Historian Drew Gilpin Faust became the first female president in Harvard University‘ s 371-year old history. Faust, an alumna of Bryn Mawr College and dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, was elected by the 7-member Harvard Corporation, the name for the university’s governing board. Her appointment was ratified by the 30-member Board of Overseers, a panel of Harvard alumni. Faust will also be the first president who did not graduate from Harvard since 1672.

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The administration’s official senatorial lineup was formally announced today with the simultaneous filing by the wannabe senators of their certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) main office in Intramuros, Manila. This was preceded by a Mass at the nearby Manila Cathedral and a press conference where the members of the slate, namely Ed Angara, Joker Arroyo, Mike Defensor, Jamalul Karim III, Vic Magsaysay, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, Carlos Petilla, Butch Pichay, Ralph Recto, Tito Sotto, Chavit Singson and Miguel Zubiri, each (except for Singson) gave a short speech before a partisan crowd.

I was there to support a close friend who is a born politician. This is a cliché but absolutely true in his case. It was also a chance to touch base with college buddies who have not lost their appetite for politics.

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This is a sticky subject.

In a bid to manage expectorations in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Beijing is renewing efforts to curb spitting.

The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that offenders can be fined as much as fifty yuan (approx. P350 or a day’s wages for a Filipino worker) if caught spewing in public. The latest initiative targets a habit that has been long ingrained in the city. Beijing’s dry desert air and high level of pollution can trigger a rapid buildup of stringy phlegm, which is almost as swiftly deposited in sidewaiks, drains and just about anywhere, according to the AWSJ.
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