December

11 - By an overwhelming margin, Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 becomes the second popularly elected Undergraduate Council president and the first woman ever to lead the council. On Dec. 15, a council referendum on budget allocations, moved to a separate date to prevent candidates from influencing the results, fails due to insufficient turnout.

13 - Capping a series of computer network problems, the HUSC e-mail server crashes, irretrievably losing more than 3,000 e-mails. In February, computer worries continue as one-third of the 900 first-years in Expository Writing must re-section after the program malfunctions.

January

2 - Cabot Science Library remains open 24 hours a day for the first time ever during reading period. The library gets substantial use and rave reviews from students. The experiment is repeated in the spring.

7 - Joseph Goldstein '18-'19, the oldest participant in the 1996 Commencement Exercises, dies at 101.

17 - The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) comes to terms with the University, successfully winning renewal of full-time-worker benefits for part-time workers. HUCTW members replace their picket signs at Mass. Hall with Hershey's Kisses for students on their way to exams.

21 - A demonstration in the Adams House dining hall honors House Maintenance Chief Joe Hickey, one of the Facilities Maintenance Organization (FMO) workers who agreed to accept an early retirement or severance package. On Feb. 3, UNICCO Service Co. workers replace FMO workers in Quincy and Cabot Houses, the Loeb Drama Center and Lamont and Pusey Libraries.

27 - Hasty Pudding Theatricals names Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson as Woman and Man of the Year.

29 - As spring term classes begin, the percentage of female students at the Harvard Business School (HBS) drops below 25 percent, the lowest level this decade. HBS officials launch a referral and recruiting program in order to prevent further gender disparity.

February

8 - Kathleen I. Kouril '82, sends out surveys after being hired as a consultant for Loker Commons, the struggling student cener and restaurant area in the basement Memorial Hall. In early January, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III cut back Loker hours to save money. Survey results announced in April suggest students want a TV lounge and brand-name fast food to bring them and their money back to Loker Commons, according to an analysis by Kouril, a former Crimson editor.

11 - Two anonymous satirical columns in the Harvard Law Record, printed under the name of Fenno, are attacked in a letter signed by 42 professors calling the articles "repugnant and mean-spirited." Fenno refuses to apologize and new columns get Fenno and the Record into further trouble as Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson '60 takes the Record to the Administrative Board for defamatory statements. On Feb. 25, Nesson agrees to drop charges and the Record promises to print an apology and a humorous retraction follows.

16 - Crew racer Angus R. MacLaurin '00 sets a world record in the two kilometer lightweight race at the World Indoor Rowing Championships. The same night another first-year rower is treated at University Health Services for blood poisoning that developed after rowing on the Charles River, the second such case this year.

18 - Jose Torres is arraigned in Middlesex County district court on 16 counts of theft and malicious destruction of $750,000 worth of rare books from Harvard libraries. On Apr. 17, Torres is arraigned on 15 additional counts of larceny, receiving stolen property and destroying library materials. Torres allegedly cut out the pages of some of the books and sold others to antique dealers in Grenada, Spain.