Simulation & Reality by The Harvard Independent

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Simulation & Reality

I ns i de : Di v e s t me nt , Vi de oGa me s , a ndP o e t r y

02.26.15 VOL. XLVI, NO. 14 CONTENTS FORUM 3 Roommate Evaluations 4 Happy Sheep Year 5 (Di)vested Interests ARTS 6 Game Changer 7 Game Changer 8 BoBuCo 9 Poetic Meaning 10 Poetic Meaning SPORTS 11 Splashing to Victory

As Harvard College's weekly undergraduate newsmagazine, the Harvard Independent provides in-depth, critical coverage of issues and events of interest to the Harvard College community. The Independent has no political affiliation, instead offering diverse commentary on news, arts, sports, and student life. For publication information and general inquiries, contact President Albert Murzakhanov (president@harvardindependent.com). Letters to the Editor and comments regarding the content of the publication should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Shaquilla Harrigan (editorinchief@harvardindependent.com). For email subscriptions please email president@harvardindependent.com. The Harvard Independent is published weekly during the academic year, except during vacations, by The Harvard Independent, Inc., Student Organization Center at Hilles, Box 201, 59 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Copyright ÂŠ 2015 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved.

The Indy is feeling poetic.

02.26.15

Simulation & Reality

Cover design by Anna Papp Inside: Divestment, Video Games, and Poetry

President Vice Presdient Editor-in-Chief Director of Production News Editor Forum Editor Arts Editor Sports Editor Design Editor Associate Forum Editor Associate Arts Editor Illustrator Designers

Staff Writers

Albert Murzakhanov '16 Farhana Nabi '16 Shaquilla Harrigan '16 Sean Frazzette '16 Aditya Agrawal '17 Ritchey Howe '17 Michael Luo '16 Caroline Cronin '18 Anna Papp '16 Caroline Gentile '17 Andrew Lin '17 Yaara Yacoby '17 Alice Linder '17 Abigail Parker '17 Whitney Gao '16 Manik Bhatia '16 Terilyn Chen '16 Yuqi Hou '15 Chloe Li '16 Dominique Luongo '17 Orlea Miller '16 Carlos Schmidt '15 Frank Tamberino '16 Jackie Leong '16 Madi Taylor '16 Shreya Vardhan '17 Peyton Fine '17 Eloise Lynton '17 Hannah Kates '18 Chris Riley '17 Andrew Adler '17

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Madlibs: Harvard Edition

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How to bond with your roommates in the cold. By ELOISE LYNTON

his cold winter weather means we’ve all been spending more time inside than usual, and that might mean that you’re getting a bit of cabin fever in your current living situation. At this point, you’ve lived with your current roommate for almost six months and it’s time to check in. Maybe its going great and you just want to rekindle the friendship fire, maybe you’ve just hit a few bumps in the road, or maybe you are undeniably incompatible and must resort to communication via paper and pen, but whatever the case, the Indy is here to help. We’ve created a Roommate Mad-Libs Letter to solve all of your Roommate woes.

Dear Roomie, I am ______ (so glad / will never understand why / unbelievably depressed) that we decided to live together this year! Ever since we met last year _______________ (in the Dining Hall, in the Lamont bathroom, on the dance floor) and bonded over __________ (Sunday sundaes /that strange, strange smell / your ability to twerk) I knew we were meant to be. I’m sure you’ve realized by now that things between us for __________ (these past few weeks / ever and ever) haven’t been _____________ (so bad /bearable in any way at all). And I realized that I haven’t had a chance to _____________ (tell you how great you are / yell and scream at you), so I thought I’d write to you because I figured it would be ______________ (sweet / undramatic / passive aggressive and evil). First of all, your new ____________ (dog / boyfriend) is causing me some ____________ (discomfort / intense and anger and frustration). Last weekend, when you were both in the room and you ______________ (exiled /sexiled) me so you could ______________ (play) I felt _______ (excluded / annoyed / allergic). We also need to workout the fridge situation. I know that you love _____________ (food / eating everything I ever buy ever / jello), but I would really appreciate it if you would ____________ (pay me back / just stop / move on to eating another food ). Lastly, there are noise problems we need to cover. When you ______________ (play music / sing / breathe) it really _______________ (bothers / infuriates / kills me). And I would therefore appreciate it if you would ______________ (turn it down / be silent always / never try out for American Idol / move out). Wow this letter was so ___________ (great / cathartic / bitchy and necessary)! I’m so glad we had this talk! Let me know if I can ____________ (do anything for you / sell your pet / help you move your stuff out). Love, ___________________ (Your Name) Eloise Lynton ’17 (eloiselynton@college.harvard.edu) actually loves her roommates and is, in fact, not allergic to dogs. Photo Courtesy of Abigail Parker.

The Harvard Independent • 02.26.15

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Year of the Sheep

A crash course on the Chinese New Year. By MILLY WANG

n our everyday lives, we follow the solar calendar, where the first day of the year begins on January 1st and the last day ends on December 31st. The solar calendar was created based on the position of the Earth in its revolution around the sun. In other words, it tracks the position of the sun moving across the celestial sphere. However, the Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, which follows lunar phases. A year in the lunar calendar consists of twelve lunations, also known as synodic months. This is basically the period of time that it takes for the moon to wane and wax from one new moon to the next new moon. When compared to the solar year, one lunar year is approximately 354 days of the solar year. The Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the lunar calendar, which was on February 19th this year. Each Chinese New Year receives a special designation based on the zodiac. The Chinese Zodiac consists of 12 animals. Each lunar year is associated with one of these animals, in an ordered manner, with each 12-year increments beginning with the year of the rat and ending with the year of the pig. For an even more in-depth approach, there is actually also an element that is associated with each year. There are five elements in total: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. The years that are associated with a particular zodiac animal rotates through each of the five elements. In other words, each zodiac animal and element combination only repeats once every 72 years! This year is the year of the Wood Sheep! This Year’s Fortunes: (Disclaimer: Believe these fortunes at your own risk.) 4 harvardindependent.com

Rat: This will be a great year for you! You can do well even if you don’t try. So maybe you should just sit back and catch up on some sleep during lectures. But then again, it wouldn’t hurt to listen, right? There are lots of surprises in store, and you just might go on an adventure during Spring Break! Ox: This year might be a busy year for you. What does that even mean? You’ll need to drink lots of coffee and pull many all-nighters. Don’t fret because you’ll get through the year! Tiger: This year might seem slow and boring for you. But that’s all in your head. You will still do fun things; you just have to take the initiative yourself! You might also want to consider doing your p-sets with a group of people. Rabbit: This year is a great year for you! Finally, things seem to be working in your favor. However, be sure to pay attention to all the small details, or else you might get into trouble. So read your essays twice and use a calculator! Dragon: Oh dear, this could be a messy year for you. Be careful to avoid gossip. Be discrete, don’t take any risks, and just work on finishing what you started. And then you can take a vacation! Snake: This year will be better than last year. You’ll go on a trip somewhere, and it will really change your perspective on life. So start planning for Spring Break. Though, watch out— there may be potential trouble brewing. Horse: This is a great year for you. All of your dreams will come true! You’ll finally get the recognition that you deserve, and things will finally start to work out.

Sheep: This is your year! Though it’s not a smooth-sailing year and you’ll face some challenges. But remember, it is YOUR year, so things should turn out well in the end. Just stay optimistic! Monkey: You’ll have a great start to the year! You’ll finally be recognized for your many accomplishments. Make sure that you remain humble, though. You don’t want to make any enemies. Oh, and all those friends that owe you money will pay you back this year. Rooster: This is the year for you to be punctual. Maybe you will wake up 10 minutes earlier every morning instead of hitting that snooze button. Maybe you will arrive to class 7 minutes early instead. Dog: This is a dangerous year for you. Beware of potential conflicts. You’ll have a tendency to be lazy, but you’ll find that you have a lot of creative energy. Pig: This is a good year for you, as well. You’ll gain inner strength and a new sense of direction. You’ll definitely be happier and should be able to overcome challenges using new technology. Milly Wang ’16 (kequimillywang@college.harvard.edu) takes her Zodiac seriously.

02.26.15 • The Harvard Independent

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Investing in Education and the Environment Thoughts on why Harvard should divest.

By ADITYA AGRAWAL

ivest Harvard’s recent twentyfour hour sit-in outside President Faust’s office evoked a range of reactions from the undergraduate student body. From enthusiastic endorsements to studied dismissals, the reactions evoked are evidence of the successful sit-in aim that reignited university fossil fuel divestment as part of popular discourse at the University. Most dismissals of the movement’s case, however, hinged on one basic argument: Harvard’s investment in fossil fuel corporations represents a dime in a bottomless ocean of investment and funding; divestment, therefore, would have not only have minimal effects on the functionality of the said companies, but would also deprive Harvard of a steady source of income. It is imperative to recognize that the divestment movement is not so much about affecting a balance sheet as it is about projecting commitment to a moral standpoint. In a world with increasingly fluid borders, ‘soft’ power accounts for just as much influence and penetration—globally and nationally—as do more ‘concrete’ forms of power like military strength or wealth. With a massive endowment, careful brand building, popularization through pop culture and an illustrious train of wealthy alumni, Harvard has come to spearhead the metaphoric procession of the Western academic tradition. It has come to yield a significant amount of ‘soft’ power in the minds and fascinations of individuals and corporations in America and worldwide. As such, every step that Harvard takes has a powerful spillover effect simply through how America and the world perceive these actions. Every choice that universities like Harvard make qualifies as breaking news not just across America but also around the world. The newly approved policy that prohibits student-professor sexual relations made front-page news in both the New The Harvard Independent • 02.26.15

York Times and in India’s largest English daily (also the most read English daily in the world). While climatic conditions have been worsening for a while now, there still remains a distance between the average citizen worldwide and the framework of “climate change;” it serves useful in the realm of educated science discourse, but its integration of the popular public consciousness still remains a distant dream. While Harvard’s divestment might do little to bridge individual gap, it would serve a purpose in helping elicit a collective sense of alarm: you know things have gotten real bad when one of the world’s most powerful, revered university starts moving away from fossil fuels. Given that the Western model of education is seen as a paradigm of emulation much across the world, and that Harvard leads this paradigm, a decision to divest would set a vital moral precedence. If, consequently, your average boarding school in Connecticut or your top science university in Japan decides what to do with their additional endowments, they will—as a matter of fact—factor in Harvard’s decision. Because Harvard is the paradigm, their own actions will always be compared and critiqued against those of Harvard, by agents like the media, alumni, and their own students. President Faust has, on multiple occasions, reiterated that the University holds its endowment fund in such a manner that best serves its academic mission: namely, “to carry out the best possible programs of education and research.” But what end purposes does this education and research serve? To make the world a better, more informed place; to help people make more informed decisions about themselves, and the world around them? Divestment by Harvard and other top universities is but a channel towards that same end: it is, first of all, a means of leveraging your immense

influence to encourage entities and individuals reconsider their position on fossil fuel models; and, secondly, shaping the global standard of what passes for responsible, praiseworthy education. The claim that schools and universities depend on steady income from investment is perfectly valid; the claim, however, that one must invest in fossil fuel corporations specifically to make these profits is absolute balderdash. If the recent dip in oil prices is any indication, the fossil fuel industry is one of the most economically volatile industries. University endowment managers could very well divert the same endowment money to more stable indexes or outsource investment management to boutique hedge funds that share an anti-fossil fuel ethos. In the end, the real trouble is not in making money from alternate investments; it is in overcoming our collective inertia that our choices do not matter. Using an exclusively economics based framework to assess divestment payoffs represents just one side of the coin; for a fuller picture, it is essential that we also use a moral responsibility based framework to judge our actions. Seen through the lens of economics, slavery was an immensely beneficial tradition in all the economic advantages that it helped accrue for white communities; it was our moral prerogative as the leader of the free world that galvanized American opposition and abolishment of a practice that threatened the freedom of an entire community. It is upon Harvard, as one of the leaders of free world education, to identify a threat that actively threatens the education of future generations, and undertake its moral responsibility by dissociating itself from the source of such a woeful, ever-tangible threat. Aditya Agrawal ‘17 (adityaagrawal@college.harvard. edu) thinks Harvard should step up and divest from fossil fuel industries. harvardindependent.com

Simulated Salvation

A look into the weird and wonderful world of simulation gaming. By ANDREW LIN

hen the general public conceptualizes the notion of the modern video game, the same couple of overarching categories are usually apparent: the violent and desensitizing violence high-definition Call of Duty-type first-person shooter, the abstruse massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game, or the utterly meaningless yet insidious Candy Crushtype phone app. Certainly these games have a lot against them, and with some merited reason given their popularity and admitted impact upon the gaming population. But beyond this admitted wasteland of commercialized dross and mass-market standardized gaming, however, there does lie a promised land–or rather a whole confederation of little gaming kingdoms, each with its own focus and characteristics. And among the most fascinating–and for that matter the most relevant—of these cliques is the simulation game community. Simulation gaming as a whole spans a huge and varied canon of games with wildly differing difficulties, expectations, goals, playstyles, and fan-bases. In its most basic form, the simulation game aims to provide a fun and playable approximation of the means through which some apparatus, process, or institution functions. Those simple guidelines, however, do cover the whole of the modern simulation gaming pantheon, spanning everything from esoteric ultra-realistic simulators such as Euro Truck Simulator 2 to the planet-spanning phenomenon known as The Sims. All this diversity within the simulation genre certainly has made simulations big business: 6 harvardindependent.com

combined strategy and simulation games make up around 4% of the $15 billion dollar video game market. These profits, however, did not emerge overnight, and indeed the simulation game as a concept and a driving artistic force in modern gaming possess a hinterland almost as long and eventful as video gaming itself. The notion of the simulation game starts in the early 1980s with game developer Will Wright, a Californian computer programmer working with the former gaming tycoon Broderbund on the shoot-emup Raid on Bungeling Bay. Bungeling Bay for the most part was a simple 2-D action bomber scrolling game in which players controlled a helicopter tasked with destroying strategic targets controlled by the Bungeling Empire. The AI behind

the Bungeling Empire, however, certainly was anything but bumbling: Wright designed a complex AI that could adaptively respond to different play-styles, with the factories of the Empire developing new technologies and the various islands displaying an astonishing (for 1984) level of independence. Inspired by how much he enjoyed designing the factory complexes and islands of the Bungeling Empire, Will Wright adapted the island building simulator further even after the game’s release, eventually releasing a game that would herald a sea change in the very aims of video gaming. - continued on pg. 7

photo courtesy of Holek on Wikimedia Commons 02.26.15 • The Harvard Independent

Simulated Salvation - continued A look into the weird and wonderful world of simulation gaming. By ANDREW LIN continued from pg. 6 - The culmination of Wright’s early endeavors was the 1989 SimCity, released by Wright’s own Maxis to brilliant public acclaim and critical astonishment. As its title suggested, SimCity was a comprehensive city simulator, in which playermayors could build the cities of their dreams in a procedurally-generated two-dimensional world. The amount of micromanaging a player could inflict upon his city was astonishing: from changing the tax rate to managing the utilities to designing an effective road network, players held a huge amount of control. All this control, however, was not marshaled towards a single end set of winning conditions: although the game came bundled with a series of disaster scenarios (an earthquake in San Francisco, lowering crime and stopping urban decay in Detroit), player-created cities simply could run forever, with no game over or victory screen to stop them. In that lack of a winning condition, Maxis had stumbled upon a gaming paradigm wholly different in its psychology and implementation than anything before: the idea of a simulation played for simulation’s sake. The result of all of this was a tremendous success for Maxis: on only its second game, it had already minted what would become one of the most successful and long-lived video game titles of all time. Seeking to duplicate this success, Maxis released a steady stream of increasingly complex and esoteric simulators throughout the early-to-mid 1990s, ranging from the high-concept planet simulator SimEarth to the highly unconventional and thoroughly niche ant simulator SimAnt. Those games, along with various successor titles to the original SimCity, tided over Maxis as a company, which still reigned as king of the general-purpose simulator game. Strategy games, however, began to encroach on the Maxis fan-base: Sid The Harvard Independent • 02.26.15

Meier’s Civilization series (1991), for example, offered dramatic and engaging control over a whole civilization’s progress through history, with epic win conditions and customization to match. Even sports fans were in on the action as well: having already developed specialized sports simulators such as John Madden’s Football (1988), sports simulators rapidly grew in stature, taking advantage of latecentury computer hardware to deliver unprecedented high-resolution games. The turn of the century saw many milestones in the simulation gaming world, as publishers and fans alike reveled in the increasing complexity and superior graphics of the simulation games streaming forth from studios the world over. Certainly fans of historical war situations saw much to enjoy: the release of the first of the Total War series (The Creative Assembly, 2000) and the first Europa Universalis game (Paradox, 2000) saw the emergence of highly-realistic and historically-accurate simulations of macroscale battles and political entities, respectively. The rendering of individual soldiers, advisors, and true-tolife historical fealty all endowed such games with a small but intensely loyal fan-base that persists to this day. The greatest revolution, however, for simulation gaming as a genre came again from trusty Maxis, this time operating under the purview of Electronic Arts and now with a title to challenge the world: The Sims. The Sims offered what was and is perhaps the single most accessible iteration of the simulation game yet: a full-on simulator of life from the cradle to the grave, with everything from careers and illnesses to house customization, all within a simulated suburb in SimNation. Its cutesy Comic Sans interface, endlessly re-playable nature, and an unprecedented multiplayer social mode all made it as much a harbinger of the future as a critical

and commercial success at the time of its release in 2000. And indeed with the development of portable smartphones and real-time online gaming as tethered phenomena, The Sims was soon joined by a whole host of massively-multiplayer online simulation and strategy games spanning a tremendous set of topics. At the other end of the spectrum, a stream of decidedly unusual and low-quality simulators started flowing forth from obscure and unnamed game studios all over Europe and America–buggy and laggy, these sadly have come to define the perceptions of many in regards to simulation gaming as a whole. With this, the simulation game and its history stand recapitulated, and indeed the state of simulation gaming at the present is represented by a huge cornucopia of games and toys and computerized doo-dads. Of course, the usual series have continued to chug on: SimCity is on its sixth iteration, Civilization is now on its fifth (sixth if you include Civilization: Beyond Earth), Paradox has delivered a fourth Europa Universalis, and the Total War series has ballooned to some nine editions in total. When taken in tandem with the sheer volume of esoteric indie-type studio simulator productions (Robot Vacuum Simulator 2013, anyone?), simulation gaming as a whole offers a baffling and diverse catalog for perusal. And in the pressure-cooker that Harvard can sometimes become, a little simulation–a little dabbling in truck-driving here, empire-management there–can be that little mental salvation from the drab and dull in our collective lives. Andrew Lin ’17 (andrewlin@college.harvard. edu) would be more than happy to play-test any simulation games you might be curious about–provided he gets a free copy.

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Battle for Best Burger Boston Burger Co. celebrates first month at new Mass Ave location. By DANA FERRANTE and ADAM WONG

here’s nothing like a good burger: 8 oz. (maybe even 16) of perfectly grilled cow, nested in a toasted bun, globs of ketchup spilling out the sides, meat juice trickling down your chin. But from Tasty Burger to Shake Shack, B.Good to Mr. Bartley’s, Harvard Square is so inundated with burger options; it’s hard to know which is going to give the best burger for your bite. And yet, another contender has been added to the mix. This past Monday, Boston Burger Company celebrated its first month anniversary at its new location at 1105 Mass Ave, just a twominute walk outside of Harvard Square. Taking advantage of another day off from school, The Crimson Crave, plus a few friends, took the opportunity to check out how the new eats compare to our old favorites. Somewhat comparable to Mr. Bartley’s and Charlie’s Kitchen, Boston Burger Company offers a menu of decked-out burgers. With everything from the standard Boston Burger, to the stacked 420 Burger (mozzarella sticks, fried mac & cheese, onion rings, fries, bacon, golden barbeque sauce, and American cheese), BBC is more or less a classic burger joint with some unexpected twists. Each burger comes with a sizable 8 oz. patty made in house— that is, unless you get the Jumbo ,which is an entire pound of beef, smothered in cheddar, caramelized onions, bacon and BBQ sauce. Instead of fries, homemade potato chips play the role of supporting actor to each burger. Skeptical? We were too, but surprisingly these chips are a perfect combination for any burger. That’s not to say BBC doesn’t have an impressive range of fries; while we were too full to order any, the buffalo cheese (buffalo sauce, cheddar jack cheese, and bleu cheese dressing) and the BBC sweet potato fries (sweet potato fries tossed in caramel and cinnamon) looked quite promising. We strategically selected six different burgers in order to test the range of the menu. Like having the midnight munchies for lunch, the 420 Burger (mentioned above) looked and tasted as if all of the items at Eliot Grille were stacked neatly inside two buns for support. The Killer Bee definitely got the award for height, boasting an impressive stack of onion rings atop a cheese-covered patty. With its fried egg, ham, bacon sautéed peppers, mushrooms, and three types of cheese, the Kitchen Sink Burger tasted like the breakfast burger you’ve only dreamed of. Another favorite came from the special menu; it’s called the Sophie Burger and it was covered with prosciutto, goat cheese, balsamic reduction, arugula and candied walnuts. Comparably, the Jumbo and Bruschetta Burger were not as awe-inspiring. Devoid of toppings, the jumbo lacked flavor and intrigue. Tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and pesto accompanied the Bruschetta Burger; however, the usually delicate flavors fell flat under the weight of the hefty beef patty. The kitchen definitely knows how to cook a burger to order, something you unfortunately can’t always take for granted. Although the beef patties themselves were not the most flavorful, 8 harvardindependent.com

Photo by Dana Ferrante

we found that the best burgers were cooked to medium. For those of us who got medium rare or well done, the undeveloped flavors of the burger were more apparent, and we ended up stealing bites from the people who wisely ordered medium burgers. Hey, what are friends for? In the end, at Boston Burger Company, it’s really the creative, artery-clogging toppings that add flair and quality to the burger. Compared to Bartley’s, BBC is definitely the better choice for larger groups. It has a spacious dining area, complete with seats available at the bar, and some high tables that are the perfect place to catch the game. With full-length windows at the front, natural light adds to the open atmosphere making it a perfect setting to enjoy a burger with your friends. The Boston Burger Company completes its stylish industrial interior design with a full bar that features as much variety in their local draft beers as their burgers. The decorative tap handles showcase the twelve delicious beers that flow freely, tantalizing those of us who are still underage. The bar is the perfect setting to eat a massive burger paired with a stout brew while watching the game and shooting the shit with your buds. Overseeing it all is an excellent staff with very friendly and attentive servers. Though the beef patties left something to be desired, we went home with the now-it’s-time-to-take-a-nap feeling, which is all a group of hungry students can ask for from a $12 meal. And maybe Harvard Square didn’t need another burger joint added to the mix, but with a burger called the Mac Attack, it’ll be hard to stay away.

Editor’s Note: This restaurant review was originally published on Crimson Crave, an up-and-coming food blog by Harvard students for Harvard students. For more information, please visit their website, www.crimsoncrave.com. 02.26.15 • The Harvard Independent

Snow Day Reading The Harvard Indy profiles Josh Bell. By HANNAH KATES

ne of the most common criticisms of modern poetry as a whole, or at least of the “oblique, equivocal, painfully self-questioning” poetry that has come out of the past couple decades, is that it is too abstruse, sometimes “too hermetic even to overhear with anything like comprehension.” This deplorable state, according to journalist Mark Edmundson, has arisen from the modern poet’s need to “play the game” of professional writing—to pass through the dreary institutional hierarchy of MFA programs, university positions, and professorial tenure which now define the modern poet’s career. Indeed, the poet who champions new ideas and styles often puts himself at risk. By these standards, to read poetry that is both original and familiar, that grounds itself in relatable imagery but still manages to seem fresh, is then truly a rare experience. Many of us are not exposed to any modern poetry— most K-12 English curriculums include, at most, a couple of nineteenth- and twentieth-century figureheads—let alone great modern poetry, and so I first read Josh Bell’s poetry with the excitement of someone discovering a whole new genre of music, or something else that monumental. I have also rarely had the opportunity to conflate a discovery of great writing with a clear image of the writer’s life as a profesThe Harvard Independent • 02.26.15

sional, however, talking to Bell last week provided one of those rare opportunities. Originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, Josh Bell is the English department’s current CopelandBriggs lecturer and teaches two poetry seminars at the College. However, it didn’t fully dawn on Bell until graduate school, where he was inspired by teacher Rodney Jones, that poets still existed; “I don’t think I understood that you could be a writer,” he said of his younger years, during which his writing comprised “rewriting plots to movies and pretending that I had invented them.” After that revelation, he started writing poetry by imitating other poets, such as Yeats and George Herbert. It wasn’t until he discovered Frank O’Hara—the “exuberant darkness” of his poems, and also “how easily he spoke of his contemporary moment and made it seem timeless”—that he realized he could write from his own experience. The poetry of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath was also a source of inspiration, for its precise imagery and for the way it “transformed an autobiographical moment into something artistic.” I was particularly curious about Bell’s writing process— not because anything specific in his poetry left me wondering, just out of curiosity about how a professional writer finds and channels inspiration—and Bell’s

account did not disappoint. Inspiration is “really a daily kind of thing,” he said, and he clarified that it is not itself the impetus to write, but “what happens when it [the poem] starts to work on the page.” It comes “when you’re not thinking about anything else, not keeping track of time anymore,” and it happens once the process of writing is already underway. So it is the synthesis of small moments, most often recorded in a notebook that comprises inspiration for Bell. Living in New York, finding a place to write alone was important (and difficult); he would go to one of the city’s bigger movie theaters, buy a ticket for a movie that’d been out for a while, and sit, think, and write in the theater. He estimates that a lot of the lines in his newest book were conceived there. The theater was important to Bell not only as a solitary space, but also as a reminder of the endless importance of pop culture. Poems “are reactionary,” said Bell, and “something flashing across the screen that’s dumb sharpens my mind… the movie poisons my mind so I can attack.” The results of this process are poems with a lot of cultural import; the character of the killer, which recurs in a lot of the poetry that is available online, simultaneously mocks Friday the 13th whilst implicitly offering a hand of acceptance to the slasher genre as a whole. continued on pg. 10 harvardindependent.com

Snow Day Reading - continued The Harvard Indy profiles Josh Bell. By HANNAH KATES

continued from pg. 9 - The degree of autobiography in Bell’s poems has often been called into question, and indeed as if to counter this, his newest collection of poems features Vince Neil, front man of Motley Crüe, as a proxy narrator/muse. Bell was captivated by “something honest” about Neil, who “seemed unburnished” as a character, a “genuinely trashy rock and roll god,” a “bit of a has-been.” Bell, who had already published his first book, liked the idea of a character “whose moment has passed.” He, along with his friend Matt Guenette, had also been trying to write “an epic poem with a strange pop culture hero;” like Tennyson’s Ulysses a century ago, Neil represented the intersection of these ideas. Motley Crüe was one of the first bands to come through Terre Haute when Bell was a teenager, but Bell didn’t listen to a lot of their music as preparation to write as Neil. In fact, he tried “to stay clear of knowing [Neil’s] biography,” to not “owe his actual biography anything.” He didn’t want to portray a realistic Vince Neil as much as construct his character. “I always felt strange about writing directly about my life, so I had to find containers to match what was going on in my mind, in10 harvardindependent.com

venting other speakers,” said Bell, on whether or not his writing is autobiographical. He cited Richard Howard, a professor at Columbia, who noted that when a writer puts on a mask, it is often a confession, and when a writer confesses something, it is often a disguise, so

a grounding point for Bell’s poetry, nor am I at all acquainted with Vince Neil, but I still find Bell’s poetry beautiful, and I think it’s because of his appreciation for the world’s small details. Several of his poems are available online (among them, “One Shies at the Prospect of Raising Yet Another Defense of Cannibalism” is my personal favorite), but honestly I would recommend buying his first book No Planets Strike which is unfortunately only available by mail order at the Harvard Book Store. His next book is in its final stages of editing and is slated to be published next January. Asked about possible new directions for his poetry, Bell replied that he probably won’t find out until he’s written a few poems, though he admitted that “I am the last to know, usually,” about new directions in his own work. “If I come to too clear a realization of what I’m gonna do, the interest in it dies,” he said. “If I looked through notebook now and used a strategic, reasonable mind i could probably figure it out better,” admitted Bell, “but I want to keep it a mystery.”

a writer who invents a speaker— in Bell’s case, these include zombies and a “crazed near-stalker”— can take more liberties in writing about himself. Bell also cited the influence of Plath and Shakespeare in his fascination with the “drama of a character taking center stage.” Hannah Kates ‘18 (hkates@college.harI am not from the Midwest, often vard.edu) is in awe. 02.26.15 • The Harvard Independent

Sports

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Second to None

The Harvard Women finish the Swimming & Diving Ivy League Championships. By CAROLINE C. CRONIN

his past weekend, Thursday through Saturday, the Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving teams faced off in the vast waters of Blodgett Pool. The Crimson, after winning the Ivy title last season, hoped to once again nab the fastest times and highest scores to take the trophy—which would have been the first time since 198889. The title was entirely in reach after a terrific winning season with a 7-1-1, 6-01 Ivy record. Even though the Harvard women remained the front-runner for the first two days of the championships, they fell to second on the third and final day of competition. The contest remained heated to the last minute and the fans stood as closely as they could manage in the crowded stands while the swimmers and divers strutted about in their racing suits in tapered shape. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all vied for top spots in all the events. In the end, Princeton finished with its 22nd Ivy League Championship. Princeton’s final team score was 1423, just ahead of Harvard’s 1401.5. Yale, behind Harvard in many areas, finished third at 1377, Penn at fourth with 952, Columbia fifth with 770, Brown at sixth with 767, Cornell seventh with 602, and Dartmouth eighth with 569.5 points. Harvard finished the weekend with a few impressive highlights. Freshman swimmer Geordie Enoch became High Point Swimmer of the Meet after earning Ivy titles in the

200 and 400 IMs. Enoch also managed to take third overall in the 200 breaststroke, after senior co-captain Stephanie Ferrell took second in the event. Ferrell also earned the Career High Point award at her last Harvard Championship. junior Danielle Lee won the 100 back on Day 2, and then swept in the 200 back as well, just ahead of Crim-

race, in which Harvard’s Sherry Liu ‘16 and Ashlee Korsberg ‘17 came in third and fifth respectively. While senior co-captain Kelsey HojanClark took ninth in one of her last races as a Harvard swimmer. In addition Gabby Sims 18 almost broke the meet record with her 50.26 s 100 free. Unfortunately, Princeton ended up breaking the record and won the championship with its 400 free relay team, to which Brown came second. The Harvard line up for the relay was composed of Lee ‘16, Kendall Crawford ‘16, Enoch, and Sims who finished third at 3:21.10 in the last and gripping event of the championships. Chlorine and victory were in the air this weekend, and although Harvard just missed the chance to start an Ivy Title winning streak, they fought hard and did Blodgett proud. The Crimson swimmers and divers bleed chlorine and are identifiable by their perpetually wet hair. But their hard work extends beyond the pool. The College Swimming Coaches Association of America awarded the team with the Scholar All-American honors for their high cumulative grade point averages for the 2014-2015 season, totaling to one of the highest of all the NCAA Division 1 women’s swimming and diving teams. Way to go, girls!

“Chlorine and victory were in the air this weekend, and although Harvard just missed the chance to start an Ivy Title winning streak, they fought hard and did Blodgett proud.”

The Harvard Independent • 02.26.15

son’s Kendall Crawford. Freshman Kristina Li got her name on the board as well with her fifth place finish, touching the wall only 2 seconds behind Crawford. The race, as all were at Blodgett, proved that the Crimson not only has a team with amazing times but also one with depth throughout the top 6 finishes. The diving events took place with smaller splashes, quieter crowds, and equally as much athletic excellence. Four of the graceful Crimson divers made it to the finals of the 3-meter dives. The girls improved their scores from the preliminaries and kept Harvard in the running. Freshmen Jing Leung earned third, sophomore Elina Leiviska fourth, freshman Alisha Mah sixth, and senior Schuler Moore went away seventh with her finals dives on the Crimson boards. Caroline C. Cronin ’18 (ccronin01@colThe swimming finals of the eve- lege.harvard.edu) wishes the team well in ning included the grueling mile the upcoming NCAA championships! harvardindependent.com

CAPTURED & S HOT

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