Published December 20, 2010

Army Gen. David Petraeus advocated for bringing ROTC back to Harvard in a talk on campus in 2009. (AP)

Calling the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy a “historic step,” Harvard University President Drew Faust said she will move toward allowing ROTC on campus.

Faust released this statement, written Saturday:

The repeal of DADT is a historic step. It affirms American ideals of equal opportunity and underscores the importance of the right to military service as a fundamental dimension of citizenship. It was no accident that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation not only guaranteed freedom to Black Americans but at the same time opened the Union Army to their participation. Because of today’s action by the Senate, gay and lesbian Americans will now also have the right to pursue this honorable calling, and we as a nation will have the benefit of their service.

I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard’s full and formal recognition of ROTC. I am very pleased that more students will now have the opportunity to serve their country. I am grateful to the Massachusetts delegation for their unified support for repeal.

Harvard has banned the ROTC from its campus since the Vietnam War as a protest against what the university calls anti-gay discrimination.

Faust said last month she would bring back ROTC if Congress repealed DADT.

Update: In an earlier version of this post, I used the term “military recruiters” interchangeably with ROTC. The ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) is a significant recruiting organization, of course, but it’s much more than that. In fact, a university spokesman clarified that military recruiters already have full access to Harvard students.

This story should not be confused with the 25-year ban on recruiters at Harvard Law, which ended in 2002 under pressure from the Bush administration. (That story led to high-profile coverage of Harvard Law Dean Elena Kagan, who is now a U.S. Supreme Court justice.)

Published December 20, 2010

Our brains are not evolving nearly as fast as computers. (Emilio Garcia)

In computing, Moore’s Law states the number of transistors on a microchip will double every two years. It has held true ever since Intel cofounder Gordon Moore came up with the idea 45 years ago.

While processing speed grows exponentially, so does information. We are able to measure and record nearly every aspect of our daily lives.

And yet, by and large, the human brain’s capacity is not growing. Is that a bad thing?

The New York Times reports on IBM’s Center for Social Software in Cambridge, which studies “the modern-day challenges of collaborating across distributed, global enterprises.”

The lab tries to use increasingly sophisticated computers to act as information advisers.

“I do think of computers as augmenting people, not replacing them,” said Irene Greif, the director of the research center. “We need help with the limits of the brain, but there are some things that our brains can do that computers can’t do.”

The researchers essentially create programs that find patterns (and outliers) in the “fire hose” of information. Once patterns are revealed, it becomes easier to decide who or what is worth our undivided attention.

In other words, the human brain wants information to be YouTube-sized. “For better or worse, we are watching a C-Span version of our lives trying to fast-forward to the good parts,” the Times article notes.

We don’t remember every detail of every day of our lives — we don’t want to — we remember the births, deaths, celebrations and accidents, the important parts.

That is, most of us. Did you see Sunday night’s “60 Minutes” story on super-memorizers? It’s a fascinating account of five people known to have “superior autobiographical memory,” including, weirdly, Marilu Henner, the star of “Taxi.”

These people can remember every single day of their lives. And they can tell you the day and date of any event that occurred in their lifetimes, instantly. (In most cases, they can also tell you what they had for lunch that day.) One subject is apparently able to remember every Pittsburgh Steelers game ever played during his adult life.

Scientists will study their “endless memories” as we march on through the Information Age. In the story, Lesley Stahl poses a question: Would you want that kind of brain?

Well, would you?

Published December 17, 2010

Patriots QB Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in Gillette Stadium on Oct. 18, 2009. The Pats won, 59-0. (AP)

Early weather reports have New England getting light snow flurries late Sunday — just in time for the Patriots’ home game against Green Bay.

The Patriots, and Tom Brady’s offense, seem to heat up in the cold, cold weather. To wit: New England drubbing the Bears in brutal Chicago conditions last weekend. In fact, the Pats are undefeated in 10 snow games under coach Bill Belichick.

They may have already clinched a playoff spot, but who would turn down another white weather victory in Gillette? Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Hubbub host Andrew Phelps was a late scratch today due to illness.

Published December 16, 2010

Marie Evans, 10, in 1958

Two days after a Boston jury found a cigarette maker liable for $71 million in a suit alleging the company targeted black children in Roxbury decades ago, the jury today tacked on $81 million more in punitive damages to a deceased woman’s estate.

In the suit, Marie Evans — who died in 2002 of lung cancer — said Lorillard, Inc., which makes Newport cigarettes, got her and other children in the neighborhood addicted in the 1950s and ’60s by handing out free cigarette samples.

Tuesday’s ruling doled out the compensatory award to Evans and her son, Will Evans. Today’s award goes to Marie Evans’ estate.

“I think what was different in this case is that Lorillard tobacco company set out to get children addicted, and that’s what it did, and that’s what cost Marie Evans her life,” said Michael Weisman, the lead attorney for the plaintiff, to WBUR.

The Globe reports:

It is believed to be the largest award for compensatory damages in a wrongful death suit against a tobacco company in the country.

The case could have implications in Washington, D.C., where federal officials are considering a ban on menthol cigarettes.

Lorillard has said it plans to appeal the verdict.

Tuesday:

• Cigarette Firm Found Liable For $71M In Smoker’s Death

Published December 16, 2010

Lithograph by Sarony & Major, 1846

On Dec. 16, 1773, Massachusetts revolted. Colonists disguised as Native Americans and steeped in British resentment destroyed three shiploads of tea by tossing it into Boston Harbor. From the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum:

To fully understand the resentment of the colonies to Great Britain and King George III, one must understand that this was not the first time that the colonists were treated unfairly. In previous years, the 13 colonies saw a number of commercial tariffs including the Sugar Act of 1764, which taxed sugar, coffee, and wine, the Stamp Act of 1765, which put a tax on all printed matter, such as newspapers and playing cards, and the Townshend Acts of 1767 which placed taxes on items like glass, paints, paper, and tea. The Tea Act of 1773 was the last straw.

On Jan. 19, 2010, Massachusetts revolted again — sending Republican Sen. Scott Brown to Washington and catapulting the libertarian Tea Party movement into the national spotlight.

Unfortunately for the museum, they field confused phone calls about the modern-day Tea Party. NPR’s Linton Weeks, quoting museum spokesman Shawn Ford:

Today’s Tea Party, Ford says, “has nothing to do with us. When I do get calls about the Tea Party movement, it is a simple misunderstanding.”

“The similarities are illuminating,” Fox News reports today. But the two Tea Parties are not the same.

“The current movement deals with big government and excess taxes, much like the colonials did, but … the colonials truly had no representation in the legislature that was instituting their taxes,” high-school history teacher Kathy Laughlin told NPR. “The present movement’s goal is to unseat incumbents and elect ultra-conservative members to congress.”

More from NPR:

• Who Is The Tea Party? Republicans By Another Name
• Today’s Tea Party Isn’t Quite Like 1773’s

Published December 14, 2010

(fruitflavor/Flickr)

Boston Police say shootings rose about 16 percent in 2010 over 2009, but police made fewer firearms-related arrests.

With 2010 nearly over, the BPD has released crime statistics (PDF) covering Jan. 1 through Dec. 12, as compared to the same period last year.

Homicides are up dramatically — 46 at this time last year, compared to 73 this year. Police say most of those victims died from gunfire, but officers made 12-percent fewer arrests for firearms offenses.

Reports of burglary jumped 19 percent citywide. But crimes of all other types, including rape, aggravated assault and larcency, are down with double-digit decreases for robbery and vehicle theft.

The only beat to see a rise in overall crime was Area A, which includes Downtown, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Charlestown and East Boston.

And the neighborhoods with the biggest overall drops in crimes this year? Area C, or Dorchester and South Boston.