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04.10.14 VOL. XLV, NO. 22
The Indy is processing all the Sex Survey results.
04.10.14
Sketching Spring
Cover Design by ANNA PAPP Inside: Coee, Crafting, and Crosse
CONTENTS FORUM 3 'Tis the Season 4 Where to Lean? NEWS 5 Somwhere Out in Middle America 6 Somwhere Out in Middle America, continued ARTS 7 Christine the Crafter 8 Short and Sweet 9 Go Watch Go SPORTS 10 Seniors Say Goodbye 11 The Beginning of the End
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 Sean Frazzette (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 Š 2014 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved.
President Albert Murzakhanov '16 Editor-in-Chief Sean Frazzette '16 Director of Production Anna Papp '16 News Editor Forum Editor Arts Editor Sports Editor Associate Forum Editor Associate Arts Editor Associate Design Editor
Milly Wang '16 Caroline Gentile '17 Sarah Rosenthal '15 Shaquilla Harrigan '16 Aditya Agrawal '17 Joanna Schacter Travis Hallett '14
Cartoonist John McCallum '16 Illustrator Eloise Lynton '17 Business Managers Manik Bhatia '16 Columnists Joan Li '17 Christina Bianco '17 Senior Staff Writers Christine Wolfe '14 Angela Song '14 Sayantan Deb '14 Michael Altman '14 Meghan Brooks '14 Whitney Lee '14 Staff Writers Whitney Gao '16 Manik Bhatia '16 Xanni Brown '14 Terilyn Chen '16 Lauren Covalucci '14 Clare Duncan '14 Gary Gerbrandt '14 Travis Hallett '14 Yuqi Hou '15 Cindy Hsu '14 Chloe Li '16 Dominique Luongo '17 Orlea Miller '16 Albert Murzhakanov '16 Carlos Schmidt '15 Frank Tamberino '16 Michael Feehly '14 Jackie Leong '16 Andrew Lin '17 Madi Taylor '16 Shreya Vardhan '17 Peyton Fine '17
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A Spring Guide to Iced Coffee Where to find the most refreshing blend. By RITCHEY HOWE
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h, Spring…a time when I will not be perpetually cold, when I can finally send my black puffy jacket to the dry cleaners after living in it for five months, when I no longer have an excuse for wearing Uggs. It’s a time to rekindle my friendship with my shoes other than boots. Another hallmark of Spring? Iced coffee. While most people associate spring with flowers and pastels, I think of iced coffee. Now that the temperature is above freezing, I can treat myself with iced coffee without being covered in goose bumps. As an avid coffee drinker, spring presents an opportunity for me to expand the ways in which I can obtain my caffeine fix. If you don’t drink hot coffee within a few minutes after it’s poured, you will be left with a highly unsatisfying roomtemperature drink. Although thermoses claim to maintain the heat of a drink, there is no way that a beverage can remain steaming after a trek to class in the brisk Cambridge air. I want to enjoy my coffee, not feel pressured to chug it in fifteen minutes and risk scalding my tongue. Therefore, iced coffee is the perfect answer; the beverage can be carried for hours, and my tongue will be free of (basically) third-degree burns. While I often choose to buy my coffee wherever it is convenient, certain coffee shops and dispensaries offer variations on the beverage. For those of you who are similar to myself and indulge in a daily iced coffee, this article may help you choose where to spend your precious Board Plus or earned money on your next coffee. For those readers who are less aware of the beauty of iced coffee, this guide could help you establish an undying love for this classic spring beverage. Lamont Café Pros: The café is strategically right inside the library, and open until 2 AM. The coffee is tax-free for students and uses Starbucks beans. You are likely to find someone you know within the café, which can create a nice study break. Cons: Sometimes the study break can last for almost an hour. Because this location is so popular, there are often no lids or straws after 8 PM. Stressed students hurriedly mix sugar and
The Harvard Independent • 04.10.14
milk into their beverages, which creates a mess on the counter. Greenhouse Café Pros: This café is centrally located, accepts Board Plus, and the baristas are aware of our rushed schedules and typically dispense coffee quickly. Similarly to Lamont, this coffee is produced by Starbucks. Cons: Due to the central location of the café, the line is quite long during our seven precious minutes between classes. This café also closes at 8 PM so make sure to get your caffeine fix before going into the Cabot Library for an evening study session. Café Gato Rojo Pros: The baristas are fellow Harvard students who play good music from opening to closing. The genre of music playing within the café ranges from T.I, to Mariah Carey, to S Club 7, to Third Eye Blind. Tazo Starbucks Tea cannot compete with the large assortment of teas at Gato. The café also exhibits wonderful works of student art. Cons: This café is full throughout the day so it is difficult to get a seat, nonetheless a table! While the iced coffee is decent, the café is more known for its teas. Crema Café Pros: In my personal opinion, this is some of the best coffee in the square. They use George Howell Coffee, a company based in Acton, MA. They additionally have rotating “guest roasters” that come from various countries. All of these coffees are light-roasts. Cons: Although I have asked multiple times, Crema will not accept Crimson Cash or Board Plus. However, the taste will make up for the splurge. Dunkin Donuts Pros: There are two locations around the college (one on JFK Street and the other next to Grafton Street Restaurant). It is well priced and claims to be America’s coffee.
Cons: On March 25, 2014, Dunkin came out with three new coffee flavors: Peach Cobbler, Toasted Almond, and Coconut. According to the Huffington Post, the Coconut “aftertaste lingered when we were really ready to move on”, the Toasted Almond was “just gross”, and Peach Cobbler “was just all wrong.” Enough said. Clover Pros: A fun, modern atmosphere. Clover ensures that the coffee served comes from roasters who “meet Clover’s standard”. And all of their utensils and cups are completely compostable. Clover also houses one of the new Bitcoin ATMs. Cons: At Clover you must order through an employee who uses an iPhone to place the order. This process can often take a long time. Yet if you have patience, you will not be disappointed. Peets Coffee: Pros: This is most likely my favorite coffee in the Square. Although it may seem somewhat out of the way for some students, if you are walking back from practice and need a pick me up before studying or class, Peets is your answer. There is also seating outside in the park. Cons: Never enough free samples! J.P. Licks Pros: You can get a sample of frozen yogurt and order their organic coffee that all comes from their Jamaica Plain store. The coffee also comes in a pretty cup with a cow on it…where else can you get that? Cons: Sometimes the sweet smell of cake batter ice cream is too much to handle in the morning when all you want is iced coffee. Other coffee sites include Panera Bread, Au Bon Pain, Oggis, Algiers, and Darwin’s. After reading this guide, I hope that everyone will enjoy the oncoming spring with an iced coffee in hand. Ritchey Howe ’17 (ritcheyhowe@college) likes coffee, in case that wasn’t clear.
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Leaning Away From ‘Lean-In’ A feminist’s musings. By ADITYA AGRAWAL
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ecently, a Facebook event regarding a debate on the future of feminism between pro and anti Lean-In feminists trapped my particular attention. The cautious feminist that I am, this post precipitated in me an avalanche of self-introspection and much to my own surprise, my thoughts came in bearing heavily on the side of the Lean-In–resistant strain of feminism. To me, the Lean-In approach seemed to fail at achieving the fundamental goals of the feminist movement. For the uninformed, the “Lean-In” concept credits its origin to the book “Lean-In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. In the book, Sandberg encourages women to actively ‘lean in’: to make themselves heard at their workplaces, by being more assertive and outspoken, as a way of rising up in male-dominated hierarchies. Before we begin to delve into the subtler depths of the Lean-In movement, it would serve us well to lay down a functional definition of feminism that we could use as a reference point for all later arguments. While it is true that a concept as nebulous in definition as feminism could be tailored to fit different goals, its overarching goals could be recognized as dissembling a society based exclusively on the ideals of patriarchy; to recognize women and all other genders for who they are, independent of themselves, not for the ends they serve in a patriarchal plane of coordinates. Having established this broader framework of feminism to work with, let us begin to analyze these schools of thought. The Lean-In school asks women to assume or exploit a certain range of qualities — most notably assertiveness and control. In this very first regard, it fails feminism in its very core objective — the recognition and celebration of women for who they are. Yes, women can be dominant, but they can also be docile; they can choose to speak up and get noticed, or choose not to be quite so conspicuous: what matters, and should rightly matter, are their individual sets of talents and skills. We fail to celebrate their talents, and qualify their skill set by endorsing the view that their skills will matter only in so far as they act like such and such — that their talents and their persona derive their legitimacy from how well they adapt to a flawed system. More importantly, the entire ‘lean in’ concept is reminiscent of the concept of self help; a submission on part of the feminist movement that workplace attitudes which conspire to thwart female career mobility are as real as they are sad, and are here to stay. In such a situation, their safest bet would be to adjust as best as we could: in this case, asking women to assume a blanket range of attitudes to survive in what will eternally be a flawed, biased and deeply sexist corporate culture. In fact, adopting such an attitude could be equated to saying that the fault lay as much (if not more) with the women as with the corporate institutions themselves. This premise of the Lean-In movement could be read in the same light as victim blaming in cases of sexual assault; we indirectly blame the woman for not being assertive enough, while condoning, or at least doing nothing to directly counteract, the male-dominated corporate structure whose attitudes are the most basic cause of female non-mobility in the industry in the first place. Such an attitude is highly inconsistent with the objectives of feminism as a whole. Not only does it fail to recognize and celebrate women for their natural and inherent talents, but — more fundamentally — by asking women to cater to a specific code of conduct, becomes a goal post for encouraging patriarchy and its many manifestations
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in the workplace and beyond. This is not to say, however, that the Lean-In model is an inherently flawed concept in and out of itself: individuals frustrated with the existing bottlenecks, like Sheryl Sandberg, might have found it to reap results for themselves. This approach may work best for some women, but may not be best for others. Preaching that there is only one way to get ahead in a male-dominated workplace — by being assertive, like men — only furthers the patriarchal nature of the corporate world. What is problematic, are the implications flowing from the endorsement of the Lean-In school of thought by such a dynamic movement as feminism. Such an endorsement will not only decimate and deconstruct the goals and achievements of our feminist movement, but — most vitally — reveal our creed to be a hypocritical, inconsistent lot in that we function to celebrate the control of the same asphyxiating institutions that we sought out to disintegrate. Aditya Agrawal ’17 (adityaagrawal@college) especially enjoys musing on feminism in the neon-colored chairs in the Yard.
04.10.14 • The Harvard Independent
News
Meeting War ren Buffett A n a c c o u n t o f t h e S m a r t Wo m a n S e c u r i t i e s a n n u a l W a r r e n B u f f e t t t r i p .
By BIANCA MULANEY
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wo weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to meet one of the most legendary investors and wealthiest people in the world: Warren Buffett. As Buffett surpassed 83 years of age in August, I must admit that I initially couldn’t help the thought that I would be meeting a slightly senile, soft-spoken man creep into my mind.
Boy, was I mistaken.
47 young ladies from Smart Woman Securities, a national organization dedicated to financial investment education with undergraduate chapters across 17 universities, convened in Omaha, NE to meet with some of the city’s most prominent business executives. After a whirlwind of meetings with Mr. Buffett and Berkshire-owned companies, we sat down to a private dinner with Mr. Buffett at Gorat’s, a modest, family-owned steakhouse. Looking around the room, I noticed that every person looked jaded and ready to collapse on a hotel bed — except for one person, who happened to be the oldest in the room. An unmistakable twinkle — like that of a five-year-old — shone from Mr. Buffett’s eyes, right down to the final dessert course. As he turned down all of the restaurant’s fancy cake options, instead opting for “a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a whole lotta chocolate sauce,” he himself described his actions like that of a kid: “I eat like a five-year-old,” he chuckled. “I haven’t eaten broccoli since I was four. I eat whatever I want.” This consistently carefree, cheerful attitude in someone his age (or even in an adult over the age of 30) is harder to find than a perfectly stable stock. Somehow Buffett has managed to preserve the genuine curiosity and sweet innocence of childhood into his golden years, giving him a magnetic personality. At a time when most people his age have retired and complain of arthritis and insomnia, Buffett still drives himself to work every day to manage his company — and makes jokes while he does it. “You know, if I’d been born thousands of years ago when the dinosaurs were alive, I wouldn’t have survived. There would be the strong ones who could defend themselves, and then there would be me. ‘I’m just allocating capital,’ I would say — and someone would instantly snatch me up.” He flapped his wings like a feeble baby bird as he said it. The Q&A session audience roared with laughter. I was amazed by his energy and enthusiasm for the group — even though we (amidst a few yawns) bombarded him with questions during lunch, our Q&A session, and dinner, he took the time to look each questioner in the eye and provide a lengthy and thoughtful response, while remaining cheerful and light-hearted. While he considered all of our questions, he did seem intent on sending us a pre-defined message with advice (relating to investing and life in general) that he expertly interwove through his responses. How should we best invest in ourselves? “Improve your ability to communicate, both oral and written.” What are you most proud of in life? “The biggest job you’ll have in life is raising children — only you can do it. Who you marry is enormously important — it’ll affect everything.” After a student asked him the ultimate question — “what do you need to be successful?” — he took us through an interesting thought experiment:
The advice he gave us, albeit simple, was pretty powerful stuff — perhaps due to its simple, tried-and-true nature. He makes his investment philosophy sound just as easy: “People hate it because it’s so simple, but if you invest now, you’ll have a lot of money.” Buffett’s ‘buy and hold’ mantra seems to have succeeded, with Berkshire shares gaining over 70fold more than the market overall from 1965 to 2013. “All investing should be value investing,” he emphasizes. “The question is, what do you look for?” Buffett finds it key to invest in companies “that have already won the race” — companies such as Coke, Wrigley’s, Gillette, Heinz, and Nebraska Furniture Mart that have dominated their sectors of the market and whose products or services are sure to remain in high demand for generations. “No one’s going to stop eating ketchup,” Buffett exclaims. “People might even start eating more ketchup in the future!” Likewise, people will always need furniture when they buy a new house, or razors to shave. Heavy branding from companies such as Coke, Wrigley’s, and Gillette have created a dependence for their products that goes beyond the utility of a soda or a stick of chewing gum or a razor when they’re needed — it extends to auras of success, of happiness, of the American dream — that transcend our notions of intrinsic value. Buffett’s remarkable capabilities lie in the fact that he is able to single out these uniquely successful companies from the rest — and he’s so good at it that whenever he receives a phone call from a potentially interesting company, he’s able to determine in the first two to three minutes of the call a rough idea of the company’s prospects for the next five to ten years. As he modestly stated, “When [Charlie Munger & I] insure anything we think the odds are in our favor. We would never dream of working on a game where the odds were not in our favor — it doesn’t make sense. We’re rational, and every decision is made from a point of rationality — actually quite a rare quality in business.”
Assume you had to pick a classmate, and you would receive 10% of their earnings for the rest of your life. You wouldn’t pick the person with the highest IQ or GPA, or even the person who kicks the farthest [has the best athletic ability]. Who do you think about? The reasons for picking certain people are not qualities that these people were born with – they’re behavioral characteristics that people elect to have. You’ll pick someone with certain habits that you know are conducive to success. Consider the converse scenario — if you had to pick someone you’d have to sell short — and you’d have to pay 10% of their earnings for the rest of your life. You’d pick someone with certain characteristics that you think might more likely result in failure — someone who is never on time, who lies, etc. You have certain habits you can choose to have. Why not have the habits of those you can admire, and get rid of those you don’t admire? You can learn more from classmates than teachers in seeing what works. The time is now to pick up those good habits and get rid of the ones you detest — you will be better because of it. People want someone they’ll truly like to work with.
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Buffett’s personality radiates his optimism in America and the American dream. “We are exceptional…if you think about what America has done, it’s not an accident.” Reminding us of our good fortune in being born today, he points out the fact that all of us live more comfortably than business magnate John D. Rockefeller in the early 1900s. His optimism, ironically, peaks during periods of economic instability. During the 2008 economic crisis, Buffett was one of the few people to remain confident in the market’s ability to recover — in fact, when the market fell by 37% that year, his shares fell by only 9.6%. Periods of sudden economic downturn don’t phase him — he doesn’t “worry about the fact that markets are irrational and volatile” because he knows he’ll “get rich holding steady.” In fact, Buffett sees these periods as excellent buying opportunities: “as long as you divorce yourself from the emotions of the crowd, [the fact
that people exhibit emotional liquidity] can really be to your advantage.” Warren Buffett is easily the most humble and
Oftentimes, I wonder what makes people stand out — why some individuals, like Mr. Buffett, have been so much more successful than others. In my opinion, it all goes back to the little thought experiment Mr. Buffett fabricated: the way he has chosen his habits — the way he lives his life — has defined his values and personality, which, in turn, has directly affected his success. From humility, to humor, to hope, the qualities Buffett has chosen to emulate reflect not only in his work but also through the lives of everyone he touches. He has certainly touched my life at a point in time where I am beginning to define who I want to be, and I know he will continue to touch myriads of young lives in the foreseeable future.
“You are the best asset in which you can invest… how do you invest in yourself? – Improve your ability to communicate, both oral and written.” – Warren Buffett
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down-to-earth guy I’ve ever met. While he might display pride in America, he reminds us of the importance of staying humble: “It’s nice to think you’re a little exceptional, but important not to carry that too far.” A strong supporter of wealth redistribution, Buffett has already pledged to donate 99% of his wealth when he passes, with 83% of that going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “The more you give, the more you get back,” he says simply with a smile. Moreover, he has persuaded 122 other billionaires to give the majority of their wealth to charity.
Bianca Mulaney ’16 (biancamulaney@college) hopes future leaders can learn from Mr. Buffett.
04.10.13 • The Harvard Independent
From the Fires of Mount Doom (and Pinterest) Crafting a solution to stress at Harvard. By CHRISTINE WOLFE
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s college students, we spend most of our time creating and discussing ideas. Whether in class or on Twitter, our day-to-day experiences largely play out in our minds or in cyberspace. The closest we get to physical production is typing, or, for the most archaic among us, writing. We call this freedom from labor a privilege, as the release from work provides us time and effort to learn. Of course, we should not take these opportunities for granted, as these insights will no doubt lead to our abilities to succeed in the modern world. But there’s something lost in our world of ideas and discussion, and we sense this lack with a subtle yet profound discomfort. I believe this anxiety derives from an absence of conclusiveness in our lives. When we live only inside our minds, we can never succeed. We will never wholly live up to our philosophies, completely resolve intellectual discrepancies, or totally eliminate intangible ills. Our imagination is boundless, and in the interminable, there will always be something left unachieved. As Tyra Banks once said of her stint at HBS, “Once you get done reading one assignment, you get another.” Truer words, Tyra. It’s not just assignments that are endless: the entirety of academia is structured so that one intellectual success (or failure) will lead to another. And if “doing” something necessitates arriving at a finite point, let’s face it: we’re not really doing anything. We can get to the end of a “busy” day without having anything to show for it. Most of us would count our inability to finish schoolwork among one of our greatest stressors. And while negligence certainly contributes to unfinished work, the nature of our experience here necessitates that we never feel “finished.” But humans are goal-based by nature, as are all organisms. We feel satisfied when our efforts on a project lead to its completion. Even better are those products that can be used in some future context: a stone tool, perhaps. Or a mason jar. Here’s where crafting comes in. I sincerely believe that a campus-wide mason-jar-painting initiative would improve our mental health. Crafting isn’t only creative and fun; making or modifying an object is also a tangible process with discrete start and end points. Cooking also falls into this realm of production-oriented activities. It’s the same logic behind exercise’s positive contributions to our happiness: execution and completion of a physical task makes us feel we’ve accomplished something. Crafting, while not as good for us as running, gives us a tangible outlet for the mental exercise we desperately need. I always feel refreshed after sewing, painting, and coloring: these activities are wonderful respites from the existential angst the intellect can cause. What follows are some crafting suggestions for you and your friends. I hope they will ground you in a space where success is possible and the stakes are only as high as a well-decorated room.
Mason Jar Adornment
Mason jars aren’t just for at-home distillery (though a well-painted row of wheat is a necessity to any fermentation jar). Foods, pencils, and toiletries
The Harvard Independent • 04.10.14
can all call a glass jar their home. Of course, the decoration should match the contents: dark coffee grounds go best with bright colors, whereas dried petals belong in jar adorned with flowers (if you’re not keeping dried flower petals in a jar, just get out). Michaels — your go-to store for the widest craft selection, located in Porter Square — sells all-surface paint for glass as well as decorative stationery for jar-lining. Ace Hardware, also located in Porter, sells mason jars in bulk for your group crafting sessions, and Dickson Bros sells a variety of jar sizes individually.
Paper Arts
More embarrassingly known as “scrapbooking,” there’s more to the paper crafts than giant stickers and weirdly shaped scissors (though who doesn’t love those?). Stationary and high-quality papers can serve as desk-runners, invitations, backgrounds for photo collages, or convenient cover-ups to those mystery holes in the wall. Bob Slate Stationer and Black Ink, both located on Brattle Street, have a wide range of papers to suit both your eccentric and classy moods.
Coloring
Yes, really. Coloring is low risk, high reward: it’s art for people without much talent or creativity. Coloring is the perfect way to relieve stress: you can concentrate and complete a task that doesn’t have any ramifications in the real world. The Curious George Store, on JFK, has a good selection of coloring books. Just tell the person at the counter the books are for your niece, and you’re set!
Ceramics
Harvard has plenty of opportunities to get your hands on some clay. The Ceramics Studio is located across the River in Allston, right behind the athletic facilities, and provides lessons as well as resources for experienced sculptors. The studio also hosts Clay All Night, where undergrads can pinch and spin for free. Mather also hosts biannual woodcutting/pottery-making classes in their pottery studio.
Woodworking
For those of us who can’t contain our inner lumberjack and (totally don’t) have some knives lying around our rooms, whittling is basically the most badass (and definitely the most Amish) way to craft. Mather is the best place to find woodworking guidance, though a careful hand and some Youtube videos could have you on your way to a doghouse or canoe in no time. You can bring out the all-surface paint you used for mason jars on your wood products as well. Christine Wolfe ’14 (crwolfe@college.harvard.edu) is looking to start an Elven Bladesmithing Club on campus if anyone’s in.
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Shortly Animated
Picturesque parables told under fifteen minutes. By MICHAEL LUO
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arisian theaters are supposed to be known for their atmosphere of voguish panache, so when I had the opportunity to view a film in La Ville-Lumière, I made the decision of selecting an animated one that is rated G. To be honest, I was probably one of two people aged between eighteen and thirty, given that those who paid to see Brave were either children or the owners of those children. This isn’t a film review, so I won’t say much about Brave, but what I do remember from sneaking into this French cinematic screening was the seven-minute animated opening act entitled La Luna. In animation, tales are told through the lens of moving artwork. Whether that includes comics, puppets, or CGI, animation has a world of styles and techniques all in its own. While the live-action arena has its iconic genre-definers from the explosive Michael Bay to the imaginative Charlie Kaufman, the realm of animation spotlights the formulaic fables of Pixar to the stop motion comedies of Nick Park. Animation is a business and a part of the entertainment industry, but it prides itself in unique, multilayered projects appealing to kids and parents alike. For La Luna, the story is arranged around a three-generation family. A boy and his father and grandfather sail amidst starlit nights until a dispute about how to wear a hat sends them to the lunar surface, dusting fallen stars so that the moon may regain its luminous sheen. The story is simple but elegant, and the seven minutes are saturated with an aura of misty magic. Though fast to grasp the audience’s attention, the animated short is over quick enough to provide a sampling into the artistic work about to begin. If you’ve ever seen an animated film in theaters, then you’ve also probably sat through a ten to twenty minute short preceding the feature. For major animation studios, these shorts act in two roles: one to prepare
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the audience for the full-length film, a sort of animated aperitif if you will, and two, to experiment with ideas both expanding upon previous stories or adapted to stand alone as a separate piece of art. Though they may be dismissed as second thoughts in comparison to the theatrical feature, animated shorts are created from the toils of collaborative artists, complete with ambitious narratives worthy of consideration. Although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stipulates that a short must be less than forty minutes, shorts today rarely break the twenty-minute mark, with most hovering below fifteen. This limitation of length may seem restrictive to the creative process, but effective storytelling can permeate mediums of all shapes and sizes. Just as written short stories have a mystique of their own, so too do animated short stories. Plots and premises can be drawn from the minutiae of daily life to the nonlinear subconscious of bygone desires. Characters can be as real as a struggling salesman or as fictional as a crestfallen wizard. Challenges can be the coming of age or the coming of evil. In any case, the chronicles of animated shorts can take the form of uplifting bedtime stories or subtle social commentaries. While the stories may not be as long, the nature of the shorts to experiment with eclectic narrative forums outside the archetype of big-budget productions allows them to invent tales with just as much depth into the intricacies of humanity. Yet some animated shorts still often go unnoticed, even if there exists a rich history apart from being the appetizers to animated films. The first Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, known then as “Short Subjects, Cartoons,” was given out in 1932 to Walt Disney’s Flower and Trees, as part of the fifth Academy Awards. Through the twentieth century, Disney dominated this category by winning twelve of his twen-
ty-two total Oscars, specifically taking the first ten out of eleven given in this field. It was not until MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s Tom and Jerry came along that Disney finally fizzled out his hegemony of animated shorts. Some eighty years later, Disney’s legacy lives on via Walt Disney Animation Studios; however, animated shorts are now produced across the globe in a sundry of studios. Within this art form, the prevailing standard has been that of threedimensional computer animation. With the recent triumph of Frozen surpassing Toy Story 3 as the highest-grossing animated film of all time, animated shorts are trying to follow suit. Nevertheless, the fact that shorts are able to tryout different styles gives them a greater capacity to blend artistic traditions. For example, Pixar combined the two-dimensional with the three-dimensional in its short, Day & Night, that was paired with Toy Story 3. The six-minute animation portrays anthropomorphic representations of day and night in 2D while their bodies act as silhouettes of 3D scenes, presenting a sense of peering into the three-dimensional world. Similarly, the short that was paired with Frozen utilized the handdrawn nostalgia of 1920s Disney cartoons interwoven with contemporary computer animation. Entitled Get a Horse!, the short follows timeless Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse as they battle with PegLeg Pete in a barn setting. The artists behind this production cleverly integrate both animation methods through witty action such as when Peg-Leg Pete “kicks” Mickey Mouse out from the 2D sepia backdrop and “into” the CGI color palettes of today. This ability to mix and match artistic styles is just a glimpse into the versatility of animated shorts. Though Day & Night had a score composed by Michael Giacchino of The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Up, animated shorts can manipulate sound as well in a multitude of ways. Dialogue can per-
sist between loquacious characters, narration can frame silent but meaningful movements, and music can transform the ambiance of whimsical sceneries. Captivating the senses is one of the mantras of great storytelling, and animated shorts fulfill this through their knack of intermingling diverse artistic techniques to create minutes of scenes worthy of hours of contemplation. With all this in mind, I suggest you head over to YouTube and type in “animated shorts” for a taste of these charming motion pictures. To diversify your experience, a few I recommend are “The Lost Thing,” “Dark Noir,” “Contre Temps,” and “PostHuman.” Some may attract you to their beautifully enlivened effects, others to its high-octane action and banter. In-between balancing work and play, these pieces are an adorable break for instant gratification. Of course there are those meant for comedic purposes only, but a great animated short focuses on deep central themes emulated through smooth graphics and stimulating characters. We as humans are naturally drawn to stories, and while we as students may not have the time to finish a series or to follow a franchise, animated shorts provide an efficient way to enjoy a complete and complex story within the span of a few minutes. Next time you’re bored or just looking for a quick break without compromising precious time, take a gander at these projects molded through imagination unbound by strict structure. Once you’ve entered the wonders of animated shorts, you’ll be keen to appreciate the many interpretations of life by artists whose creativity engineer illustrations expressive of emotions and dreams we’ve all experienced. This I can guarantee. Michael Luo ’16 (michaelluo@college) once could draw but later found a new calling in writing about drawings.
04.10.14 • The Harvard Independent
The Magical Girl’s Guide to Anime and Manga / By JOAN LI
When the “Go”ing Gets Tough in Hikaru No Go I
went to Anime Boston at the Hynes Convention Center last weekend and it was pretty much like seeing different fictional worlds enter 3D reality and crash together in one place. Cosplay — the portmanteau of “costume play” — is the norm at any anime convention. For 3 days, thousands people don completely different identities by wearing costumes of their favorite characters. Going (of course) as a magical girl, I was excited to scout out characters from my favorite series. Among the safari of Pokemon trainers and Japanese school girls crowding the Prudential Mall and passing by confused civilians who chose the wrong day to shop, I did find a total of three people from Pandora Hearts (kudos to them). While I also found a giant Minion, as well as the Joker and Ariel making out in a corner, my most exotic find was probably a character from Hikaru no Go. “Exotic” might be odd to imagine considering the fact that I’ve seen people walk around with computer screens around their heads and giant takeout boxes on their torsos all day. People like to think up of the flashiest things for photo ops. So it’s fair to say that I had not been expecting to see any character from a series about an obscure board game. Originating in China, Go is a rough, East Asian cousin of chess. It’s a two-player, strategic game involving a grid-like board with intersections where black and white stones are to be placed. In order to win, one player must use his stones to surround a larger area of the board. As you have probably already imagined, Yumi Hotta’s Hikaru no Go is certainly no fantasy-action series (although to be fair, it does have a ghost in it). It’s a story of a lackadaisical boy named Hikaru Shindō who slowly discovers and builds a passion for playing Go. This newfound recreation first comes to him when the ghost of Fujiwara no Sai, a Meiji Era professional player, comes to haunt him. Hikaru no Go belongs to an entire “hobby” series that include realistic shows about games and sports. It follows the protagonist through a succession of contests and tournaments that take
The Harvard Independent • 04.10.14
him closer to his ambitious goals. But even in this already overshadowed subgenre, Hikaru no Go is eclipsed by more action-filled series such as Kuroko’s Basketball and Prince of Tennis. It’s really a shame though, because the bias against nonphysical hobbies in media prevents people from enjoying a series that has greater quality in storytelling than any of the big-name sports anime or manga. College culture is overwhelmingly comprised of competitive activities, the most obvious ones here being sports. On campus, we have athletes, ex-athletes, and fans, but we also have chess-players, debaters, and performers of all sorts. Plus, our entire system for joining extracurricular groups is based on the “comp.” I played competitive tennis for eight years before I came here, yet ironically I have never found a sports series that has resonated with me, not even Prince of Tennis. I’ve never played Go more than 10 times in my life (all of which I lost), but instead I relate best to Hikaru no Go. Maybe it’s because I’ve never witnessed anyone, not even Roger Federer, hit a forehand fast enough to break the time barrier and cause the extinction of the dinosaurs (I kid you not, there is a clip of it from Prince of Tennis on YouTube). Or maybe it’s because I have never, ever thought it would be cool to name my shots something like “Samurai Dive” and yell it out during a match. Most of my qualms about popular sports anime these days come from the fact that they’re more often than not ridiculously exaggerated, ridden with superhero-like tropes, and increasingly reliant on a female audience interested in hot guys. Hikaru no Go manages to avoid all that. Yumi Hotta knows that the game itself isn’t really what matters; it’s how the game affects and changes the characters that concerns us and makes the show resonant. For most of us, extracurricular activities have played a large part in our lives. We’ve all set goals we’re not entirely sure we can achieve and in running towards them, we’ve fallen several times and needed significant motivation to pick ourselves back up. In a relatable way, Hikaru and
his friends grow up through playing Go. They lose friends through competition and then make new ones. They lose their confidence after heavy loses, come to terms with their limitations, and then dare to redeem themselves again. Little by little, they change from the lessons they’ve gained. By the end of the series, Hikaru has gone from being a 12-year-old brat to an 18-year-old young man. And what’s absolutely amazing about his and the other character’s transformations is that it is done so gradually that you never realize how far they’ve come until you actually look back to compare. Whereas most series like to use the cheap effect of time skipping, Hikaru no Go takes on the challenge of taking the reader through each step of the journey, and it succeeds in doing so. Ultimately, Hikaru no Go has the potential to hit home for a large audience because it is quite simply a realistic story of ambition. It’s a bildungsroman that deserves a chance against the stifling assumption of boredom. On a more personal note, the series holds a great deal of respect from me because it is the only anime show I’ve watched with my sister. Considering that she and I have very different interests, it says something when a show manages to bring us together once every week. Neither of us knew a single thing about the strategies used in each game, but honestly, we didn’t really need any information. All we needed to know was the pains and rewards of chasing a dream, which is hardly an exotic tale at all. Joan Li ’17 (joanli@college) ‘fesses up to being a fan of the swimming anime because she can’t help but find it funny and wonder why anime guys don’t have nipples.
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Sports
Coming to the End HMV has a bittersweet regular season ending. By SHAQUILLA HARRIGAN
T
he Harvard Men’s Volleyball team had an incredibly bittersweet ending to their regular season last Friday and Saturday. Form experiencing the thrill of playing their biggest rival to celebrating the amazing legacy of five seniors, the men’s volleyball team took it all in stride with their bro-love showing on and off court. The first matchup of the weekend was against the men’s volley team’s biggest nemesis, the Penn State Nittany Lions. The crimson had a lot to prove going into this game. The team ad to prepare for the Lion’s revenge attempt after beating them last year in one of the most nail-biting games in the MAC last spring. Upon entering the MAC fourth floor, you could feel the immense amount of adrenaline and excitement from both fans and players. Our men in red stood opposite the schmucks in blue tensed for the biggest game of the season. The MAC’s bleachers were filled with over 500 fans. The Harvard Dance Team and the Harvard Band also made an appearance to cheer on the Harvard Men’s Volleyball team. There was even a spotting of the illustrious Henry Dunster Moose. In the first set, Penn State took Harvard down 25-23. Opening the first set with two attack errors by Harvard, Pen state got onto the scoreboard. Over the course of the set, Harvard and Penn State were pretty evenly matched. Penn State almost immediately fired back kills after DJ White ‘15 and Caleb Zimmick ‘15 scored. Freshman starter Casey White ‘17 tied the game up 8-8. Harvard maintained a slight lead of 13-10 after 2 kills from Nick Madden ‘14 and a couple of errors from Penn State. Penn State regains the lead and staved Harvard off, winning 25-23. The second set was just as intense with other freshman starter Nick Bendell ‘17, Kyle Rehkemper ‘14, Madden ‘14, and Zimmick each bringing in multiple kills. Towards the end of the second set, Harvard and Penn State were tied 23-23. The pressure to decisively win this set proved too great when DJ White ‘15 committed service and attack errors, giving Penn State the two point necessary for victory. In order to stay alive, it was imperative for Harvard to win the third set. Heckling from the student section was at its climax as students hurled insults at the Nittany Lions from the rafters. The fans who remained in their eats leaned in clutching their programs as if to capture every minute detail
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of the game. Every member of the HMV family, players and fans, experienced heartbreak at Penn State’s win 25-22. No one could say that HMV did not give their No. 12 ranked opponent a challenge. Each set was won within a three-point margin. Casey White ‘17, Madden ‘14, Rehkemper ‘14, and Zimmick ‘15 all scored kills with assists from Chris Gibbons ‘14, Bendell ‘17, and DJ White ‘15. Despite losing to Penn State in three incredibly close sets, the spirit of the Crimson was not crushed. After the obligatory show of sportsmanship, Crimson fans swarmed the court for autographs and pictures with the men’s volleyball team. The Department of Athletics provided each fan with a glossy team photograph that was waiting for the scrawls of the home team. Local high school girls got slightly mob-like as they encircled Madden for an opportunity to pose with his biceps. Even though the Nittany Lions won, few people in the MAC paid them fanfare; everyone was concerned with congratulating our favorite hitters and blockers. With a renewed sprit, the Harvard Men’s volleyball team was set to face off against Saint Francis, who also hail from Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon. This game was the Crimson’s final regular season game. The men’s volleyball team came back with a vengeance to make up for their loss during the previous day’s game. The Crimson beat Saint Francis 3-1. Harvard easily won the first two sets 25-19 and 16-25, respectively. During the third set, Saint Francis made a come back and reminded the crimson of their presence. Scoring 25-18. Harvard clearly did not take that message kindly and sent Saint Francis packing 25-16. DJ White ‘15 lead the Crimson in most number of kills, clocking in at 15. Nick Madden came in second, contributing 13. The win against Saint Francis was an excellent gift to the five seniors who were recognized before the first serve. The Harvard Men’s Volleyball Team is sadly saying goodbye to Nick Madden, Chris Gibbons, Kyle Rehkemper, M i ch a e l O w e n , a n d Wi l l Chambers.
• Nick Madden is a senior economics concentrator in Dunster. Madden served as one of the team’s captains and holds second place for most number of total digs at 462. • Chris Gibbons is a sociology concentrator in Dunster House and also served team captain. Gibbons holds the record for most number of single season digs: 219 in 2013. • Will Chambers is a computer science concentrator in Pfoho. He is a middle blocker and is first on Harvard’s all-time career hitting list with a .435 hitting percentage. • Michael Owen is an applied math concentrator in Dunster. As a setter, Owen is 7th on Harvard’s all-time block-assist list with 130 in his career. • Kyle Rehkemper is a government concentrator in Dunster. As a middle blocker on HMV, he is fifth on Harvard’s all-time block assist list with 197. After an amazing 9-3 EIVA conference record, The Harvard Men’s volleyball team is gering up for play-off games against NJIT and Rutgers-Neward on April 11th and 12th. Hopefully the seniors and HMV’s rising talent will make a huge sweep in the post-season matchups. Shaquilla Harrigan ‘16 (sharrigan01@college) congratulates all the HMV seniors on their accomplisments!
04.10.14 • The Harvard Independent
Sports
indy
Springing into The Indy previews Harvard’s Spring Sports Action By CHRISTINE WOLFE
S
pringtime at Harvard means many things: the sun giving false-hopes of above 50 degree weather, a seemingly accelerated midterm schedule, and most importantly, the return of spring sports like baseball, tennis, and lacrosse. We hope seeing the successes of our teams will be enough inspiration to trek across the river and experience the outdoors--Harvard Athletics style.
Baseball
Harvard faced BC in the first round of the Boston Beanpot 2014 yesterday, coming off of hard conference losses against Penn and Columbia last weekend. Their next conference meet is against Brown, who as of yet has failed to win a conference game. Carlton Bailey leads the Crimson at bat with a .370 average, while Danny Moskovits ’14 and Sean Poppen ’16 have been performing well on the mound. After this weekend’s games against the Bears, Harvard will face Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth (at home) to round out the Ancient Eight.
Lacrosse
Men’s lacrosse remains strong coming off a win against BU on Tuesday and a 3-0 in conference. Co-captain Peter Schwartz ’14 scored five points for the Crimson against BU with three goals and two assists, with Will Walker ’16 and Devin Dwyer ’16 scoring three points each. Harvard’s double-digit active scoring streak is currently the highest in the nation. The Crimson face Penn, Princeton (at home), and Yale before the Ivy League Tournament in early May. Women’s lacrosse (3-1 Ivy) faces Princeton (3-1 Ivy) this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Harvard Stadium. The Crimson and the Tigers are currently tied for second in the Ancient Eight, with Penn (2-0) holding first. Freshman Marisa Romero leads on offense with 33 goals and five assists so far this season, one of several strong underclassman players. After facing off against Princeton this weekend, Harvard will go on to play one out of conference game against BU, followed by the final Ivy League games against Columbia and Dartmouth (at home).
Softball
regaining their momentum. Harvard will host Princeton (2-1 Ivy) and Penn (2-1 Ivy) this weekend.
Track & Field
This Saturday, the men and women’s track teams will be competing at home against Yale. The weekend of April 5th, the men and women’s track teams competed in the 4th Annual Yellow Jacket Invitational. Team standouts from the 100-m dash include Owen Laub ‘15 and David Fan ‘17, who placed 5th and 7th overall respectively. Dean Sullivan ‘16 received 5th place in the Javelin throw with a distance of 58.18-m. At the same event, Harvard took three of the top five spots in the women’s high jump. Raegan Nizdil ‘17 and Ann Giebelhaus ‘15 tied for second place at a height of 1.6-m, and Allison Morrison ‘16 took home fifth with a jump of 1.58-m. Morrison ‘16 also took home 4th place in the long jump with a distance of 5.32-m. Junior Hannah Meyer received second place in the women’s javelin throw at a distance of 40.53-m. In other track and field news, distance runner Viviana Hanley ‘15 was recently nominated as one of Phi Beta Kappa’s “Junior 24.”
Women’s Rugby
Last weekend, the women’s rugby team faced off against the Penn State Nittany Lions, reigning Women’s Rugby Champions. Despite losing the game 52-12, the Crimson played incredibly hard. Unfortunately, leading scorers and captains Ali Haber ‘14 and Xanni Brown ‘14 were injured in the game. Cheta Emba ‘15 and Shelby Lin ‘14 scored both of the Crimson’s tries. The women’s rugby team will be competing in the Beantown Rugby tournament on April 17th. Hopefully the Crimson will be able to repeat their 105-0 annihilation of Boston College. Christine Wolfe ‘14 (crwolfe14@college) is excited for the season of ‘sun’s out guns out.’
After successes last week against Columbia and Penn, the Crimson holds a seven-game winning streak. They leave conference action today for a game against Rhode Island. Shelbi Olson ‘14 hopes to continue her strong at-bat, while Laura Ricciardone ’15, Ivy Pitcher of the Week, comes into this week with a strong 1.24 earned-run average. Harvard will return home this weekend to host Brown in an Ivy Doubleheader, hoping to retain their conference win streak. As Brown boasts a 0-6 conference record, Harvard’s chances look good. Harvard will finish out the Conference against Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth, finding their biggest opponent in the Big Green.
Tennis
Women’s tennis, ranked at no. 39 and 1-1 in the Ivy League, had mixed luck last weekend, with a loss to Columbia (3-0 Ivy) on Friday followed by a win against Cornell (0-3 Ivy) on Saturday. Amanda Lin ’16 was the only member of the Crimson to pick up a win against the Lions, but Harvard swept both doubles and singles matches against the Big Red the following day. This weekend, Harvard travels to Penn (0-3 Ivy) and Princeton (3-0 Ivy), where strong doubles team Amy He ’16 and Amanda Lin ’16 and top seeded Spencer Liang ’17 hope to boost the Crimson’s rank within the Ancient Eight. Men’s tennis (1-1 Ivy) shared the women’s results last weekend, falling to Columbia (3-0) but defeating Cornell (0-3 Ivy). After a brutal defeat at Columbia, Harvard picked up the pace to surpass Cornell on all three doubles courts, with no. 11 doubles team Denis Nguyen ’15 and Casey MacMaster ’14
The Harvard Independent • 04.10.14
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