Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney really wants to seal up the Republican nomination, so during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania (which is Santorum territory) he tried to reiterate how out of touch President Obama is, "We have a president, who I think is is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps." Of course, it's not like Romney admitted to the crowd that he went there, too! more ›

Like a butterfly landing on the tip of your nose, the moment to catch a pair of boxer briefs allegedly worn by Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin was fleeting. With an opening bid of $1,000, one incredulous eBay seller was hoping to cash in on the recent spate of Lin-sanity sweeping the nation, offering up a pair of Lin's boxer briefs from his Harvard days. more ›

This weekend a Yale student struck three people, killing one, with a U-Haul at the Yale-Harvard Football game in New Haven and, though no charges have been filed, his lawyer is now trying to shift the blame to the vehicle. Meanwhile the victim's mom just wants her baby's body back. more ›

One woman was killed, and two others were injured after a U-Haul van crashed into a crowd tailgating before the Yale-Harvard Football game today. According to police, a 30-year-old Massachusetts woman was killed in the accident just after 10 a.m. this morning in a parking lot at Yale. Police spokesman David Hartman confirmed the other two female victims are hospitalized—one in critical but stable condition, and the other with minor injuries. Update: Watch video of the aftermath of the accident below. more ›

White people think that they receive the brunt of racial discrimination in contemporary America, according to a new study out of Tufts and Harvard. The Perspectives on Psychological Science paper, which is based on a nation-wide sample of 208 blacks and 209 whites, argues that "whites see racism as a zero-sum game that they are now losing." more ›

A New York City resident who was accused of fatally shooting a man in a Harvard University dorm two years ago was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors claimed that Jabrai Jordan Copney, 22, and two other men (who made deals with prosecutors) lured Justin Cosby, a drug dealer, in the basement of the Kirkland House dorm to steal marijuana from him at gunpoint. more ›

In January, an excerpt of Amy Chua's parenting memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, led to an intense debate about, well, the intense techniques Chua said she used with her two daughters in order to ensure their academic and musical success (no-holds-barred shaming! no sleepovers! hours of hours of practice!). And Chua, who was simultaneously pilloried and celebrated, defended herself everywhere, even The Colbert Report, but her latest crowning achievement may be this: Her 18-year-old daughter Sophia's acceptance to Harvard. more ›

A former trader for Swiss/Re pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a scheme where, according to the Daily News, he said "he was single and living in London when he really lived with his wife in the Village." Llewellyn Connolly was trying to avoid paying about $1 million in taxes for 2007 and 2008, but now he'll have to pay $2,642,018 in back taxes and penalties—plus pay a $350,000 fine and serve 300 hours of community service. But $3+ million and 300 hours of community service is worth not going to prison, right? more ›

Whether it was because of the allure of an Ivy League education, the possibility of buying drugs from Ivy League frat guys, incestuous Ivy League professors, embezzling staffers, or the fact you could now apply with the common app, we'll never know for sure, but Columbia University this year saw its applications skyrocket 32 percent from last year to 34,587. The only Ivy with more applications this year was Harvard—which also happened to be a major character in some movie this year about computer networks. The fact that Columbia is now accepting the Common App, which usually brings a bump in applications but usually in the 15%-20% range, certainly didn't hurt. more ›

For two hours on Halloween last year, Harvard Law School graduate Brian Schroeder built a bonfire in the Manhattan 9/11 chapel out of photos and mementos of people killed in the WTC attacks. His lawyer argued that his client was "profoundly intoxicated" during the arson, and may even have been drugged. And yesterday Schroeder himself told the judge, "I drank many alcoholic beverages... I have a very limited memory of the events. I cannot explain why I acted the way I did. But I take responsibility for my actions. I am sorry." Yet despite his heartfelt apology, Justice Rena K. Uviller (Columbia School of Law) sent a strong message to all Ivy League grads who would make a mockery of 9/11, and sentenced Schroeder to 100 hard hours of community service. more ›

There will be no jail time for the Harvard Law School grad who "doesn't remember" drunkenly setting fire to the chapel that houses remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Overriding objections from prosecutors who wanted at least a one year sentence, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller offered Brian Schroeder a plea deal yesterday. If he stays out of trouble for one year and pays $25,000 in restitution, he'll be off the hook. "I don't see any point in ruining another life—that is, Mr. Schroeder's," said Judge Uviller yesterday. more ›

Remember that Harvard Law School grad who "doesn't remember" allegedly setting fire to the chapel that houses remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Brian Schroeder was back in court yesterday begging for mercy, which prosecutors are not inclined to give. Assistant DA Lucy Lang told Justice Rena Uviller said she'd only consider a plea deal that includes a minimum of 1-to-3 years in prison and $25,000 in restitution, the Daily News reports. Lang also went into detail about the appalling act of arson, which took place over the course of two hours. more ›

Okay, it's not quite Doogie Howser or The Kid With The 200 I.Q., but it is real: Zachary Young, a 15-year-old sophomore at Stuyvesant High School, was accepted to Harvard, MIT and Caltech. He tells the Post that when he got the nod from MIT, "That was much more exciting [than Caltech's acceptance]. I had my mom, my sisters and my girlfriend, and they all screamed." (Yes, he has a girlfriend!) Zach, a huge math whiz who has already taken all of Stuy's math and science classes, doesn't watch TV or listen to music, "If I have a choice between math and almost anything else, I choose math." Maybe he won't have that girlfriend for long. more ›

The Harvard Law School grad accused of setting a fire inside a 9/11 memorial has pleaded not guilty. The lawyer representing 27-year-old Brian Schroeder says his client was "profoundly intoxicated" when the fire broke out and that he "has very limited memories of being inside the building," where he allegedly torched teddy bears, flowers, notes, and other mementos last fall. After the incident, Schroder reportedly told police: "It felt like an adventure, and I thought I was dreaming." more ›

Yesterday, former governor Eliot Spitzer spoke at Harvard University's ethics center to discuss big business and government, much to the dismay of one of the madams he used for his dalliances with escorts. He mostly discussed the economic crisis, but he did answer a question about the prostitution scandal that brought down his poltiical career. According to the NY Times, a man "with a long gray ponytail sticking out of his baseball hat," began, "I may sound like a conspiracy theorist," and then asked if there were "'ulterior motives' behind the timing of the disclosure of the prostitution ring that he said was leaked to the news media." more ›

Today, former governor Eliot Spitzer will be at Harvard, speaking at the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, discussing, "What Should Be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?" But given Spitzer's past, from Troopergate to Hookergate, one person is very upset—a madam who had Spitzer as a client. In a letter to Professor Lawrence Lessig, Kristin Davis wrote, "For nearly 5 years, I supplied Mr. Spitzer with high priced escorts while he was both Attorney General and Governor. For this crime, I served four months on Rikers Island, had all of my assets confiscated and am now considered a sex offender on 5 years probation. Mr. Spitzer broke both state and federal laws and walked away free." more ›

Acting on a dare, a drunk Harvard Law School grad allegedly set fire to a chapel yesterday that houses the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The perp — identified as 26-year-old Brian Schroeder — broke into Memorial Park near the corner of First Avenue and East 30th Street and set the blaze at around 9 am. The fire did not get to the remains, which are kept in climate-controlled containers awaiting advances in DNA technology that might allow them to be identified, but notes, photos, flowers, and other mementos inside the white-tented sanctuary were either stolen or burned. Schroeder turned himself in to police last night. more ›

Last week, noted Harvard academic Henry Louis Gates was arrested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after a neighbor described a man trying to "pry" open a home's front door. It turned out that Gates had locked himself out his house; cops claim Gates was belligerent and refused to show ID while Gates claims he did show ID yet was still arrested for disorderly conduct (apparently for allegedly being belligerent, which he denies). The charges were dropped, but Gates wants an apology from the cop, "If he apologizes sincerely, I am willing to forgive him. And if he admits his error, I am willing to educate him about the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling." And the Reverend Al Sharpton was incredulous, "I’ve heard of driving while black, and I’ve heard of shopping while black. But I’ve never heard of living in a home while black." The Harlem minister added he would fight for Gates, "If this can happen at Harvard, what does it say about the rest of the country? Henry Louis Gates is the pre-eminent African-American scholar in the country. If they can do this to him, imagine what they can do to a kid in Roxbury." more ›

A Brooklyn resident pleaded not guilty to shooting a man in the basement of a Harvard dorm on Monday. Jabrai Jordan Copny, who is the son of a retired NYPD officer, is being held without bail for the murder of Justin Cosby. According to Boston authorities, Cosby was selling drugs to Harvard students and was at the Kirkland House dorm with marijuana and money; the Boston Globe reports, "Three men traveled to Cambridge from New York City with the intention of robbing Cosby." Middlesex County DA Gerald Leone said, "It was that encounter between the four men that went bad. The common denominator that led to the intent to rip-off Justin Cosby of both money and drugs was that Justin and Jordan were known to each other through Harvard students." Copny surrendered last night while the two other suspects are at large. Copney's mother told the Daily News, "My son is not a murderer. He was raised very well and is very respectful. My son wasn't into drugs, my son wasn't into being a thug...The truth will come out." more ›

How has Chelsea hotspot Marquee thrived for over five years when the average lifespan of a nightclub is 18 months? A Harvard business class that got an inside look at the inner workings of the club says that much of Marquee's success comes from tightening their velvet rope. Anita Elverse used the sometimes infamous nightclub as a case study for her Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries MBA class. She said, "When you've invested a few million just launching a club, it's tempting to say, 'OK, we might not be around for a long time. We have to get high-paying customers in.' But that's the easiest way to ruin the brand of a club." The associate professor acknowledged that a 1,300 percent markup on a bottle of vodka doesn't hurt either. Elverse's class was split down the middle on whether Marquee should cash in the chips in the current economic climate—for all its success, it made just $2.4 million in profit in 2007. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council may not agree on the appropriateness of cell phones in public schools, but the DoE is now handing out cell phones to a select group of students. The privately funded pilot program will give cell phones to students and reward positive behavior, such as showing up to class, behaving and doing well. more ›

They may have grown up privileged and prepped for success from birth, but a record number of four-year-olds are facing rejection from New York's top kindergarten programs. Fortunately, the parents of the doomed children are probably still young enough to procreate again and hope for better chances with their younger progeny. more ›

READING: Jeff Garigliano, Condé Nast Portfolio senior-editor turned author, will be reading from his debut novel titled Dogface. The story follows a rebellious 14-year-old boy who, like so many before him, gets sent off to a camp that specializes in "whipping mixed-up teens back into shape". more ›

Last year, the federal authorities had been looking for Esther Elizabeth Reed, a woman who faked her way into attending Harvard, Cal State and most recently Columbia University, by using a dead woman's identity. Reed was on the lam, but this past weekend's murders at a mall outside Chicago led the police to Reed, who had been living in the very same town the killings occurred. more ›

Grand Central Terminal gets the full PBS American Experience treatment with this documentary from filmmaker Michael Epstein (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13). The one hour film traces the history of the terminal, its construction and its impact on New York and the rest of the world. Expect tales of robber barons, dead commuters, and of course fawning over an architectural treasure. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 173rd St. in Manhattan, a robbery/assault on 13th St. in Brooklyn, and an aircraft emergency at JFK airport in Queens.
• Barnard at Columbia has a new incoming president, snagged from Harvard Business School.
• Don't miss the Super Bowl sitting in your local precinct's drunk tank. Get your Super Brawling out of the way early the next time someone pipes up about the Patriots.

Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for three decades, has announced his retirement; he’ll be leaving as soon as a successor is found. The 71-year-old French born Harvard graduate called it a “wrenching” decision but finally concluded that “to stay much further would be to skirt decency.” more ›

Earlier today, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed during a rally. The Western-educated (Harvard, Oxford) Bhutto had been living in Dubai and London for eight years, but returned in October to prepare for Pakistan's national elections (to be held next month) with hopes of returning to power. However, her return parade was bombed, killing 134 people and injuring more than 400. [Her obituary in the NY Times.] more ›

“I don’t think we should rush to give Columbia University a Christmas present,” city councilman Charles Barron said before voting against Columbia University’s 17-acre, $7 billion dollar expansion plan. But though many council members dissented or declined to vote, the plan was approved yesterday by the city council, who voted a month earlier than expected. The stage is now set for what could be a fierce eminent domain battle between the university and some commercial hold-outs in Harlem’s Manhattanville neighborhood, which was rezoned by the council from light manufacturing to mixed use. more ›