Dr. Summer's Days are Numbered

<p>Don't confuse matters. I did not mention racism. I mentioned the way it was handled. Read more carefully. You cannot deny that the department has been disrupted. Look at all the defections!</p>

<p>sunglasses - "In terms of the LAC comment--I thought that was refreshing. When you choose to go to a big Ivy like Harvard, you're giving up the intimacy of the LACs. Cheers for Summers for being honest."</p>

<p>There is a difference between contact and intimacy. The article mentioned the students wished greater contact, not intimacy (you're spinning in true Byerly form). I pasted below a posting, which was made in the parent forumn, a short while ago.</p>

<p>"Originally Posted by Boston Globe, Dec 16, 2004
Here is my favorite (indirect) quote, reported to Bradley by a student who met with Summers during office hours. The student told Summers "he was disappointed by how little contact he'd had with most of his professors." In reply, Summers "basically said that at Harvard, we choose to go only for the best scholars, and that if you wanted somewhere that focused on undergraduate teaching, you should go to a place like Amherst or Swarthmore." High school seniors, direct your applications accordingly."</p>

<p>um...what is the difference between contact and intimacy then alphacdcd?</p>

<p>Maybe you should ask your teacher? But wait, is he/she available?</p>

<p>or maybe you should stop arguing over semantics. What the hell do you think intimacy means, all of the school going around and hugging each other? No, it means professors knowing your name, following your progress, and supporting you. In order to do this, they have to have increased contact with you. Contact is correlated with intimacy. Everyone knows that LAC professors are less busy with research and academic pursuits than are similar professors at research universities.</p>

<p>I don't think the Harvard students in the article were looking for hugs either.
The article is very clear. Most professors have similar workloads. It's just that some can more easily remember why their there in the first place.<br>
One of Harvard's major problems (in relation to its peers) is its lack of undergraduate focus. Summers did not help matters much at all. With those statements he set the university back.</p>

<p>His inactions, maybe, not his statements. Just saying something doesn't do anything. I don't think Harvard needs an UG focus, but rather a UG-grad-professional balance. It doesn't want to damage its wonderful grad schools.</p>

<p>Maybe you should be the new president of Harvard.</p>

<p>no that's Byerly's job.</p>

<p>well, to add gasoline to the fire, this book is being published. I guess someone will now buy it. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/books/17bradley.html?%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/books/17bradley.html?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>though I haven't read it, one insinuation I read was that Summer's has Asperger's syndrome. Though he might be a social baffoon, Summer's DEFINITELY DOES NOT have Aspergers.</p>

<p>If there is one place in this world contrarian opinions are not welcome, it's Harvard. Intellectual debate, no; Political debate, sure.</p>

<p>Harvard wants a faceless technocrat, not a gadfly.
Isn't that obvious to the world at this point.
Perhaps the University of Riyadh should consider an exchange program with Harvard. They would have alot not to talk about.</p>

<p>About 100 yrs. ago the US Supreme Court stated that women were too weak and emotional to sign contracts. Can you imagine the impact of those words on females! Great for self esteem, huh. I know evolution is a slow process, but ------.</p>

<p>Transcript of Speech</p>

<p><a href="http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The speech is so poorly written, he should be fired just for that. Virtually unreadable.</p>

<p>It is my understanding he was speaking informally from notes, as is his practice in a class lecture or similar settings. I found his remarks perfectly readable - and also perfectly reasonable.</p>

<p>I stumbled across this site a couple of weeks ago and have found some of the discussion interesting. To get my biases out of the way, my dad went to Harvard (first member of his family to go to college), I went to Harvard, and my son will be starting at Harvard in the fall.</p>

<p>From my perspective, the notion that Larry Summers' job as president of Harvard is in jeopardy is ludicrous. Yes, he is controversial. In the same way Rudy Giuliani was controversial as mayor of New York. He's not afraid to step on toes to get things done. Some of the faculty doesn't like that. So what? He has accomplished a lot already and shows no signs of backing off. He is very focused on undergraduate education, and is spearheading a complete overhaul that has already improved undergraduate life immensely. Yes, in the process, he's ruffled some feathers. But the Harvard Corporation (the body that appointed him and the only body that has the power to fire him) could not be more supportive. He'll weather the current firestorm without a problem.</p>

<p>The biggest mistake he made was getting rid of meyer and his team. Remember, when Meyer arrived at Harvard, in 1990, the endowment had a value of only $4.7-billion...its now at 22 B...you do the math. And they thought the team was over paid for pulling in around 100 million in bonuses a year. Well worth it. If you have any issue with summers, that should be your issue. The other issue is not an important one at all and has been blown way out of proportion.</p>

<p>Summers certainly didn't "get rid of" Meyer, who just became sick of seeing his name bandied about in the press and being dragged through the mud by a tiny group of doctrinaire leftist alumni. </p>

<p>The administration loved Meyer, stood firmly by him, and was sad to see him go.</p>

<p>I wouldn't be surprised to see Meyer and his group handling a substantial chunk of the endowment on an "outpatient" basis.</p>

<p>I agree with you 110%.</p>

<p>actually, not all of the administration "loved meyer." many thought he was overpaid. Meyer and team will still be handling a lot of H's money, you are absolutely correct on that matter. However, now they will be making much more money! They could have kept Meyer if they wanted him, but Summers got pushed around and they let him walk. They should be paying meyer 3-5X his salary, without question. He walked because he can make more money on his own and was not getting paid enough period.</p>