Featured series 
Year: 2008
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Nation & World
‘Gen Ed’ connects students to outside world
As Harvard College ramps up for the official launch of the new Program in General Education — better known as “Gen Ed” — in September 2009, undergraduates are matriculating in the first round of courses related to the new curriculum. Six courses are being offered in the Gen Ed curriculum this fall, with nine others…
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Nation & World
Fall commences motley fete
If “April is the cruellest month,” as T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem “The Wasteland” — then November is certainly the most marvelous. Judging from the glorious display of fall foliage in a Harvard Yard stimulated by chill breezes and hosting a thousand squirrels, this year’s turning leaves are a short-lived sight to behold.
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Nation & World
Call for Holyoke Center artists
Harvard University employees who work at Holyoke Center are invited to participate in the ninth annual Holyoke Center Group Art Exhibition, displayed in the Holyoke Center exhibition space from Dec. 5 through Jan. 7. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase the artistic talents and creativity of the staff of the Holyoke Center and…
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Nation & World
Home buying seminar Nov. 6
Susan Keller of Harvard Real Estate Services is holding seminars on Nov. 6 and Dec. 4 from 12-1:30 p.m. titled “Home Buying Seminar & Obtaining a Mortgage: Tips to Assist You with This Process.” The programs will be at Mt. Auburn Street, Room 3311, and feel free to bring a lunch. Registration is required. To…
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Nation & World
Day of the Dead celebration
Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnography will come alive in a unique way Nov. 2 when it joins the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston in hosting a celebration of the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
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Nation & World
Dunster House calls for soloists
Dunster House seeks vocal soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists for its 36th annual Messiah Sing, scheduled for the evening of Dec. 11. One soloist for each voice part will be selected to perform. Auditions are scheduled Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon in Dunster House. To sign up for an audition or for…
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Nation & World
Financial resources forum set
In response to concerns about the economy and the recent turbulence in world financial markets, Harvard Human Resources will hold a Financial Resources Forum Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the ballroom of the Charles Hotel.
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Nation & World
Researchers gain ground in treatment options for disfiguring tumor
A team of researchers led by Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) Dean for Research Bjorn Olsen has discovered a mechanism for the rapid growth seen in infantile hemangioma, the most common childhood tumor.
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Nation & World
New Guinea forest expands ‘observatory’
Just getting there takes hours of hot, sweaty hiking through lowland Papua New Guinea forests: three hours from the road to the base camp, then another seven to the site. That’s when the real work begins: tagging, measuring, and identifying 250,000 trees scattered over 50 hectares.
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Nation & World
Lecture ‘Can’t you see I’m busy’ addresses ‘interruption management’
You’ve opened a Microsoft Word document and are just about to write. Feel good? No. Instead of inspiration, along comes Clippy, the annoying little pop-up man with his bobbing eyebrows and balloon full of intrusive questions. “It looks like you’re writing a letter. Would you like help?”
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Nation & World
Solar system’s twin has two asteroid belts
Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a virtual twin of the belt in our solar system, while the outer asteroid belt holds 20 times more material. Moreover, the presence of these three…
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Nation & World
Twelve new Administrative Fellows announced for 2008-09
Continuing the legacy of a flagship leadership development fellowship for high-potential academic administrators of color, 12 new fellows have been selected for the 2008-09 class of the Administrative Fellowship Program (AFP). The seven visiting fellows are talented professionals drawn from business, education, and the professions outside the University, while the five resident fellows are exceptional…
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Nation & World
Records dating back to Thoreau show some sharp shifts in plant flowering near Walden Pond
Drawing on records dating back to the journals of Henry David Thoreau, scientists at Harvard University have found that different plant families near Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., have borne…
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Nation & World
Solar system’s young twin has two asteroid belts
Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a…
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Nation & World
Gore: Universities have important role in sustainability
Former vice president Al Gore ’69 addressed a crowd of 15,000 in chilly, leaf-strewn Tercentenary Theatre Oct. 22, 2008, delivering the keynote address in a multi-day celebration of the University’s commitment to sustainability.
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Nation & World
Kuwait Program Research Fund accepting proposals
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced the 15th funding cycle for the Kuwait Program Research Fund, which is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). An HKS faculty committee will consider applications for one-year grants (up to $30,000) and larger grants for more extensive proposals to support advanced research by…
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Nation & World
Joseph J. Schildkraut
For a period during the late 1950s and 1960s, psychiatry attracted some of the most capable graduates of US medical schools. Intrigued by the conceptual interest of psychoanalytic theory, and the possibility of treatment via the couch, these students chose for residency departments of psychiatry that featured grounding in psychoanalysis. One of these was Joe…
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Nation & World
Gene therapy restores vision to mice with retinal degeneration
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common cause of human blindness. Their report, appearing in the Oct. 14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes the effects of broadly expressing a light-sensitive protein in other…
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Nation & World
Global ‘chump change’ could provide biodiversity protection
Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson said the Earth’s major biological hot spots could be conserved for roughly $50 billion— an amount he termed “chump change” in a world of trillion-dollar financial bailouts.
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Nation & World
GSD lecture and panel address ‘Designing for Sustainability’
Interest in green building is high at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), judging by the attendance at a lecture Tuesday (Oct. 21) in the Stubbins Room at Gund Hall. “Designing for Sustainability” was part of the popular and event-packed sustainability celebration instituted this year by Harvard President Drew Faust.
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Nation & World
‘Death protein’ may lead to drugs that force cancer cells to self-destruct
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a previously undetected trigger point on a naturally occurring “death protein” that helps the body get rid of unwanted or diseased cells. They say it may be possible to exploit the newly found trigger as a target for designer drugs that would treat cancer by forcing malignant cells…
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Nation & World
Men’s soccer keep winning, unbeaten in Ivies
After opening the season at No. 20, Harvard soccer (7-3; 3-0 Ivy League) is back in the rankings at No. 22, coming off big road wins against No. 24 Brown (8-3-1; 2-1-0) and Holy Cross (6-3-3). Harvard, which defeated Brown 4-1 and Holy Cross 3-0, is the last undefeated team in Ivy play this year.…
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Nation & World
Celebration honors faculty and staff for 25 years of service to the University
One hundred fourteen Harvard employees were honored on Monday (Oct. 20) for reaching a milestone: 25 years of service to the University. The 54th annual 25 Year Recognition Ceremony — a unique event in that it recognizes both faculty and staff from across the entire University — was held at Sanders Theatre.
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Nation & World
Harvard Art Museum receives major gift from Emily Rauh Pulitzer
Harvard University today (Oct. 17) announced that the Harvard Art Museum has received a gift of 31 major works of modern and contemporary art and $45 million from Harvard alumna Emily Rauh Pulitzer, a former Harvard Art Museum curator, longtime supporter and friend of the museum and of Harvard, and wife of the late Joseph…
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Nation & World
John U. Monro portrait is unveiled at PBH
The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations has unveiled a ninth portrait in its Minority Portraiture Project. The latest honoree on canvas is John U. Monro, former dean of Harvard College. Monro’s portrait, painted by Stephen Coit ’71, was unveiled last week (Oct. 16) in Phillips Brooks House.
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Nation & World
Police reports
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Oct. 20. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu.
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Nation & World
Genome Project releases data on 10 genetic pioneers
The world moved a step deeper into the DNA age Monday (Oct. 20) as 10 volunteers released their genetic and medical information on the Internet as part of a multiyear effort to make genetic data an everyday part of medical care.
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Nation & World
Researchers identify promising gene target for neuroblastoma therapy
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a set of previously unknown mutations in a single gene in 8 percent of neuroblastomas, tumors of the nervous system that occur in young children and account for approximately 15 percent of all childhood cancer deaths.
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Nation & World
Ban calls for international efforts
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the United States to combat the “imminent threat” of climate change, both by reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions and by leading the effort to craft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.