Initiative Helps University Respond to Current Problem

Yesterday's announcement of the creation of an interdisciplinary AIDS Institute at Harvard is a bid to make the research done at the University's nine faculties more comprehensive and relevent to today's social and scientific problems, President Bok said in interviews when the center was in its final planning stages.

"We must recognize that knowledge is a valuable resource," Bok said in February. "Universities are institutions that have a great strength in that area, and we should give as much encouragement as we can to people who want to take advantage of the breadth of knowledge that we have."

The wide scope of the Harvard Institute makes it different than centers sponsored by other universities about the disease--which usually target either research for a cure, or responses to the social costs of the epidemic.

"Harvard has a distinct capacity. There are very few other universities that can simultaneously effectively deal with biological, social and clinical problems," said School of Public Health Dean Dr. Harvey Fineberg '67. "As an institution that has this capacity, we have a responsibility and an unusual opportunity to deal with this disease," said Fineberg, who originally conceived of the Institute.

In addition to the AIDS Institute, however, Harvard's year-old Center for Health and Human Resources Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, headed by Professor of Public Policy Mary Jo Bane, has initiated a similar University-wide drive on the issue of child poverty.

Each month the center hosts a seminar, which first met in February and includes professors from the Kennedy School, the Departments of Sociology, Economics and Psychiatry, as well as from the Law School, the MedicalSchool, the Graduate School of Education and theSchool of Public Health.

In an interview, Bok said that he views thepoverty initiative as an avenue for Harvard tobegin addressing issues which may later beaddressed by the government policymakers. "At somepoint in the future the pendulum will swing backin the direction of trying to do something aboutpoverty." Bok said. "The question is how strong anintellectual base are we going to have at thatpoint."

Bane could not be reached for comment thisweek, but Project Coordinator Paul A. Jargowskysaid that the Center had received the strongbacking of Kennedy School Dean Graham T. Allison'62 and Bok, who participated in discussions aboutthe center and its fundraising goals.

Jargowsky said that the purpose behind theinterdisciplinary seminar was to connect povertyexperts in different areas who were not aware ofone another's research.

"There are people working on poverty indifferent areas with different paradigms andassumptions who haven't talked to each other in along time. It had come to the point wherepsychiatrists had done work on early childhoodthat policy people didn't know about," he said.

"We wanted to break down those barriers andmaybe even prompt interdisciplinary work," hesaid.

Jargowsky said that the center planned topublish a book next spring outlining the majorissues identified by the child poverty seminar.The book would also include the findings of anupcoming executive session of people withgovernment experience who will discuss the mosteffective implementation of welfare policies.

"I hope the next administration is interestedin reading this book. Whoever wins the election,the next administration has to be better than thecurrent one," Jargowsky said. "I am optimistic forthe future--it certainly can't get worse.