People in the News

Brenda Taylor `01

There are athletes who dream of going to the Olympics, and then there are those who will actually go. If Brenda N. Taylor `01 keeps up her athletic prowess, hers will be a name to look for in the 2004 Olympics.

Over this past year, co-captain of the track team Taylor broke meet records nearly everywhere she went, and her time of 56.11 seconds in the 400 hurdles is one of the fastest this year. She has won the indoor track title, Ivy League titles, and IC4A and ECAC titles.

And she is not done yet.

After graduation, she is continuing her training for the US Nationals in the end of June and will keep training for the 2004 Olympics.

After that, Taylor plans to attend medical school and pursue a career in mental health or fashion.

But four years ago, she did not even think she would end up here at Harvard.

“I come from a tiny town about as backcountry as it gets, and I thought would just go to UNC. I didn’t even know where Harvard was,” Taylor says.

Now that she is graduating, she has no regrets having attended Harvard.

“I am really going to miss the people here, and I think that’s what I’m going to take away from my experience, more that what I learned in Chem 27,” she laughs.

“Doing track affected my experience in every single way. Being an athlete requires a different type of discipline, and I’ve cherished every second I spent on the track,” she says.

That immense amount of time has translated into success for Taylor, giving Harvard a name in track.

“Every year we go to Texas, and they ask us, ‘Y’all do track out there?’”

With Taylor’s achievements to point to, we can certainly say we do.

Sarah C. Haskins `01

Sarah C. Haskins `01 remembers seeing IGP (Immediate Gratification Players) during her pre-frosh weekend, and noting the remarkable talent of the improv troupe.

For the past four years, Haskins has proved to be a core player in IGP, emerging as one of the most consistently funny and witty personalities at Harvard.

“It’s not a traditional Harvard achievement,” says Haskins. “I’m lucky enough to do something I love, and it’s so nice to have people respond to that.”

Haskins has made a name for herself in Harvard’s humor circle. She became even more famous earlier this year when her play, Fangs for the Memories, which she co-wrote with Benjamin S. Forkner `01 and Young K. Lee `99, was chosen as the Hasty Pudding’s 153rd Show.

And Haskins also served as Tzar of IGP last year, leading the troupe through some of its most successful shows, including the unique IGP Musical, which was started her during her first year in college.

Haskins says she has always liked improv comedy; she attended several performances of the popular Chicago-based Second City before coming to Harvard, but it was only after being accepted into IGP that Haskins was able to develop her talent and her improv theory.

A Chicago native, Haskins plans to take classes at Second City next year, but doesn’t have any long-term plans. She knows that she enjoys playing around with improv comedy, and is thrilled to know that others enjoy watching her perform; that’s enough motivation to lead her to stick with the trade a little longer.

Humor has influenced her outlook on life, which she examines through a light-hearted perspective.

“A joke is a different take on something,” she says. “To have a good time at Harvard and with life, you definitely be joking all the time.

Mieka D. Pauley `02

Mieka D. Pauley `02 came to Harvard planning to study physics; her guitar was just an accessory. But this June, Pauley is graduating after three years, finishing her studies so she can devote time to the things more important to her budding career--writing and performing music.

Pauley’s time at Harvard has been shared between her music performances--which range from open mike cameos to more formal performances, such as Seneca night at the Comedy Connection--and her studies. This past year, as Pauley’s name appeared on flyers across the campus advertising upcoming performances, Pauley says she realized her passion was in her music and not her studies.

“When I’m performing, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” she says. “That’s how I know it’s right.”

Pauley’s gigs have become increasingly full with Harvard and non-Harvard fans.

“It’s unbelievable to see people get excited about your music.”

Pauley says she needs to give herself the chance to test out whether she can succeed in this field. She will be living in Cambridge next year, with friends from Kirkland House, working full time as a secretary at the Business School. During the evenings and weekends, Pauley will write music. She hopes to sign on to more contracting companies, who can get her gigs across the country.

Pauley’s says her music has developed the folk singer-songwriter genre, but wants to move away from those associations. Pauley hopes that the music she writes next year will be classified more as acoustic pop.

Although Pauley has been writing music since high school, it was not until college that she began to get serious. The support she got from parents and friends inspired her to push her talents. She has no definite plans, and is excited for school to end so she can see where her music will take her.

“It's amazing that this is happening. This is the life I've wanted to live since I was a little girl.”

Paul A. Gusmorino `02

“Some people say you can’t make everyone happy, but I think you can,” says Paul A. Gusmorino III `02, president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council.

That’s not a bad motto for any president, but when trying to appease students, tutors, House masters, and Harvard administrators, trying to make everyone happy can certainly be a challenge.

This year, the Undergraduate Council saw almost unprecedented success. Gusmorino’s docket of successful projects include starting UC Books, pushing for universal keycard access, UC Boxes, and extended party hours. Under his leadership, the newly-founded Concert Commission kicked off their inaugural concert and the UC has begun to take on a new reputation.

But with Gusmorino’s motto, accomplishing each project requires lots of consensus and thoughtful consideration. Take for example, Gusmorino’s approach to convincing the administration to extend party hours. While most students would probably like to see parties until 2 am, Gusmorino recognizes that there are some tutors with young children and other students who might be bothered by the later parties, which brings more noise.

“The solution,” says Gusmorino, “is to ask students to be more considerate. It’s a compromise they should be willing to make.”

Gusmorino, an all-around friendly and genuinely nice guy, brings his consideration to his job. He takes into account each party’s best interest, and looks for feasible solutions, rather than just highlighting the problem, which is what Councils and presidents have done in the past.

Gusmorino’s term is only half-way done; on the agenda are CUE guides for concentrations, a cell-phone plan for Harvard students, and revamping the reputation of the UC.

“This is the time [to reform the UC],” he says. “We inherited the Council half-way through this year, but next September we can set the tone.”

Gusmorino’s tone is one of productivity, efficiency, and consideration. That’s the nice-guy approach to getting things done.

“You might have to be careful and thoughtful , but there is a way to make everyone happy.”

Ben McKean `02

When Benjamin L. McKean left Mass Hall after the 21-day PSLM Living Wage Sit In, he didn’t even have time to shower--he went straight to the induction dinner for Phi Beta Kappa, wearing the “ratty-ass t-shirt [he] had been wearing for three weeks.”

Despite the honor of being named to Phi Beta Kappa, McKean had a more important victory on his mind this May. After two and a half years of vigorous protests, McKean and his fellow PSLMers attempted a form of protest unseen at Harvard since the ‘60s--they overtook Mass Hall and refused to leave until the administration granted them the concessions they felt essential, a minimum wage of $10.25 for all Harvard workers.

“The conditions for Harvard’s lowest-paid workers are completely unfair,” McKean says. “I saw this as a way I could make a difference where the difference really needed to be made.”

McKean says it is odd to single out any particular person for accomplishments with the PSLM--it was a team effort, he says.

But McKean has consistently been only of the most outspoken and influential members of the PSLM.

He was recently chosen by the Undergraduate Council to serve on the Katz Committee, the group set up by Harvard administration to look into the conditions of low-paid workers at Harvard.

McKean says it was his knowledge on the issue and his experience with the workers that won him the vote of the Undergraduate Council, and enabled him to maintain his involvement with Harvard’s progression toward the living wage.

“The true victory will be won if a living wage is part of the recommendation of the committee,” says McKean.

Nevertheless, McKean says he was thrilled that Harvard is releasing new information.

As he repeats this, McKean mutters to himself, “Man, I can’t believe this was all this year.”

Harvey C. Mansfield `53

Harvey “C-minus” Mansfield, long known for his rigorous grading, shocked the campus with a new grading trick this year. Voicing adamant aversion to grade inflation, a “glaring flaw in American education,” Mansfield announced at the beginning of the spring semester that he would assign two sets of grades to the students in Government 1061: “Modern Political Philosophy”--initial grades, centered around a C, would accurately reflect the quality of students’ work and compare them to their peers. The second set of grades, the ones submitted to the registrar, would reconfigure the marks according to Harvard’s inflated system, centering around a B+.

Mansfield says he didn’t like the pressure to raise grades because students were receiving better marks in all their other classes.

“I don’t want to continue punishing students for a situation that is not their fault,” Mansfield says. “I’ve had to adjust my grades upward over the years, and the strain on my conscience has become too great.”

To prove his point, Mansfield asked the FAS registrar to compile the grades given out to Harvard students last year. To the surprise of all, the registrar’s records say that 51% of all grades given to Harvard undergraduates were some form of A: 25% were ‘A’s and 25%were ‘A-‘s.

Mansfield, and many of the television and radio show hosts who interviewed the notorious professor, were appalled by this statistic.

“In no other walk of life would you say that one quarter of the practitioners are worthy of As,” Mansfield says. “Nobody who knows anything about grades would give anything as generous as that which the Harvard Faculty gives.”

As the semester ends, Mansfield says that he likes the way his grading experiment worked out, and he might do it again next year.

“It's a temporary measure, until the faculty decides to do something about grade inflation” he says. “It certainly got a lot of attention, and none of it very favorable to Harvard.”

But the Gentleman’s C is not that bad, Mansfield reminds.

“Of course this is a Harvard C, so it's still good,” he says. “It doesn't mean you're dumb.”

Nick Brown

Second-year law school student Nick Brown may not have won the million dollars, but he has certainly been a recognized survivor this year.

As one of the contestants on CBS’s hit show “Survivor II,” Brown has walked away with a little more fame that he bargained for.

“I’ve gotten some really random stuff. Husbands will call their wives on their cell phones, and I’ve signed some guy’s chest. It’s ok, but when you’re in the grocery just trying to get your Lean Cuisines…I guess I took my anonymity for granted,” he says.

He has even been featured in supermarket tabloids.

“They said I was the token gay on the show. I got a kick of out that,” he says.

So why did he do it?

“When you apply, you don’t think you’ll make it. I think I did it for an escape from school, and I thought it would be fun,” he says.

Was it fun?

“No. no,” he replies immediately. “It was amazing and I would do it over again in a heartbeat, but it was not fun,” he says.

Interestingly, the hard working law student, ROTC member and part-time model earned a reputation for being lazy on the show.

“I don’t know where that came from. I actually worked hard out there, but I don’t really care,” he says, “it’s just a television show.”

Being on the highest rated show on television has not really changed this normal student.

“I really liked my life before ‘Survivor.’ If this is going to be the highlight of my life, that’s really depressing,” he says.

He plans to graduate from law school and spend four years in the Judge Advocate General.

“After that, I’d really like to be the Mayor of Seattle,” he admits.

In that challenge, perhaps now Brown has earned the skill to outwit, outlast and out survive.

Robert P. Kirshner `70

Professor of Astronomy Robert P. Kirshner `70 has spent most of his career studying exploding stars, a fitting task for one of the most dynamic professors on campus.

In addition to teaching the popular Core Science A-35: “Matter in the Universe,” he is the Head of the Optical and Infrared Astronomy Division at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the incoming Master of Quincy House.

"What an intoxicating moment!" he enthuses. "It's really a lot. You only have one resource, time, and the trick is balancing the active research with a more social atmosphere. I think it's possible--I certainly hope it's possible."

Kirshner concentrated in astronomy as an undergraduate at Harvard, where part of his senior thesis won the Bowdoin prize for "useful and polite literature."

"I was really proud of that- 'useful and polite literature.' I've tried to stay useful and polite,” he jokes.

This comes from a man who spent much of his college time in theatricals, the Hasty Pudding and being captain of the cycling team.

After graduate school and post-doctorate work, he got a "real job" as a professor at the University of Michigan.

"Then Harvard called, you know those Olympian snobs. And I thought I would be perfectly happy to stay at Michigan and do better than Harvard, and then I thought, 'Well, maybe not,'" he says.

Commenting on the popularity of his course that he has taught since 1988, Kirshner modestly avoids his personal popularity.

"I think it's the subject matter, really. These are big ideas, and people are really interested in where everything came from and where we're going," he says.

"Of course, I think there is a tiny bit of a circus atmosphere to the class," he admits, referring to his wild demonstrations.

Kirshner is ready to bring his circus to Quincy House, where he lived as an undergraduate.

"I am very pleased about that. I've been a not-very-good member of the Senior Common Room- well, I went to the good parties. But now I'm actually going to have some real responsibility," he says. "The phrase I like to use is 'serious fun.' There is a world of ideas ou there and it would be great to be able to cut across disciplines for enjoyable learning."

"As far as the social life goes, I think the students pretty much take care of that on their own," he chuckles.

Speculating on his future, Kirshner's face crinkles in amused uncertainty.

"I have five years at Quincy, and then let's see how it goes,” he says. “Retire? Oh geeze, I'm not ready yet. I'm just getting good."

Jim Augustine `01

Senior James C. “Jim” Augustine `01 dances down the street and then proceeds to leap down the stairs into Winthrop dining hall with his famous exuberance and enthusiasm.

On stage at Harvard, it is this boundless energy that has kept students entertained all year.

Over the past year, Augustine produced the musical Sweet Charity, hosted the Callbacks and Din and Tonics holiday show, starred in productions including Into the Woods, played Full House’s Michelle Tanner in The B.J. Show and cracked up audiences as a member of On Thin Ice.

Augustine is ready to move on to bigger thing s now.

“I feel like the things I’ve studied aren’t enough anymore, and if I didn’t have that feeling, I’d be really depressed about leaving,” he says.

To pursue his performance dreams, the day following commencement, Augustine plans on moving to New York, in style of course.

“I have this idea of what it means to move to New York. I have one bag with everything I can fit into it and my wallet with all the money I have,” he describes.

In New York, he plans to train in choreography, singing, dancing and acting.

“I don’t know which one to pick yet,” he muses. “I want to do as much as possible.”

For someone pursuing a career in entertainment, Augustine is surprisingly wary about fame.

“I think fame is dangerous. It pigeonholes you, and right now I think I’m limited by my amount of exposure. I still have 40 years left to expose myself,” he laughs.

“I certainly have the Harvard mentality where it’s like ‘I’ve got to get everything and be the best at everything and everyone has to love me,’” he reflects. “But I would rather be known to a small, select group of people who know me really well than be known to the world for something trivial.”

“I think you just have to go through life and make yourself happy, and if other people want to clap for you along the way, that’s great.”

Judging from his presence at Harvard, Augustine will certainly hear a great deal of applause along his way.