Lessig, the author of Code, and Other Laws of Cyberspace, is one of the most prominent scholars in the fast-growing field of Internet law.

Whereas many Internet pioneers tend to see cyberspace as inherently free, competitive and accessible, Lessig takes a darker view: democratic ideals won't automatically translate onto the Net. Corporations and government, he warns, could wind up controlling the infrastructure of the Internet unless they're actively checked.

That anti-monopoly message understandably made Bill Gates, Class of 1977, and colleagues nervous. When Jackson initially tried to appoint Lessig a special master on the case, Microsoft objected vehemently.

But Lessig had his say anyway. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Feb. 1, he argued that Microsoft broke antitrust law by bundling Windows and Internet Explorer. Jackson leaned on Lessig's opinion in his landmark ruling against the company.

Lessig's Microsoft brief made him famous, but he's not resting on his laurels. Last month he told The New York Times that the pending AOL-Time Warner merger makes him "deeply, deeply pessimistic." Steve Case and Gerald Levin couldn't be blamed if they're feeling nervous.

Although he says he loves Harvard Law School and its Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Lessig plans to leave for Stanford in the fall for family reasons. "The loss is incalculable," one colleague said.

Even in his brief tenure, Lessig has proven that professors who stay on top of surging changes in technology will prosper. As policymakers stumble through the Internet maze, they will increasingly turn to academics like Lessig to be their guides.

K. Kyriell Muhammad

As a House adviser for gay and lesbian issues, Mather resident tutor K. Kyriell Muhammad counseled students grappling with the effects of homophobia. A poster on his door proclaimed his room a "BGLTS Safe Zone."

But Muhammad himself left Harvard at the end of January after he was subject to sporadic anti-gay vandalism for a semester. His experience offered troubling proof that intolerance sometimes occurs even at famously liberal Harvard.

The harassment started in late September, when a picture of Muhammad in a gown was removed from his door. Then he found homophobic graffiti on his message pad. Posters advertising the House's Queer Film Series were defaced and torn down. Some gay students in Winthrop House faced similar vandalism.

The House responded with anger at the harassment and support for Muhammad. More than 300 Mather residents signed a pledge entitled "We Live Here Together," and the House committee posted a declaration of tolerance in the dining hall. The masters and police pledged to track down the culprits.