Year: 2008

  • Nation & World

    Sports in brief

    Women’s soccer grabs first Ivy win behind freshman’s play The Crimson held nothing back on Saturday (Oct. 4), as Harvard defeated Yale 3-1 at Ohiri Field.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Secretary of education proposes simplified aid form

    U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed concerns ranging from college financial aid to No Child Left Behind during a lecture at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Oct. 1.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Smoking, burning solid fuels in homes in China projected to cause millions of deaths

    If current levels of smoking and of burning biomass and coal fuel in homes continues in China, researchers estimate that between 2003 and 2033, 65 million deaths will be attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 18 million deaths to lung cancer, accounting for 19 percent and 5 percent of all deaths in that…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Maestro Previn guides students with expertise, wit

    Music great Sir André Previn’s motto, listed on his official Web site, reads, “A day without music is a wasted day.” Several Harvard students and two classical master composers put their day with the maestro to good use on Monday (Oct. 6).

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Oct. 6. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Star quest knowledge provides new view of ourselves

    In a basement laboratory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), surrounded by instruments built to detect the universe’s distant secrets, sits a machine that will help us look not outward to the stars, but inward at our own bodies.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Power of the pen in early America

    In 1747, three members of the Abenaki Native American tribe and their Mohawk ally posted a petition on a wall of an English fort in the Connecticut River Valley. The paper was small, but it spoke volumes.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Milton Fund deadline Oct. 15

    Voting faculty from all of Harvard’s Schools and the Junior Fellows of the Society of Fellows are eligible to apply for grants from the Milton Fund, which supports original research by Harvard faculty. Milton grants have enabled hundreds of Harvard faculty, particularly assistant professors, to explore new ideas and launch innovative projects, often shaping lifelong…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Miles named HGSE senior associate dean for Development

    Lynn Miles will become the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) senior associate dean for Development and Alumni Relations, effective Oct. 1. As former assistant vice president for resources, director of the Leadership Gift Program, and most recently, acting vice president for resources at Wellesley College, Miles’ distinguished career in development includes playing a key…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Spend an ‘Evening with Champions’ Oct. 10-11

    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…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Arctic ice is thinning steadily

    There was a polar bear sighting at Harvard last week. At Pforzheimer House on Thursday (Oct. 2), global warming expert James J. McCarthy delivered a crisp summary of how fast ice is melting in the Arctic — and why we should care. The audience of 80 took in his companion slide show, including images of…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    This month in Harvard history

    Oct. 14, 1763 — At the College library in Old Harvard Hall, Ephraim Briggs, Class of 1764, checks out “The Christian Warfare Against the Deuill World and Flesh” by John Downame, one of several hundred books that John Harvard had bequeathed to the College in 1638.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    GSD students develop innovative plan for local school for deaf

    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.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council

    At its third meeting of the year on Oct. 8, the Faculty Council discussed Dean Michael D. Smith’s upcoming letter to the Faculty and considered changes to the procedures for responding to allegations of misconduct in research. The council next meets on Oct. 29. The preliminary deadline for the Nov. 18 Faculty meeting is Nov.…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Exelon executive offers regulations, incentives to ‘green’ energy supply

    The head of the nation’s largest nuclear power plant owner decried America’s lack of an energy policy Monday night (Oct. 6) and laid out a five-point plan featuring a mix of new regulations and financial incentives for coal, nuclear, and renewable power sources as a way to ‘green’ America’s energy supply.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Dowling recipient of Paul Kayser Award

    John E. Dowling, Gordon and Llura Gund Professor of Neurosciences of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology as well as professor of Ophthalmology in Neuroscience, recently received the Paul Kayser International Award in Retina Research from the International Society for Eye Research (ISER). He received the award at the 2008 Biennial Congress held in…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Giving faculty a leg up the ladder

    Harvard University is launching a new initiative for ladder faculty designed to help professors meet their family caregiving needs while succeeding throughout their academic careers.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Belfer Center announces research fellows 2008-09

    The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School announces the following new 2008-09 research fellows. These fellows conduct research within the Belfer Center’s International Security Program (ISP).

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    HUHS Office of Alcohol & Other Drug Services named prevention leader

    The Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) Office of Alcohol & Other Drug Services (AODS) was named this year’s “Outstanding Leader in Prevention” by the city of Cambridge. The award recognizes the Cambridge organization/agency that has provided Cambridge with superior service in the prevention of substance abuse.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Program allows gifted scholars to kick back and … work

    Abena Dove Osseo-Asare studies African medicinal plants, including their fate at the hands of modern science and global patent systems.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Hansjörg Wyss gives $125M to create institute

    Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss, M.B.A. ’65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjörg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The pine beetle’s tale: Destructive insect has pharmaceutical potential

    Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have discovered how beetles and bacteria form a symbiotic and mutualistic relationship — one that ultimately results in the destruction of pine forests. In addition, they’ve identified the specific molecule that drives this whole phenomenon.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard China Fund accepting 2010 proposals

    The Harvard China Fund, under the Office of the Provost, has announced its fiscal year 2010 grants program for Harvard faculty, programs, and Schools. The purpose of the fund is to support interdisciplinary research and teaching in and about China, focus Harvard’s considerable strengths toward tackling the challenges that China faces, and improve communication and…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Hansjorg Wyss gives $125 million to create institute for biologically inspired engineering

    Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss MBA ’65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjörg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Investigators at the Wyss Institute (pronounced…

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Smoking and solid-fuel-burning in homes in China projected to cause millions of deaths

    If current levels of smoking and biomass and coal fuel use in homes continues, between 2003 and 2033 there will be an estimated 65 million deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary…

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Al Gore to celebrate sustainability at Harvard

    Former Vice President Al Gore will be coming to campus on Oct. 22 for the first-ever University-wide celebration of sustainability. The event, hosted by President Drew Faust, will mark the official launch of the University’s new greenhouse gas reduction effort and will also celebrate Harvard’s broader environmental initiatives, including the critical role the University plays…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Sept. 29. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard-Yenching Institute names doctoral fellows

    Initiated in the 1960s, the Harvard-Yenching Institute’s Doctoral Scholars Program (DSP) now consists of two branches, the Harvard-DSP and Non-Harvard DSP. Each year the institute invites Harvard departments in the humanities and social sciences to nominate candidates for the Harvard doctoral scholarships. To be eligible for this program, candidates must be from Asia.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Sports brief

    There was not enough rain to keep the women’s golf team from winning its third tournament in three appearances this season at the Fall Intercollegiate at Yale University (Sept. 27-28). Competing against elite teams from the Northeast, the Crimson placed first out of 19. Crimson top performer, junior Claire Sheldon, finished tied for fourth, shooting…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Key statistical ideas celebrate birthdays

    University of Chicago statistics professor Stephen M. Stigler, a frequent visitor to Harvard, has a favorite movie — “Magic Town,” a black-and-white flick from 1947. It stars James Stewart as a pollster who discovers a magical place: a heartland town whose citizens have a range of opinions that are a near-perfect composite of the whole…

    5 minutes