Working the list-of-30 story for every last drop of ink she can (and why shouldn’t she?), Marcella Bombardieri writes in the Globe that the list is top-heavy with scientists.

She continues to get more names on the record:

The latest group of contenders is dominated by scientists: Eric S. Lander , an MIT biology professor and director of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, a biomedical research center; Thomas R. Cech , president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Steven Chu , a 1997 Nobel laureate in physics, of Stanford University; Harold E. Varmus , a 1989 Nobel laureate for cancer research and the president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ; David W. Oxtoby , president of Pomona College and a chemist; and Mary Sue Coleman , president of the University of Michigan and a biochemist.

Also on the list are Richard H. Brodhead , president of Duke University and a former English professor at Yale; Steven Knapp , provost of Johns Hopkins University and a specialist in 18th- and 19th-century English literature; and Nancy Cantor , chancellor of Syracuse University and a professor of psychology and women’s studies.

All of which suggests to me two things.

One, that the real list is probably much shorter than 30, because so many of these names are easy to knock off. Dick Brodhead, after, what, two years as president of Duke? I don’t think so. (Plus, he’s got a little rape scandal to deal with…and like Harvard needs that publicity?) Harold Varmus? He’s pushing 70. Steven Chu? Almost 60. A brilliant man, but he’s never run anything other than a department of Bell Labs, 20 years ago. Thomas Cech? 60 in 2007. Eric Lander? Very impressive, but lacks administrative experience, and then, of course, the Broad Institute was Larry Summers’ baby, and appointing Lander would give Summers’ back-door entree to Mass Hall….

David Oxtoby? Hmmm…. That one’s kind of interesting. He’s about 54, very impressive…and graduated Harvard College summa cum laude. Plus, he watches The O.C.

So…really, this is the best the search committee can do after months of labor? The Corporation continues not to impress. (Heck, it looks like someone just googled a list of the Nobel Prize winners in the sciences for the past couple of decades and went through it circling names.)

Point two about this list: What’s striking about it, really, is how conventional it is. None of these names are particularly “out of the box” (argh, sorry); none are surprising.

This time around, Harvard is not going to gamble on a Washington-based celebrity.

On another note, where is the Crimson? It gets one scoop, then drops it like a dog losing interest in a game of catch. Instead, the paper publishes endless stories about the student council. Gripping stuff.

Compared to the Crimson of 2000-2001, which did impressive reporting on the Summers presidential search, this group is getting its butt kicked.