Drew Faust (president), Michael Smith (Dean FAS), & John Smith (Professor Engineering) talked about the recent Harvard cheating scandal, subsequent e-mail search scandal (Why did Harvard administration not "ask" the deans for permission to look at their e-mails? duh...), rising cost of college (Harvard's $40,000 "financial aid" initiative & the 2007 "middle class" initiative - where families under $200,000/yr income pay less), and collaborative education. http://nytimes.com/2007... - Mitchell Tsai

Pres. Faust said the 2007 "middle class" initiative scared other schools into similar financial aid packages. An audience member started this line of questioning - he felt that Harvard maybe should lead other colleges in reducing the cost of undergraduate education, and Pres. Faust response was that Harvard was doing it with innovative financial aid packages. - Mitchell Tsai

Diversitas? Take a Closer Look [Justin Lanning, Crimson - 1/26/12] http://thecrimson.com/article... ~45.6% Harvard undergraduates come from families with $200,000+ incomes. Only ~4% of Harvard undergraduates come from the bottom quintile of U.S. incomes, and a mere 17.8% come from the bottom three quintiles of U.S. incomes. (Justin's logic on the 45.6% may be slightly overestimated, because I had many classmates who came from families who qualified for financial aid, but didn't use any either because of (1) pride - we can pay "full frieght" or (2) because they wanted money to go to other families). - Mitchell Tsai

Former Harvard President Larry H. Summers, who launched the Financial Aid Initiative, declared in 2004, “We need to recognize that the most serious domestic problem in the United States today is the widening gap between the children of the rich and the children of the poor. Education is the most powerful weapon we have to address that problem.” Aid Isn’t Enough [Sandra Korn, Crimson - 9/27/12] http://thecrimson.com/column... - Mitchell Tsai

Sandra Korn writes: If Harvard’s administrators are committed to increasing the number of working-class and middle-class students at Harvard, they must address the structural roots of educational inequality. ... Harvard’s tuition continues to rise at a much higher rate than inflation each year, and Harvard seems unlikely to take the lead in moving towards inexpensive higher education. - Mitchell Tsai

Collaborative Education - In a world of interconnection, are individual grades still useful? - Mitchell Tsai

Class of 1988 Survey. (1) Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" was supported more by women in $500,000+ income bracket than women in <$150,000 income bracket (Median income $200,000-350,000). http://newsfeed.time.com/2013... (2) $150,000/yr income was "tipping point" between people have midlife crises & being satisfied with their lives & careers. (3) 49% believe in God (4) Most common house size 28% was <2,000 sq ft. Very poor questions (like the ones in my own class of 1986). Most years there's a lot more interesting stuff (e.g. what % of men-women income differential is due to more/less time spent on career, or kids (how many, when first one), what factors brought most happiness in life so far, how have political views changed/stayed the same, what percentage have become housewives/househusbands, etc...) - Mitchell Tsai