Harvard Scrounges to Tighten Budget

The Harvard Crimson treats us today with a series of stories about how a suffering endowment is affecting the school.

First off, Harvard is postponing plans to open an office in Beijing, designed to assist students studying in China. The move will save the university $500,000. Harvard opened its first China outpost in Shanghai last summer and had planned to open offices in Mumbai and Mexico City as well as Beijing. The projects have been tabled indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the Harvard College Library is trying to cut $12 million from its budget. It expects layoffs in the spring and now is shuffling personnel, eliminating some print subscriptions, and in general being more financially conscientious.

Lastly, Harvard is also slowing construction on its science complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. And people are none too happy about it.