15 - Robert C. Merton, an expert in finance and Baker professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, wins the Nobel Prize for Economics.

November 1997
An estimated 5,000 demonstrators swarm the Harvard Square area as Chinese President Jiang Zemin speaks in Sanders Theatre.

After more than 70 years in the Square, the Tasty serves its last hamburger. Abercrombie & Fitch, Finagle a Bagel and Pacific Sunwear eventually set up shop in the renovated Read Block.

Grapes return to the dining hall following a pro-grape vote in the Great Grape Referendum. In the weeks before the vote, grape supporters faced off against vigil-holding activists trying to raise awareness about the poor labor conditions for grape farm workers.

December 1997
5 - After months of renovation and construction, the new and improved Harvard Coop bookstore opens, featuring four floors of books and a full-service cafe. Barnes and Noble took over from the Harvard Cooperative Society's management just prior to the renovation.

10 - Beth A. Stewart '00 is elected president of the Undergraduate Council president on a student-services platform. In one of the most hotly-contested races in council history, Stewart edged out her closest competition by 48 votes.

12 - In a survey conducted by The Crimson and the Institute of Politics, undergraduates gives Harvard a B- on its "efforts to promote a multicultural environment." Fifty-eight percent of students said they found a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of segregation at Harvard, but the majority also said they saw "only some" racial tension.

1998

The Harvard Crimson celebrates its 125th anniversary.