Watching the Ivies: 2/26
BROWN: After accepting a $3 million donation from an anonymous donor, Brown University will renovate the John Hay Library this coming summer. The Brown Daily Herald reported that the renovations would feature a new main reading room, cameras, an improved security system and an additional student lounge area. The multimillion-dollar gift came at a crucial time for the library’s remodeling project. Selldorf Architects will lead the renovation.
COLUMBIA: Columbia University will use a $3.5 million donation to create a food policy research center, according to the Columbia Spectator. The donation, which came from philanthropist Laurie Tisch, will also be used to hire new faculty members for the center, fund research for the teaching of food skills and offer courses in nutrition education. The donation is part of a larger $15 million gift from the Tisch Illumination Fund aimed at fighting hunger.
CORNELL: Cornell policy analysis and management professor Richard Geddes testified before Congress on Feb. 13 to recommend improvements to the U.S. Postal Service, which is currently facing a decline in mail volume and billions of dollars in revenue loss. According to the Cornell Daily Sun, Geddes proposed that the government minimize its regulation of USPS so that the industry can commercialize. He attributed the USPS’s current economic crisis to the monopoly it holds on postal service and its inability to adapt according to evolving private sector norms. Geddes exhorted Congress to reform the USPS and follow the example of privatization of the post service industry in other developed countries, the Sun reported.
HARVARD: In anticipation of sequestration, which is expected to take place Mar. 1, Harvard University is bracing itself for the massive funding cuts that will affect research in the coming years. As part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, all research institutions are facing losing billions of dollars in funding if the across-the-board cuts to federal programs go into effect this Friday, the Harvard Crimson reported. Researchers at Harvard are particularly concerned about the effects these funding cuts will have on science and health research, fields in which continuous funding is crucial for innovation and where a large part of funding comes from government sponsorship.
PRINCETON: Princeton University will showcase a recently acquired rare George Frideric Handel opera until Mar. 4. “Berenice,” the opera manuscript, was procured for nearly £45,000 at an auction last year, and joins Princeton’s significant collection of Handel’s works, the Daily Princetonian reported. According to a university curator, the “scribal copy of the opera” had not been seen for around a century before the auction. “Berenice” was purchased with funds that focus on the acquisition of rare artifacts and has already been digitized to be viewed online.
UPENN: R&B singer Melanie Fiona and rapper Future will headline a spring concert at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. SPEC-TRUM, a university group that aims “To Represent Undergraduate Minorities,” organized the event as part of a series of events it hosts annually. Fiona is a Grammy-award winning Canadian artist while Future is a up-and-coming rapper from Atlanta. The concert will take place on Thursday, Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
YALE: Yale University is considering covering gender reassignment surgery under its health plan, according to the Yale Daily News. While the Yale Health Plan covers sex change surgeries for managerial and professional staff and faculty members, it does not do so for students. The health plan currently provides coverage for endocrine hormonal treatments and mental health care, but students expressed dissatisfaction with the university’s lack of more comprehensive coverage.