In the wake of national attention and widespread criticism, the University removed the $850 iron grates that had been installed five days earlier to prevent homeless people from sleeping on the heating vents behind Leverett House.

"I think the main reasoning for taking the grates down was that the issue had grown to be such a cause celebre," Leverett House Master John E. Dowling '57 said. "We had to try to get the house back to normal."

A student-administrator committee was formed after the mid-January incidents to recommend positive steps the University could take to alleviate the homelessness problem in the Cambridge area.

QUAD, IAB RENOVATIONS

Some 80 Cabot House residents began moving into their plush new rooms in Briggs Hall this month, as the first phase of renovations to the Radcliffe Quadrangle drew to a close amid worries about the financial prospects for future renovations.

And construction workers are moving on the the next series of badly needed renovations in Barnard and Bertram Halls, guaranteeing Quad residents at least another six months of early morning construction sounds.

But once Bertram and Barnard are finished, the $12 million already raised for the Quad runs out. Officials are worried about finding the money to complete the North and Cabot House renovations which included suites for North House and new dining halls for both houses. They are committed to borrowing $15 million more, but with escalating construction costs, that money won't buy what was promised. So officials must decide whether to accumulate more debt or downscale the Quad remodeling.

Harvard did have the money, however, to complete $4 million renovations to the Indoor Athletic Building, soon to be renamed the Malkin Athletic Center for the man who gave millions of dollars to rebuild the aging sports complex. All facilities in the new center--including a renovated pool, an all new glass-encased aerobics and exercise area, and renovated weight and fitness areas--are in operation. A dedication ceremony is slated for later this month.

INTO AFRICA

After a summer of increasingly bloody violence in South Africa, pressure for divestment mounted here and across the nation. In September, President Bok announced that Harvard had divested $2.8 million of its more than $400 million in South Africa-related stocks and that the University would fund internships for students in that nation through a $1 million endowment. Leaders of the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC), however, held a rally in October to push Harvard toward total divestment.

Accepting a SASC invitation to speak at Harvard, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Bishop Desmond Tutu addressed standing room only crowds at the Kennedy School's Arco Forum.

"You know something, we're going to be free," Tutu said. "And when we get to the other side of this liberation game, we would like to be able to say `You know something, Harvard University was with us."'

CANTABS HIT THE POLLS

From pornography to rent control, a slew of issues confronted Cambridge residents voting in the biannual municipal election.

On the nine-member City Council, two incumbents were replaced by an opponent of rent control, lawyer William H. Walsh, and Sheila T. Russell, the wife of the late mayor. Voters returned three incumbents to the Cambridge School Committee and elected three first-term officials.