We’re back in the groove of Term 2 now, but everything just keeps changing. New classes, new professors, warm weather, the list just goes on. Perhaps most difficult change to accept (at least for the female members of the class) is the loss of Mark Mitchell, our FIN 1 prof. He arrived in our last class to a group of signs defining the most important lesson of FIN 1: “A correlation of -1 is better than sex”. He left with guaranteed commitments of more than $100 million for his new hedge fund. Not a bad day, especially when the women in the class tell you you’re the sexiest professor at HBS.
In place of Mitchell, there’s a new crop of profs. First, there’s Jan Rivkin, otherwise known as “Spiderman”, who can leap on top of electric chalkboards in a single bound. Some of our other professors have hastened the latest rash of nationality switching that’s become an epidemic in Section H. The HBS “Transformational Experience” has claimed several victims. FRC professor Greg Miller convinced both Ree-shard Linder and G‚r-ald Cooper that they were actually French at heart back in Term 1.
Then, S&E course head Diana Barrett christened yet another Frenchman into our class. We now have M -son, who hails from the francophone region of Wyoming. Finally, because he was so offended by the attitudes of his new countrymen, Fabrice, with the help of EM Prof. Nancy Koehn, has actually become an Italian-he is henceforth known as “Fab-rrri-che” and makes his comments with a thick Italian accent.
Furthering that theme of international understanding, several H’ers have introduced us to their home (or adopted) countries during H’s International Lunches. Thus far, we’ve had tours, food and wine from Portugal, Turkey, Japan and Russia, and are looking forward to more. In the Japanese presentation, Charles Duncan showed us how not to treat a visiting business colleague (Dennis Miyata, in a cameo appearance in Aldrich 9) in Japan, as Nobuko served them tea. Our three Russians ran a Russian version of Jeopardy with prizes that included native Russian beverages as prizes. Who knows what’s next?
Finally, in a bold attempt at curricular reform, the class has determined that social participation should be one of the factors considered during the grading process. As a result, H has designated Mike Kaplan as its pub guru. Since his installation, his promotions have been shameless-constantly overpromising and underdelivering. We’re still waiting for the mysterious “surprises” he keeps mentioning (free beer, etc.) to actually materialize.
The pub nights have been augmented by the H girls’ and guys’ respective “nights out” at the Beacon Hill Bistro and Locke-Ober-. The guys clearly had more fun, but the girls actually took photos. The section was also well represented at last week’s Progressive Party, with 7 of the 15 party hosts representing H. Claudia’s margaritas were incredible, Ree-shard’s vodka drinks classy, and Matt and Charlie’s PBR-well, it was PBR.
Those of us in H will see you in Newport and on the softball field (we’re leading the Harvard Cup, you know). Beware.
