May-June 2005

Getting Social Security Right I appreciate Professor Jeffrey B. Liebman’s recognition (“Reforming Social Security,&rdquo…

Like the poems Emily Dickinson stored in her attic, or John Steinbeck’s repeatedly rejected early manuscripts, one of America’s…

If you were a bobolink thinking about breeding, you would avoid laying your eggs within three-quarters of a mile of either side of a busy…

If people expect to feel better from a pill or medical treatment, they just might, even if the pill is made of sugar or the treatment is a sham…

The most famous carnivore of the plant kingdom, the Venus flytrap, lures insects to its leafy green lips with a sweet-smelling scent, then snaps…

So what do we call ourselves? As labels for a generation go, The Silent Generation always struck me as singularly stupid; I don’t think we…

Tucked away at the periphery of the Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) on Oxford Street in Cambridge, off to the side of the historic Hall…

Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money, by James Engell ’73, Ph.D. ’78, Gurney professor of English and professor of…

The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism, by Megan Marshall ’77 (Houghton Mifflin, $28), is a delightful group…

Alon Ferency requests the source of a quotation that runs, roughly, “Oh life! That we would die a little each day, rather than live all at…

Marc Goldberg ’79 is treasurer of the Varsity Club, a trustee of the Harvard Yearbook, and a season-ticket holder of the Harvard football…

Since 1978, thousands of people have streamed into Tercentenary Theatre on an early Thursday in June, looking forward to the University’s…

H. Holton Wood ’40 and some of his handmade batons (opposite) Photograph by Jim Harrison The distinctive top hats and tails worn by…

Ever wonder why there are so few superlative Chinese restaurants in this country? Why all we expect is dependable, cheap food in nondescript…

The many rituals of graduation peak on Commencement day, which this year includes addresses by President Lawrence H. Summers and actor John A…

Morning Exercises To accommodate the increasing number of those wishing to attend Harvard’s Commencement Exercises, the following…

The university is now clearly embarked on an historic spurt of physical growth and transformation. Even before a shovel of earth is turned in…

Every day, most of us get in a car and drive. We adjust the temperature, maybe turn on the radio, and flip on the fan, never considering that…

Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” a favorite at weddings, is one of the most anthologized examples of…

The study where Mark Helprin writes his novels and short stories, essays, speeches, letters, and Wall Street Journal columns is a spectacular…

A Persian prince of antiquity possessed hunting equipment of often inescapable effectiveness—a trained cheetah. See the manuscript painting…

In February 2004, when Harvard allotted an additional $2 million per year in scholarship funds for undergraduates from families with incomes of…

University leaders had planned to chart many of Harvard’s future paths this spring. A revised College curriculum, reformulated during two…

Jacqueline Bhabha Photograph by Stu Rosner Even as a newborn in Bombay in 1951, Jacqueline Bhabha was involved in refugee issues: her…

1925 The Associated Harvard Clubs’ Committee on Service to the University suggests that descendants of Harvard graduates be given…

Harvard’s payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the City of Cambridge have been renegotiated to include an escalator that will increase the…

The University is on a building boom of sorts. The campus was transformed in the post-World War II era, extending itself outward and upward in…

Had life gone according to his plan, Alan A. Altshuler would have spent one of the snowiest Cambridge winters on record in Singapore. Instead…

Finding Humanism listed among the 26 religions represented on the Board of Ministry at Harvard may seem curious, but Humanist chaplain Thomas…

Garrett M. Graff Courtesy of Garrett M. Graff Susan Dackerman Justin Ide / Harvard News Office Crimson blogsphere. Two Harvard…

Addressing ambitious agendas and a May 1 deadline, the University’s twin task forces on women faculty and on women in science and…

Commencement VoicesThe Harvard Alumni Association’s guest speaker on Commencement afternoon, June 9, will be actor John A. Lithgow…

Few students can simultaneously attend their college graduation and their tenth class reunion. And it’s a rare undergraduate who has a…

This summer, professional sports will return to campus for the first time since the Boston (now the New England) Patriots played at Harvard…

The men’s swimming and diving team (8-0) won the Ivy championship and their eighth EISL title in the last 10 years, beating Princeton…

The senior-year job hunt began as many do: with the purchasing of a suit at the end of the summer. Mine was a black, pinstripe ensemble that my…

The senior marshals, looking ahead to Commencement 2005, are: (clockwise from top left) first marshal Caleb Franklin, of Leverett House and Los…

Fred Ho ’79 has never owned a car, nor is he “married with children.” No boss dictates his workday, and he buys very little.

The University-wide on-line learning initiative, Harvard@Home, has released several new programs. “Living Healthier, Living Longer: Part…

Alumni will choose five new Harvard Overseers and six new elected directors for the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) in annual elections this…

Harvard clubs host lectures, seminars, and social gatherings. Following is a partial list of Harvard-affiliated speakers appearing at local club…

Harpsichordist Irma Rogell ’39 made her stage debut, in Boston’s Jordan Hall, at the age of 40. Her background, as the last pupil of…

Interviewing dogs can be a challenge, but fortunately Watson and Cricket have e-mail. Q: If you were recuperating in a hospital, who would you…

For screenwriter Keir Pearson ’89, success and social consciousness have gone hand in hand. His first script, Hotel Rwanda, co-written…

In October, Thunder’s Mouth Press released Vaginas: An Owner’s Manual by Liz Topp ’98 and her mother…

"Your wooden arm you hold outstretched to shake with passers-by." Of making books about Harvard there is no end, and…

The Harvard Theater Collection has recently acquired from a London dealer a unique set of 124 miniature Indonesian shadow puppets and the gongs…