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Editor's Letter

Photo by Mark Ostow

When we discussed making this issue of 02138 about money, our art director, Pat Mitchell, posed a question: Aren’t all of our issues about money? Because in virtually any conversation about today’s Harvard, the impact of money is paramount.

That said, we think this issue is different. We decided to focus on money not as an underlying theme, but more explicitly, since money poses so many powerful questions. Why do we want it so much? What will we do to get it? How does it change us? What do we spend it on? And perhaps most important, does it make us happy? We live with these questions every day, and they pervade the articles in this issue.

When, in late October, Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook, making founder Mark Zuckerberg an instant paper billionaire, we considered the lure of enormous wealth. As Luke O’Brien’s investigation shows, Facebook will always be surrounded by accusations that Zuckerberg acted unethically in its creation. Are such charges inevitable when so much is at stake, or did Zuckerberg do something wrong—and if so, do the creation of a watershed website and the acquisition of a few billion bucks justify his actions?

Money isn’t just a professional matter, of course; it informs our most personal relationships. In 02138’s premiere issue, we featured a happy young Harvard couple, Jennifer Rubell and Daniel Kim, enjoying a night on the town. Little did we know that even as we photographed Rubell and Kim, the relationship was about to erupt into angry accusations of mutual mistreatment, a custody fight over a young girl, and tensions over a $150 million fortune. How could young lovers become bitter enemies? Turn to page 56 to find out.

From Silicon Valley to New York City to, yes, the Ivory Tower … In “A Million Little Writers,” Jacob Hale Russell examines the phenomenon of the celebrity academic and the intellectual compromises required to achieve that lucrative status. Celeb-professors—with substantial help from behind-the-scenes students—churn out books and op-eds and reap the profits. But is Harvard better off for it?

Finally, with the holidays around the corner, we’re reminded of the power of money to enrich the lives of others. Check out our holiday gift guide and our list of Harvard-led charities to hear how some alums are sharing the wealth this season. Because there are lots of sides to the money coin, and in this issue, we’ve done our best to weigh them all.

Happy holidays, Bom's signature