A Look Back at the Summer of 1993...A Lot Happened While You Were Gone

The Money Rolls In

Walter H. Annenberg, a philanthropist who once owned TV Guide and served as ambassador to Great Britain, gave Harvard $25 million to fund undergraduate financial aid, undergraduate seminars and the renovation of Memorial Hall.

The gift is in the memory of Annenberg's son Roger, a member of the class of 1962 who died that year before graduation.

While $25 million sounds like a lot of money, it was only the smallest piece in an unprecedented $365 million donation Annenberg made in June to Harvard, the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania and the Peddie School at Hightstown, N.J.

Saudi Gift

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia gave Harvard Law School $5 million to establish the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" professorship of Islamic law and to fund research on Islamic legal systems.

Bomb Scares Galore

Following mail bomb attacks on scholars at the University of California at San Francisco and Yale University, Harvard police and the FBI issued an alert asking all Harvard affiliates to be careful of suspicious-looking packages.

Warning signs, authorities said, include excessive postage, oily stains or discolorations, the absence of a return address and protuding wires or tinfoil.

The warning, aimed at cautioning people about bombs, had the effect of promoting a series of bomb scares. The most noteworthy such scare was at the house of Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, who, forced to evacuate his house, went out to supper in his bedroom slippers as the Boston bomb squad investigated a package that had arrived at his house.

The package was found to be a harmless gift from a friend, but law enforcement officials said the package was suspicious, in part because it was addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Knowles" instead of "Professor" or "Dean."

The Science Center and portions of Holyoke Center were evacuated in subsequent scares.

Filthy Harvard Square

The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously in favor of an order asserting, "Harvard Square is absolutely filthy, with litter all over and trash barrels overflowing each evening."

City public works officials said they were doing the best they can to keep the Square clean.

Hospitals Talk Cooperation

Five Harvard Medical School-Affiliated Teaching Hospitals announced they are discussing ways of putting aside years of intense competition, examining possibilities for cooperating more closely in order to cut costs.

The discussions, initiated by Medical School Dean Daniel C. Tosteson '44, raised fears of layoffs among employees.

A six-month planning study will analyze the situation and make recommendations.

Butts Out in Holyoke Center

Holyoke Center's eighth floor smoking room closed, making the mammoth administration building smoke-free. The decision came after consultation with those who work in the building, and was made out of concern for air quality, officials said.

Wellesley Shuttle

Diane Chapman Walsh, professor and chair of the department of health and social behavior at the Harvard School of Public Health, was named president of Wellesley College.

She'll take over October 1, replacing Nannerl O. Keohane, who left to become president of Duke University.

Gomes Presides at Lewis Rites

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals and minister in Memorial Church, presided over a funeral service for Boston Celtics captain Reggie Lewis.

More than 7,000 gathered at the service, where Gomes said that Boston had been "blessed" to know Lewis.

Police Nab Bug Thief

Harvard Police arrested a volunteer in the Museum of Comparative Zoology on charges of stealing rare bugs and a camera from the museum. The volunteer, Gary P. Dahlstrom, was the second person arrested this year for allegedly stealing from campus museums. Sources said he often slept in the museum.

In May, police arrested James Arthur Hogue, a Harvard Extension School student, for allegedly stealing an estimated $100,000 in precious gems, minerals and other property from the Harvard University mineralogical museum.

Ginsburg Confirmed

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a student at Harvard Law School from 1956 to 1958 and a visiting professor in the fall of 1971, was confirmed by the Senate to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

One might think the Law School would be baskingin the favorable publicity. Ginsburg, however,used her confirmation hearings as a platform tobash Harvard Law School's treatment of women,saying that the "indignities" imposed on her thenwere what led her to spend much of her careerfighting to break down legal barriers to theadvancement of women in society.

Ginsburg told the Senate Judiciary Committee ofbeing shut out of Lamont Library and denied spacein Law School dormitories.

Current Law School Dean Robert C. Clark saidthe school has changed. "I think she'd be happy ifshe were a student here now," he said.

House of Blues

Harvard's endowment fund will provide venturecapital money for the House of Blues, a HarvardSquare restaurant, to open for business in LosAngeles and New Orleans.

Harvard's investment in the House of Blues, tothe tune of an estimated $25 million, will be usedby Isaac Tigrett, the founder of the House ofBlues who was also a cofounder of the successfulHard Rock Cafe chain.

AIDS Therapy Doubted

There was disappointing news about theso-called "triple therapy," a combination of drugsthat a Harvard medical student announced inFebruary might slow the spread of HIV, the viruswhich causes AIDS.

The Harvard team issued a statement this summersaying that "an unfortunate error, which weregret, ocurred in our laboratory." Otherscientists had difficulty reproducing the resultsreported by the Harvard team. Trials of thetreatment will continue.

Ryan Cleared

A special report commissioned by the U.S. SixthCircuit Court of Appeals cleared UniversityAttorney Allan A. Ryan Jr. of any wrongdoing inthe prosecution of former Cleveland autoworkerJohn Demjanjuk as the notorious Nazi death campguard Ivan the Terrible.

From 1980 to 1983, Ryan headed up theDepartment of Justice's Office of SpecialInvestigations, a unit devoted to Nazi-hunting.However, in finding that Ryan and other Americanprosecutors of Demjanjuk "acted in good faith,"the report said the Harvard attorney and othershad made numerous mistakes, including the mostimportant one: Demjanjuk was most likely not Ivanthe Terrible.

Report Says No Discrimination

There is no discrimination on the basis ofrace, gender or national origin in the securityguard division of the Harvard police department,according to an 86-page report released thissummer by Vice President and General CounselMargaret H. Marshall.

Eight guards who had publicly chargeddiscrimination--and, in some cases, on-the-jobharassment by their supervisors--say the reportcontains inaccuracies and innuendos about theircharges.

The matter is likely to be resolved in court.Four guards have hired a Waltham attorney, RichardSpicer, to represent them in complaints before theMassachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Gilbert Lab Fraud

Carl E. Fulwiler, a graduate student working inthe lab of Nobel Prize winning professor WalterGilbert '53, is being investigated for allegedresearch fraud.

A special Faculty investigating committee isperforming the probe, which has lasted, accordingto one source, for more than six months. Thefederal Office of Research Integrity has also beennotified of the allegations of fabricating dataleveled against Fulwilwer, who participates in thezebrafish project in Gilbert's laboratory.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles isexpected to receive a report from theinvestigating committee and make a judgment onFulwiler's status in the coming months. Knowleshas declined to comment on the matter.Associated Press PhotoThe Rev. PETER J. GOMES at the funeral ofREGGIE LEWIS