Well Done Sister Suffragette
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/995267.html
This is an AP article that I found on the Star Tribune website. The article is about Harvard appointing Drew Gilpin Faust as the new president of the university, the first woman to hold the position. The previous president, Lawrence Summers, created controversy over comments he made regarding genetic differences between men and women in the scientific community. These comments led to debate about equality at Harvard. In response, two faculty task forces were formed at the university to examine gender diversity, both headed by Faust. Faust was the dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies and taught history at the University of Pennsylvania. The article also includes information on Faust’s background growing up in the south and quotes her book on southern history. The appointment of a new president at Harvard was a matter of some secrecy, but the article also points out that several candidates asked to be removed from consideration.
The challenge with this article is to attribute properly. The author deals with many touchy opinions in this article, especially with the controversy surrounding the previous president. The subject matter makes the story an easy one to make assumptions about, so the author had to be sure the attributions were fair and accurate. http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/02/11/fausts_path_to_harvard/?page=1
I also read an article on the Boston Globe’s website. This article was not so much about the Harvard appointment, but more about Faust’s life. The article quotes her books and gives a more in-depth description of her life and how growing up in the south influenced her life. It also has quotes from her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and details her educational background which, coincidentally, doesn’t include Harvard. The article goes on to give small summaries of books and articles she’s written.
The Boston Globe's article is more of a feature article. Since Harvard is in Massachusetts it would make sense that a newspaper would provide a more personal story about Faust. The AP article gets right to the point and gives a good amount of information for those of us that didn’t even know Harvard was in the market for a new president.