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09.11.14
The Indy remembers.
VOL. XLVI, NO. 1
CONTENTS FORUM 3 Take Note 4 Administrational Absurdities 5 Fantastic New Food 5 Not So New NEWS 6 What's Going On?: News ARTS 7 What's Going On?: Arts 8 What's in a Name? 9 Architectural Evolution SPORTS 10 Sporty Summer 11 Kicking It Up a Notch
COVER DESIGN BY ANNA PAPP 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 Sports Editor Associate Forum Editor Associate Arts Editor
Milly Wang '16 Caroline Gentile '17 Sarah Rosenthal '15 Shaquilla Harrigan '16 Peyton Fine '17 Aditya Agrawal '17 Michael Luo '16
Cartoonist John McCallum '16 Illustrator Eloise Lynton '17 Designer Alice Linder '17 Business Managers Manik Bhatia '16
Staff Writers Whitney Gao '16 Manik Bhatia '16 Terilyn Chen '16 Yuqi Hou '15 Chloe Li '16 Dominique Luongo '17 Orlea Miller '16 Albert Murzhakanov '16 Carlos Schmidt '15 Frank Tamberino '16 Jackie Leong '16 Andrew Lin '17 Madi Taylor '16 Shreya Vardhan '17 Peyton Fine '17 Michael Luo '16
Forum
A Letter to Freshmen
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Ramblings, Nostalgia, and Life-Hacks. By SHAQUILLA HARRIGAN
Dear Class of 2018, First of all, I would like to welcome all 1,665 of you to Harvard. Second, congratulations of completing your first of many shopping weeks. As cliché as this may sound, your time at college will include some of the most exciting, frustrating, sad, challenging, happiest, once-in-a-lifetime moments you will ever experience. While I wouldn’t trade any of the experiences I had freshman year for the world, I do want to pass on some of the wisdom I have acquired during my time here. If I had been privy to some of Harvard life-hacks, I probably would have had fewer awkward moments and gone on more adventures. I think the word that best summarizes my time at Harvard has been change. There are so many adjustments and transformations you will undergo during college, and I think accepting that early on will make the process slightly less bumpy. One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn knew it is okay to not ‘be the best.’ Coming from my rural high school where I was ‘the best’ and then moving to an environment where everyone else was ‘the best’ or ‘the best of the best,’ was a harsh reality check for me. However, once I acknowledged that it was okay to be average, I started enjoying my classes more and I became less stressed out. College has also changed my world view; my classes, my friends, my extracurriculars, and my new environment have caused me to question a lot of the notions I took with me to Harvard. Perhaps one of the most frustrating parts of this process is how friends from home and even how your parents might react. The whole, “Don’t let Harvard Change you” speech will become a real thing. But you should push back and let Harvard change you as much as you change Harvard. Two last rambles before I move on: 1) it’s okay to not be fine, and 2) Harvard isn’t perfect. Most upperclassmen, myself included, will tell you that at one point or another they have donned the “I am fine” mask. I want to emphasize over and over again that it is OKAY to not smile, laugh, do well on that p-set, get on that list, be selected for that position, to trip in the dining hall, watch your crush walk away with someone else, etc. I can almost guarantee that on the days that you feel at your lowest, someone else is feeling that way as well. Harvard also has institutional and informal resources: the Bureau of Study Counsel, UHS Mental Health Services, peer counselors, OSAPR, your PAF, your friend from a cappella, someone that you volunteer with at PBHA, or whoever who feel comfortable enough to talk to. So Harvard isn’t perfect. There are many times when I question how on earth we continuously maintain our reputation as the most prestigious university in the world. I mean some of the policies Harvard has finally adopted have been instituted at other universities for several years. Don’t be discouraged though, several of your classmates are working everyday to make Harvard a better, more inclusive space. Beyond institutional perfection, don’t expect to have the ‘perfect’ Harvard experience. There is no single way to experience Harvard. With that being said, try new activities, take a class outside of your normal interests, and try different social spaces. Before I close out, I want to impart some advice I have collected from several upperclassmen that I wish I knew when I was a freshman. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24)
Don’t get a MicroFridge from HSA. You can make your own chicken quesadillas in the dhall using grilled chicken, tortillas, cheese, and the Panini press. Taking electives pass-fail can be a great thing. TALK TO THE UPPERCLASSMEN! Take freshmen seminars! It’s a great way to ease into college classes. Don’t be afraid to say no to: friends, extracurriculars, peers, and most importantly, yourself. Don’t be afraid to be ashamed to ask for help academically, mentally, emotionally, socially, etc. Fulfill your SPU requirement freshman year. Have real conversations with people. Instead of asking “How are you,” ask “How is your soul” because ain’t no body got time to hear about how many p-sets you have due tomorrow. Visit the Women’s Center (Canaday B Basement), because like the staff there is flawless. They also have free tea and coffee! Go to the upperclassmen houses on the river and get toilet paper for days; way more than the 2 rolls Yard Ops gives you. Try to eat in all 12 upperclassmen dining halls before the end of your freshman year…yes, 12. Give the Quad some love! Never, ever use a tray in Annenberg. This will minimize your food waste and when you are in a rush, you can put your dishes on someone else’s tray to avoid the tray traffic jam. Boylston Basement has the cleanest (and gender neutral) bathrooms. It’s OK to leave. Whether it is your extracurricular or your concentration you think you are supposed to do but hate, the “friend” circle that doesn’t feel right, even Harvard itself. You don’t have to tough it out and hope it gets better. Sometimes it’s braver and better to leave. Make fizzy juice in Annenberg by mixing 2/3 juice with 1/3 sparkling water. Gloves that let you text are necessary. Work the HUDS staples and get creative in Annenberg. Try to find study spots at Harvard’s various graduate schools. If you ask for a tall coffee in a grande cup (or a grande coffee in a venti cup) at Starbucks, sometimes the barista will take pity on your poor caffeine-addicted soul and just give you some free extra coffee. Also, the Starbucks by Pinkberry is open until 1 am for your late-night, dhall-coffeewon’t-cut-it caffeine needs. You don’t have to do all the reading. Really, you don’t. Use the Writing Center! They are really useful in editing your papers. Before you buy a textbook, try looking for the online PDF version first. Use Foodler to get late night food delivery to your dorm.
Even though this isn’t a complete list, I hope this gets you all started to a wonderful first year of college. Shaquilla Harrigan ‘16 (sharrigan01@college) is trying not to live vicariously through the class of 2018. The Harvard Independent • 09.11.14
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Forum
Back to the Grind
My gripes with Harvard’s shopping week. By SEAN FRAZZETTE
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ove-in days can be stressful. Hundreds of students are carrying bags, boxes, futons, sheets, clothes, and a number of other items this way and that, crashing into walls, trying to prop doors, and wallowing in sweat and exhaustion. When move-in ends, however, everything should be up from there. People have reunited with friends. Opening days (or rather nights), filled with the parties and stress-free activities that will be more difficult to find when midterms and papers are breathing down our necks. Yet one aspect of school, directly following opening days, does not invite such a carefree environment: Shopping Week. In theory, this week is extraordinary. We have a week where classes are not supposed to matter quite as much. There is little if any homework. We can leave classes early and jump in and out of any subject that may peak our interests. While, in general, I love shopping week and all it entails, I do have some issues with it. Here are my three reasons to despise Harvard’s first week.
1) Stressful Lotteries Lotteries make sense. Some classes are amazing but can only reach their potential if a small number of students are in them. Others are a great opportunity for many to slide by in a Gen Ed that in not their forte. In these cases, lotteries are entirely acceptable. The way Harvard does lotteries, however, is not conducive to an environment that is at all healthy for students. Some people do not find out about their lottery placement until the day before study cards are due, giving them almost no time to figure out a replacement class and get any signatures they may need. Other students — let’s say seniors who need to fulfill one last requirement, whether it be for their concentration or a Gen Ed — are placed in a situation that is difficult to maneuverer. When writing a thesis or working on a final project, it is understandable that seniors are looking for one or two easier classes to balance their load. But if they are kicked out of a class due to a lottery — a mechanism they have been told they will have preference in for the last three years — they must scramble to find a suitable substitute that fits in their schedule. (Related to this is Harvard’s decision to stop showing difficulty ratings on the Q, which is borderline asinine.)
this worse, especially when one is lotteried out of a class on the last day before shopping week ends.
3) Homework and Catching Up My final issue is much more situational than the prior two. I have been in plenty of classes that never assign written homework or even reading the first week of school. But I have also been in classes that assign some work and plenty of reading, entire books even, due by the second week of class. If someone joins a class at the end of shopping week, which happens to plenty of people all of the time, and they discover they have hundreds of pages to read already, high levels of stress will ensue. Overall, I truly believe shopping week is a great part of Harvard’s system. To allow students a chance to get a sneak preview of the classes they will take that semester is a wonderful opportunity. I simply find these three aspects of the week to be highly questionable, especially since they induce so much stress. For a school to take care of its students, it must look to ensure the good mental health of these students. But with lotteries run the way they are, study cards taking time out of our days, and work being assigned before classes truly start, shopping week does not provide an ideal scenario. Clearly, these issues are solvable. Lotteries could start and be decided earlier. Study cards could be done away with almost entirely. And professors could agree to put off homework bulk until week two, assigning only essential introductory material the first week, which a student could catch up with quickly. With these simple fixes, Harvard’s shopping week would lose almost all of it’s stress and become a week where students could enlighten themselves intellectually and prepare for the classes that are to come. Sean Frazzette ’16 (sfrazzette@college) just wants to make everyone’s life easier.
2) Study Cards Oh, study cards. These might have been useful back before the Internet and email or the Google machine (as I’m sure some of the administration refers to Google, based upon their understanding of technology). If someone, anyone at all, can give me a reasonable answer as to why we must run around collecting signatures on a piece of paper and turn it in by hand, I will be waiting in the Indy offices for them. This entire process could be done over the internet, making it easier for students, advisors, and professors everywhere. The idea that this chaos creates some sort of human connection is absurd, as I know nobody who has ever sat down with anyone for more than five minutes to get a study card signed. It simply becomes an inconvenience in everyone’s days. Furthermore, the lottery situation that I have already addressed makes
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09.11.14 • The Harvard Independent
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Ritchey’s Restaurant Review: Alden and Harlow By RITCHEY HOWE
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here’s a new “best restaurant” in The Square. This restaurant has been raved about by Boston Magazine, Boston Globe, Tasting Table, and more recently…myself. ‘Alden and Harlow’ is located beneath the Brattle Street Theatre and is wonderfully hidden from the swarms of tourists adorned with Harvard swag. In order to enjoy the exotic and delicious food pairings and cocktails, you need to descend. I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before my date, and was pleasantly surprised to see many 20-somethings swarmed around the bar with colorful drinks in various shapes of glasses. As Kanye West played through the speakers, I ordered a “Kon Tiki Mai Tai” with Rum, Ginger, Honey, Orange and Lime, Absinthe and Ango. My date complained that he always orders the girly cocktails so he went with the masculine-sounding “Spanish Armada” (Brandy, Fig Honey, Lemon, House Bitters). Unfortunately for his masculinity it came in a martini glass, but more importantly, it still tasted delicious. Upon sitting, the menu seemed overwhelming. Burrata and pine nut granola? Lamb sirloin with cocoa rub? I never enjoy when an entrée appears to have too many ingredients within it. Yes, I like burrata and yes I like granola…but together? Rest assured, Chef Michael Scelfo does no wrong.
On the advice that we get five items between two people, my hungry date and I decided to order six. My favorite dish was probably the Charred Broccoli, Squash Hummus, Montasio and Cashew Crumble. Even meat-lovers (like my date) loved it. We also ordered lobster and tamale toast with basil and corn, corn pancakes, and chicken nuggets with honey, all of which were unusual, surprising, but mostly delectable. I was least impressed with the kale salad — it appeared simply as a handful of kale tossed in a creamy dressing. Although I am an avid kale fan, I was disappointed with this dish in comparison to the other creative plates. Although you may be full for dessert, do not skimp out. We ordered the Smoked Chocolate Bread Pudding (with ice cream of course) that came out in a hot stone plate. The warmth of the chocolate bread quickly melts the vanilla ice cream into a pool of deliciousness. Is this making you hungry yet? With $8-$15 entrees, and $12 drinks, this restaurant is great
to go with a group of friends to share various plates and beverages. The dim lighting, contemporary music, and young crowd will not fail to please. Ritchey Howe ’17 (ritcheyhowe@college) looks forward to the next restaurant. Photograph courtesy of Marissa L. on Yelp
The Same Ne The good and the bad of entering Harvard. By RITCHEY HOWE
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have never heard anyone express how much they like to be the new kid, a role that consists of constantly looking for a friendly face, an open seat, or god forbid, you wear the wrong outfit, or get lost — reminiscing on these attributes of “newness” leaves a pit in my stomach. This novelty usually belongs to freshmen or transfer students. After my first few weeks of not living in the Yard, I was assured that my freshmen awkwardness would subside and never return: how I was wrong. Harvard goes to great lengths to acclimate the freshmen to college and Yard life. Freshmen Week, First Chance Dance, workshops, PAFs, proctors — there is almost an inundation of mentors. So although the inevitable feeling of freshmen awkwardness remains, there are countless sources to help guide you though. I recall it being around winter reading period when I could confidently say, “I don’t feel like a new student anymore.” This feeling of comfort must have expressed itself because tourists started to ask me for directions. My favorite question remains, “But where is the famous Harvard building.” I still never know what to say. However, this year I feel as though I have just been thrown back into the pool of newness. New house, new faces, new buildings, new flavors The Harvard Independent • 09.11.14
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of frozen yogurt in the dining hall…I feel like a freshman all over again! However, as a freshman it was normal to feel out of place and ask questions. Now I feel as though Harvard expects students to figure it out. I regard myself as an adult and do not think I always need someone to hold my hand daily. However, I wish there was a halfway point between freshmen aid and nothing. You would never teach a child to swim with a flotation device one day, and then the next day, throw them in a raging ocean. I do have a sophomore advisor but unfortunately she does not know much about me and we do not have much in common. I know I can put in more effort to know her better but she will only be my advisor for a few months. What’s the point? Until I receive a concentration advisor, someone who inevitably shares an interest with me, I feel as though I am treading water. My solution is for sophomores to keep their freshman advisor for the first semester. With this system, advisors can help their sophomores transition to their Houses and can continue conversations and thoughts from the year prior. I admit that the sink or swim metaphor is too extreme to describe the transition to sophomore year. However, if the transition becomes less
abrupt, sophomores would not feel like new students…again. Ritchey Howe ’17 (ritcheyhowe@college) will hopefully not write this article again junior year.
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News
News Preview Check out these events! By MILLY WANG Thu. 9/11
Harvard Biotech Career Fair
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, United States (New Research Building, HMS) 11:30am to 5:00pm This Fair will feature keynote speaker Dr. Vicki L. Sato, who is the Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. Company recruitment tables will be set up from 1:00pm to 5:00pm, and company presentations will be held in Pechet Room from 2:30pm to 4:15pm. Biotech Hiring Round Tables are from 12pm to 1pm.
Reception for Visiting Faculty 2014-15 Exhibition Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts 5:30pm - 6:30pm Featuring Paul Bush (a filmmaker known for experimental stop-frame animation), David Hilliard (a recipient of the Fulbright and Guggenheim), Virginia Overton (who has exhibited work at MOCA, North Miami, Florida; Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York; Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany; Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; The Kitchen, New York; The Power Station, Dallas, Texas; Freymond-Guth, Zürich, Switzerland; and Dispatch, New York), Halsey Rodman (who has exhibited at Guild & Greyshkul, New York; Institute
Tues. 9/16
Asian law.
Mon. 9/22
Iran Policy: A Conversation with Thomas Donilon and Yaakov A public address by His ExAmidror 6:00pm JFK Jr. Forum This event will feature Major General (Ret.) Yaakov Amidror (the Israeli National Security Advisor from 2011 to 2013), Thomas Donilon (American lawyer and U.S. National Security Advisor from 2010-2013), and will be moderated by Graham T. Allison, who is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard Kennedy School.
Peace Corps: An Insider’s Look at the New Application and Stories from the Field
7:00pm IOP L166 If you are interested in learning more about the Peace Corps, this is the event for you. Information on the new application will be provided. Dinner will also be provided.
Wed. 9/17
Critical Issues Confronting China: Jerome Cohen
Monday 9 / 15 Charismatic Megaflora: What do Old Trees Look Like? Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain 6:30pm – 8:00pm
cellency Benigno S. Aquino III, The President of the
Philippines JFK Jr. Forum
His Exellency Benigno S. Aquino III is a fourth generation politician and has been the 15th President of the Philippines since June 2010. To attend this event, you need to enter the lottery at forum.iop.harvard.edu before September 16 at 6 PM. The winners of the lottery will be notified via email on Wednesday, September 17th and will need to pick up their tickets at the Institute of Politics on Thursday, September 18th and Friday, September 19th between 9:00-5:00PM.
Tues. 9/23
State Department Job Talk
Taubman Building, Nye A 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM If you are interested in US foreign policy and careers in the state department, then this is the job talk for you. RSVP via email beforehand to IOP_ICS@hks.harvard.edu and dinner will be provided.
Thu. 9/25
Join Neil Pederson, who will share the story of his search for the oldest trees to Consulting at the Intersection of obtain the longest possible tree-ring based records of environmental history. His Business and Government research interests are focused on trees, ecology, conservation biology, and forest IOP L166 management. 7:00pm of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art; and at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), and Athina Rachel Tsangari (a filmmaker, producer and projections designer).
Mon. 9/15
Public Service Venture Fund Information Session/Kickoff
12:00pm-1:00pm Visit this information session if you are an aspiring social entrepreneur looking to start an organization or if you are planning to work for a nonprofit or government agency on a fellowship. This info session will feature OPIA’s Assistant Dean for Public Service Alexa Shabecoff.
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A Public Address by President Benigno Aquino CGIS Building, Belfer Case Study Room (S020), 1730 Cambridge Street, Harvard University 12:30pm-2:00pm Featuring Jerome A. Cohen, who is a professor at New York University School of Law since 1990 and the co-director of the US-Asia Law Institute. He began studying Chinese criminal law in the early 1960s and introduced the teaching of Asian law into the curriculum of Harvard Law School. He served as the Jeremiah Smith Professor and Associate Dean at HLS. He is a leading American expert on
If you are interested in both business and government and want to work at the intersection of both, then come to this talk where you’ll hear from a representative from Booz Allen Hamilton. RSVP via email to IOP_ICS@hks.harvard.edu and dinner will be provided.
09.11.14 • The Harvard Independent
A Look into the
A selected preview of happenings near Harvard.
Arts
s
By MICHAEL LUO
An Evening with Champions
September 19 at 8:00pm & September 20 at 7:00pm Bright Hockey Arena www.aneveningwithchampions.org An exhibition of champion figure skaters for the purpose of fighting cancer. Student-run and non-profit, this showing of world-class figure skaters “is motivated to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund as they seek new methods of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer.” This year’s show includes 2-time Olympian Johnny Weir, 2014 Olympians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, 2-time US Champion Alissa Czisny, and many others. Watch beautiful people dance on ice and feel good about it too.
Sorcerer with Director William Friedkin in Person
September 26 at 7:00pm Harvard Film Archive http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/calendar/september14.html A screening of Friedkin’s existential thriller about four characters and their transport of nitroglycerin in South America through vignettes. If you’re looking for an exhilarating way to spend your Friday night, then this is your best bet. What’s more, you even get to question the director himself how he imagined those ridiculously absurd ideas.
Negative
Adapted by Jumai Yusuf ‘16 from the play by Joyce Carol Oates Directed by Jumai Yusuf ‘16 October 2 at 7:30 pm, October 3 at 7:00pm, October 4 at 2:00pm Adams Pool Theater www.hrdctheater.com/negative A historical reversal of minority Whites fighting against their enslavement by the Black majority in the United States. One White “Deficiency Scholar” and one “Black graduate of Exeter” are roommates after civil rights leaders won the right for Whites to vote and to attend the same schools as Blacks. This is the first act, while the second reverses it again, attempting to “highlight the racial micro aggressions that Black college students face everyday.”
Bach Society Orchestra
October 11 at 8:00pm Paine Concert Hall www.hcs.harvard.edu/~bachsoc/events.html The first of Bach Soc’s 4 concerts in the 2014-2015 season. An intimate orchestral performance of classical masterpieces encompassing a diverse array of historical periods. Pieces include Mozart’s Overture to La Clamenzi di Tito, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Thallis, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2.
The Harvard Independent • 09.11.14
Harvard Ballroom Beginners 2014 Competition
October 12 Cambridge War Memorial Recreation Center http://www.harvardballroom.org/hb/ A flashy display of classy dancing by newcomers who had the courage and talent to showcase their newfound skills. If you always wanted to see your friends compete in Dancing with the Stars or transform into the new Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
Little Murders
By Jules Feiffer Directed by Shira Milikowsky October 17-October 19 and October 23-25 at 7:30pm Loeb Mainstage www.hrdctheater.com/littlemurders Directed by the ART’s Artistic Director Fellow and produced by Garrett Allen ’16 and Magdalene Zier ’16, Little Murders is a “modern rendition of Jules Feiffer’s 1967 dark comedy.” Taking place in the Upper West Side, Little Murders mélanges humanity’s greatest fears “of atheism or homosexuality or undiscriminating homicide” into the already tumultuous environment of Manhattan.
Beatboxing Workshop with Chesney Snow
October 25 at 2:00pm Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute, Hutchins Center, 104 Mt. Auburn St, Floor 3R www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu/cal/details.php?ID=44946 Call it beatboxing or “vocal percussion,” this art form is as cool as it is hip, as smooth as it is fierce. Led by Chesney Snow, “award-winning actor, beatboxer, poet, musician, and songwriter,” the workshop is free with RSVP to Deena Anderson, demanders@fas.harvard.edu. If a workshop is not enough, Snow’s documentary “American Beatobxer” will also be showing at Askwith Lecture Hall at the Graduate School of Education on October 24 at 5:30pm, once again for free. Michael Luo ’16 (michaelluo@college) says go out and experience art!
Image courtesy of cr103 / stockarch.com.
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(20) Days of Nametags
These are more than just labels. By JOAN LI
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f there’s anything I’ve learned about myself over the summer, it’s that I’m hard to beat when it comes to making nametags. That’s right, nametags. Those things that you stick on yourself for maybe an hour before they end up abandoned and crumpled on the floor. They’re lame, and rightly so. Black sharpie marker in print handwriting (or maybe slight curls at the end of your letters if you’re feeling artsy), throw in a “Hi. My name is _____” and a handshake and you’ve got yourself the most generic introduction possible. But who cares? It beats coming off as a dorky try-hard. Well, let me tell you. Actually, I don’t have a profound explanation as to why I showed up to work twenty minutes earlier than necessary in order to draw Disneythemed pictures on my nametag. I could pull some longwinded BS on how plain, black and white nametags represent the failure of self-expression, and thus act as a symbol of the downfall of individuality in society—that would be me speaking when behind on the readings in an English seminar. But the honest me would say that the reason I sketched using pencil first, then tracing over in fine point marker, and finally coloring in with Crayola markers was that, simply put, I had fun doing it. In the ten weeks of my fellowship at the Florence Griswold Museum in Connecticut, my most memorable takeaway wasn’t my folk art research or my gallery talks, it was the nametags I made every morning for a month before teaching kids at a summer art camp. It’s easy to say that being surrounded by elementary and middle school children and teaching them how to paint landscapes or craft paper beads is low on the job scale in terms of professionalism or maturity. But as it turns out, kids possess certain attributes that many adults, especially myself, could learn a lot from. Before camp, I never could’ve imagined genuinely befriending people with such an incredible range of backgrounds, personalities, and interests. Each morning, I watched campers bond over sharing markers, and it reminded me of my onceupon-a-time days in kindergarten, when I could converse with my peers without the preoccupation of how different we were or how compatible we could be. Certainly that’s not how it is for me nowadays; I typically try to seek out people who share my hobbies and interests because, well, it just seems like a surefire way to make friends. I find people in my niche and I get comfortable. Certainly then, I did not expect to become close with a Southern sorority girl, a local college grad trying to make it as a fashion model, and a middle aged, professional watercolorist. But we all became close regardless, through dealing with child tantrums, monitoring goldfish during snack 8 harvardindependent.com
time, and nametags. We started a competition over the last one, drawing characters from children’s movies, television, and books, and then tallying how many campers recognized our efforts. What started off as trivial as writing our names became a bonding point between us, or what we called the “nametag game,” which escalated to planning out a calendar of characters to draw ahead of time and looking them up on our phones to copy. In that sense, the other employees and I were no more different than the campers we taught. We never needed any major similarities in backgrounds and interests — all it took was a bucket of markers and a roll of adhesive labels. The “nametag game,” among other craft projects I engaged in while helping campers, tapped into my childish side when I really needed it, even though I didn’t realize this at the time. As a sophomore who has to declare a concentration in just a few months, thinking about everything in the context of “The Big Picture” is unavoidable. If that’s scary, then I don’t even want to think about being a senior and being pushed out into “The Real World”. It’s easy to disregard the tiny pleasures — doing things purely because they make you inexplicably happy. On my last week of camp, it crossed my mind how much I was going to miss the environment. It was in this same week that I had the joy of teaching a five-year-old camper who, after seeing
my Frozen nametag, became inspired to personalize her nametags as well. More specifically, she decided to draw Christmas trees, not only on her nametags, but on everything else she could. The fact that it was a long way until the holidays made this funny enough, but wait, there’s more: this particular little girl was Jewish. When one teacher suggested that she draw a menorah instead, she asked why. And when told that Christmas was a Christian holiday, she replied: “But I can like Christmas trees no matter who I am.” It struck me that this girl was not only very (very) adorable, but also incredibly right. She could like anything she wanted. And with this reasoning, I could like anything I wanted as well. I shouldn’t have to feel nostalgic about drawing like I did in middle school or wistful about getting excited over the most trivial activities because I never have to stop doing these things. It’s because of these nametags that I can tell stories like the girl and the Christmas tree, and it’s because of these nametags that I’ve chanced upon incredible friendships, all of which have given me new perspectives. My 20 days of camp ended weeks ago, but my enthusiasm for whimsical details has been renewed, and will hopefully stay as I start my third semester. Joan Li ’17 (joanli@college) is suffering a serious Pinterest addiction and can’t stop scrolling through DIY Craft porn.
09.11.14 • The Harvard Independent
Campuses Past
A brief recitation of the history and development of the American college campus. By ANDREW LIN
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ith the conclusion of another summer, scores of fresh-faced new freshmen and grizzled veteran upperclassmen are now streaming through the variegated buildings, green spaces, and common areas of Harvard’s various educational domains. The basic portrait of these spaces, as conceived by students and the public alike, is one that seems almost archetypal: ivy-bedecked brickand-marble Colonial and neo-Classical shrines to learning, with the occasional Richardsonian gem or concrete modernist edifice thrown into the mix. Amidst the hustle and bustle of choosing courses and extracurriculars (COMP INDY ARTS!), however, it is easy to forget that such an archetype did not merely spring up overnight to greet each incoming class. Rather, Harvard’s collegiate campus, and indeed the American undergraduate campus as an architectural and social construct, has come to be only through much arduous evolution, expansion, and adaptation — a journey some 378 years in the making. Certainly Harvard in the late 1630s was a different place than it is now: aside from not actually being called Harvard (it was founded as “New College”) and catering primarily to Puritan ministers, the campus’s real estate holdings consisted of a house and one acre of land purchased in 1637 or 1638. Sitting on what was then called “Cow-yard Row”, this area metamorphosed into Harvard Yard, a process no doubt helped along by John Harvard’s generous donation of his library and half his estate to the fledgling college. A farm endowed to the university in 1649, along with the rapid growth of Massachusetts into a political and economic center of the American colonies, saw Harvard grow in stature as well. With this emergence as a university (Massachusetts made it official in 1780), more buildings came to the Yard in the 18th century; those that remain include Massachusetts Hall, Hollis Hall, and the Holden Chapel. These all followed in the same Georgian Colonial (named for King George V, not the state) mold that characterized many other undergraduate constructions around the country, from Yale’s Old Brick Row (of which only one building remains) to Princeton’s still-imposing Nassau Hall. With the growth and emergence of the American nation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, the idea of the modern college campus began to eclipse mere cow-yards, individual halls, and endowed farms. Indeed, centrally-planned campuses soon became all the rage in an up-and-coming America: New York’s Union College got the first planned campus in the United States with an 1813 design by neoclassical French architect JosephJacques Ramée. It took no less an American than founding father Thomas Jefferson, however, to help shape an idiom of campus design the United States could call its own. Unlike many political figures, Jefferson certainly did not serve as a mere sinecure in regards to this project: he had proven his architectural chops in the design of his estate Monticello and devoted both his considerable talents and the last years of his life to the design of the University The Harvard Independent • 09.11.14
of Virginia, founded in 1819. His ideas for a unified campus built very heavily on those of Benjamin Latrobe, national-capital architect extraordinaire, who proposed open spaces ringed by academic buildings and student quarters — in short, the modern college campus. Such an educational paradigm, however, was more evolutionary than revolutionary for the American undergraduate campus. Indeed, openplan shared spaces were characteristic of the early American colleges as well: Harvard Yard was and is still accessible to scores of visitors from both the immediate city and the whole world, and indeed the very architecture — still functional, surrounding a green common — stands in stark contrast to the cloisters of Harvard’s European forebears Oxford and Cambridge. Indeed, as the 19th century and American revenues bubbled forth into the Gilded Age, Harvard expanded into a more archetypical collegiate form, albeit with its own uniquely moneyed flavor. The Yard-based constructions of the early 19th century — stalwart colonial buildings such as Holworthy and Stoughton Halls — gave way to the richly-ornamented Gothic of edifices such as Weld (with its imposing skylights) and the towering Annenberg Hall. In many ways, however, the Yard still held resolutely to its colonial ways, what with its lack of running water or central heating during these years. Enterprising and wealthy students rectified the situation by fleeing to specially-constructed River housing that soon became known as “the Gold Coast”, housing that eventually metamorphosed into Adams House in the 1930s. This uniquely-gentrified take on campus expansion stands in contrast to the rapid land-hungry development of many other universities during the second half of the 19th century. Certainly there was more than enough land for universities: indeed, the United States government (in the midst of the Civil War, no less) signed into law the 1862 Morrill Land Grant College Act, a sweeping gift of some 30,000 acres per state dedicated to the founding of a university. The list of institutions the Morrill Land Grant College Act generated is as eclectic as it is long, ranging from small technical colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to public behemoths such as Penn State University. These disparate campuses, however, were united in one attribute: their espousing of the new American landscape architecture in the design of their campuses. Indeed, the garden architecture of these many landgrant institutions was the populist product of years of American landscape thinking, a process that had started with Latrobe and Jefferson and culminated with the work of the great Frederick Law Olmstead. Olmstead’s considerable hinterland in designing public spaces such as Central Park factored heavily into his and his firm’s considerable college campus design practice. And indeed Olmstead’s reach was quite considerable: he and (eventually) his architectural firm designed some 350 college campuses from 1857 to 1950, including the complete groundwork of land-grant institution Cornell University and
a comprehensive redesign of Yale’s campus from 1874-1881. His campus design style was the open plan writ large, with expansive quads surrounded by individual dormitories in a manner designed to reflect both the educational purpose of an institution and its natural aesthetic beauty. The scenic vistas of many of these campuses — the rolling hills of Penn State’s Happy Valley are one outstanding example — contributed greatly to these new academic garden centers, which, often done up in elaborate Gothic and stern Romanesque, although Colonial stylings, were still preserved in settings such as Johns Hopkins. Nor was Harvard immune to Olmstead’s pervasive architectural reach: Olmstead’s architectural firm was based in Brookline, Massachusetts, and indeed the firm was commissioned in 1925 to design Harvard’s very own business school. The Business School, however, was but one of many expansions Harvard undertook in the beginning of the 20th century: University President Abbott Lawrence Lowell undertook to expand Harvard’s housing in a big way by inaugurating the beginnings of the current House system. Seeking to eliminate the stratification of social classes that came with the Gold-Coast era (and privately funded) constructions along the river, Lowell initiated the construction of Adams and Dunster Houses in the 1930s. These first two houses, along with five more donated by oil-speculator Edward Harkness, eventually came to form the basis for the modern upperclassmen House system as we know it. Later constructions, however, were not quite so benevolent: as the turbulent 60s’ rolled along, modernist architecture was seen as an excellent way to prevent students from congregating, a key factor in the design of freshman dormitory Canaday. But this modernism was simply a sign of the times: constructions such as Mather were seen by architects Shepley, Bullfinch, Richardson, and Abbott (the designers of all of the previous River houses) as the new future of the American campus. With this evolution, involving not a single big expansionist bang but a continual piling-on of buildings and ideas and architectural styles, Harvard emerges into the 21st century confronted by new challenges to endowment and campus alike. The modernism of Mather, Canaday, and the Science Center stands discredited, spurned by students and replaced instead by efforts to renovate the now-historic upperclassmen houses. New land acquisitions by Harvard in Allston compete with online courses and virtual campuses for attention as the very nature of what constitutes a college education in the United States comes into question. And as we mill about those assorted common spaces and academic halls of our own storied campus, we would do well to consider just how these edifices to learning got here — and what their future might be.
Andrew Lin ’17 (andrewlin@college) is himself a resident of the inimitable Mather House, and indeed he rather enjoys the long walk through Cambridge to get to class that stems from Harvard’s open-plan development. harvardindependent.com
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Sports
One to Remember Meeting David Blatt and other summer adventures. By SHAQUILLA HARRIGAN
T
o say that I had an amazing summer would be a gross understatement. I had a summer that was a one in a lifetime experience. Not only did I get to work at the leading sports magazine in the world, but I also had the opportunity to visit Northern Ireland for ten days. During my sophomore spring, I was frantically filling out various internship applications. I began getting anxious because all of my friends already knew what they were doing this past summer. However, the ubiquitous expression, “good things come to those who wait” rang true for me. The opportunity to intern at Sports Illustrated landed in my inbox, and I immediately seized it. About two months later, I shipped out and moved to Union Square, New York to start my internship. Working at Sports Illustrated during the summer of 2014 is an experience unlikely to be replicated by future interns. From day one, I was dunked into the fast-paced world of sports. Over the course of the summer I fact-checked pieces on the French Open, the Tour de France, both the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals, watched the fates of Brady Aiken and Joel Embiid play out in the MLB and NBA drafts, witnessed the drama of the World Cup — from Brazil’s rise and dramatic fall to Gotze’s and Germany’s victory — felt the fervor of the office when Lee Jenkins, one of SI’s lead writers, broke the news of LeBron’s return to Cleveland, looked through bound periodicals of issues past to compile content for the 60th anniversary issue, and was filled with disappointment as the Triple Crown slipped through California Chrome’s hooves. The alignment of all those events and many others most likely won’t happen again for several years. One of the coolest and most-rewarding tasks I had at Sports Illustrated was doing research and factchecking a story on Kevin Everett for the “Where Are They Now” issue. Everett was a tight end for the
Buffalo Bills whose career was ended after he broke his neck in the Bills’ home opener in 2007. Helping on that story made me appreciate the tenacity of the human spirit and the impact that friends and family can have on recovery. It also made me appreciate how sports breed innovation; Everett’s ability to walk within three months may be linked to he hypothermia therapy his team of medics used in his treatment. Seeing how the writer connected all those aspects into one story that read as a snap shot into Everett’s life reignited by passion for sports journalism. Just being around some of the industries greatest writers like Peter King was kind of a huge fan-girl moment for me. Which in turn made getting two pieces published on their website even more rewarding. While the opportunities at Sports Illustrated were second to none, my summer was not limited to an extension of my sports writing career. During the week of Fourth of July, I switched gears and went to Northern Ireland for a week and a half as a part of the Clinton International Summer School. Not even being my first time out of the United States, this was my first time leaving the East Coast! When I first got to Northern Ireland, my jaw dropped because it is absolutely stunning. I thought I knew greenery being from rural Georgia, but those farmlands have nothing on the sprawling expanses of rolling green hills. This scenery should be very familiar to Game of Thrones addicts. The program’s focus was on how to promote and create socioeconomic development in post-conflict societies. Hearing the brilliant innovations and ideas of university students from all over the world made me step back and realize how much of a bubble I live in; I am not just an American university student, I am a global citizen who should strive to be engaged with those all around me. One of the most harrowing experiences I had while
in Northern Ireland was seeing the ‘peace walls.’ These walls literally divided people based on religion as a way to maintain the peace between Protestants and Catholics. While high school history classes gave some background on the history of the Troubles, I wasn’t expecting a Western European country to have such structures. Despite the programs focus on socioeconomic development, sports were still a part of this leg of my summer adventure. I was able to hear from two panelists how their non-profits used athletics to mediate peace between both groups. Both Peace Players and Sport Changes Life use basketball curriculum to bring youth of both religious affiliations. I found it incredibly interesting that basketball was the ‘neutral’ sport because other sport preferences could reveal your entire cultural background. After doing more touristy things like visiting the Titanic Museum , the dock where the Titanic was built, and taking selfies in Queens University, I came back stateside to closeout my summer at Sports Illustrated. When I returned, I was mostly continuing my research in preparation for the 60th anniversary issue. Flipping through the red books, the giant periodicals of old magazines, gave me a warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. I got to see what Arnold Palmer looked like before his face was emblazoned on sweet tea jugs, the Hulk, and good old days of the XFL. It was awesome seeing all the work the other interns and myself did get printed in hard copy every week and knowing that millions of subscribers are also reading it. I have to admit to feeling prideful knowing that all those Fantasy Football defensive stats are accurate and that that one guy’s name is spelt correctly in a caption after you spend half and hour checking everything in that one sentence. My last day at work was incredibly bittersweet. I got used to Monday night pizza, Thursday editorial meetings, and seeing cktk written on everything. But…I did have an amazing last day at work because the managing editor invited me to SI Now, the broadcasting arm of the brand, for a “surprise.” My surprise turned out to be David Blatt, head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even though he told me that only kids who weren’t good enough for Princeton go to Harvard (he graduated from Princeton in 1981), we hugged it out and joked about trading jobs. Now that I am back on campus, I am so excited to take all of the lessons I’ve learned from living on my own in New York, travelling abroad for the first time, and working at Sports Illustrated and apply them to junior year.
Shaquilla Harrigan (sharrigan01@college) loves sports and doesn’t care who knows.
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09.11.14 • The Harvard Independent
Sports
indy
A World of Success With World Cup experience and young players, the Crimson hopes to build on last year’s accomplishments.
By PEYTON FINE
F
or the Harvard women’s soccer team, last season ended on a low note with a playoff loss to Boston University. After going undefeated in Ivy League play and winning the Ivy League Championship, the Crimson fell to the BU Terriers in the first round of the NCAA playoff. However, Harvard was and continues to be a team on the rise. Despite possessing the 2013 Ivy League Rookie of the Year in Margaret “Midge” Purce, who was also named the 2013 Ivy League Player of the Year and star goalkeeper, Lizzie Durack, also a freshman at the time, it took time for the team to gel. The Crimson lost the first three games of the 2013 season before going on a tear and winning the Ivy in undefeated fashion. So, where did the team go from its unceremonious end? The U-20 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Purce represented the United States, Durack played for England’s team, and incoming freshman Marie Becker was a reserve for eventual champion Germany. Another incoming freshman Caroline Chagares from New Jersey was in the pool for the American team before an injury forced her to miss the entirety of the summer, as well as Harvard’s upcoming season. The Crimson sent three players to the World Cup, the same number as national power houses Duke, UNC, Stanford, and defending champion UCLA. In addition to the young stars on the Harvard team, the backbone remains. Harvard returns seven full-time starters as well as multiple role players. The only main cog that left the team was graduating senior Peyton Johnson. Becker has already made an impact on the center of the defense helping the Crimson to two shutout victories in their first two matches. Durack has begun to play full-time unlike last year and marshals the team from the back.
The Harvard Independent • 09.11.14
On top of Durack, Harvard has senior goalkeeper Cheta Emba who stepped in against Providence to lead Harvard to its second shutout win of the young season. Even without Chagares in the attacking third, the Crimson can simply outrun teams up top. Purce is considered to be one of the fastest players in the country, if not the world. For Team USA she slotted further outside putting her speed to use making runs to the end lines and slotting in crosses. For Harvard, Purce slots slightly deeper and more centrally. Then, she simply runs at defenders and shoots. It was a scary prospect for international teams to defend her this summer. It may be even scarier for overmatched Ivy League teams. In Harvard’s 2-0 victory over Providence on Sunday, Purce scored twice. In the season opener, Purce had the game-winning assist. The difference in the team this year is that Purce has a little more help around her and could be better than last year. In the first game of the season she shot four times in the first 30 minutes, but failed to score. However, she adjusted and the winning goal came from her run to the end line, which resulted in a cross to senior Marie Margolius, whose header fell to the feet of Dani Stollar. She slotted the ball home for the winner giving Harvard its first win of the new season over the University of San Francisco. The winning goal against San Francisco was the perfect example of how this team can evolve and improve. Purce took on the defense and havoc with pure pace and skill. However, it was a more sophisticated method of scoring then simply shooting herself. The pass came across and was ultimately scored by the third wave of attack in Stollar. Besides Purce individual talent, it is the supporting cast that has propelled Purce to the
watch list for soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman trophy. If one facet could hold Harvard back it is in the midfield. The Crimson has a stout defense and firepower going towards goal; however, can they form defense through the midfield into the attacking third. Peyton Johnson, a four-year contributor who graduated last year was a consistent presence sitting in front of the back line. Johnson helped that transition through the midfield. Becker is a solid replacement from a defensive perspective, but she plays a very traditional backline role and will not contribute significantly in the midfield. Without a midfield presence, sometimes Purce drops deeper to find the ball. In theory, having your best player in the middle of the field works well. However, in the season-ending loss to BU last year, Purce’s dropping deeper deprived her of space and left the Crimson without a threat near goal. Without space, Purce cannot use her greatest asset — speed. With Purce leading the way and a solid defense, the Crimson should roll over most of the Ivy League competition. The firepower especially in the younger members of the team is significant. The true test will come later in the season as the level of competition increases, and the Crimson will be pressured in getting the ball from their solid back four to their speedy frontrunners. If last year is any indication, the team should develop as the year progresses and build on last year’s success. Peyton Fine (peytonfine@college) is impressed with the talent accrued on Harvard’s soccer team, especially amongst the younger members, but still is concerned about the center of the field.
harvardindependent.com
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