The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume cxlvi, No. 85 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | wednesday, september 18, 2019
editorial PAGE 4
news PAGE 5
sports PAGE 6
The College should improve, not abandon, shopping week
Cambridge Carnival cancelled due to gun violence threats
Women’s Golf secures victory at Dartmouth Invitational
HMC Joins College to Study Joint Concentrations Green Initiative By jonah s. berger and molly c. mccafferty
By alexandra a. chaidez and aidan f. ryan Crimson Staff Writers
The Harvard Management Company — the University’s financial arm — has signed onto the Climate Action 100+, a group of investors committed to pushing greenhouse gas emitters to take action on climate change initiatives, Harvard announced Tuesday evening. The new initiative provides investors the opportunity for “direct engagement” with companies that are among the highest annual industrial emitters, such as oil and gas companies, according to a press release. Some of the goals of the Climate Action 100+ initiative include cutting carbon emissions and improving disclosure of any carbon-related fiances. University President Lawrence S. Bacow said in the release that Harvard has created “another significant channel” to counter the issue of climate change. “Harvard has a critical role in tackling climate change, starting with the far-reaching efforts of our faculty, students, and staff to understand the impacts of climate change and to devise technologies and strategies that can accelerate the transition to cleaner, greener energy,” Bacow said. “In joining
Climate Action 100+, we create another significant channel for engaging with companies around the imperative to adopt sustainable practices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” The University’s announcement comes amid continuing calls for the school to divest its endowment from fossil fuels. Despite criticism from Harvard students, faculty, and staff, Bacow and members of the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — have remained steadfast that Harvard should not use its endowment to deal with climate change and should instead engage with companies in which it invests to address the issue. Launched in December 2017, Climate Change 100+ includes other university endowments like that of the University of California system’s — which announced Tuesday it would make their $13.4 billion endowment “fossil free” by the end of September. William F. Lee ’72, senior fellow of the Corporation, said in the release that joining the initiative will allow the University to collaborate with other investors to address emissions issues. “We are hopeful that, together with our partners in this
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Crimson Staff Writers
After fielding “concerns” about the College’s joint concentration program, administrators plan to convene a student-faculty group to review and possibly change the system, according to Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda J. Claybaugh. Claybaugh first announced the creation of the group — a subcommittee of her office’s educational policy committee — in a welcome email to students earlier this month. The subcommittee has not yet begun its work and the office is still working to appoint members, Claybaugh clarified in an emailed statement last week. She added that its review may encompass not only joint concentrations, but also other issues students have faced regarding concentrations and secondary fields. “The subcommittee will be consulting with the departments and with students, to get a full range of perspectives,” Claybaugh wrote. In 2017 — the most recent year for which data is publicly available — 371 College students, or seven percent of concentrators, pursued joint concentrations. Seniors with joint concentrations ordinarily must write a thesis that integrates the two fields. Six departments, including
Matthew J. Tyler—Crimson Designer
Economics, Applied Mathematics, and Psychology, ordinarily do not allow joint concentrations. Economics Director of Undergraduate Studies Jeffrey A. Miron said his department stopped participating in joint concentrations in part because it posed challenges of “extra confusion and paperwork.” He said students sometimes struggled to juggle two different advisers across departments. “That often left students
caught between advisers with fairly different perspectives — Psych versus Ec, or Government versus Ec, or whatever it was,” Miron said. “It led to unhappiness and frustration for the students who were trying to satisfy two different advisers who had very different views on the way a thesis should be written, what type of work it should incorporate.” Some students said the thesis requirement limits available joint concentration options
even further. For instance, Jayant R. Gopalan ’20, a joint Mathematics and Philosophy concentrator, said he originally hoped to pursue a Comparative Literature and Mathematics joint concentration, but was informed that writing a thesis synthesizing the two would be prohibitive. “They discouraged it pretty strongly,” he said. Multiple students pursuing
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Pedestrian Dies in Harvard Square Truck Collision Hospital Nixes Customs Deal By ema r. schumer Crimson Staff Writer
Cambridge police stopped traffic in Harvard Square from around 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday after a boom truck hit a pedestrian. Kai R. Mcnamee—Crimson photographer
A truck driver fatally struck a female pedestrian in her 60s early Tuesday morning on Brattle Street in Harvard Square, according to a statement released by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. At approximately 6:53 a.m., officers from the Cambridge Police Department responded to a report of a pedestrian who was hit outside the Out of Town News kiosk, located at the heart of Harvard Square. The pedestrian, who had sustained serious injuries from the crash, was transported to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead, per the statement. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office wrote that the pedestrian was hit while trying to cross the street, and that she was not in the crosswalk. The investigation remains ongoing, and no charges have been brought against the driver of the truck, who remained at
the scene. In an emailed statement, CPD spokesperson Jeremy Warnick identified the truck as a Waltham Lumber boom truck carrying sheetrock. The incident halted movement in the Square throughout the day as police closed the intersection of JFK Street and Brattle Street to traffic. Passersby stopped to observe the crime scene, which police barricaded with yellow tape. The truck remained in the Square until the early afternoon. Alisha M. Candelora, who arrived in the Square a little after 10 a.m., said she observed the scene unfold. “It’s been crazy,” she said. By 2:30 p.m., police had removed all barricades from the area and traffic proceeded through Harvard Square. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office wrote that no further information will be released until the victim’s family is notified.
By alexis k. bolner Crimson Staff Writer
Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital is cancelling a $150,000 contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide consultations to medical physicians at the border, a spokesperson said Tuesday. “[Michael J. VanRooyen] had a consulting contract to advise the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding necessary medical services for children arriving at the border,” Mark Murphy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. VanRooyen, the chair
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Leverett Resident Dean Malik To Step Down At End of Semester By shera s. avi-yonah and delano r. franklin Crimson Staff Writers
Leverett House Resident Dean Bilal A. Malik will step down from his post at the end of the semester, according to an email he sent to House residents Monday evening. Malik’s departure from the House comes halfway through his fifth year as resident dean, a position he held temporarily for an additional year prior. Before stepping into the role in 2015, Malik served as a Leverett tutor, associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, and assistant dean of Harvard Summer School. Each of Harvard’s undergraduate Houses employs a resident dean to advise students on
Inside this issue
Harvard Today 2
personal or academic difficulties and represent students on the Administrative Board — a College disciplinary body. Malik first moved to Leverett House in 2007. He wrote in his email that he decided to leave mid-year in order to move closer to his family in Pakistan. “This community has been my family for more than a decade now. However, I also have family in Pakistan, and my wife and I feel that it is important to be closer to them at this particular point in our lives,” Malik wrote. “Our plan is to move to Lahore, Pakistan, in December after the end of fall term.” He added that Leverett became his home over the past 12 years and thanked former Leverett Faculty Deans Howard M. Georgi ’68 and Ann B. Georgi, known to many Leverett res-
News 3
Editorial 4
idents as “Chief” and “Coach.” “My childhood was marked by moving across Pakistan because of my father’s job, and then I moved across continents when I immigrated to this country,” Malik wrote. “Living in Leverett was the first time I felt I truly belonged, and I feel deeply indebted to Chief and Coach for welcoming me to this community more than twelve years ago with their characteristic warmth and love.” Malik’s announcement came just days after Leverett residents aired concerns about restricted common spaces and a dearth of social events under the leadership of current Leverett Faculty Deans Brian D. Farrell and Irina P. Ferreras in emails and a public document.
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Sports 6
Leverett House, located alongside Dunster and Mather in the River East neighborhood, is one of Harvard’s twelve undergraduate houses. delano r. franklin—Crimson photographer
Today’s Forecast
partly cloudy High: 62 Low: 46
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