The Year in Review

TRY QUANTIFYING NEW HAVEN

Just as students returned to Cambridge last fall, campuses around the country were buzzing with the results of U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the nation's best colleges. The magazine no longer believes that Harvard is the best. Despite the large classes here (which appear to be the source of our drop in status), we are puzzled as to how Harvard lags behind Yale and Princeton, respectively. During the last few years, Yale has been struggling to overcome financial instability and labor strife. Last spring, undergraduates were forced to fend for themselves when the dining services went on strike. Earlier that term, Elis were locked out of their classrooms when teaching fellows battled the administration. At Princeton, sophomores were forced to inhabit trailers as a poor excuse for overflow housing. Whatever our problems at Harvard, we've never lacked teachers, food or permanent housing. These issues aside, the survey would likely have gone differently if U.S. News had been able to quantify one crucial fact: Yale is in New Haven. (Sept. 18, 1996)

LENIENT ALCOHOL POLICY NEEDED

Drinking, everyone must acknowledge, is a perennial college pastime which has contributed to the gaiety of the undergraduate experience for centuries. The current law of the United States, namely a national minimum drinking age of 21, has not changed for the better the cultural mores of those toward whom the law is geared. Rather, it has served to infantilize the entire college-aged population and create taboos which make alcohol all the more desirable. The best way to proceed is a policy of leniency on the part of the Cambridge Licensing Commission and the Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission. Punishing college students will not force them to conform to legal norms, primarily because social norms, often encourage an undergraduate drinking culture. (Sept. 26, 1996)

THE QUEST FOR CHEAP LABOR

While we appreciate the University's attempts to control costs in an era of exponentially exploding tuition prices, we wonder about the ramifications of current trends in the job market. As the power and influence of unions wane due to the competition with cheap labor at home and abroad, many workers are forced to accept increasingly less generous contracts. The new contract for Local 254, Harvard's union of custodial workers, is a case in point: older workers are offered more attractive early retirement plans to make room for new employees who will be paid far less. It's no wonder that income inequality is steadily increasing in America, and that many hard-working people are forced to work harder for less pay and fewer benefits. (Oct. 1, 1996)

HIV TESTS ANONYMOUS, NOT FREE

In light of the rapid spread and danger of the HIV virus which causes AIDS, we are overjoyed to learn that University Health Services will institute anonymous HIV antibody testing. However, we are disappointed that students are being charged $10 for this service. For those looking for any reason to avoid getting tested, an extra $10 may be that sought-after incentive. There is absolutely no excuse and no reason for discouraging anyone from having an HIV test. It is incredibly important that everyone know their partners, know themselves, and act safely. We encourage testing at all costs for anyone who desires it. (Oct. 21, 1996)

AD BOARD NEEDS REVAMPING

Recent events, including an Undergraduate Council bill requesting student representation on the Administrative Board, have suggested that Harvard College's main disciplinary body must be more accountable to students. Although we do not agree that students should be members of the Administrative Board for reasons of confidentiality and consistency, we do believe that students should be more involved in the disciplinary process. We propose two changes to this end. First, publish reports of all the Ad Boards cases without using names so as to inform students of the punishments they might face in particular circumstances and to enable students to dispute Ad Board decisions based on its own precedent. Second, make the Student-Faculty Judicial Board a more viable option for students being disciplined who would like the openness of a board on which their peers sit. (Nov. 12, 1996)

EXAMINE TEXACO HOLDINGS

The time has come for Harvard to seriously consider divesting from the Texaco Corporation. The recent scandal in which top Texaco executives were taped discussing their own discriminatory policies is only the latest evidence that the oil giant is seriously lacking in institutional integrity. There has long been evidence that the company discriminates in its hiring and promotion policies, most notably based on a 1991 finding for $17.6 million to a California woman passed over for promotion in favor of a male colleague, as well as a 1995 reprimand by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs for unfair employment practices at Texaco's Houston facility. The company's shareholders have had ample time to realize that there is something shady about Texaco's practices, yet they have chosen to do nothing. Divestment is never a decision to be made lightly, but the evidence has become overwhelming that Texaco is malignant in its actions. We need to send a clear message that its blatant prejudice and social irresponsibility will not go unnoticed. Harvard is in a prime position to take the first step. (Nov. 25, 1996)

ALBRIGHT SHATTERS D.C. CEILING

We applaud President Clinton for his Dec. 5 appointment of Madeline K. Albright as the first female secretary of state. After her hard work as the United States ambassador to the United Nations and as a member of the National Security Council, Albright was the clear choice to succeed Warren Christopher as our nation's highest foreign policy adviser. As President Clinton articulated, Albright has steely determination as well as a clear understanding of her dual function as a leading cabinet member and a female role model. We see that the second follows from the first, as she herself indicated in her own metaphor to outgoing Secretary Christopher: I hope my heels can fill your shoes. Madeline Albright has broken through the very thick glass ceiling of American foreign policy. Let's give her a chance to see what she can do with all that oxygen. (Jan. 6, 1997)

DAY OF SERVICE UNIFYING FORCE

The daily interaction of students in classes, athletics and extracurricular activities tends to promote a very diverse atmosphere. However, students of the same ethnic group often cling together and form communities which may become insular. Minority students in particular often congregate in order to develop cultural bonds. The Interethnic Day of Service, organized by Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel and the Minority Student Alliance, provided a common goal to give otherwise disparate groups a unified objective: to lend a hand to the community. Approximately 45 students of various ethnic backgrounds headed to locations in Cambridge and Boston to serve the community by performing such tasks as painting homeless shelters and preparing food for a soup kitchen. The Interethnic Day of Service should be continued and made into a regular practice. (Jan. 8, 1997)

LET GAYS MARRY IN MEM CHURCH

By closing the doors of Memorial Church to homosexual couples desiring to sanctify their union with a blessing ceremony, the administrative board of the Church is discriminating against homosexuals who want to commit to each other within the auspices of the Church. Memorial Church is not just any house of God. It is a Harvard-affiliated house of God, the church of Harvard University, and, as such, is bound by the policies and regulations of the greater Harvard community. Harvard does not allow discrimination against homosexual men and women in any of its other spheres of influence; Memorial Church should be no different. (Jan. 30, 1997)

SOLVE THE ACID PAPER PROBLEM

At what price our books? Many of the books printed on acid paper in the 19th and early 20th centuries that are housed in Widener Library are decaying due to the lack of climate control in the library. We are concerned because every book that gets burnt represents a piece of lost heritage. It will cost $28 million to renovate Widener with a climate control system. To date [March 17], the University has not raised any of the money needed. We realize that the University cannot raise such money out of thin air, but for something as important to a University as its books, the money can be found. We recommend that the administration put its money where its mouth is, step up to the plate and act before Widener begins selling its books as confetti. (March 17, 1997)

ASGF PUSHES RIGHT BUTTONS

The Alternative Senior Gift Fund (ASGF) is a good idea for both the students and the University. The money ASGF collects will be held in escrow until University hiring practices comply with the request put forth in a 1971 report to have a proportional number of women and minority faculty members to the number of women and minority Ph.D.s. The fund will provide seniors with another option for donation to the University while at the same time allowing them to speak out in favor of increased hiring of female and minority faculty. Students who choose to donate money to the College should be able to choose where and how they want their money to be spent. The student organizers of ASGF are putting the principles of their Harvard education to good use by trying to help steer the University in the right direction in hiring policy. What better way to give back to Harvard than by holding it to a morally acceptable standard? (March 18, 1997)