Party Like It's 1999

Never before has the globe had such a big occasion to party.

The hype swirling around Rockin' Eve 2000 -- concerts, dream vacations from Barbados to Giza--has put much of America in a tizzy to find something big to commemorate the split second that heralds the new year.

But in typical Harvard fashion, it is coursework, tradition and cash that will define the soon-to-be night to remember here in Cambridge.

AT CAMPAIGN'S END

While University officials say they do not have specific plans set to commemorate the new year, administrators will don their millennial party hats at a May 2000 fete, marking the end of the ongoing $2.1 billion capital campaign.

University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 says this celebration will be "built off of the success of [the capital] campaign," but emphasized that its purpose would not only be to hail successful fundraising.

"It's not just a celebration of the end of a capital campaign...but the program is going to be an opportunity to take stock of where the University stands at the start of a new millennium," Fineberg says.

Even Commencement 2000 promises to boast a millennial theme.

Both University Marshal Richard M. Hunt and Commencement Director Grace A. Scheibner see next spring's Commencement as a prime time to celebrate Harvard's rich history while greeting the new millennium.

Both alluded to the possibility of integrating historical remembrances into the traditional Commencement ceremony--not altering the ceremony, but simply "adding on a little," Scheibner says.

"We might try to recreate the revelry and merrymaking of the first Harvard Commencement, when all the townspeople attended the ceremony," she says.

Scheibner hinted that some participants in Commencement might dress in clothes typical of the 1600s; the first Harvard Commencement took place on September 23, 1642.

AROUND THE WORLD

For those not content to celebrate the year 2000 from just one exotic location, Harvard University Museum of Cultural and Natural History is offering a "Around the World Millennium Expedition"--planning to whisk its voyagers from Easter Island to Western Samoa and on to Timbuktu, Mali with New Guinea and Tanzania in between.

For a mere $44,950, an adventurer can chart the globe in a Boeing 757 with 87 other passengers, enjoying the best in food and wine.

Passengers will explore such remote areas as Angkor, Cambodia and the Republic of Yemen--the land of the legendary Queen of Sheba.

THE COURSES

As Y2K questions dominate the press and countless books emerge on the history of the human race, Harvard's course catalog is following suit.

The Expository Writing Program spon- sored a course offering this past year entitled"Approaching the Millennium," and the History ofScience Department will feature a junior tutorialcalled "Apocalypse Now and Then: Science,Technology and Millennial Thought."

"Thanks to my upbringing as a Seventh DayAdventist, I've had a longstanding interest in howapocalyptic and millennial narratives arestructured," says tutorial leader Karl P. Hall.

Hall will seek to explore how these talesintersect with the contemporary concerns ofscientists and engineers.

The English Department will also be offeringtwo courses with year 2000 themes.

"Why Poetry Matters When the Century Ends:Wordsworth, Hardy and Heaney" will be offered nextfall by Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and theGeneral Theory of Value Elaine Scarry.

And Professor of English Daniel G. Donoghuewill teach "Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: TheMillennium" in the fall.

Responding to a world in which Harvard studentsview their grades and dining hall selections onthe Web, the Internet Society will be sponsoring aconference next year to discuss the social impactof the Internet.

"The purpose is to provide a forum where peoplefrom within and outside the University can cometogether to discuss cutting edge issues related tohow the Internet is changing the way we live,"says Louise M. Ryan, a Society member andprofessor of biostatistics at the School of PublicHealth.

THE HOUSES

With many housing assignments still up in theair for September, few Houses have startedplanning a year 2000 celebration.

"We have not begun to think about next year,"says Diane A Barrios, assistant to the KirklandHouse masters.

Victoria R. Macy, of the Adams House office,says her House will hold off on making plans for amillennial celebration until after its recentlynamed masters have become acclimated to their newhome.

"I'm sure they'll have plenty of ideas aboutparties and other events, but it's too early tosay," Macy says.

THE `POON AND ITS PARTY

The Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Squareorganization that used to occasionally publish aso-called humor magazine, will be whooping it upat a year 2000 bash that will include a party atthe Fogg Art Museum and New Year's Day Brunch atCambridge's Upstairs at the Pudding.

The `Poon officially denied planning amillennial party when chief `Poonster Matthew C.Warburton'00 said, "New Year's Eve is landing on aFriday night this year, so I imagine I'll bewatching `Boy Meets World.'"

But the Crimson has obtained documentsannouncing the bash at the Fogg Art Museum--to befollowed by a "raucous party" at the 'Poon's BowStreet castle.

Sources at the Fogg Art Museum have confirmedthe `Poon's plans for a fete in the Museum'scourtyard.

THE CITIES CELEBRATE

Boston has shunned the grandiose party plansthat some cities have planned--Atlanta hadconsidered constructing a 600 foot tall steel"A"--in favor of more community-mindedundertakings.

The City of Boston has initiated a series ofprojects commissioned by Mayor Thomas Meninotitled "Boston 2000" that are aimed at improvingBostonians' quality of life while celebrating thenew millennium.

Michael Taylor, president of the non-profitcommunity group Boston 2000, says he hopes tofoster a working relationship between Boston'smedical professionals and the city's public schoolteachers to "be better prepared to teach [scienceand math] in an engaging way."

Boston has planned programs aimed at ensuringhealth care coverage for all children andimproving adult's access to appropriate screeningsfor cancer screenings.

Even though a community-improving agenda willbe the focus of the city's millennium celebration,Boston will keep a little of the fete spirit for2000.

The "First Night" revelries will be similar tothe city's New Year's celebrations of the past,but Boston 2000 will also throw a MillenniumFestival during the first two weeks in July 2000.

The festivities will include a road race,performances by the Boston Pops and Boston Balletin Franklin Park and millennium parties in harborneighborhoods on the evening of July 16, 2000,when the Tall Ships depart Boston Harbor.

Although Boston's academically inclinedneighbor, Cambridge, currently doesn't have anycelebratory plans scheduled to welcome the newmillennium, Diane Squires of the Cambridge Mayor'sOffice says more definite arrangements will beironed out soon

"Thanks to my upbringing as a Seventh DayAdventist, I've had a longstanding interest in howapocalyptic and millennial narratives arestructured," says tutorial leader Karl P. Hall.

Hall will seek to explore how these talesintersect with the contemporary concerns ofscientists and engineers.

The English Department will also be offeringtwo courses with year 2000 themes.

"Why Poetry Matters When the Century Ends:Wordsworth, Hardy and Heaney" will be offered nextfall by Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and theGeneral Theory of Value Elaine Scarry.

And Professor of English Daniel G. Donoghuewill teach "Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: TheMillennium" in the fall.

Responding to a world in which Harvard studentsview their grades and dining hall selections onthe Web, the Internet Society will be sponsoring aconference next year to discuss the social impactof the Internet.

"The purpose is to provide a forum where peoplefrom within and outside the University can cometogether to discuss cutting edge issues related tohow the Internet is changing the way we live,"says Louise M. Ryan, a Society member andprofessor of biostatistics at the School of PublicHealth.

THE HOUSES

With many housing assignments still up in theair for September, few Houses have startedplanning a year 2000 celebration.

"We have not begun to think about next year,"says Diane A Barrios, assistant to the KirklandHouse masters.

Victoria R. Macy, of the Adams House office,says her House will hold off on making plans for amillennial celebration until after its recentlynamed masters have become acclimated to their newhome.

"I'm sure they'll have plenty of ideas aboutparties and other events, but it's too early tosay," Macy says.

THE `POON AND ITS PARTY

The Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Squareorganization that used to occasionally publish aso-called humor magazine, will be whooping it upat a year 2000 bash that will include a party atthe Fogg Art Museum and New Year's Day Brunch atCambridge's Upstairs at the Pudding.

The `Poon officially denied planning amillennial party when chief `Poonster Matthew C.Warburton'00 said, "New Year's Eve is landing on aFriday night this year, so I imagine I'll bewatching `Boy Meets World.'"

But the Crimson has obtained documentsannouncing the bash at the Fogg Art Museum--to befollowed by a "raucous party" at the 'Poon's BowStreet castle.

Sources at the Fogg Art Museum have confirmedthe `Poon's plans for a fete in the Museum'scourtyard.

THE CITIES CELEBRATE

Boston has shunned the grandiose party plansthat some cities have planned--Atlanta hadconsidered constructing a 600 foot tall steel"A"--in favor of more community-mindedundertakings.

The City of Boston has initiated a series ofprojects commissioned by Mayor Thomas Meninotitled "Boston 2000" that are aimed at improvingBostonians' quality of life while celebrating thenew millennium.

Michael Taylor, president of the non-profitcommunity group Boston 2000, says he hopes tofoster a working relationship between Boston'smedical professionals and the city's public schoolteachers to "be better prepared to teach [scienceand math] in an engaging way."

Boston has planned programs aimed at ensuringhealth care coverage for all children andimproving adult's access to appropriate screeningsfor cancer screenings.

Even though a community-improving agenda willbe the focus of the city's millennium celebration,Boston will keep a little of the fete spirit for2000.

The "First Night" revelries will be similar tothe city's New Year's celebrations of the past,but Boston 2000 will also throw a MillenniumFestival during the first two weeks in July 2000.

The festivities will include a road race,performances by the Boston Pops and Boston Balletin Franklin Park and millennium parties in harborneighborhoods on the evening of July 16, 2000,when the Tall Ships depart Boston Harbor.

Although Boston's academically inclinedneighbor, Cambridge, currently doesn't have anycelebratory plans scheduled to welcome the newmillennium, Diane Squires of the Cambridge Mayor'sOffice says more definite arrangements will beironed out soon