LOWELL HOUSE NEWSLETTER Tuesday, September 08, 2009 Volume 33, Issue 2 Newsletter Format Guide: Announcements from Advising Tutors will always follow the staff sections each week. Announcements regarding *Events* and *Attractions* will always be in the last section. Please remember to scroll down to that last section for event announcements and details if you are looking for them. CALENDAR Wednesday, September 9: * Only chance to shop Wednesday classes * First Senior Common Room lunch, 12:45pm, SCR; 1:00pm, Dining Hall * Gov advising office hours, 7:30-9:30 pm, Dining Hall * STUDY CARD Signing Event: Ice Cream Sundaes in the Dining Hall, 8:00-10:00pm: get your study card signed ahead of time! Thursday, September 10: * STUDY CARD DAY, completed study cards collected in the Dining Hall until 5:00pm sharp * You are warmly invited to TEA, 5:00-6:00pm, Masters' Residence (no study card submissions at Tea, please) * Dinner and a Movie with Cam & Dam: "Gran Turino," 7:00-9:00 pm, JCR * Lowell House Fall Fellowships Meeting, 8:00pm, Lowell House Library Friday, September 11: * Last day upon which undergraduates may register late for the fall term in FAS * Last day upon which undergraduates may cancel their registration without payment of tuition * Last day upon which undergraduates may submit cross-registration petitions; see relevant school for additional deadlines Sunday, September 13: * SOPHOMORE CRUISE, 3:00-5:00pm; load, 2:45pm, Newell Boat House * All-House BBQ, 5:30-7:15pm, Courtyard Monday, September 14: * Government advising office hours, 7:00-8:00 pm, Dining Hall Wednesday, September 16: * Government advising office hours, 7:00-8:00 pm, Dining Hall Thursday, September 17: * You are warmly invited to TEA, 5:00-6:00pm, Masters' Residence Friday, September 18: * Final applications for November 2009 degree applicants due Saturday, September 19: * Pre-Law Committee: Practice LSAT, 10:00 am-2:00 pm, Library ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM THE RESIDENT DEAN * Brett Flehinger, Allston Burr Resident Dean Room A-22, 5-2283 (lo-abrd@fas.harvard.edu) Hi everyone. I hope that shopping week is going well. If you have questions about classes, cross registration, or need any kind of advice, please swing by A-22. I’m here to help you and I’d also like to meet you, so please keep coming up, introducing yourself, and saying hi. I’ll have office hours this week from 1:30-3:30 pm on Monday and Wednesday and 11:00-12:00 pm on Thursday and Friday. If you can’t make those times, email Kit and he’ll set something up (Lowell@fas). I’m also happy to meet for a meal or coffee, so please just be in touch. --REGISTRATION. Haven’t been able to register? Don’t despair. If you can’t get your registration taken care of by Tuesday, September 8 come by my office, and we can give you a form to get your study card and avoid a late fee. Friday, September 11 is the last day to register without an Ad Board petition, so if are having trouble registering please come by and we’ll try to help you out. --COURSE SELECTION. The course selection tool is now open on your my.harvard.edu portal. You can use this handy device to plan your schedule, print out your study card, and get the signatures of your course heads (if necessary), your sophomore adviser, concentration adviser, or resident dean. --STUDY CARDS. Study cards are due this Thursday, September 10 by 5 P.M., and you can submit your card in our dining hall throughout the day. Your loyal and friendly resident tutors will be collecting the cards, so come by, drop off your card, and say hi. --CROSS REGISTRATION. With the new calendar it has become easier than ever cross register. The FAS cross registration deadline is Friday, September 11, and please also remember that you’ll need to follow the deadlines of the school at which you cross register. I’ll be happy to work with you on cross registration petitions, and you’ll want to remember that the people at the school at which you cross register sign first and I sign last. --SIMULTANEOUS ENROLLMENT. As you plan your schedule, please be careful that your courses don’t overlap. If they do, you’ll need to check out the rules on simultaneous enrollment in the student handbook (see p. 57). In other words, Harvard believes that you can only be in one place at one time, although the university does have ways to bend space and time to its needs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ASK BETH, the HOUSE ADMINISTRATOR * Beth Terry, A-22, 5-2283 (lo-admin@fas.harvard.edu) Dear Beth, I've been wondering what all the symbols on Lowell House building really mean. Like the shield I see everywhere, the animal things on the entrance. Also, what does our motto mean in English? Signed, The Happy Transfer Dear Happy, Our motto means seize or catch the opportunity. So now, allow me to seize this opportunity to elucidate our readership about the symbols around Lowell House. Mason Hammond (LoHo's very first Senior Tutor) described the symbols in the Lowell Family Arms as (and believe me, I paraphrase) "sable, with three blunted darts held in hand couped, a stags head caboched, and with a blue pheon in between [antlers]." And from an eighteenth century reference on heraldry, "The emigrant, Percival Lowle, came over in 1639. [His] complete genealogy, back to Walter Lowle, of Yardley, county Worcester, England, and the afferent rights to coat-armor, were endorsed by the heralds in their Visitations of 1573, 1591, 1623. ... Motto: Occasionem cognosce, Catch the opportunity." (I always thought it meant 'Occasionally cognizant). The "animal things" you mention are ox-skulls; a venerable ornamental motif which had its origins in an ancient ritual of placing the skulls of sacrificed animals (mainly cattle) on the top of posts. It was a way of warding off evil. I believe this explains perfectly why they figure so prominently on the exterior of the Senior Tutor suite. Some of our elder SCR members have said that the blunted-tipped, downward-facing arrows in the crest were meant to symbolize a peaceful gesture but in most pre- Lowell House versions those arrows appeared quite dangerously pointed. In subsequent research, undertaken by one of our former tutors, we discovered that a dispute about blunted 'bird-bolts' vs. 'pointed arrows' in the family crest goes back well before Harvard was on the Lowell family radar. According to Lowell Historical Genealogy, the argument had its genesis long ago as some descendants of the Lowell family, asserting their inherited right to display the family crest, opted for a blunted-point design. Sources indicate that these blunted spear-points were meant to be a symbol of great gallantry in battle because the arrows were blunted due to perseverance of use. As gripping as the notion was, the author of this particular reference book (Delmar Lowell) finally concluded that blunted arrows were an incorrect interpretation of the family arms. (Not surprisingly, both versions of the Lowell crest have been happily replicated many times, even at Harvard University, with no discernable logic.) All this to say to you, Happy Transfer, Welcome! We are full of history, mystery, and you should seize every opportunity you can, even if its just to spear that little tater tot in the dining hall. ~Beth ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE FELLOWSHIPS TUTORS * Susanna Mierau (smierau@fas.harvard.edu) * Josh Goldman (jdgoldm@fas.harvard.edu) * Courtney Peterson (cmpeters@fas.harvard.edu) LOWELL HOUSE FELLOWSHIPS WEBSITE The Fellowships section of the Lowell House website features an annotated list of common fellowships designed to make it easy to find fellowships that will fund whatever it is that you're hoping to do. Check it out at http://lowell.harvard.edu/fellowships FALL FELLOWSHIPS MEETING: IMPORTANT!!: Come to the Lowell House Fall Fellowships Meeting on Thursday, September 10 at 8:00 PM in the Lowell House Library. We will give an overview of the kinds of fellowships available and the times of year when you need to apply. Students from ALL YEARS--especially sophomores--are encouraged to attend. DESSERT will be served. 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 (and likely one other weekday this year) 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 - 9 September, 3 PM: Harvard and Other Fellowships to the U.K. - 14-15 September, 7:30 PM, (Pforzheimer 14, Winthrop 15): Rockefeller (traveling) Fellowships - 29-30 September, 3:00 PM: Fellowships Proposal Writing Workshop - 29 Sept, 4:30 PM: Truman Scholarships (panel discussion) * * * UPCOMING FELLOWSHIPS * * * FOR GRADUATE STUDY ABROAD: - 8 September: Mitchell Scholarship. Funds one year of graduate study at any university in Ireland or Northern Ireland. This year you will have to apply to Harvard for an endorsement. - 9 September: Fulbright Scholarship. Funds a year of study, research, or teaching in a foreign country. - 2 October: Churchill Scholarship. Funds one year of graduate study in science/math/engineering at Cambridge University. Must have a 3.7 or higher. - 15 October: Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Funds 1-4 years of graduate study at Cambridge in any field. Must have strong academic record. Open to citizens of any country except the U.K. - 16 October: DAAD Scholarship. Funds 1 or 2 years of study in Germany. This is administered through CGS but their Harvard deadlines are not updated yet. - 16 October: St Andrew's Society Scholarships. Funds one year of graduate study in Scotland. You must have at least one Scottish ancestor. FOR PURPOSEFUL TRAVEL (seniors only): - 9 October: Michael C. Rockefeller Fellowship. Funds a year of purposeful travel in a foreign country. FOR GRADUATE STUDY AND/OR OTHER POSTGRADUATE ACTIVITIES: - 9 October: Luce Scholarship. One-year internship in Asia (no prior experience with Asia required). Contact CGS for this year's deadline. - 21 October: Merage institute for the American Dream. $10,000/year for two years for study, travel, internships, etc. Must have a green card or be a naturalized citizen. - 29 October: Carnegie Fellowship. Provides a one-year fellowship at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace. - 30 October: Hertz Fellowship. Funds 5 years of graduate study in the applied physical sciences. - 01 November: Soros Fellowship. Stipend + tuition grant for graduate study of any kind (including law & medicine). Must be a naturalized citizen, have a green card, or be the children of naturalized citizens. - 02-12 November (depending on field): NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Funds 3 years of graduate study in any field of science or engineering, including economics, psychology, and history of science. See http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6201&org=NSF FOR UNDERGRADUATES: - tba October: HCRP grants for fall 2008. Funds research with Harvard faculty during the fall semester. Check HCRP website for this year's deadline (not updated yet) - 22 October: Truman Scholarship. Money for senior year of college and graduate school (and prestige). Open to juniors who plan to go into government or public service (broadly construed). - 2 November: Goldwater Scholarship. Prize for outstanding sophomores or juniors in science/math/engineering. Also comes with funding toward your remaining undergraduate years. FOR MORE INFORMATION: See the Lowell House fellowships website. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE LOWELL HOUSE PRE-LAW COMMITTEE * Karl Procaccini (karlprocaccini@gmail.com) * Sandy Alexander (sbalexander@gmail.com) * Sandy Ullman (ullman@fas.harvard.edu) loholaw@fas.harvard.edu http://www.lowell.harvard.edu/advising/pre-law/index.php IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR SENIORS: If you are a senior, intend to apply to law school, and have not yet contacted the Pre-Law Committee, you should email loholaw@fas.harvard.edu immediately. PRACTICE LSAT: On Saturday, September 19 at 10:00 AM, the Pre-Law Committee will be holding a practice LSAT in the Lowell House Library. Interested students should email loholaw@fas.harvard.edu with "Practice LSAT" in the subject line so that we can make enough copies of the test. We'll be using PrepTest 53 (the LSAT offered in December 2007). If you've already taken that one, feel free to bring a different test to take. MAILING LIST: If you would like to join the Pre-Law Mailing List to get announcements of interesting law-related events and opportunities, please visit the Pre-Law Committee's website at: http://www.lowell.harvard.edu/advising/pre-law/index.php ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE LOWELL HOUSE LIBRARIAN * Patricia Villarreal (pattyvillarreal@gmail.com) The Lowell House Library will be opening on Tuesday September 8th. The schedule for this semester will be as follows: Monday to Thursday from 9:00pm to 1:00am. Friday from 2:00 to 6:00pm Saturday CLOSED Sunday from 5:00pm to 1:00am ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT TUTOR * Brodi Kemp (bkemp@fas.harvard.edu) Advising office hours: Wednesday 7:30-9:30pm, Thursday 10:00-10:45am. I'll be holding office hours on Wednesday (09 Sept) in the dining hall 7:30-9:30pm to sign study cards for Gov concentrators, and again Thursday (Sept 10) 10-10:45am. See you then! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM YOUR CAREER AND PRE-BUSINESS ADVISING TUTORS * Russell Miles - Resident Tutor (rmiles@oxfamamerica.org) (especially international careers) * V.J Patel - Non-Resident Tutor (v.j.patel@gmail.com) (especially business) Thinking about what you will do after Harvard? It's never too early or too late to start!! Who can help you with this? The career and pre-business advisers at Lowell are Russell Miles and V.J Patel. We are here to help you think through that decision and work out what you really want out of life and your career! There are so many interesting and valuable options available to you which are worth exploring. E-mail us to make an appointment to come and chat with us. Another great place to look for resources and information is the Office of Career Services http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students.htm. Russell is creating an e-mail list in order to send out messages about key dates and events. Please contact him if you are interested to have your name on this mailing list - rmiles@oxfamamerica.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM YOUR RESIDENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT/ INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ADVISER * Russell Miles (rmiles@oxfamamerica.org) Interested in international relations, international aid and development? Want to discuss international issues raised in class? Need help thinking about research paper topics? Interested in an international career in public service, government or private sector, or simply wanting to travel to other regions of the world? E-mail me to make an appointment to talk with me about all these questions. I am creating an e-mail list in order to send out messages about key dates and events related to international development and international relations. Please contact me if you are interested to have your name on this mailing list - rmiles@oxfamamerica.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOUSE EVENTS LOWELL HOUSE FIELD TRIP If you don't know about the upcoming Lowell House Field Trip, please ask someone who attended the All House Meeting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE EDITORS Got an item for the newsletter? Email it to lohonews@fas.harvard.edu Items received by noon on Saturday will be in Monday’s newsletter - space permitting. Do not despair; all submissions will be included in the online edition.