard expands as the Town of Cambridge grants the College a lot of land that today includes Harvard, Hollis, Stoughton, and Holworthy halls.

Representing a broad range of disciplines, from computer science to Yiddish literature, five distinguished members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have been named Harvard College Professors.

Law School Dean Robert C. Clark has announced that the School has received a $10 million grant from the John M. Olin Foundation. The gift is the largest foundation grant in the Law Schools 186-year history.

Orchestra seeks players, to hold auditions The Harvard Summer School Orchestra is holding open auditions June 24-26 from 5 to 9 p.m. in Lowell Hall (Rooms B12 and B13). Viola,…

In a study of the possible association between phthalate exposure and human semen quality, researchers at the School of Public Healths (SPH) Occupational Health Program have found an association between select phthalates and low sperm count, low sperm motility, and an increased percent of abnormally shaped sperm among a group of men from couples seeking treatment at a fertility clinic in Boston. Low sperm count, low motility, and abnormal sperm morphology can affect the likelihood of conception but do not mean that a man is infertile.

At its 16th meeting of the year, the Faculty Council heard a report on the year now concluding from Dean William C. Kirby. The council also discussed with Dean Benedict Gross (mathematics and undergraduate education) the possibility of collecting data for the CUE Guide via an online questionnaire. In addition, the council discussed with Dean Harry Lewis (Harvard College and DEAS), and with Gross, the explanatory note provided for Item 2, the approval of Regulations and Standards of Conduct, on the agenda for the May 20 Faculty Meeting. Finally, the council reviewed the comments made at the May 6 Faculty Meeting concerning the Report of the Committee to Address Sexual Assault at Harvard.

Career Forum 2003: Resources for the Current Economy, will be held June 17 at the Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy St.

Late May 1970 – Veteran football coach John M. Yovicsin announces that for reasons of health he will retire at the end of the 1970 season. After the gridiron, Yovicsin…

HBS installs solar panels Harvard Business School (HBS) has been awarded a grant for up to $172,800 from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) to install photovoltaic solar energy panels on…

“No!” “No!” “No! No! No! No!” Shouting in unison, the women gathered in an empty Gund Hall room to kick, punch, and shout in explosive, carefully choreographed moves, as if rehearsing some sort of angry, punk-rock chorus line.

In conjunction with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTWs) recent online housing survey, an open house will be held Saturday (May 17) for members of the Harvard community to learn about affordable housing. The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Middle East Restaurant in Central Square, marks the unions first housing-related open house and coincides with HUCTWs 15th anniversary.

On the corner of Brattle Street and James Street in Cambridge, just outside the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studys Gilman Gate, is a black sign on a black pole, naming the square in honor of Radcliffe recycling pioneer Scott Sandberg.

The Harvard mens heavyweight crew knocked off the favored University of Wisconsin by capturing its 22nd title at the Eastern Athletic Rowing Conference Regatta this past May 11 at Worcesters Lake Quinsigamond. The Crimson rowers conquered the blustery 2000-meter course in a time of 6:04.1, besting the Badgers by a length and a half. Dartmouth finished third at 6:10.61, followed by Navy (6:15.65), Brown (6:16.2), and Rutgers (6:31.45).

Based on the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard University is adjusting its policies regarding travel by students, faculty, staff, and visitors to or from the SARS-affected areas of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. These particular changes will most immediately affect Commencement, reunions and upcoming Summer School and executive education programs. The University travel moratorium to these areas remains in effect. These policies have been adopted to help safeguard the health of everyone in the Harvard community while striving to provide pragmatic guidance.

For the past 10 years the Weissman International Internship Program, established by Paul (52) and Harriet Weissman in 1994, has provided nearly 170 sophomores and juniors with the opportunity to participate in an international internship in a field of work related to their academic and career goals. The internship program strives to enable students to develop a richer understanding of the global community in which they live and work, and provide an opportunity for them to share their experiences with the Harvard community when they return.