It is an ancient philosophical problem: If a tree falls in an unpeopled forest, is there any noise? You may have the same problem imagining Cambridge in the summer. Does it really exist when you are gone?

This summer Cambridge did exist and it kept on going. Even some atmosphere of the year-round Harvard continued. Directory assistance was still there (along with that wonderful lady with the acerbic British accent). Many professors stayed around till late August's heat and humidity drove them to the mountains and to the Cape. When we walked by the Union this summer, strange and stultifying smells still emanated from the back kitchen.

But for the most part, it was a Cambridge in slow motion, a muted, low-key Cambridge. Even the summer school students, who bounced in full of summertime excitement, money and curiosity, wilted when the thermometer hit 99. For half the summer, Crimson staffers tried to think of new and imaginative ways to make the weather slug say, "It will be raining again goddamit." The rest of the summer our problem was getting the papers delivered before they melted.

Some of the news in those papers spilled over from the school year. Some will affect you next year. And important things went on in Cambridge while you were away.

HEW Says Harvard Is Still Off Balance

On June 13, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare rejected Harvard's affirmative action proposal. HEW's main objection to the plan, which was submitted May 1, was that it did not breakdown by department the goals and timetables for the hiring of women and minority group members.

HEW also listed its dissatisfactions with the following:

The University's present nepotism policy (which the HEW said it considers discrimination by sex.)

The position and authority of Walter J. Leonard, special assistant to President Bok and coordinator of the Affirmative Action Program (HEW questioned whether Leonard had enough authority to enforce the hiring plan.)

A Yen For Education; Busing at Harvard

Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor, laid foundations this summer for more construction at Harvard. Reischauer visited Japan on July 3 and spent several weeks there seeking the $45 million necessary to build a Japanese institute at Harvard.

These efforts became necessary when the Ford Foundation announced that it would discontinue its annual $500,000 gift for East Asian studies. The Ford Foundation has been giving that money to Harvard for almost 20 years, Dean Rosovsky said on July 17.

Jerome Cohen, professor of Law, already obtained $1 million from Mitsubishi industries for the endowment of a Japanese law school professorship.

Phillips Brooks House, too, got some extra money this summer. Early in July the Rockefeller Brothers Fund gave PBH $15,000 to support the Harvard Africa Volunteer Project. The three-year award is the second largest gift ever received for the 12-year-old project. The National Council of Churches made a $28,000 grant last year.

The University may also find money this year to finance the River-Quad shuttle bus. Complaints from a number of men--primarily athletes--changed the shuttle bus from a topic for debate to a real possibility.