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Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898

September-October 2014

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Letters

A letter from the editor: the Harvard-Stanford competition grows more intense.

Social science, diversity, harpsichords, divestment, hemlocks, and more

A letter from President Faust

The College Pump

Members of the undefeated 2001 Crimson football team show flags at a 2011 tailgate in New Haven. Jared Lewis ’02, far left, holds the ancient Little Red Flag, which has been to many Harvard-Yale football games. He designed the new flag, and Kelly Goff made it. It is brandished, from left, by Justin Stark ’02, Jason Hove ’02, and Samuel Taylor ’02.

"Ten Thousand Men of Harvard”—the logo, and John Harvard’s shoes

Treasure

A July 23, 1918, map of the Argonne Forest

A new way to see World War I

In this Issue

Talking about her father’s coma, Meghan Cleary ’11 brought Lowell listeners to stunned silence.

“Community-building magic” through public, personal reflections

George Church&rsquo;s lab has reengineered the genetic code of the bacterium <i>Escherichia coli</i> to make it resistant to viral infection.

Life, reengineered

Parkman circa 1890. His vocation and avocation, history and horticulture, both sprang from his passion for nature and &ldquo;the American forest.&rdquo;

Brief life of America’s epic historian: 1823-1893

A coal-fired power plant, southern United States

A plan for controlling greenhouse gases while enhancing economic growth

Letters

A letter from the editor: the Harvard-Stanford competition grows more intense.

Social science, diversity, harpsichords, divestment, hemlocks, and more

A letter from President Faust

Right Now

Berkman Fellow Judith Donath says they can.

When researchers placed Spanish-speaking riders on a Boston-area commuter-rail train, xenophobic attitudes first increased, then decreased.

Ryan Enos probes how people react to those of a different race

A new theory posits that as the brain grew, some regions were freed from necessary tasks

Harvard Squared

Meandering paths at Fairsted, the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.

The last home and private garden of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of modern landscape architecture

Concert music soars at the Gardner Museum&rsquo;s Calderwood Hall

Boston’s chamber orchestra A Far Cry merges genres at the Gardner Museum.

Traditional artisans, such as spinners, demonstrate their skills at Strawbery Banke.

Fall travel to New England’s seacoast offers art, history, biking, and great restaurants

Designers picked through thousands of swatches to find the Italian lace for this gown worn by actress Jeanna de Waal, who plays Mary Barrie in Finding Neverland.

The ART launches a sumptuous world premiere of Finding Neverland

Chef/owner Alex Crabb shares the open kitchen with fellow cooks Tyson Wardwell and Nathan &ldquo;Lazer&rdquo; Phinisee.

Boston’s Asta is a tasty adventure

John Harvard's Journal

Memorial Church’s cracked bell is replaced.

House Renewal reaches a whole new scale.

Jane Mendillo

Harvard Management Company’s president steps down, as the endowment faces new challenges.

Tanya Smith

Tanya Smith is a biological anthropologist who uses scientific methods to study human and primate teeth.

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

Professors’ contentments—and concerns about diversity and demands on their time for academic advances

The Loeb classics, newly available online

A digital “rebirth” for the series of Greek and Roman classics

Tibetan texts on loan, awaiting scanning at the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center

Harvard Library helps preserve Tibet’s literary heritage.

Theda Skocpol

The Scholars Strategy Network aims to integrate scholarship into public policy.

Math and science honorands, and a new development dean

Seymour Slive

Honorand Seymour Slive’s passing, Presidents Faust and Summers together, sexual-assault reforms, and more

Harvard evaluates “blended” courses that draw on MOOC material.

On second-guessing and seeking one’s passion

Olivia Munk and Melanie Wang

The new Ledecky Fellows

“In the secondary, we’re the last line of defense,” says Norman Hayes, a speedy, versatile defender. “If we get beat, it’s likely to mean a touchdown.”

Norman Hayes explains how he plays defense for the Harvard football team as a cornerback and nickel back.

Football scribe John T. Bethell hangs up his cleats after 43 seasons; Dick Friedman goes on duty.

Montage

The big production number “What You Want,” from the London production of <i>Legally Blonde</i>

Musicals by Benjamin and O’Keefe excite Broadway.

In Uncertain Justice, Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz examine the current Supreme Court.

John Casey

Novelist and outdoorsman John Casey’s two new books look at teaching writing and his athletic exploits.

Scenes from <i>The Price of Sugar:</i> armed guards on horseback often patrol workers in shantytowns

Bill Haney makes documentary films that probe social issues.

James Joyce, Dublin, 1904, from <i>The Most Dangerous Book</i>

Recent books with Harvard connections

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

From personal catastrophe to enforced poverty

Alumni

Nina Lahoud

A Harvard alumna starts her own project aimed at global gender justice.

Cynthia A. Torres

New Harvard Alumni Association president emphasizes access to education

In addition to peer-led classes, the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement offers lectures, concerts, brown-bag lunches, and other events.

At Harvard, learning never has to end

Tara Altebrando ’92 is the coauthor of a timely book.

Tara Altebrando ’92 is the coauthor of a timely book.

Top row from left: James V. Baker, William B. Fisch, Vivian Lee, and Randall A. Mackey. Bottom row from left: Julie Gage Palmer, E. Douglas Richards, and Betsy K. Wanger.

Harvard alumni are awarded for volunteer service to the College admissions office.

Top row from left: Robert R. Bowie Jr. , Marilyn J. Holifield, and William R. Horton Jr. Bottom row from left: Winifred White Neisser, Eleanor Gossard Shore, and Maria A. Skirnick.

The Harvard Alumni Association Awards honor six leaders

Mathilde Montpetit and Rob Gunzenhauser

Harvard seniors honored for improving House life

Shared Interest Group events during the fall semester

Harvard alumni may sign in to view class notes and obituaries.

The College Pump

Members of the undefeated 2001 Crimson football team show flags at a 2011 tailgate in New Haven. Jared Lewis &rsquo;02, far left, holds the ancient Little Red Flag, which has been to many Harvard-Yale football games. He designed the new flag, and Kelly Goff made it. It is brandished, from left, by Justin Stark &rsquo;02, Jason Hove &rsquo;02, and Samuel Taylor &rsquo;02.

"Ten Thousand Men of Harvard”—the logo, and John Harvard’s shoes

Treasure

A July 23, 1918, map of the Argonne Forest

A new way to see World War I