Word: figureheads
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Implicit in the recent discussion of University President Lawrence H. Summers’ remarks is a debate over the nature of the presidency of Harvard. One view is that our president should be a pleasant figurehead who presides over a growing endowment and speaks donation-related platitudes. The other view, which I favor, is that our president ought to be an active intellectual, someone who participates fully in the scholarly life, engages in academic debates, and sometimes even throws out hypotheses that are wrong...
...competitor institutions make do with presidents who understand that their comments must be blander than my four-month-old child’s rice cereal. Controversy can create difficulties, and if avoiding controversy is more important than intellectual discourse, then the University would be better served by a genial figurehead than by a scholar-president...
...handed off to others. But Vatican insiders say the Pope has now given the green light to the heads of dicasteries to handle their own business virtually without oversight. "He is still the head of the church," said a priest based in Rome. "But he's more of a figurehead. He's not making the day-to-day decisions anymore." Insiders say the Pope, for example, increasingly rubber-stamps the recommendations of Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re, head of the Congregation for Bishops, who submits names for each new bishop to be appointed...
...most steadfast loyalists concede that his failing health has forced the Pope to delegate a substantial chunk of his workload. "He's still the head of the church," says one priest based in Rome who is well-connected to top Vatican officials. "But he's more of a figurehead. He's not making the day-to-day decisions anymore." That, according to one senior Vatican official, poses risks. "There's more of a chance for corruption," the official told TIME. "People start coming in and looking for a favor - sometimes with money - looking to have someone appointed or transferred...
However, for this community-wide approach to be successful, it is essential that the committee’s proposed alcohol administrator be more than just a public relations figurehead. Such an administrator would have the unenviable task of implementing the varied proposals outlined in the report and establishing a proper relationship with the many existing health and safety services at Harvard including University Counseling, Academic Support, and Mental Health Services—not to mention Harvard University Police Department, UHS, the Bureau of Study Counsel and the various student groups which provide support for issues of alcohol abuse. These recommendations...