Presidential Interviews: Harvard, almamater to six United States presidents, sought tofurther the special relationship in July whenK-School professor Marvin Kalb invited eachpresidential hopeful for a televised one-on-oneinterview to be conducted before an audience inthe Arco Forum. Kalb, the Murrow Professor ofPress and Public Policy and former diplomaticcorrespondent for NBC, said that National PublicRadio and Public Television Stations had agreed tocarry the hourlong interviews.
Van-itas: Phillips Brooks House (PBH)barely escaped catastrophe in late July when oneof its vans, filled far beyond legal capacity with26 inner-city children, flipped over aMassachusetts Turnpike guardrail. Although thechildren suffered only minor injuries, the21-year-old driver was charged with "operating toendanger" for overloading the vehicle, which wascarrying participants of the "Keylatch" summerprogram to an amusement park in southernMassachusetts. The accident raised questions aboutthe training PBH van drivers receive and promptedPBH to review its driving policies.
Burning Down the Bus: Near-disasterstruck PBH for the second time in as many weekswhen a Harvard shuttle bus that PBH borrowed burstinto flames on Route 93 near Medford. None of the30 children and counselors in the vehicle wasinjured. When noises started coming from the bus'sengine, the driver pulled the bus over and quicklyevacuated the passengers--members of PBH's InnerCity Outreach program--before the bus ignited. Thecause of the fire is still undetermined.
Dalton Redux: In an unprecedented move,President Bok announced that he will ask a groupof 15 outside legal experts--who overwhelminglysupported Dalton during her initial tenure bid inthe spring--to evaluate the arguments of heropponents in the Law Faculty. Bok's decision toseek advice from the experts signaled to manyobservers an admission of flaws within the LawSchool's tenure process, which Dalton and herattorney Nancy Gertner charge is "terriblyunfair."
Once the outside scholars present Bok withtheir conclusions--which is not expected to beuntil the end of the semester--Bok will decidewhat further steps to take in his review of thecase, he wrote in a letter to Law School DeanJames Vorenberg '49. Dalton supporters applaudedBok's decision, but conservative law professorscriticized the President's plan. However,professors from both sides agreed that Bok'sdecision to intervene would erode the Law School'sautonomy in the future.
Assault Charges Dropped Against K-SchoolProf: In late August, the much-publicizedtrial of Professor of Political Economy Glenn C.Loury for assault ended when the Boston woman whohad said Loury had threatened her with murderdropped all criminal charges. The 38-year-oldKennedy School professor--who had been PresidentReagan's first choice for Undersecretary ofEducation--pleaded not guilty in June toallegations that he had attacked South Endresident Pamela Foster. Foster is currentlyseeking a cash settlement from thenationally-prominent Black conservative.