Grain & Chaff

Extra duty

Medical School Chancellor Aaron Lazare is chairing a task force of medical school deans charged with critiquing the clergy sexual abuse policy of the Archdiocese of Boston. Lazare was chosen by the other deans to lead the panel, which was formed by Cardinal Bernard Law in the wake of reports that the archdiocese settled sexual abuse cases against at least 70 priests over the past 10 years. The task force is charged with recruiting nationally known specialist on the sexual abuse of children to advise church leaders on ways to study, prevent and respond to clergy misconduct.

Making (radio) waves

Theater Department graduate student Lucinda Kidder, who organized a festival of plays by Islamic women authors in New York City, was interviewed on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Weekend Edition."

Winning wager

Dining and Retail Food Services director Ken Toong was on the winning end of a Super Bowl bet after the Patriots' victory in New Orleans. Toong wagered a meal of clam chowder and lobsters on the hometown team with his counterpart at Washington University in St. Louis. Now Greg Teator has to pony up a feast of ribs and Fritz's root beer and wear a Patriots shirt.

Well-preserved

The Amherst Historical Commission has honored the campus for its renovation of the Old Chapel. Interim Chancellor Marcellette Williams accepted the award on behalf of the University at the Amherst select board meeting last week.

Inside info

The entry of former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich into the governor's race has opened up new avenues for punditry by Journalism professor Ralph Whitehead, though not without some partisanship. Whitehead, some may recall, served under Reich at the Labor Department during the Clinton administration. In a recent Boston Globe article on Reich, Whitehead said the one-time labor official used the office to be a "leading advocate of developing a more highly-skilled and economically-secure workforce."

Ink spots

Steve Tracy of Afro-American Studies, was quoted in an Associated Press feature on the centennial of the birth of Langston Hughes. "He was a professional writer who had a breadth that few other writers in the 20th century had," said Tracy. .... Economics professor Robert Pollin was quoted by the Atlanta Journal and Constitution on President Bush's State of the Union address. "Fiscal stimulus is really the only tool left," he said. "We need to shift back to using government as a tool of growth." ... Look for English professor Nick Bromell's piece on the profit motive in higher education in the new Harper's Magazine.