Letters

Cambridge 02138

Letters from our readers

July-August 2009

Features

Hello from Havana

Raúl Castro is changing Cuba. Will the United States respond?

This portrait of Smith forms part of a mural, by Nelson Chase, that decorates the Aesculapian Room of the Harvard Club of Boston.

Theobald Smith

A brief profile of the pioneering comparative pathologist

by Steven M. Niemi

Who Killed the Men of England?

Cutting-edge science helps historians push further and more fully into the past.

by Jonathan Shaw

All in a day’s treatment: Khaled, seen in these photographs with hemapheresis practitioner Beverly Gedutis, R.N., and author David Nathan, spent May 8 at Children’s Hospital Boston, where for decades he has been transfused with red blood cells every three weeks. The bottles he carries below contain the iron chelator deferisirox.

Lessons from an Unexpected Life

One patient’s struggle with chronic illness highlights the complexities of modern medicine and the healthcare challenge.

RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas

Robert Patterson’s letter to Thomas Jefferson included a worked example of his cipher. He began by writing his message in lower-case letters and in columns, running top to bottom like Chinese. This example begins with the words “Buonaparte has at last given peace to Europe,” legible in the first two columns.

Jefferson's Conundrum

Mathematician Lawren Smithline ’94 has decrypted an encoded message sent to Thomas Jefferson in 1801.

Virtual Tumors

Modeling tumors may help scientists beat cancer.

How Depression Lingers

After depression patients recover, their brains still process criticism differently.

John Harvard's Journal University news

Giving a spell-out for <a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/2009-speeches">Graduate English orator Joseph Claghorn</a> were fellow landscape-architecture students Vanessa Lindley Palmer (J; the ringleader), Katie Jean Powell (O), Sisi Sun (S), Joonhyun Kim (E), Simon Mark Bussiere (P), and Adrienne Re Heflich (H). Design School students still play with blocks.

A Worldly Week

Commencement celebrants and celebrations faced up to real world problems.

Honoris Causa

The honorary-degree recipients, class of 2009

"Changed Times"

A sampling of the 2009 Commencement week addresses

"This Shaking Keeps Us Steady"

The Senior English address

"Producers of Doubt"

President Faust’s address to the alumni

"If You Love Rats"

The Harvard Medical School Class Day address

"Days With the Family Realist"

A poem for the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises

“A Passion and a Voice”

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu’s address at the afternoon exercises

Commencement Confetti

Notes and statistics, vital and otherwise

"Resizing," before "Reshaping"

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences tackles a massive budget crisis.

Looming Layoffs

With the endowment down sharply and employee compensation accounting for nearly half of University expenses recently, the administration plans to trim staff jobs.

Liquidity and Leverage

Understanding the University's financial challenges--beyond the endowment's fall

David J. Malan

Expert multitasker David Malan introduces students to computer science.

University People

Honors, arrivals, and departures

Printed Catalogs: R.I.P.

A Harvard fixture bites the dust.

Renewing the Houses

Harvard has released a report on the role of the Houses in undergraduate life, in preparation for a major renovation.

Brevia

Short takes on recent news

Yesterday's News

Headlines from Harvard history

Ghosts

As senior year winds down, a look forward—and back.

Play at the Plate

Baseball catcher Tyler Albright ’11 explains how to play his position.

Spring Sports

Results in tennis and crew

Montage Books, creative arts, performance, and more

Malcolm Campbell at the keyboard in Harvard's Paine Hall

Almuni Harvardians far and wide