Dreaming of a green Christmas. The 2009 New Haven holiday tree will arrive at the New Haven Green around noon today after being driven in from Shelton, Conn., on a flatbed trailer. The New Haven Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees will use a crane to set the tree into place and decorate it with 20,000 LED lights.

A hearty future. Evolutionary biology professor Stephen Stearns published the results of a 60-year study indicating that Australian women are evolving to be shorter and chubbier, but will have healthier hearts and higher chances of fertility. By 2049, the average Australian woman will be two centimeters shorter and one kilogram heavier than now, according to the study.

Shoeless Scholl! Professor Brian Scholl removed his shoes and socks yesterday for half of his “Introductory to Cognitive Science” lecture to demonstrate solidarity with a shoeless student.

Fall follies. In an e-mail Wednesday, Yale College Council President Jon Wu ’11 announced the line-up for the Yale Comedy Fest. The show this Saturday will include performances from five Yale and three non-Yale improv troupes. The Comedy Fest replaces the annual Fall Comedy Show, which has been rescheduled for winter 2010.

“Survivor” faces new challenge. Yul Kwon LAW ’00, the first Asian-American to win “Survivor,” said in an e-mail Wednesday that he has joined the Federal Communications Commission as deputy chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.

Roya Hakakian, an Iranian-American writer, will speak at a Saybrook College Master’s Tea today at 4 p.m. Hakakian is a founding member of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and is renowned for her memoir “Journey from the Land of No: A Girl Caught in Revolutionary Iran.”

Crash at Commons. A motorcycle accident occurred around 7 p.m. yesterday in front of Commons. No injuries were reported, but traffic was diverted for about 20 minutes while the scene was cleared.

Summer learning, some are not. The International Students Organization is hosting the Summer Opportunities Panel for freshmen and sophomores interested in participating in internships, research and summer school next summer at 7 p.m. in LC 101.

This day in Yale history

2008 SOM Dean Joel Podolny announces he will leave Yale to assume the position of the first vice president and dean of Apple University.