Harvard Today: October 22, 2014

Happy Wednesday, Harvard! It’s crazy to think we’re already in the middle of the ninth week of the semester. We can’t figure out if it’s crazy because nine weeks seems like such a long time, or because it seems like we’ve been here way, way longer, but we’re leaning towards the former. Here’s our list of nine things we should know/have re-learned by now.

1. The shuttle schedule. The switch from the Mather House stop to “Grant Street” is not helping. Also, where the hell did sboy go??
2. The best times to go to Annenberg/FlyBy. We just want to get our lunchtime swai and tombasrav by Harvard Time before class. Is that too much to ask?
3. Along the same lines: the best way to sneak into Dunster Inn d-hall. So close, yet so far.
4. How to stay awake through lecture. Or section. Or while doing readings. Really all the time. Coffee? Gum? 5 hour energy? Please, someone, give us the answer.
5. What the semi-secret Sorrento Square organization that used to publish a so-called humor magazine currently does. Seriously. Enlighten us.
6. The Lowell Bells. Every Sunday morning. Almost makes us want to live in the Quad. Almost.
7. What to talk about at office hours and/or faculty dinner. The reading is out of the question for obvious reasons.
8. How Head of the Charles works. We didn’t realize this was an issue until last weekend.
9. Making Wednesdays more bearable. Just kidding, we figured this one out a long time ago. Read Flyby!

By Daniel N. Yue

IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Tomorrow’s high is 55, with a low of 52, with an 80% chance of rain during the day and a 100% chance of rain at night. If anything could make midterm season (midterm semester?) worse, it’s the gloomy weather, but just use it as your excuse to treat yourself to coffee in the new Barker Café.

IN THE D-HALLS

Lunch

Chicken and Swiss Melt on Whole Wheat Panini
Portobello Lentil Pattie with Tomato Basil Salsa
Spicy Jalapeno Jack Cheese and Macaroni

Dinner

Beef Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
Chicken Parmesan
Vegan “Meat” Balls

ON FLYBY

1) Yale to Steal CS 50—Still Not Harvard (And Never Will Be): I mean, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

2) Help Me Name My Thesis: Help Jason C. Hirschhorn '15 and go down in history.

IN THE NEWS

1) Harvard Makes Arrangements for Possible Ebola Scenarios, Despite Low Risk: A few days after announcing updated restrictions on travel to Ebola-infected countries, University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 said in a sit-down interview Tuesday that he believes that Harvard students should still be more concerned about the flu than Ebola.

2) Two Thirds of SEAS Faculty Will Move to Allston in 2019: Computer science, biomedical engineering, and mechanical engineering are the three undergraduate teaching areas at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences whose faculty and facilities are slated to move to Allston in 2019, members of the school’s leadership said this week.

3) HAA Vice-President Resigns Amid Sexting Scandal in U.K.: Brooks P. Newmark ’80, the first vice president of the Harvard Alumni Association and the frontrunner for next year’s presidency, has resigned from his position amid an ongoing sexting scandal in the U.K., where he is a member of Parliament.

4) Cabot Library Renovations to Begin as Early as Fall 2015: The renovated space, which will consolidate the first floor of Cabot Library with the adjacent Greenhouse Cafe, among other transformations, will entail an over 80 percent reduction in the library’s print materials, which will largely be replaced by collaboration spaces and data visualization and media tools. Construction could begin as early as the 2015-2016 academic year.

EVENTS

Stop by L166 at the Institute of Politics at 4 p.m. for this week’s session of Kristen Soltis Anderson’s study group, titled “The Master's Degree Barista (And Other Economic Challenges)”, featuring special guest Josh Barro, New York Times “The Upshot” writer and MSNBC contributor.

If you’re more interested in media than economics, Phil Kent’s study group may be of interest instead. Also taking place at 4 p.m., in the Faculty Dining Room at the Institute of Politics, this week’s discussion is on Public Interest Groups, Advocacy Advertising & Political Media Spending, featuring CNN’s head of News Standards and Practices, Rick Davis.

Join the Harvard Women’s Center tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the basement of Canaday B for a Reception in Honor of Women at Harvard and Radcliffe.

Join Science in the News, a graduate student organization at Harvard, for a lecture and discussion on human life, titled: Forever Young: How Long Can Humans Live? The event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Armenise Amphitheater, 200 Longwood Ave, at the medical school.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art opened Tuesday night at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research after a discussion with curators David Adjaya and Mariane Ibrahim-Lenhart. The Pigozzi Contemporary Art.