Campus & Community

Indian film director Mira Nair 79 spoke Saturday (May 3) in Sanders Theatre, discussing her early struggles as a documentary filmmaker, the making of her acclaimed fiction films, her efforts to help Indian street children, and her artistic philosophy.

The outcome of efforts to both reconstruct Iraq and to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will influence the level of worldwide terrorist activity in the years to come, the German ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday (May 7).

Emotions ran high in Divinity Hall as activists on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict gathered together for an attempt at Dialogue in the Midst of Conflict. The civil but often tense panel discussion – part of the Women, Religion and Social Change II conference sponsored by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University – was moderated by Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, herself a Palestinian, a certified mediator, and a doctoral candidate at George Mason Universitys Institute for Conflict Resolution. Jadallah invited panelists and audience members to consider other points of view, find common ground, and seek mutual understanding. She sought to ease anxieties and cool tempers by pronouncing the event a safe place.

The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations honored 40 students and three house masters at its annual awards dinner on April 29 at Quincy House. Dean of Harvard College and Quincy House Associate Harry R. Lewis, who delivered the keynote speech, received a surprise award from President Lawrence H. Summers, and the students and faculty of the Harvard Foundation, for his generous support of the foundation’s work.

In conjunction with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTWs) recent online housing survey, an open house will be held 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.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) elected 72 new members last month, including Harvard faculty members J. Woodland Hastings, Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences, and Diane J. Mathis, professor of medicine, Joslin Diabetes Center. Members are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Cutting back dramatically on calories leads to a longer life, at least for species ranging from yeast to rats. But whether not eating the pudding gives the same advantage to humans has yet to be proven.

Andrew Murray stands before his audience on April 30, a pingpong ball in hand. Not to play in a tournament, but to illuminate a point. The professor of molecular and cellular biology is giving a talk in the Science Center about cells and their chromosomes.

On May 15, 2003, 24 Harvard College juniors will be inducted into Alpha Iota of Massachusetts, the Harvard chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The juniors, who were elected to the undergraduate honor society on April 11, will participate in a dinner ceremony confirming their membership in the 223-year-old chapter.

Driven by its unmatched military might but undermined by increasing global interdependence and by the structure of American democracy itself, America is embarked on an unfamiliar journey to world empire.

Its common knowledge that the United States is in the thick of a funding crisis for the arts. Less well understood is how the lack of funds affects arts education and still lesser known is how these consequences differ from urban to suburban school districts. These issues were tackled by a panel last Monday (May 5) at An Evening for Art, the debut event of Harvard STAGE, a student organization that aims to tap performance talents of university students to forge alliances with Boston Public School students.

Summer is a-coming and the winter is away-o, sang Lynn the Fool just after dawn on Thursday (May 1). The bells on her jesters cap jingled as she entertained several dozen students from Lowell House, gathered on the Weeks Footbridge to celebrate May Day with their traditional waltz.

Its here again, and it is SO welcome after a winter when at times even the arts seemed to be sleeping. Well, they woke with a banner and a flourish. The banner hung behind a series of class acts on the Holyoke Center stage, including tuneful troubadours and academic a cappella singers. The flourishes were everywhere, from the leaps of ballet dancers at Lowell House to the mischievous machinations of jesters on the steps of the Memorial Church in Much Ado About Nothing to the fabulous fable of the princess and the pea. Final Score: Arts First, Second, Third.

Oxford Street benefit concert Oxford Street Cooperative, the University’s affiliated day care, is sponsoring an afternoon concert for children and adults on May 17 at the House of Blues. Starting…

Harvard University has lifted its moratorium on travel to Singapore, based on travel advice from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), effective May 6. The University on April 30 lifted its travel moratorium for Vietnam and Toronto, Canada, based on travel advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).

William C. Kirby, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has announced this years Walter Channing Cabot Fellows. Chosen for their eminence in history, literature or art, this years Fellows are Svetlana Boym, Curt Hugo Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature and professor of comparative literature Jorie Graham, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory Evelyn Higginbotham, professor of history and Afro-American Studies Richard Moran, Brian D. Young Professor of Philosophy Eric Rentschler, professor of German and Maria Tatar, John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Harvard College Professor.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently announced its newly elected fellows and foreign honorary members. Among this years class of 187 fellows and 29 foreign honorary members – honored for their achievements in business, science, and the arts – are 13 Harvard faculty members.

With the temperature over 80 degrees a while back, it was time for these Harvard students lounging by the Memorial Church to remove the shoes.

The Harvard Medical School (HMS) Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities has launched a faculty fellowship program designed to promote and support the careers of exceptional underrepresented minority junior faculty. The two-year, nondegree-granting program provides specific funding intended to assist participants with their professional development as faculty member researchers and clinician/teachers at HMS and its affiliated hospitals, centers, and institutes. The faculty fellows will focus on and expand the field of work in minority health, and, over time, improve the capacity of the health-care system to address the needs of minority and disadvantaged populations.

What would be the opposite of social justice? Gregory Nagy asked his Extension School Introduction to Greek Literature class last Thursday (May 1) evening.

Two Eureka! moments in a Harvard University laboratory have led to new ways to neutralize deadly anthrax bacteria released in bioterrorist attacks.

Morning Exercises To accommodate the increasing number of those wishing to attend Harvard’s Commencement Exercises, the following guidelines are proposed to facilitate admission into Tercentenary Theatre on Commencement Morning: Degree…

At its 15th meeting of the year, the Faculty Council considered the items on the agenda for the May 6 Faculty Meeting: Approval of Courses of Instruction and Freshman Seminars for 2003-04 of Extension School Courses for 2003-04 a proposed new joint Ph.D. program with the School of Public Health in Biostatistics a report from the Committee to Address Sexual Assault at Harvard, Professor Jennifer Leaning, chair.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department for the week ending April 26. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor.

President Lawrence H. Summers will hold office hours for students in his Massachusetts Hall office from 4 to 5 p.m. on May 12.

Ludger Wessels wins culinary gold medal Ludger Wessels, executive catering chef for Harvard University Dining Services’ (HUDS’) Crimson Catering division, earned an American Culinary Federation (ACF) Gold Medal in the…

As anyone whos been to high school or negotiated office politics knows, status rules. Its that invisible but palpable pecking order that dictates dating partners, cafeteria tables, and office cubicles. The geeks defer to the cool kids the newly hired underlings imitate the bosses and other established, well-regarded workers.

Its going to rain Saturday, local meteorologist Harvey Leonard told members of the Core course Quantitative Reasoning 46 on Thursday (April 24). Sundays weather wont be so great either, he said, but in true New England fashion, Friday and Monday will be beautiful and springlike.

Speaking to an overflow crowd at Harvard Law School (HLS) on April 23, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno urged law students and lawyers alike to work for equity, justice, and a more open society even in the face of terrorism. In a wide-ranging speech sponsored by the American Constitution Society at HLS, Reno discussed voting rights, criminal justice, and child care. She also took the opportunity to sharply criticize her successor, John Ashcroft, for implying that critics of the Bush administrations policies were unpatriotic.