News Briefs

Jackson Appeals Discrimination Case

A former Business School professor lodged an appeal last Friday to a federal ruling that Harvard did not base her tenure decision on gender, her counsel said yesterday.

Continuing an eight-year struggle for a senior faculty post, Barbara Bund Jackson '66 will challenge the decision on grounds that procedural errors by Harvard, including the destruction of 10 years of tenure documents, compromised the prosecution's case, said attorney Evan T. Lawson.

Judge Douglas P. Woodlock found this summer that although Harvard "deserved to be sanctioned" for its actions, the University had not attempted to sabotage Jackson's suit. Woodlock ultimately ruled that objective standards of scholarship, and not gender, led the B-School to deny her tenure twice.

Jackson sued the University and B-School Dean John H. McArthur in 1984. Harvard had denied her tenure once in 1981, and support was again withheld in 1983 after she published a monograph that received strong criticism from two B-School professors.

The appeal is expected to come before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in mid-1990, said Lawson.

HOLLIS Offers New Search Features

Harvard employees added several functions this summer to the University's year-old library computer directory system, despite slowdowns stemming from a denied funding increase.

Since mid-August, library workers have modified the Harvard On-Line Library Information System (HOLLIS) to allow readers to find books by entering key words from a title or subject, said Edward P. Tallent, Lamont reference librarian.

Other additions include a call-number search and a "trace" function to find related books in a particular subject, Tallent said.

One primary HOLLIS goal, however, to label all holdings with bar codes to expedite check-outs, was cut back after starting this July. Because of a lack of funding, neither Hilles nor Lamont library completed the work this summer as planned, said Heather E. Cole, librarian of both Hilles and Lamont.

Now, bar-codes are only put on new books as they are returned from borrowers, Cole said, and a budget request will be submitted next spring. Last May, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) denied a special request for about $200,000 to hire part-time bar code installers, Cole said.

Both new and old books are being bar-coded now at Widener library, workers said.

Several other enhancements await down the pike. One that will tell users whether a book is available on-shelf is a "very high priority," said Jon Lanham, associate librarian of the Lamont Library, and is due next year.

Other projects include allowing users to access databases, such as journal indices, from HOLLIS and to tie the system with other University computers.

NYNEX Strike Delays Service

A strike by 60,000 NYNEX electrical employees may delay University phone repairs and new line-wiring for up to six weeks, a telephone company official said this week.

But while the walk-out may slow regular service, work on Harvard's new multi-million dollar communications system, Intellipath, should not be postponed, said William Blaisdell, Harvard's account executive at New England Telephone (NET).

"When the strike started, we gave [the Harvard project] the highest priority status" in New England, Blaisdell said. "We brought in management employees to do the work that technicians would be doing."

Students can still expect delays in dormitory phone hook-ups, however, said Louise M. Dunne, a Harvard network services manager. Because of the strike, NET is asking students to submit service requests by mail or to call later after business hours to relieve understaffed phone lines, Dunne added.

The NYNEX strike, effecting telephone workers from NET, began August 6. Union officials said this week they are asking students not to pay their phone bills until the dispute is settled.

Barring delays, Harvard's Intellipath system should be operational by September 1990, giving students access to voice mail and modem services, said Morris D. Murphy, Harvard's associate director of network services.

In preparation for the switchover, new wiring has already been laid in 80 percent of the Yard dorms and several of the houses, Blaisdell said. In its largest communications project ever, NET ultimately will install 14,000 new telephone jacks in 175 Harvard buildings by next May, Murphy and Blaisdell said.

Once functioning, Intellipath will lower costs and improve communications flexibility at the University, Blaisdell said. And starting next September, he said, the University--instead of NET--will set phone service prices and control line installations.

College Officials Play Musical Chairs

College officials played musical chairs this summer, juggling responsibilities to fit old positions and fill new ones.

Ellen Hatfield Towne, former assistant to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, was named assistant dean of students in July. As part of her new role. Towne registers undergraduate organizations with the College and acts as liaison between the groups and Harvard Real Estate, which operates many facilities used by student groups.

"I'm ecstatically happy in my new position," Towne said, which she said was created to meet existing needs at University Hall.

Towne was also named director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Parents Association, which runs parents' weekends and a host-parent program for first-year students. The association was transferred to the Dean of Students' office for logistical reasons and because its director retired last year, she said.

Hatfield's old position is being filled by Elizabeth Lacovara '89.

Meanwhile, Assistant Dean of the College Georgene B. Herschbach has left University Hall for Holyoke Center to replace outgoing Registrar Margaret E. Law, now head tutor for the Physics Department.

First-year students Senior Advisor Karen L. Heath '85 takes over Herschbach's work with visiting undergraduates and transfer students, while Leverett House Senior Tutor Elizabeth B. Keeney assumes Herschbach's duties with special programs and advanced standing.

Finally, Kay Millett replaces Lisa M. Colvin as the College's housing officer. Colvin has become director of financial operations for the College.

House Tutors Move At Four Houses

House life just won't be the same this year.

Personnel changes at four houses have left students searching for new faces to answer advising questions and issue medical excuses.

Mather, Lowell and Currier Houses all have new Allston Burr senior tutors this year, and last year's acting senior tutor at Kirkland House has taken on the position on a regular basis.

Assistant senior tutor Alexandra L. Barcus was named acting senior tutor of Lowell House this summer when her predecessor accepted an appointment at Smith.

"I have some concerns that I'll emphasize in the house," said Barcus, adding that advising was one such concern.

Barcus, a longtime house resident, said she would start a pilot program for tutoring incoming sophomores. The program was designed by Jeffrey Wolcowitz, assistant dean of the faculty for undergraduate education.

Deborah Foster, a lecturer in Folklore and Mythology and a specialist in Africa's oral tradition, took over the helm at Currier this summer when the former senior tutor left abruptly. Foster said that she hopes to expand her role by making the system of tutoring more visible, establishing a new discussion table in the dining hall and increasing interaction between incoming sophomores and other house residents.

"I'd love to change the unfortunate image that Currier has," she added. "The place, in spite of its reputation, has a lot of advantages."

Foster said she also hopes to direct a play, though probably not this year.

Mather House senior tutor Pat Hoy comes to Harvard from West Point, where last year he retired from a position teaching English. And Garth O. McCavana has been named senior tutor of Kirland.