Lowell House News Volume 32, Issue 27 Monday, April 13 * Housing Office Hours, 10:00am - noon, A-22 * Faculty Dinner sign up sheet taken down * CIAO! Italian Table, 6:00-7:00pm, Dining Hall Tuesday, April 14 * Configuration sheets will be published (for housing lottery) * Eco-Month Special: The Lowell Masters present “Renewal: Stories from America’s Religious-Environmental Movement”, 10:00pm, JCR Wednesday, April 15 * Dining Hall closed for FACULTY DINNER (6:00pm, Masters' Residence, 6:30pm, Dining Hall) * Physics table, 9:00-10:00pm, Dining Hall * ROOM VISITING, 9:00-10:00pm Sophomores visit Juniors (Juniors please try to be in yours rooms!), 10:00-11:00pm Juniors visit Seniors (Seniors please try to be in your rooms!) Thursday, April 16 * You are warmly invited to Tea with a Green Theme, 5:00pm, Masters' Residence * Fellowships Meeting for SCR, 6:00-9:00pm, JCR * Lowell House 2nd Annual Advising Luau, 8:30-10:00pm, Dining Hall * Stein Club, 10:00pm-12:00am, Grille Friday, April 17 * Housing Office Hours, 10:00am – noon, A-22 * Watercolor Painting Class, 4:00-6:00pm, Art Room * French Table, 5:30-6:30pm, Dining Hall Sunday, April 19 * YARD FEST* Tercentenary Theatre, 4:00pm onward DINING HALL CLOSED FOR DINNER !Operation Dishstorm. Leave any dishes you have in your room in the plastic crates in your entryways for return to the Dhall!!! * Pre-Law General Meeting - MANDATORY for Fall 2009 Applicants, 7:00-8:00 pm, SCR * Pre-Law Personal Statement Workshop, 8:00-8:50pm, SCR * Pre-Med Office Hours, 6:00-8:00pm, Coolidge Room Monday, April 20 * Last HIGH TABLE of the season, 6:30pm Dining Hall (sorry, no interhouse this evening) * CIAO! Italian Table, 6:00-7:00pm, Dining Hall Tuesday, April 21 * Housing Office Hours, 3:00-5:00pm, A-22 Wednesday, April 22 *** Earth Day: wear green! *** * No SCR lunch and meeting today * Chinese Table, 5:30-6:30pm, Dining Hall * Fellowships Meeting for SCR, 6:00-9:00pm, JCR * Physics table, 9:00-10:00pm, Dining Hall Thursday, April 23 * Lowell's Eco-Month Green Celebration – more information to come * HOUSING LOTTERY (for rising juniors and seniors), beginning at 1:15pm in the JCR * You are warmly invited to Tea, 5:00pm, Masters' Residence Friday, April 24 * Watercolor Painting Class, 4:00-6:00pm, Art Room * French Table, 5:30-6:30pm, Dining Hall ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE RESIDENT DEAN * Ryan Spoering, Allston Burr Resident Dean Room A-22, 5-2283 (lo-abrd@fas.harvard.edu) As your Resident Dean, I am here to help you with all kinds of academic matters, and to connect you to Harvard's many resources. Please come to me with questions and concerns of any kind--in addition to my advising and administrative roles I also help Lowell House students manage personal struggles, illness and anything else you may encounter on your way to your degree. - TENTATIVE FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE. The tentative final exam schedule has been posted online at www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu. - FINAL EXAM EXCEPTIONS. Everyone is expected to plan to be on campus for the entire final exam period. Exceptions to normally scheduled exams are approved for students with religious conflicts, who can apply to move their exam by 24 hours. The form for this request can be found on the Registrar's website. All other requests to move exam times or locations must go through the Administrative Board. Please check the tentative exam schedule and contact me soon with any questions! - OFFICE HOURS THIS WEEK. I will have walk-in office hours this week from 11:00am-noon Mon, Tues, Wed, and Fri. For other times, please contact Kit in the House Office (A-22, 5-2283, lowell@fas) to set up an appointment with me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASK BETH, the HOUSE ADMINISTRATOR * Beth Terry, A-22, 5-2283 (lo-admin@fas.harvard.edu Dear Beth: I don't understand how people get rooms outside of the lottery. I hear that there are a lot of back room deals going on. What's your deal? Signed, Pessimistic in P Dear Pessimistic, As usual, the myth outsizes the reality. It seems to me that legends, urban or academic, have their genesis in the devoted oral tradition of student gossip. More often than not the actual events on which myth is based have been agonizingly mundane transactions. So let me clear the clouds. What is perceived as 'backroom dealing' is actually comprised of one or more of the following elements: 1) me, reiterating housing regulations ad nauseum until the student flees from my office in search of higher ground; 2) me, speculating about the odds of a particular group's outcome until the students are comfortable with the statistics, or bored to tears (whichever comes first); 3) me, making judgments about the viability of a complicated mixed-group, which is about as much fun as playing pick-up sticks with people's extracted splinters. (NB- Medical issues, which would have been cleared by authorities far grander than myself, require confidential dealings but they constitute a tiny percentage of the student population.) My dealings are not particularly corrupt because I am simply not much of a player. Frankly, my secret cable show would be a helluva lot more interesting if they were. Let's face it: as humans we are attracted to mystery and our superstitions run deep. And though I am excited and intrigued by my own reputation as a Machiavellian Mistress, I'm sorrowful to report that the reality looks more like Betty Bureaucrat. ~Beth PS- Anyone who wants to know more about mixed groups, floating, or housing in general, feel free to stop by my office. I promise that all shrouds will be lifted, all veils will be pierced, not a stone will be left unturned. You will depart my office calm and confident after an extended meditation on the duality of Option vs. Non-Option, the poles of the housing universe.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE PRE-LAW COMMITTEE Website: http://lowell.harvard.edu/advising/pre-law Pre-Law Committee (LoHoLaw@fas.harvard.edu) * Jean Han (jeanhan@fas.harvard.edu) * Sandy Alexander (sandy_alexander@post.harvard.edu) * Karl Procaccini (karlprocaccini@gmail.com) ***Sunday, April 19, 7:00-8:00pm, SCR: Pre-Law General Meeting - MANDATORY for Fall 2009 Applicants*** Mark your calendars for this MANDATORY meeting for all students planning to apply to law school this fall. We will explain the admissions process, discuss important deadlines, and answer questions. Other students planning to apply in future years are also welcome to attend. This meeting will be immediately followed by a short workshop on writing personal statements. ***Sunday, April 19, 8:00-8:50pm, SCR: Pre-Law Personal Statement Workshop*** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE FELLOWSHIPS TUTORS * Josh Goldman (jdgoldm@fas.harvard.edu) * Courtney Peterson (cmpeters@fas.harvard.edu) * Susanna Mierau (susanna_mierau@post.harvard.edu) * website: http://lowell.harvard.edu/fellowships LOWELL FELLOWSHIPS MAILING LIST Want to know what fellowships are out there? Want to know about them before the deadlines appear in the newsletter? Want more information on the fellowships listed below? Subscribe to the fellowships mailing list to get notices about once every week or two of upcoming deadlines and things to think about (relevant for sophomores, juniors, and seniors). To subscribe, go to http://lists.hcs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/lowell-fellowships . OFFICE HOURS We hold office hours on Sunday evenings in the dining hall, during which we'd be happy to discuss your plans and look over your application essays. To visit us during office hours, you need to sign up at least one day in advance on the sign-up sheet next to the fellowships bulletin board, right next to the entrance to the JCR. If you have specific questions, please email us at any time. UPCOMING INFOSESSIONS (in OCS conference room unless noted) - Marshall and Rhodes Scholarship Preview (for class of 2010) * 04 May, 3:00 PM * 05 May, 3:00 PM * 06 May, 3:00 PM - Fulbright Grants Preview (for class of 2010) * 07 May, 3:00 PM * 08 May, 3:00 PM ATTENTION JUNIORS Some fellowships--particularly the Fulbright grants for teaching, research, or graduate study and the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships--have deadlines very early in the fall semester. In order to submit an application, including letters of recommendation, by the first week of class, it's necessary to think about your proposal and prepare your application over the summer. We recommend starting to think now about these possibilities, attending one of the info meetings listed above, coming to fellowships office hours before you depart for the summer. Susanna, Courtney, and Josh will also be available by email over the summer. FOR MORE INFORMATION: See the Lowell House fellowships website. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM YOUR PRE-MED ADVISING TUTORS * Ilya Leskov (chair), Marlys Fassett, Benjamin Rapoport, Mary Alexander ** lohomed@fas.harvard.edu. Announcements for 2009 Applicants: * Premed Questionnaire I is due to lohomed@fas.harvard.edu by 5:00pm April 15. * Workshops for 2009-2010 Medicine Applicants Sundays, 7:00-8:00pm in the Small Dining Hall with Marlys - April 19 Choosing Medical Schools - May TBD AMCAS application FAQs Forms and Advisor Assignments are always available on our webpage: http://www.lowell.harvard.edu/advising/pre-med.php And for 2009-2010 Med School applicants and alumni applicants in particular... If you missed the intro meeting, please: 1) Come see us at office hours, in the dining hall every Sunday night, 6:00-8:00pm *** For Sunday 19th April, office hours will be held in the Coolidge Room from 6:00- 8:00pm*** NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE FOR THIS WEEK ONLY *** 2) Email lohomed@fas to declare your intent to apply so you can be added to our applicant-specific email list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IM SPORTS * HoCo IMs Reps Katrina Welch (kwelch@fas), Joe Lin (jalin@fas), and Brian Kaufman (bkaufman@fas) IM's this week: Monday 4/13 @ 7:30pm @ Stadium Frisbee vs. Leverett Tuesday 4/14 @ 7:30pm @ Cumnock Field #1 Soccer Tuesday 4/14 @ 8:30pm @ MAC2 Volleyball A vs. Dudley Thursday 4/16 @ 7:30pm @ MAC2 Volleyball B vs. Adams Saturday 4/18 @ 1pm @ Beren Courts Tennis vs. Cabot Sunday 4/19 @ 3pm @ Stadium Softball vs. Winthrop Fencing Tournament: Thursday 4/16 @ 5pm MAC Fencing Room - Women's Friday 4/17 @ 5pm @ MAC Fencing Room - Men's Three (3) touch Epee direct elimination tournament. Participants must show up at 4:30pm at the MAC Fencing Room for an orientation. There will be a maximum of 4 females and 4 males representing each House. Contact Heidi Liu if you are interested in playing @ heidiliu@gmail.com GO LOWELL!!! ~Your IM Reps Katrina Welch, Brian Kaufman, and Joe Lin (jalin@fas) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A message from the Green Team… April is Eco-Month in Lowell House! This week: Eco-Night April 9th @ 9pm in the JCR! Green Fact of the Week: Did you know…that while all of Harvard’s trash is transported 800 miles to a depot South Carolina, the recycling facility is only 5 MILES AWAY in Charleston, MA! So the more we recycle the less energy we waste on transportation and the more money we save on fuel! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS * Bureau of Study Counsel update: REFLECTIONS on REJECTIONS. Job rejections, school rejections, grant rejections, internship rejections -- everyone is rejected sooner or later! Join us for a panel discussion about our experiences of risk, rejection, and redemption. With Dr. Abigail Lipson, Bureau of Study Counsel; Dr. Xiao-Li-Meng (GSAS'90), Statistics Department; Dr. Lowry Pei (HC'67), Simmons College English Department; and Patricia Hernandez (HC'04), Kirkland House Tutor and HBS Research Associate. Wednesday April 15, 5:30-7:00, OCS Reading Room, 54 Dunster St. RSVP ocsrsvp@fas.harvard.edu. Copies of Reflections on Rejections, a booklet of actual rejection letters received by your deans, faculty, fellow students, and alums, along with their reflections about the experience, will be distributed, while they last. * PEABODY FOUNDER’S LECTURE “Entangled at Catalhoyuk: Material life in the first cities” By Dr Ian Hodder, Stanford University Thursday April 16, 5:30pm Lecture in the Yenching Institution, 2 Divinity Ave, followed by a reception in the Peabody Museum Free! British archeologist Dr Ian Hodder will discuss what 9000-year-old murals from a site in Central Turkey reveal about early life in that region. * PERCUSSIONIST/COMPOSER ROY HAYNES “One of the seven wonders of modern jazz”, according to Billboard magazine, will be visiting Harvard University this month. Friday 17 April, 4:00pm: A conversation with Roy Haynes, hosted and moderated by Bob Blumenthal. Lowell Hall. Free. Saturday 18 April, 8:00pm “Crackin’ with Roy: Honoring Roy Haynes” tribute concert with the Harvard Jazz Bands and Roy Haynes, with guest artist Roy Hargrove. Sanders Theater. Tickets $15 general, $8 students and seniors from Harvard Box Office