Campus & Community

Robots made the surgical team last year, providing remarkably tremor-free and precise hands for surgeons. They also offer the benefit of smaller incisions and shorter recovery times. But these high-tech devices, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for use in minimally invasive gallbladder and gastroesophageal reflux disease surgery, havent made a surgeons job that much easier – or quicker. Thats because they are not easy to maneuver, and its hard for the surgeon to see more than a very small area at once.

It was arts and crafts night with a twist this past Sunday evening (Oct. 21) in the Carpenter Center pit, as glue, tape, twine, shattered pottery, and Yoko Ono all came together to commemorate her latest installation, Mend Piece to the World. The outdoor exercise of mending shattered pottery offered the large crowd an opportunity not only to get up close and personal with the prolific pioneer of experimental art, music, performance, and cinema, but also to reflect – constructively – on the events of Sept. 11.

The Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School recently welcomed four fellows to its Freeman Foundation Chinese and Southeast Asian Fellowship and Cultural Exchange Program. The program, now in its fifth year (having resumed after a one-year sabbatical in 1999-00), aims to promote cross-cultural exchange and dialogue in the field of medical anthropology. Of the four Freeman Fellows, three come from China and one from Indonesia.

About 150 people turned out for the Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies’ open forum at the Kennedy School of Government’s ARCO Forum Monday (Oct. 22). The forum, which…

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of Wisconsin Medical School have found the docking protein, or receptor, for anthrax toxin. The long-sought protein is thought to be the first point of contact between the toxin and the cell it will eventually destroy.

A battle over bilingual education raged Oct. 15 at the Graduate School of Educations (GSE) Askwith Education Forum. California businessman Ron Unz, a champion of abolishing bilingual education, squared off against the GSEs Catherine Snow, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education and an expert on language and literacy development, in a heated discussion that pitted test scores against research data, and rhetoric against reality.

Call it a home field – or home river – advantage.

Over many years, the art museums at Harvard have benefited from the friendship of Fred and Virginia Deknatel, said James Cuno, director of the Harvard University Art Museums. With the establishment of this fund in their names, we will be able to honor their friendship and legacy of support for modern art at Harvard in perpetuity.

Hundreds of scholars descended on the Memorial Church this week for a three-day conference on the intersection of science and religion that looked for evidence of god in places ranging from chimpanzees to the cosmos.

Steven E. Hyman, former Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard and current Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), has been named Provost of the University, President Lawrence H. Summers announced today.

Harvard University inaugurated Lawrence H. Summers as its 27th president Friday (Oct. 12) in a Tercentenary Theatre ceremony that celebrated the Universitys centuries of tradition and set a tone for the institutions future.

Oct. 6, 1870 – The Rev. Phillips Brooks lays the cornerstone of Memorial Hall. October 1874 – The Harvard Athletic Association forms, with Benjamin R. Curtis, Class of 1875, as…

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Saturday, Oct. 13. The official log is located at Police Headquarters, 29 Garden St.

President Lawrence H. Summers will hold office hours for students in his Massachusetts Hall office from 4 to 5 p.m. on the following dates: Oct. 26 Nov. 29 Dec. 13…

Members of the Harvard community can air their views on the economic welfare of the Universitys lowest-paid employees at a public hearing set for Oct. 22 at the John F. Kennedy School of Governments ARCO Forum.

A new study of cognitive changes caused by heavy marijuana use has found no lasting effects 28 days after quitting. Following a month of abstinence, men and women who smoked…

On a day steeped in centuries-old ceremony, President Lawrence H. Summers delivered an inaugural speech that nodded briefly to the past but looked boldly forward. Perhaps the most important creative tension in our university is this: we carry ancient traditions, but what is new is most important to us, he said, adding, Our most enduring tradition is that we are forever young.

School of Public Health to host symposium on bioterrorism School of Public Health (SPH) Dean Barry R. Bloom invites members of the Harvard community to attend a special symposium on…

The John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG) has announced the establishment of the Daniel Paul Professor of Government. The professor will focus on regional, state, and municipal governance, as well as public policy.

I accept!

Chinese historian Jonathan D. Spence will illuminate the life of the mind in 17th century China when he speaks as part of the Deans Lecture Series sponsored by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Fred Whipple enjoys solving problems. Like the time he was working for the Air Force during World War II and came up with the idea for chaff – little bundles of shredded aluminum foil that could be dropped from U.S. aircraft to confuse the German radar. Air Force wits dubbed him the Chief of Chaff as a result.

They said the inaugural symposium on brain science would change our brains if we stayed awake, and they were right.

As 11th-graders across Massachusetts awaited the results of last springs Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, educators and administrators gathered at the Kennedy School of Government for lively and sometimes heated discussions of the MCAS, testing, and school reform.

The Institute of Politics (IOP), consistent with its mission to stimulate students interest in public service, announced the creation of a fund to encourage undergraduate student groups to participate in political activities. Student groups are invited to apply for grants – ranging from approximately $100 to $2,500 – to perform politically oriented projects. Student groups may obtain applications by visiting the institute or its Web site at

The stars of Harvards creative firmament shone Thursday night, Oct. 11, in Segue! … A Celebration of Students and the Arts, the first official event of the Inauguration of President Lawrence H. Summers. A dizzying array of orators, dancers, and musicians took the stage of Sanders Theatre in a seamless showcase of Harvard talent.

Pull it up from your toes! legendary Harvard crew coach Tom Bolles would yell to his rowers when he saw that they were running out of steam. During Bolles tenure from 1937 to 1951, Harvard oarsmen responded to his call. In 1947, the heavyweight crew set a world record of 5:49 over the 2,000-meter course at the Lake Washington Regatta in Seattle.

A Kennedy School researcher has concluded that patent protection for AIDS drugs – blamed by some activists for restricting access to medication needed in the African AIDS epidemic – actually has little effect on the distribution of the drugs on that continent.

Koehler receives Switzer Award Business environmental management expert Dinah Koehler, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Public Health (SPH), has been awarded a Switzer Environmental Fellowship from the Robert…