Campus & Community

Teaching fellow Zahr Said changes the way her students think. Benjamin Friedman, a professor of economics, once visited a student in the hospital to help her catch up on class work. Mathematics preceptor Dale Winter makes sure all his students understand calculus, no matter how long he must stay after class.

The Program on Justice, Welfare, and Economics at Harvard University has announced its graduate student fellowship recipients for 2003-04. This interdisciplinary initiative promotes research that connects freedom, justice, and economics to human welfare and development. Dissertation fellowships and research grants seek to develop a new generation of scholars whose work encompasses ethical, political, and economic dimensions of human development.

Theres no shortage of college aspirations among low-income high school students. What distinguishes low-income kids from their middle class peers is follow through.

Drawing on the collection of the Loeb Music Library, the new exhibition In Her Own Hand: Operas Composed by Women, 1625-1939, features little-known scores by women composers, and follows the development of opera from the Italian courts in the 17th century, to the courts of the Holy Roman Empire and the German princely states in the 18th century, and finally to the public opera houses of postrevolutionary Paris and beyond. With many scores on display for the first time, the exhibition shines a light on a veiled world of female opera composers.

Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), the student-led public service agency at the University, has named Gene Corbin as its next executive director, PBHA President Rini Fonseca-Sabune 04 announced yesterday (May 14). Corbin, a senior research associate at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) with several decades experience in public service management and student leadership, assumes this position June 2.

At one point in his presentation at the Harvard School of Public Health (SPH), Joseph Henderson, associate director of the Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), asked his audience, How many of you are planning careers in public health?

This year, Dunster Houses spring formal boasted a record-breaking 400 students and tutors. As in the past, the ice moose and chocolate-covered strawberries were the hits of the evening. Beautifully attired ladies and gentlemen attested to the fact that, except for the annual Goat Roast, this evening was the most memorable event of the year.

Cambridge School Volunteers Inc. (CSV) honored approximately 1,000 of its volunteers who served in kindergarten through grade 12 of the Cambridge Public Schools during the 2002-03 school year at a reception hosted at the Harvard Faculty Club on May 7. Together, these volunteers provided more than 55,000 hours of individualized academic services to Cambridge youth. After a welcome by Andrew J. Bernstein, CSV board president, Mayor Michael A. Sullivan, and Cambridge Public Schools Valerie G. Spriggs, CSV Executive Director Jennifer Singh awarded certificates to those who had volunteered for four, 10, and 15 years.

On May 1, 2003, the following Minute was shared with the Faculty of Education.

The Womens Studies in Religion Program (WSRP) at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has announced its five research associates for the 2003-04 academic year. They include Kecia Ali of Brandeis University Ana María Bidegain of National University of Colombia Kelly Chong of Yale University and Sharon Gillerman of Hebrew Union College. In addition, Hanna Herzog of Tel Aviv University has been named the programs Colorado Scholar for the 2003-04 academic year.

Continuing a recent trend, the yield on students admitted to the College has once again reached levels last seen in the early 1970s. Close to 80 percent of the students admitted to the Class of 2007 have chosen to enroll this coming September. The high yield means that very few applicants can be admitted from the waiting list this year. Currently the yield is slightly under 79 percent, and it may rise by the time the Admissions Committee has made its final selections in June.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department for the week ending May 10. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor.

A memorial service for Annemarie Schimmel, professor of Indo-Muslim culture emerita, will be held May 23 at 2:30 p.m. at the Memorial Church. The service will be followed by a reception in the Thompson Room of the Barker Center. All members of the Harvard community are invited to attend.

University Disability Coordinator Marie Trottier hosted a breakfast for the business community and the Justice Department on May 9. The keynote speaker was the Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Department Ralph F. Boyd Jr. (right), J.D. 84. Beth Maclay, ASL interpreter with the Department of Justice, stands on the left.

Pleasant Street Condominiums has officially opened, offering both Harvard faculty and Cambridge residents new home ownership opportunities in the Cambridgeport neighborhood, just minutes from Harvard Square. The housing complex brings sensitive development to the neighborhood and much-needed housing for Harvard affiliates and Cambridge residents.

Heaney wins Capote Award Ralph Waldo Emerson Poet in Residence Seamus Heaney has received the 2003 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism for his work “Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001”…

Shortly after Iran fell to Islamic revolutionaries in 1979, a book dealer sending volumes to Harvards libraries cut out pictures of the deposed Shah so that the books would not be confiscated.

As part of the Harvard House intramural crew races held May 7, Kirkland House coxswain Kate Riggs 03 of the winning mens A team pays the price for victory with the obligatory dunk in the Charles. The annual spring passage pits boats from Harvards undergraduate houses against one another in a series of races.

As cool as a cucumber, sophomore Courtney Bergman upset the nations fifth-ranked womens tennis player in high-stakes NCAA tournament action this past Saturday (May 10) at the Beren Tennis Center. Down 15-40 and tied at three games apiece in the third and deciding set, Bergman, who captured the first set, 6-3, before falling in the second by the same score, held firm against Arizonas Emilie Scribot to take three straight games and the 6-3 win.

Harvards African students have created a new network that seeks to link disparate African organizations across the University and become a resource for African students, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community.

Offering students a unique opportunity for presenting their research, the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) held a poster competition during the annual symposium for the Working Interdisciplinary Students for the Environment (WISE). A panel of judges evaluated the posters and selected two award recipients: Ethan Yeh 03, who examined the effect of indoor air pollution on mortality rates in developing countries and Anne Riederer, School of Public Health, who explored methods for assessing health risks to communities living near hazardous waste sites in the Philippines. Both Yeh and Riederer received a $400 prize.

David Lewin, a composer, musician, and music theorist known for his analysis of music of the 19th and 20th centuries, died May 5 from heart disease. He was 69.

Puberty isnt easy. Nor is filmmaking. Playing House, a documentary film about five adolescent girls at Fay School in Southboro, Mass., takes on both. The film, shot over three years at the prestigious and venerable boarding school, fairly pulsates with pubescent angst. On May 5, at the Carpenter Centers Harvard Film Archive, Playing House director Jane Gray discussed the twin challenges of her past several years – adolescence and artistry.

Ninety-six Prescott, a house that has lodged Cambridge students for 115 years, turned the corner this weekend to assume a new location at 18 Sumner Road as a hundred neighbors, Harvard students, faculty, and staff, and city officials looked on.

Pierre Boulez, one of the great masters of 20th century music, was at Harvard last Friday (May 9), regaling an overflow crowd at the Center for European Studies with fascinating glimpses into his career as a composer and conductor.

Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers presided over the 20th anniversary of The Stride Rite Community Service Program Thursday evening (May 8), presenting three seniors with $25,000 postgraduate fellowships to fund yearlong service projects that will ideally launch lifetime dedication to public service.

Early last week (May 6), a new generation of scientists from Cambridge public schools – more than 250 of them – descended on the Yard to take part in this years annual Science Day, a daylong exploration of the human body sponsored by Harvard ExperiMentors, a Phillips Brooks House Association service program. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, ExperiMentors is a yearlong program that sends about 50 Harvard volunteers to teach weekly hands-on science lessons in classrooms throughout Cambridge.

Marie McBrown was invited to test whether or not hypnosis would help heal the scars from her breast surgery. Marie (not her real name) and 17 other women underwent surgery to reduce their breast size.

The Harvard Alumni Association has announced the recipients of the 2003 Harvard Medal: Robert J. Glaser S.B. 40, M.D. 43, L. Fred Jewett A.B. 57, M.B.A. 60, and Franklin D. Raines A.B. 71, J.D. 76. First given in 1981, the Harvard Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the University. President Lawrence H. Summers will present the medals during the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on the afternoon of Commencement, June 5.

In a spectacular and indisputably arty kickoff to Arts First, Manuela Zoninsein 05 processes very slowly through Harvard Yard as choreographed by Ryuji Yamaguchi 03. More photos, page 32.