Kept safe in US, Iraqi royal statue heads home – MassArt professor helped in recovery
By Farah Stockman – Globe Staff / September 7, 2010

WASHINGTON — It took four men to lift the wooden box in the lobby of the Iraqi Embassy. They carried it gingerly to the waiting truck, then loaded it into the belly of a commercial plane. Hours after President Obama announced the end of US combat operations in Iraq last week, one of that country’s most precious artifacts — the statue of an ancient king — began its journey home to Baghdad.

In a saga that reads like the plot of an Indiana Jones movie, the 4,400-year-old statue of King Entemena was stolen from Iraq’s national museum in 2003, during widespread looting in the early days of the US invasion. It then moved through an underworld of black-market art dealers until it was recovered in a 2006 US sting operation, with help from a professor of antiquities in Boston.

Then, for four more years, it sat in a glass case at Iraq’s embassy in Washington, waiting for Baghdad to be safe enough for its return. It is expected to arrive later this week, the final chapter in a tale of the anarchy of war and the fragile promise of peace.

“Now he’s going back where he belongs,’’ said John Russell, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, who was hired by the State Department to help preserve Iraq’s ancient art. Russell verified Entemena’s authenticity for US officials.

Hey, students, here’s the lowdown on Beantown
By Tenley Woodman/Boston Herald – September 7, 2010

Attention, college students and other newcomers to the Hub – there’s more to understanding Boston than watching “The Departed” or “Good Will Hunting.”

Here, it’s tonic, not soda or pop. There are four seasons:Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics.

And the underground transit system isn’t the subway, it’s the T.

Visit Fenway Park: This is a must. Whether you like the Red Sox or not, Fenway is a piece of history and source of Boston pride. It’s the oldest Major League Baseball park still in use, and catching a game here is a rite of passage for locals. 4 Yawkey Way, Boston.

To take a tour, call 617-226-6666, or go to mlb.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/tour.jsp.
…snip…
Check out Avenue of the Arts: The intersection of Huntington and Massachusetts avenues starts what was once known as the Avenue of the Arts. This stretch of real estate is home to institutions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of Fine Arts.

HuffPost ranks BU as one of 11 strictest colleges
By Meaghan Beatley/BU Daily Free Press – Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Boston is known for having some of the most prestigious universities in the country, but according to The Huffington Post, it’s also home to one of strictest in Boston University.

BU was listed by the website as one of the 11 ‘strictest colleges’ in the United States in early July, citing its “zero tolerance policy for parties in residence halls” as the reason for its selection.

BU outlines its policies, ranging from drug and alcohol consumption to moped ownership, in the Lifebook located on the BU website.

According to the Lifebook, BU’s alcohol policy accords itself with state laws. However, “the University’s standards of personal conduct substantially exceed the minimum expectations of civil law and custom,” the website states.

Stem cell work in limbo awaiting court’s decision – Ruling on temporary stay may come today
By John A. Hawkinson/The Tech NEWS EDITOR – September 7, 2010

Many stem cell researchers have been left uncertain about their own future and the future of their field as they wait for a federal judge to decide whether to allow the NIH to fund human embryonic stem cell research, within and without of its walls.

A recent federal court injunction barred NIH labs from performing human embryonic stem cell research, and also stopped the NIH from funding grants that supported such research. The judge is currently considering an emergency stay which would temporarily allow the NIH to continue its research and to continue funding research.

The NIH has interpreted the court order to bar work with any human embryonic stem cell lines, but the plaintiffs in the case say they only meant to roll back the additional stem cell lines allowed by the Obama administration in 2009. Those plaintiffs, James L. Sherley and Theresa Deisher, said in a court filing Friday night that the Court’s ban does not apply to research approved under the Bush administration’s stem cell guidelines in 2001.

[James L. Sherley, a former MIT professor, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the NIH to halt federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.]

Wedding went swimmingly
By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein – Globe Staff / September 7, 2010

North Shore-bred Olympian Jenny Thompson, who’s now an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, got married over the weekend to Daniel Cumpelik, a co-owner of RadonSeal, his family’s business. The wedding took place at Hammond Castle in Gloucester. The couple will honeymoon in Zanzibar.
Tattoos on view
Illustrated bodies flocked to the Sheraton over the weekend for the Boston Tattoo Convention, an orgy of ink-related entertainment. Personalities of note at the festivities included Manny Ramirez, who stopped by to see the body art when his game was rained out on Friday, renowned tattoo artist Natan Alexander, and MTV personalities Evan Starkman and Kenny Santucci, who showed off their fashion line, Suck Yeah, with their partner Brett Nimphius. Hamilton’s own Emilee Fitzpatrick of “The Real World: Cancun’’ served as emcee during the weekend.

1533 – Elizabeth I is born in Greenwich, England.  More anniversaries.

Reignited ire buffets Muslim students  – Despite tensions, many hold to their belief in America
By Lisa Wangsness – Globe Staff / September 6, 2010

WELLESLEY — Laila Alawa fiddled with her cellphone, pretending she hadn’t heard what an apparently intoxicated man near her on the MBTA had said about “her people’’ wanting to build the “ground zero mosque.’’

Growing up in a large Muslim family in upstate New York and New Hampshire, Alawa had often drawn stares because of her headscarf, and sometimes endured harassment from neighborhood children. But this summer, as she shuttled between research jobs at Wellesley College and MIT, the looks and questions from strangers about where she was from seemed to come more often, and with a sharper edge.

“Every day I wake up, I just really want to put it out there — like, we’re not going to hurt you,’’ Alawa, a 19-year-old Wellesley student, said in an interview last week. “We are normal people, with fears and aspirations.’’

Seiji Ozawa’s Return to the Stage
By JAMES R. OESTREICH/NYT – September 5, 2010

MATSUMOTO, Japan — It was not exactly the return he had hoped for, but the conductor Seiji Ozawa scored a triumph of a limited sort here at the Saito Kinen Festival on Sunday afternoon as he returned to the public stage for the first time since surgery for esophageal cancer in January.

He opened a program of the festival orchestra (he was supposed to have led all of it), conducting the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Then, because he was experiencing sciatic problems that recurred as a byproduct of the surgery, he stepped aside to let a younger conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, take over.

A progressive voter guide for JP and surrounding neighborhoods
By adamg / UniversalHub – 9/5/10 – 10:44 pm
The Jamaica Plain Progressives posts answers to questionnaires sent to candidates in the 2nd Suffolk state senate race (Sonia Chang-Diaz and Hassan Williams), the 15th Suffolk state rep’s race (Jeff Sanchez and Jeff Herman) and the 6th Suffolk state rep’s race (Russell Holmes and Divo Rodrigues Monteiro; other candidates did not reply).

Best brunch on Mission Hill
By adamg / UniversalHub – 9/5/10 – 10:31 am
Meesh says give it up for the Mission on Huntington Avenue.

1847 – Henry David Thoreau leaves Walden Pond and moves in with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord, Massachusetts.  More anniversaries.

Photo:Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection. 

Read Photo history  here

The First Labor Day

On September 5, 1882, some 10,000 workers assembled in New York City to participate in America’s first Labor Day parade. After marching from City Hall, past reviewing stands in Union Square, and then uptown to 42nd Street, the workers and their families gathered in Wendel’s Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York’s Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions.  Debate continues to this day as to who originated the idea of a workers’ holiday, but it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions. Read more history here

BU junior, 19, falls to death at hotel
New England in brief – September 5, 2010
A Boston University junior died in a fall early yesterday morning at a city hotel, officials said. The school identified the victim as Adam Robert Engel, 19, of Old Bethpage, N.Y. Officer David Estrada, a Boston police spokesman, said officers responded to the Doubletree Guest Suites on Soldiers Field Road about 12:45 a.m., where the victim was being treated by rescue workers. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Estrada said, and there were no indications of foul play. He said the office of the chief medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Engel was a junior in the School of Management and was studying accounting, Kenneth Elmore, dean of students, said in a letter to the campus community. A woman who answered the phone at Engel’s home said the family will not comment while the investigation into his death is ongoing.

1774 – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  More anniversaries.

Two styles of leadership
By Adrian Walker – Globe Columnist / September 4, 2010

Walking up to Hassan Williams’s campaign headquarters in Roxbury, you’re greeted by an unusual tableau: Polaroid shots of storefronts in depressed parts of the Second Suffolk Senate District with heavy iron grates over the windows.

Another set of Polaroids tells a different story. It depict the bright lights of the South End and Chinatown. It is, quite literally, a stark tale of two districts.

“I want every community in this district to look the same,’’ said Williams. “To me, that’s what this campaign is about.’’

The major issue in this race seems much the same to his opponent, incumbent Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz. “It’s tough times out there,’’ she said in an interview this week. “People are really hurting.’’

But a shared interest in economic issues might be the only thing that links the rivals in this race, in which Chang-Diaz is running for her second term.

Frame it for young eyes – A brief museum foray can bring artworks to life for a curious child
By Sebastian Smee – Globe Staff / September 3, 2010

Museums, it’s easy to forget, were once for adults. High-ceilinged places with a muffled, whispery ambience, punctured sporadically by the echoing clack of adult shoes, they were ideally suited to illicit rendezvous on rainy days or courtly, courtesy-filled outings for retirees.

Now, every museum this side of Tbilisi sees it as central to its “mission’’ to function as a kind of day care for kids and a crutch for desperate dads and moms hoping to kill a few hours and provide — against all odds — something culturally edifying into the bargain.

Well, I’ve done my fair share of it, too — but, up until recently, almost never willingly. Exposing one’s children to great art in great museums is all very well for most people. But for me, a professional art critic, I’ve long suspected it’s the dumbest mistake in the book.

Mine are only 5 and 3, but already I can see the writing on the wall. “My old man was an art critic,’’ I can hear my son yelling from the top of the fireman’s pole as his crew gears up to respond to a shrieking fire alarm at the Museum of Fine Arts. “I spent my whole childhood being dragged through museums. Let the damn place burn!’’

Body of artwork – Witch City Ink owner believes tattoos are finally getting some respect as a form of creative expression
By Joseph P. Kahn – Globe Staff / September 4, 2010

Tattoo artist Natan Alexander, owner of Witch City Ink in Salem, is producing the ninth annual Boston Tattoo Convention, happening this weekend.

Q. What’s on tap for this year’s convention?

A. You’ll get to see over 150 tattoo artists, some great vendors and special events, fashion shows, even a bikini contest. You can get a tattoo while you’re there, too.

Q. You recently spoke at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the art of tattooing. Give us a synopsis.

A. My message was: Tattoos are an art form, and it’s time for them to be respected as such. That artistic tattooing should take its rightful place in the arts community, because in 10 short years we’ve gone from the back rooms to the city’s cultural institutions.

Q. Tattooing wasn’t even legal in Massachusetts before 2000. What was the biggest obstacle to its acceptance?

A. Biggest legal obstacle was a lack of regulatory mechanisms. In cultural terms, it was changing public perceptions of who tattoo artists are, what sort of people get tattooed, and how safe it is. We had to overcome a lot of negative stereotypes.

1998 – Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.  More anniversaries.

Here are some visuals of the West Nile Virus carriers and what the virus looked like on one person’s infected arm.

Read about it in the Boston/Fenway areas here  and read in more detail about the virus here 

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