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A Look Back at the Summer of 1993...A Lot Happened While You Were Gone

While you were gone for the summer, traveling in Europe or earning enough money to return for another semester, Harvard was busy grinding out its usual quota of news. Here are some of the highlights.

The Money Rolls In

Walter H. Annenberg, a philanthropist who once owned TV Guide and served as ambassador to Great Britain, gave Harvard $25 million to fund undergraduate financial aid, undergraduate seminars and the renovation of Memorial Hall.

The gift is in the memory of Annenberg's son Roger, a member of the class of 1962 who died that year before graduation.

While $25 million sounds like a lot of money, it was only the smallest piece in an unprecedented $365 million donation Annenberg made in June to Harvard, the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania and the Peddie School at Hightstown, N.J.

Saudi Gift

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King Fahd of Saudi Arabia gave Harvard Law School $5 million to establish the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" professorship of Islamic law and to fund research on Islamic legal systems.

Bomb Scares Galore

Following mail bomb attacks on scholars at the University of California at San Francisco and Yale University, Harvard police and the FBI issued an alert asking all Harvard affiliates to be careful of suspicious-looking packages.

Warning signs, authorities said, include excessive postage, oily stains or discolorations, the absence of a return address and protuding wires or tinfoil.

The warning, aimed at cautioning people about bombs, had the effect of promoting a series of bomb scares. The most noteworthy such scare was at the house of Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, who, forced to evacuate his house, went out to supper in his bedroom slippers as the Boston bomb squad investigated a package that had arrived at his house.

The package was found to be a harmless gift from a friend, but law enforcement officials said the package was suspicious, in part because it was addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Knowles" instead of "Professor" or "Dean."

The Science Center and portions of Holyoke Center were evacuated in subsequent scares.

Filthy Harvard Square

The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously in favor of an order asserting, "Harvard Square is absolutely filthy, with litter all over and trash barrels overflowing each evening."

City public works officials said they were doing the best they can to keep the Square clean.

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