Harvard dean defends Khatami invitation
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The dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government defended the decision to invite former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to speak on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
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One group of prominent university presidents called for universities to revamp the traditional tenure academic career system to make it more family friendly, while another criticized recent remarks by Harvard University President Lawrence Summers addressing why women may be failing to reach top science jobs.
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Former President Bill Clinton told 1,700 Harvard University seniors Wednesday that he had a suspicion why he was invited to their Class Day celebration.
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Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  - Harvard University President  Lawrence Summers has written a lengthy apology, admitting he  was wrong to suggest women do not have the same natural ability  in math and sciences as men.
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Tehran, Sept 17, IRNA -- Tehran Substitute Friday Prayer Leader and Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in Tehran on Friday that the US is afraid of the power of Islam.
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NEW YORK -- When the head of Columbia University suggested that free speech was banned in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not only disagreed, he also invited Lee C. Bollinger to come and see for himself.
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A senior Iranian cleric said on Friday the "death knell" had sounded for a U.S.-sponsored Arab-Israeli peace conference, which has drawn skeptical remarks from some Arab countries that are expected to take part.
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I saw most of the speech given on Monday by Iranian President Ahmadinejad at Columbia University. I also watched a lot of the coverage that night and the following morning by MSNBC and CNN, and I gotta say, they behaved shamefully, as badly as Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, who introduced Ahmadinejad.  Transcript of the Ahmadinejad speech. Video of the entire talk and intro. 1 hr 21 min. Ahmadinejad came off as a gentleman, he had every right to be offended. Had I been in his place, I would have found it hard to give a speech after the intro Bollinger gave. And then the cable networks completely misrepresented what happened. It was beyond spinning, it was outright propoganda. It wasn't until Hardball that a reporter, Chris Matthews, talked about what really happened. It's basic decency to the guest and to the people watching, that they not tell us what to think. It's a very American thing to let people make up their own minds. That Ahmadinejad was able to claim this as an Iranian value, when it was so clearly not an American one that day, was shameful to me as an American.  What if Columbia had maintained neutrality. Asked direct questions, accepted his answers and moved on. We got the tiniest glimpse of how revealing that might have been when he said that Iran didn't have homosexuality. The audience laughed as if he was making a joke (not in derision as the TV anchors reported). At first it wasn't at all clear if it was humor, his delivery was so straight, he seemed serious, but how could he seriously expect us to believe there were no gay people in Iran?? When it was clear he wasn't joking, it was a chilling moment. There it is, that's the face of despotism. Now we know, despite his protests, that we're still better than he is, I haven't heard the US government claim that there are no gays in America (but I have heard them say things approaching that level of dishonesty).  Had they just let Ahmadinejad speak for himself there would probably have been no need to hit us over the head with what they want us to think about him. But as it stands, that was the only clear thing he said at Columbia that wasn't basically reasonable.  His pitch: I come from a place that's far away from here. You sent your army to fight on our border. We don't like the Israelis because they mistreat the Palestinians who had nothing to do with the Holocaust (a far cry from saying the Holocaust never happened). It's pretty clear, although he didn't say it, that given a choice, he would like to see the Palestinian people rule the space now occupied by Israel (this is probably what they mean when he says he wants to "wipe" Israel off the map). So, that's not our position, but it's not really different from ours. The reality is that there are two peoples who claim that territory. So Iran is on the other side. That's not exactly front page news. An aside, very few Americans know the role we played in overthrowing Iran's attempt at democracy in the 1950's. I highly recommend reading Stephen Kinzer's All the Shah's Men for the story. For an overview, Chris Lydon did a podcast interview with Kinzer in 2003.  We lose so much when we don't have the courage to listen to our foes. Some of my countrymen see it as a sign of weakness to listen, but they're wrong -- if we're sure we're right, what exactly do we have to lose by listening? Only if we're concerned that we might be wrong, should we fear listening, and then only if we want to stay wrong. Look, I know I'm not going to convince any of the people who say that everyone who uses their mind is weak, but to people who like to decide for themselves, and want free speech for everyone, don't be fooled by what you hear on TV. They act as if they are owned by people who desperately want a war with Iran, and are willing to sacrifice American freedom to get there. Bollinger is clearly one of those people. And so is Time-Warner, Microsoft and GE (the owners of CNN and MSNBC). If not, then please do something about it, shake up the media so that we get to really discuss this, openly and fairly, before we start yet another ruinous war.
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Students, once the backbone of Iran's  reformist movement, heckled and harangued President Mohammad  Khatami Monday, accusing him of lacking the courage to deliver  promised democratic reforms in the Islamic state.
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The government has rejected a prominent Muslim scholar's application to enter the country, contending that he gave support to a terrorist group, but his attorneys allege the U.S. is using charitable donations he made as a pretext for stifling his views.
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Democrats from the throughout the West gathered Saturday to interview candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee, including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whose candidacy has come under fire from within the party.
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How should Harvard spend its money? This is a pretty obvious question that won't be asked enough in the months ahead, now that the world's largest university endowment is looking for another investment chief to succeed the outgoing Mohamed El-Erian.
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Harvard University was complicit in enhancing the prestige of the Nazi regime in the 1930s despite knowing Jews were being persecuted, a historian claimed Sunday at a Holocaust conference.
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Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has warned that peace cannot come to the Middle East without the help of Iran. Mr Khatami was responding to questions from reporters about American policies in the region.
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TEHRAN : President Mohammad Khatami asserted that Iran would not give up its plan to enrich uranium, despite international pressure for it to abandon the sensitive nuclear activity.
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The president of Harvard University prompted criticism for suggesting that innate differences between the sexes could help explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers.