Spotted in the Yard: Ellis Bowen + gossip girls
GAME REVIEWS: NOSTALGIA
Be a kid again: play arcades!
the voice
an official harvard college student publication. everything harvard.
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ISSUE 8 oct 16th, 2008 www.theHvoice.com
dead in clashes with the police! Guest writer John Sheffield tells the dramatic story
your weekly agenda shows festivals culture concerts lectures sports
Cinderella ballet, Sam Nunn’s lecture and other stuff
DON’T MISS!
Commie Dracula theater
show
INSIDE bad music, how much we lie, and no more drunk txts
2 campus buzz
VOICES
between, after or during class.
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this is where you tell the campus what you think
from the blogs Coming Home and Losing My Mural
LEM SETS...
NEVERMIND THE PROB
Celebrating the Fashionably Unstable
Through The Cracks by Morgan Potts
by Steven Duque
I came home this year to a place more different than any experience I’ve ever had of my city, Houston. Perhaps more accurately, things’ve definitely changed. Many of my old friends are now graduated from college; one’s even made the down payment for his first home. I visited my high school alma mater, and discovered that the cafeteria in which I ate many of my meals was
i
by Emily Cregg I lost my senses fall of sophomore year and didn’t find them for a long time. For months I was a shattered mess, ground up by anxiety and depression, a loose screw in our university’s whirring gears. When things were at their worst I thought unclear and insane things. I slept in interminable fits or lay awake all night, my mind running obsessively through a
Have your say!
Join the online discussion! gutted – prepared for summer renovations and construction of new, better facilities for the school’s students. And when I came back to the house I grew up in, I found my backyard in chaos. Most surprisingly, the wall on which, as a child, I’d painted a mural of a garden scene for my mother was partially removed...
In the Spring 2008 issue of The New York Times Style Magazine: Women’s Fashion, an article entitled “Certifiably Chic” commented upon the style industry and the American media’s current celebration of mental instability. Characterized as an aesthetic of “Demented Chic,” it applauds unwashed hair, a messy dishabille worthy of
shows festivals culture concerts parties lectures sports
Head of The Charles Regatta Saturday, October 18th
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million colluding fears. Even my own language developed a strange independence. Words came back to me, first in echoes, and then in whispers hissing at me like leaking gas. My body fell away. My blood stood still and all my skin went ashen....
from the EMAILS
your weekly agenda
asylum inmates, and pays homage to “women on the verge” like Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton (or Mary-Kate Olsen, if you’re not literarily-inclined). A selfconscious appreciation for all things tragic and pathetic is a necessary accessory...
“The crime features was great and relevant. I’m actually scared of walking around the campus these days.”
Saturday, October 18 and Sunday, October 19 www.hocr.org The 44th Head Of The Charles Regatta, the world’s largest two-day
rowing event, brings 7,500 athletes from around the world to compete in 55 different race events. The Regatta attracts up to 300,000 spectators to Harvard Square!
McNamara’s lecture on WAR
“Hilarious comic!” “Congratulations on another fine issue. I would point out some of the typos you guys had, but I guess most student publications have them.” “I“Imiss missthe thesports sports section. section.Could Could you youstart startcovering covering sports sportsagain?” again?”
Great Greatwork, work,this this “Dear “DearAllison Allisonis is reminds remindsofof The The my myfavorite.” favorite.” London LondonPaper! Paper!
Oct 17 2008 - 4:00pm Oct 17 2008 - 6:00pm Where: John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum What: FORUM: The Robert S. McNamara Lecture on War and Peace by: Senator Sam Nunn (D-Georgia, 1972-1997) A Race Between Cooperation and Catastrophe.
Friday Octobe 17th
y, er
Lost your shoe? October 16–26, 2008 www.bostonballet.org Boston Ballet launches its 2008–2009 season with this timeless story, told in a fresh new way by acclaimed choreographer James Kudelka.
Thursday October 16th
ts n e v e com! e r i o . e m c i t o ou heHv k c e ch www.t at
Saturday, October 18th
The Communist Dracula show! THE COMMUNIST DRACULA PAGEANT October 18 – November 9 h t t p : / / w w w. a m r e p. o r g / comdracula/ Zero Arrow Theatre The Communist Dracula
Pageant is a wild and offbeat romp through the web of Romanian myth and history, drawn from the imagination of one of this country’s most lauded young writers. Our own election
season provides the perfect backdrop for the premiere of this theatrical satire on the forging of a national identity, and the power of a president to rewrite the news.
3
4 reviews
listen, read, watch, sing, inhale.
Our Reviews Editor Alex Doubet had a pretty shitty week, and decided to bash everything he listened to
Attack UK, Christmas. And don’t read these reviews.
Attack! Attack! UK
Christmasville
OMG guys, this is, like, totally like Fall Out Boy. Only without the great, popdrenched choruses. Attack! Attack! UK’s self-titled debut is pretty generic as far as pop-punk goes these days, and that’s saying a lot. It’s hard to make an increasingly generic genre sound even more undifferentiated, but somehow these foreign boys have thrown together just the right amount of bland with liberally splashed high-pitched vocals. My knees were bouncing along with the unrelenting beats for the entire album- perhaps because of the ice cream sandwich I just ate- but still, the album’s
Ah, Christmas time. A time for families to come together and celebrate the season. And, apparently, a time for the absolute dregs of music to creep out of the woodwork. If the cheesy album art and awful album title along weren’t enough to tip you off, Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmasville is one schmaltzy pile of holiday-poo. Mannheim Steamroller is perhaps the lesser-known Christmas rock outfit when compared to the TransSiberian Orchestra. It has to be said, though, that for every ounce of heavy metal Christmas bad-assery that the TSO has (you may have heard their awesome
Attack! Attack! UK
like a defunct fishing rod: all string and no hook. Never mind if that previous metaphor makes any sense whatsoever, there’s nothing you’ll remember about Attack! Attack!’s album. It’d make a great soundtrack for a mosh pit (except for “From Now On,” which is just plain boring), but that’s just because the guitars get going like locomotives. By the time the last track rolls around and the lone singer wails above a pounding bass drum kick, you’ll be wishing you had heard something you could at least sing along to. Skip this one and stick with the F.O.B. And by the way, OMG.
Don’t listen!
The Pump-Up Playlist 1. 2. 3.
Back in Black – AC/DC Hella Good – No Doubt Girls – The Prodigy
Mannheim Steamroller “Carol of the Bells”), Mannheim Steamroller has an equal measure of cheap synthesizers squawking away. To give you just a small taste of the nasty rollercoaster ride that is Christmasville, I want to imagine moving from “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” to bad jazz singing, to a dreadful ballad with enough synth pads to keep Enya afloat for a couple of albums. At only a few seconds over half-anhour, this album is hardly an album. You might want to download the odd alientinged “Humbugs” out of sheer prurient interest. Especially if you’re into production values from the 1980s!
Don’t listen!
4. Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – Daft Punk 5. 4 Minutes (Ft. Justin Timberlake) – Madonna 6. Party People (Ft. Fergie) – Nelly 7. Remember the Name – Fort Minor 8. Bulls on Parade – Rage Against the Machine 9. It’s So Easy – Guns N’ Roses 10. 99 Problems – Jay-Z
What are your fav pump-up songs?
5 ALBUM REVIEW: Voice Reviewer Matt Sachs explores Ra Ra Riot’s The Thumb Line, and finds it quite enjoyable
Tired of Hot 100 songs? Give this Ra Ra Riot a try.
Even if you don’t like indie music, the catchy pop feel of this band might get you hooked BY MATT SACHS Is anyone else tired of the music that is constantly being played on the airwaves today? It seems to me that I either listen to a familiar sounding R&B electro-blip ditty or some simplistic dancepop track. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a Timbaland beat or a Rihanna lyric just as much as the next guy; maybe even a little more than some guys. It’s just that, after hearing one of these songs for the eighth or ninth time in one hour, I get a little sick of the Hot 100 format. If you’re like me, you’re looking for some new music. You’re searching for something fresh that you doesn’t make you cringe; something you can pick out of your iTunes playlist and listen to for hours (until your roommate says “stop”). Well, I’m here to help with that expansion, here to introduce you all to what’s out there, here to open your mind to a world of music you may have never discovered that I hope you’ll love like your wellworn teddy bear. Now I know some of you may be wary of those unknown, indie bands, and their rebellious long hair. You might even be convinced that they’re unknown precisely because
they’re inaccessible and unappealing. I do agree that much of the indie music that your “artistic” friends (you know, the angry ones who can draw better than you) swear by is a little outlandish and not always the catchiest. Yet, I do
Some songs remind you of U2 or Coldplay
believe that there is a lot of great music out there that just never gets the publicity it deserves. So this week I’m gonna start by introducing one band that you need to know. Drum roll please! The first one up is a band called Ra Ra Riot, formed in 2006 in Syracuse, New York. The band released their debut album, The Rhumb Line, in August. The album was heavily influenced by the death of their drummer in 2007, and
reviews Alex Doubet explores
Britney, Bond, YouTube Review: Britney Spears – “Womanizer” Okay, you heard it here first. I’m coining a new term: manizer. You see, the thing I don’t get about this video is that Britney’s singing about a womanizer, but there she is traipsing around in naughty outfits doing naughty things. She’s a manizer. A serial manizer. But semantics aside, Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” is just an average music video. It’s your usual deal with spontaneous coordinated dances in offices and Britney strutting from frame to random frame. There’s not much of a narra-
tive thread to tie the scenes together, and the songs a bit annoying anyhow. Still, I bet it’s going to be a hit because it’s got a good beat and it’s just suggestive enough to make people think they’re listening to something illicit. I still have to say, though, that this video is the Gutenberg Bible of music videos when compared to her shoddy effort at putting “Gimme More” to video.
Jack White playing
although several of the tracks have a melancholy message or a dirge-like feel, the CD in itself is fairly optimistic. It has
a catchy indie-pop feel reminiscent of a mellower Vampire Weekend or Arcade Fire (if you don’t know them either, check ‘em out). Nearly every song is complete with string accompaniment, giving several of the songs a Beatles-esque ring. The song “Ghosts Under Rock” opens the CD and begins with the harsh strumming of bass and cello that develops into a rhythm-inspired groove with eerie, soulful harmonies. From there, the band moves to an upbeat, pop-inspired feel. Songs like “St. Peters Day Fes-
tival” incorporate basic chord progressions with a score of strings and a catchy drum line to create operatic ballads not far off from those of Coldplay or U2. All in all, I find the CD a wonderful change of pace from the melody-deprived music of today. It’s full of songs that are easily accessible and not far off from the ubiquitous rock-pop genre that has engulfed the modern music scene. I find The Rhumb Line by Ra Ra Riot very enjoyable to listen to and I hope you do as well.
Bond, Britney, and comes up with a new term: “manizer”. Yup.
Alicia & Jack White YouTube Review: Alicia Keys & Jack White - Another Way To Die I have no idea what Alicia Keys and Jack White are saying, but I don’t even care! I love this video. “Another Way To Die” is the song for James Bond in Quantum of Solace, out 14 November. This track’s a rollicking, break-beat romp through an imaginary desert of black and white, complete with trippy lines winding all around Alicia in her sexy secret agent outfit. Jack Black continues with his signature, gritty guitar playing, and somehow it fits in with the circus feel of the song. While “Another Way To Die” never
reaches the hard-charging heights of Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Naame” from Casino Royale, there’s still an undeniably James Bond quality to the track. It’s got horns blaring all throughout, and I couldn’t help but think of Bond’s legendary theme song. The desert scenery of the video, though it does get a bit repetitive, changes and jerks around just enough to keep your interest without being annoying. And to cap off the video, just at the end Daniel Craig walks over a desert ridge with his gun held off to the side. If you’ve seen the trailer for Quantum of Solace, you’d know what I mean. If you haven’t, watch that video too.
6 reviews Game reviews
listen, read, watch, sing, inhale.
Mega Man 9 Braid
Beco a kid again Play arcad
DIARY OF AN ADDICT
The Wolf Voice Film Critic Studies at NYU. He is still wearing zombie make-up.
ome d n.
des.
Dear Diary, I have this friend. A really cool guy. I can’t tell you much about him because his work is kind of sensitive, but I can write about a problem he is facing right now. During his last “gig” (it was actually a top secret mission, but I can’t really say that. I promised) he got injected with this really
7 Voice Reporter Sam Abbott takes you on a nostalgic tour of arcade video gaming. Can we be kids again, or does it become more elusive as we get older? BY SAM ABBOTT Last week, the popular and irreverent gaming comic/blog Penny Arcade drew an illustration of “The Mega Man 9 Effect,” named after the retro platformer recently released on the online marketplaces of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii consoles. The comic depicts two guys picking up the game and instantly turning into child versions of themselves. The Penny Arcade scenario is certainly an accurate depiction of the game in question, which unabashedly celebrates the bygone 8-bit era, complete with brutally difficult game play challenges, awesomely conventional boss fights, and a catchy, subtlety-free soundtrack. In the game’s sole nod to progressivism, there is – in a Mega Man series first – a female boss named Splash Woman. While it is certainly not geared to casual gamers, anyone who gives it a try will marvel at the sublime level to which the old jump-on-abad-guy, jump-over-thepit narrative has been elevated. The colorful graphics are old-school and beautiful at the same time, to the point that the visuals suck you in as effectively as any jaw-dropping graphics processor. If Mega Man 9 is an endorsement of nostalgia by way of its stubbornly old-fashioned look and feel, Braid, another recent Xbox Live Arcade
messed up virus. It makes him age at an accelerated rate. So now my friend is in his 70s. He can’t keep doing his “gigs” but he needs the money. He’s got this really cute son, but the wife was a bitch so now he lives in a crappy one-bedroom and the wife’s lawyers took care of most of the paycheck. I keep telling him: “Dude, you’re 70 (even though
title released earlier this summer, is a game based in tried-and-true platformer mechanics that un-nostalgically explores the very idea of nostalgia. It is the ambiguous but touching story of a man who journeys through his life/memories/psyche in order to either apologize to an ex-girlfriend or invent the nuclear bomb (or both – it’s not entirely clear). Throughout the game, the character assembles the pieces of jigsaw puzzles that portray important and bittersweet moments in his life. It is a meditation on friendship, disappointment and longing, and effectively makes the case that the journey through l i f e ultimately m ay be more memorable and
meaningful than the end result. The core gameplay element is the manipulation of time, a mechanic used in ways too inventive (and too awesome) for the written word. It is impossible to describe the satisfaction of rewinding time to a point at which the impervious-tothe-
flow-oftime key can be used to unlock a door that was not accessible until a time-shadow of yourself made your way to it in a past that never actually existed. If you couldn’t follow that sentence, the game isn’t for you. Braid simply must be experienced. Be warned, though: the game’s puzzles can be as infuriating as they are rewarding, especially in the later levels. In short, Braid is a blast to play, and an easy candidate for the steadily growing “canon” of titles that gamers use as talking points against the tired “video games aren’t art” crowd of movie critics, cultural conservatives and player haters. In this uncertain time of job
he is only 40). Don’t you think you should take it easy? Those hips look mighty frail to me.” But he is one persistent bastard. He’s going on a mission to the Middle East and needs my help. Isn’t that exciting?! He gave me this big black box, told me to hook it up to the television and grab the remote. That
searches, midterms and bank failures, a game – or, indeed, any experience – that makes you feel younger is a welcome one indeed. And it is sadly evident that the Mega Man 9-effect gets more and more elusive as we get olde r,
and so we appreciate it more with each passing year. But by embracing such a game, do we resign ourselves to eternal VH1-style retrospectives of gaming’s “golden age,” effectively blowing off the unmistakably bright future of videogames? Or does fun conquer all, no matter the form it takes? I might be able to tell you if I wasn’t having such a great time playing this game.
way I can control everything he does. I tried explaining what I was really doing to my roommate, but he keeps insisting that Snake (that’s my friends name. did I mention that? Cool, right?) isn’t real and it’s only a videogame. I think he’s finally gone insane. Poor guy.
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voice Hvoice.com
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fashion & shopping
WHICH GOSSIP GIRL AR
Let’s admit that we we all watch Gossip Girl and wish we could switch lives with those high schoolers. Take th find out which character (Serena? Dan? Blair? Chuck?) you channel at Harvard, and how to get that characte
1
What was your second choice college behind Harvard? a) Yale or Princeton (the only other true Ivy Leagues) b) Brown c) Southern Methodist University d) University of Chicago
2 What were you doing over the summer? a) Summer school in Paris b) Hanging out in Nantucket c) Yachting in St. Tropez d) Working on my thesis
3 What do you typically do on a Saturday night? a) Host a cocktail party b) Mantra, then late-night partying c) Clubbing in New York City with strippers d) Have a beer with a few friends at Grendel’s Den
4
What’s your favorite Square restaurant? a) Upstairs on the Square b) Daedalus c) Om d) Cafe Algiers
5
What’s your favorite class this semester? a) Machiavellian manipulation b) Positive Psych c) The ride-around-in-my-limo-and-plot class d) Advanced fiction writing workshop
MOSTLY A’S: You are Blair! The essence of her sugary-classic look is: 1) headbands with bows 2) tailored, frilly dresses 3) colorful tights 4) dresses with high necklines 5) patent leather ballerina flats MOSTLY B’S: You are Serena! Staples of her free-spirited style: 1) leather jacket 2) plunging necklines 3) loose, flowy hair 4) maxi dresses 5) knee-high boots
MOSTLY C’S: You are Chuck! Dress like the suave playboy you are: 1) seersucker blazer 2) silk patchwork scarf (which was made by Square i tion J.Press!) 3) tuxedo with plenty of different, colorful bowties 4) don’t forget the pocket square
6 Which is your favorite party? a) Garden party b) Studio 54 c) Leather and Lace d) Lunch at the Signet
MOSTLY D’S: You are Dan! Down-to-earth and studious, but also edgy: 1) military jacket 2) skinny jeans 3) striped cardigan L’Occitane 4) vintage band t-shirt Body LotionShea ($44Butter for 16.9 oz)
—Anna Tong
ATTENTION READERS: Do you have a good friend or roommate who is gorgeous but desperately needs fashion help? Then nominate her for the
VOICE FASHION MAKEOVER! E-mail iyuan@fas.harvard.edu with nominations
BEST C BODY L L’Occitane Shea Butter Body Lotion
EDITORS’ PRODUCT RAVE: Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion ($12 for 16.9 oz)
The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter ($10 for 1.7 oz)
Affordable and available at any drug store, this heavyduty body lotion definitely hydrated my skin. It also has anti-inflammatory and soothing effects, and comes in a huge container for liberal application. An overall great buy.
This thick moisturizer smells AMAZING and is extremely rich. They claim it moisturizers for up to 24 hours, which may be a bit of a stretch—I had to reapply after a few hours, but it nevertheless lives up to the intensive “butter” name. It’s also made of organic and Community Trade coconut oil and shea butter, so a conscience-friendly purchase.
L’Occitane Shea Butter Body Lotion ($44 for 16.9 oz) A pricier body lotion that is made with shea butter, natural honey, and apricot oil, with a slight jasmine scent. It’s a good option for normal daily moisture for dry skin—not so rich it’ll feel overwhelming, but nourishing enough to combat the effects of dryness.
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RE YOU spotted...
he quiz below to er’s look.
...in the Yard As the Voice was walking through the Yard, we spotted a true-life Gossip Girl. Going to prep school, freshman Ellis Bowen wore uniforms her entire life. Now that she’s in college, she’s savoring her chance to experiment sartorially, but still takes cues from Blair and Serena. “I usually dress like Blair from Gossip Girl, but today I was feeling more like Serena,” she told us, adding that she dresses “with a sense of humor.” Bowen also loves feminine clothing. “I really like dresses. Personally, I think I’m classy with a twist,” she said. —Qichen Zhang
1. Black bow headband, H&M, $3 “I thought the bow was cute.”
institu-
2. Striped sweater dress, H&M, $30 “This is such a comfortable sweater.”
3.
COLD WEATHER LOTIONS Jergens Natural Glow ($6 for 7.5 oz) A body lotion and self-tanner, I personally did not like the residues of color it left on my hands. My friends who have used it say it’s amazing for keeping a hint of tan during the winter months, but I found it a hassle to leave traces of brown everywhere I touched or brushed. The moisturizing quality was decent. I guess it’s just a trade-off…
—Irene Yuan
Gray wool leggings, Urban Outfitters, $15 “I thought gray was a nice departure from my usual choice of black.”
4. Black pleather flats, Target, $12 “Cheap! I love Target.”
Ellis Bowen freshman, Thayer Hall
12 a deeper look
it should matter to you, too.
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BY JOHN SHEFFIELD A 2008 report on human rights in metropolitan Buenos Aires estimates that nearly 1,400 civilians have died in confrontations with the police since the millennium. ‘Iron fist’ security policies have compounded the violence of the streets with violence by the state, while extreme poverty and prejudice against the poor have left victims’ families without recourse to official brutality. Individuals’ experiences of exclusion, crippling poverty, and the false promises of formal democracy are the defining political problem of the twenty-first century. This problem is not a new one for human rights advocates, but we’re finding new ways to fight it. Grassroots networks
The struggle for human rights is as personal as it is political
across Lat- in America have thought about human rights work in the same way for most of a century: they’re embedded in the communities they protect and live the same narratives of exclusion. I’ve spent two years working with the oldest group in the region, the Argentine League for the Rights of Man (the Liga), which was founded
in 1937. The name dates back to the French Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: the expression “human rights” didn’t exist until the Universal Declaration in 1948. The offices of the Liga are a sad monument to its own success: one wall has a photo of Teresa Israel, a Liga lawyer “disappeared” and murdered by the last military dictatorship. Several of its current members are survivors of imprisonment and torture, many of them for years at a time. The struggle for human rights is as much a personal fight as it is political. Their model of human rights work is staked on cooperation. The Liga opens its offices to more than twenty groups from all over the country for
meeting space and modest funding. Several of its lawyers live directly in the villas miserias, Argentina’s sprawling urban shantytowns, where they organize citizens at the bottom of the economic barrel to resist police violence and official disregard for housing rights and clean water. Independent groups all over the city link up for protest marches, legal help, emergency funding for families in need, information-sharing and general-purpose hell-raising. In a society so segmented along class lines, which often condones the abuses out of unabashed fear of the poor and dark-skinned, the advocate’s job is to keep these violations in the public eye and to build broad linkages to and between vulnerable communi-
dead in clashes with the police. Guest writer John Sheffield tells their story.
14 a deeper look
ties. I came to the Liga two years ago as an intern, and the Liga’s attitude toward me was unlike any internship I’d heard of. As José Schulman explained it to me, the United States had long ago sacrificed the idealism of las Américas for the political expediency of el imperialismo, and the Liga’s job was to show me the heritage I had lost, to show me the stakes of the political struggle they were leading. They’re all public intellectuals of various kinds: José has written three or four books, Carlos Zamorano another seven; Gerardo Etcheverry, my mentor, is a law professor and one of the top human rights attorneys in the country; a few of the younger ones lead radical student movements. The classical divide between the battlefields and the monasteries, the political trenches and the elite universities, didn’t exist for them. They wanted to show me what the United States has not seen since the sixties: the power of a people in movement,. My favorite conversation with Liga members was about Facebook. There is more social and economic organizing power hidden in the Harvard Facebook network than in any other movement they can think of. They saw me checking Face-
book one day and couldn’t believe that I could communicate instantly with fifty thousand people. This summer, I spent a few days trying to translate a hundred pages of declassified US documents for a pending court case. I couldn’t finish them in time. In a moment of desperation, I emailed the Pfoho-Open list at one a.m. on a Sunday morning in June for translation help. Within twenty-four hours, thirty Pfoho residents turned the tides of the Liga’s most important case in half a decade. We have a set of intellectual and social resources—all the resources of the most powerful university on the planet—to the human rights struggle. If PfohoOpen can be a powerful tool in the class struggle, imagine what intellectual resources we could bring to bear in a more concerted effort. This is what we can bring to the trenches. My work with the Liga culminated in the Proyecto Espartaco, the Spartacus Project, which is a joint effort with fifteen Latin American NGOs to build a transnational human rights cooperative. It was inspired by the success of crowd-sourced projects in the United States like Wikipedia. We are assembling human rights documents of all kinds – declassified documents, legal
it should matter to you, too.
case files, journal articles, NGO press releases, interview records – and publishing them via an open internet platform. Much of the Liga’s work never makes its way from the trenches to policy scholars and advocates who can use it for macro-scale change. By expanding those linkages, we want to break down the barriers between the trenches and the academic and social elites who can effect real change. Across the spectrum of human rights abuses, the effects of systematic violations are approximately the same: the isolated and the powerless become embittered by those false promises of formal democracy and they lose the will for collective action. Human rights work is about much more than the naming-and-shaming of violators or slapping sanctions on governments we don’t like. Grassroots human rights movements need to overcome that isolation and powerlessness and build collective responses to the failings of formal democracy. We have resources that advocates in the trenches could never dream of, from Facebook links to small armies of translators and writers and bloggers and advocates, and we can amplify their efforts by adopting the same cooperative model they pioneered.
Human rights work is about much more than the naming-and-shaming of violators or slapping sanctions on governments we don’t like.
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What is HRA? BY KATY MILLER Founded as an independent undergraduate group in 2005, The Human Rights Advocates are based on the model from the Harvard Law School Human Rights Advocates. The Human Rights Advocates has a board of 14 members, with approximately 50 active members scattered throughout the four main branches. The Human Rights Advocates as a will typically have anywhere from 1-5 events in a given week. As their website says, “the Advocates seek to establish enduring and fruitful relationships with human rights faculty and organizations throughout the university, and ensure the existence and proliferation of opportunities for Harvard College students to engage in substantial human rights advocacy.” The Latin American Advocacy Branch is one of the 4 main branches of the Advocates, which include Projects, Advocacy, Outreach, and Education. Katherine Tan is currently the Director of Advocacy for Latin America. “The Advocacy branch focuses on organizing events, campaigns, and initiatives to raise awareness of human rights issues among the general student body,” she explains. “Through these events, the Advocacy branch tries to educate students about the nuances of human rights issues and inspire them to take informed, responsible action. The projects branch consists of senior projects and junior projects.” Examples of past Advocacy activities include film
screenings based upon the Advocates’ Human Rights 101 model. The film screenings typically include the showing, followed by a discussion session led by an expert on the issue. In addition, the screening is supplemented by a list of 5 concrete steps that participants can take to address the issue upon leaving the room. This year the Latin American Advocacy Branch is expanding to include a monthly student led discussion series tentatively titled “Student-to-Student: Perspectives on Human Rights in Latin America.” As Katherine Tan says, “The monthly discussion series are focused on human rights in Latin America as a whole and seek to highlight a different issue and country each month. The format of the discussion will be a 20-30 minute presentation given by a Harvard student who has done field work on the issue followed by an open discussion. The rationale behind this format is to create a casual format for student interaction, to make human rights issues more accessible to students who are interested but haven’t had much experience in the field. It will also provide an opportunity for younger students interested in eventually doing field research to learn from older students who have already had fieldwork experiences, as well as allow for more recognition of the amazing things that students on this campus are already accomplishing - a fact that I think often goes underappreciated.”
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18 weekend fun IF YOU LIKE LYING
staying in? going out? read these for fun.
Even the freshmen pick up on typical Harvard lies
“People call themselves dumb or untalented. BS.” BY QICHEN ZHANG “I’m going to Lamont to study.” This lie sound familiar? Even thoughI have been on campus only for a little over a month, I have spent more than ample time amused at all the blatant fabrications floating around from people’s mouths in the Yard. You could even argue that perhaps the one most common attribute that gives Harvard students their true distinction over everyone else is their ability to manipulate the truth and not feel like a massive tool about it. After being surveyed, most students cited academic lies as the most uttered. “The most common and irritating lie
talented.” Many share Lin’s sentiments. Sophia Wong ‘12 mentioned, “Everyone says that ‘I’m not very good at ___________’.” You can insert any instrument, subject, or activity in there you’d like.” Other academic lies attempt to exhibit humility but usually end up as poorly veiled modesty that becomes pretty obvious to others. “Let’s see, what’s my favorite lie? Oh, how about ‘I chose Harvard because I knew I’d be getting the best education possible?’” commented Emma Stinson ‘12. “That’s such bullshit. You chose Harvard for the name and so that you could brag about yourself later on.” Fortunately, far less controver-
“You chose Harvard for the name, so that you could brag.”
that I hear here atHarvard is when people call themselves dumb, stupid, or untalented,” said Kevin Lin ‘12. “Most people here came form backgrounds where they were at the top of their class academically, artistically, and athletically...just because people are no longer smarter, more artistic, or more athletic than everyone else doesn’t make them dumb or un-
sial and more engaging lies exist and make people seem less like the yuppies they actually are. “Everyone lies about the parties they went to last night,” says Bonnie Cao ‘12. It’s ironic that people hope to keep their wild habits on the down low, seeing as how they also like to lie about their attitude toward schoolwork. “I would probably say that the most frequent lie I hear at Harvard is ‘I haven’t even looked at the paper topic yet’ the day before the paper is due,” said Alison Schumer ‘11. Do you agree? Looks like some people are extremely self-conscious about their not- so-hidden neuroticism. But that’s probably a good reason to lie about it.
IF YOU’RE GOING OUT
On Monday, October 6th, Google Labs launched its new “Mail Goggles” application. It prevents Gmail users from a dangerous phenomenon you may be familiar with: drunk emailing. The concept is pretty simple: Mail Goggles is only activated late at night on the weekends, “the time you’re most likely to need it.” Once activated, any email you send must be confirmed by solving a
few simple math problems, like “7 x 3 = ?” or “8 x 11 = ?” If your answers are incorrect, Gmail prevents you from sending that email. Pretty cool, right? (Maybe not if you’re in Math 55, when you could probably solve the problems while asleep. Oh well.) What would really be ideal though, is if such a thing as “Text Goggles” or “Call Goggles” existed. A prototype for drunk-dial-prevention cellphones was created by LG in
the voice PUBLISHER STEVEN R. DUQUE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MIRAN PAVIC
WEB DIRECTOR OGNJEN ILIC
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1.Oddee.com An impressive collection of odd news. Where else could you check out “World’s Most Incredible Animal Prosthetics,” “10 Funniest Law-Firm Names,” or “15 Most Insanely Titled Books”?! 2. Passiveaggresivenotes.com Hilarious examples of passive-aggressive notes from roommates, officemates, complete strangers – you name it. 3. Failblog.org Pictures and videos of owned, pwned and fail moments. Prettyy much NSFW. Totally ridiculous. 4. Theonion.com The premiere source of novelty news. Some highlights: “Members Of Twisted Sister Now Willing To Take It,” “Obama Modifies ‘Yes We Can’ Message To Exclude Area Loser,” and “Johnson & Johnson Introduces ‘Nothing But Tears’ Shampoo To Toughen Up Newborns.” 5. Postsecret.blogspot.com An ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.
SHOPPING SITES
Google fights drunk e-mailing. Now you just gotta take care of your cell. And Facebook. BY ALISHA RAMOS
IF YOU’RE STAYING IN
2006, with its LP4100 series, which had built-in breathalyzers. Classy, right? The phone, however, was only popular in Korea and seems to be missing from the American market. Google’s Mail Goggles is still a new application with lots of room for improvement, but why not give it a try anyway? Because really, you don’t need to tell your TF that you are actually, like really, in love with him.
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19
DEAR
ALLISON
Allison Baum Voice Columnist
My roommate’s stuff smells! How do I approach her about it? Dear Allison, I went to a party this weekend at a finals club and had an awesome time. I was dancing with all my friends and was getting along great with this really cute guy. I wasn’t even that intoxicated, but the floor was slippery and I completely wiped out right in front of him. He was nice about it but I feel like a total idiot and am too embarrassed to see him again. How can I prove to him I’m not just a drunken shitshow?
than it really is. If he doesn’t have a sense of humor about it, too, he’s not worth your
“I never signed up for an orgasm alarm at 2 am”
Sincerely, Hiding in Humiliation
time anyway.
Dear Hiding, Class act! I’m sure you weren’t that intoxicated... It might be too late to prove you’re not a drunken shitshow, but you still have the opportunity to show you have a sense of humor. The only way to clear the air will be to laugh it offotherwise, it will just build up in your mind as a bigger deal
Dear Allison, I have the unfortunate circumstance of sharing a fire door with a very virile couple. Sometimes when I’m trying to study or on the phone, they are so loud that I can’t concentrate or the phone interviewer asks me what that primal noise is. This is becoming very problematic and I never
signed up for an orgasm alarm clock that goes off every night between the hours of 2 and 3 AM. How should I approach the situation?
let them know you can hear. That should do the trick—but if it doesn’t, just find a hottie of your own and give them a taste of their own medicine.
Sincerely, Aurally Abused
Dear Allison, Freshman year is just getting going, and I am thrilled that I get along with my roommates so well. The only problem is that one of my roommates is an athlete, and her stuff smells absolutely awful. I try to spend as little time as possible in the common room, but the stench permeates the entire suite. The last thing I want to do is alienate one of my new best friends, but
Dear Abused, Think of all the money you’ll be saving on porn this year! No, but seriously. This is incredibly awkward, but if you really can’t suck it up and find some pleasure in the free nightly show, you’re going to have to say something. Next time you hear things heating up, maybe just knock and
i
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it’s getting to be unbearable. How do I say something without hurting her feelings? Sincerely, Afraid to Offend Dear Afraid, It is quite honorable that you are worried about your roommate’s feelings. However, if she is a good roommate, she should also care about yours. Try casually dropping “Do you smell something funny?” and if she doesn’t take the bait, don’t be afraid speak up. The common room got its name for a reason- it’s your space too.
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