History and Science Committee Dissolved

Sometimes, one little word makes a big difference. Then again, sometimes it doesn't.

With these concerns firmly in mind, the Faculty Council decided to dissolve the standing committee on History and Science, transferring its responsibilities to the Department of History of Science.

The distinction is one that seems to have escaped most History and Science concentrators, most of whom aren't even aware that a change was made.

"What happened?" asked a slightly confused Ciaran J. Powers '93, when told of the change.

"I had no idea it happened," said Julie W. Caldwell '94, echoing the bewilderment of her fellow History and Science concentrator.

Even the Department's top administrator conceded that the move would have little or no practical impact on the lives of undergraduates. The committee on History and Science, which oversees an interdisciplinary undergraduate concentration, has had no real function for several years, said Owen Gingerich, chair of the Department of the History of Science.

History and Science, a graduate department, was already performing most of the standing committees duties, he said.

"In effect the standing committee on History and Science was a committee that never met, said Gingerich. "[Members] received a report every year but they didn't actually have much input in the department."

"They didn't even get a free lunch out of it," he added.

The elimination of the standing committee wasrecommended to the department by John B. Fox, Jr.'59, administrative dean of the Graduate School ofArts and Sciences, as part of an effort to trimthe Harvard bureaucracy.

"There are so many standing committees atHarvard that University Hall has had to hire aperson just to take care of standing committees,"explained Gingerich

The elimination of the standing committee wasrecommended to the department by John B. Fox, Jr.'59, administrative dean of the Graduate School ofArts and Sciences, as part of an effort to trimthe Harvard bureaucracy.

"There are so many standing committees atHarvard that University Hall has had to hire aperson just to take care of standing committees,"explained Gingerich